I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

"I didn't know before... I didn't know what you were going through, and I had no idea how much pain you had endured for the happiness you wanted. So after hearing your conversation, I suddenly realized... what I had given was simply too little."

"...is that so?"

"That's right. After we broke up... I just lived a life without any purpose, doing nothing. I thought it would continue like this, but then you appeared... Or rather, I've been looking forward to your appearance."

It's like the moment when a person who is sweating profusely in the summer is looking forward to the cool breeze.

"And you showed up just as I expected. You made me realize how far I still have to go... But even so, even someone like me still has the right to pursue happiness."

"..."

He gradually let go of Li Yinghui in his arms and looked into her eyes quietly.

"So... I want some time. To pick up what I left behind... Whether it's becoming a writer or getting closer to you. I want to try all the things I didn't have the courage to do before."

"Huh... So that's how it is..." Li Yinghui couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, "I thought you were going to dump me."

"How is that possible... How could that be? I just feel that I am not... worthy enough for you right now."

"Ah... so you're really troublesome." She sighed and complained, but then smiled as handsomely as ever. "It's understandable... I really want to tell you not to worry about it. But having such awareness is commendable... so I won't object."

"...That's true..."

"But, relatively speaking, I also want to make a request."

"Um... Um... What?"

"Hehe~"

This slightly sinister smile reminded the senior of Li Yinghui back then. She had the same expression when she gave him advice or bullied him.

"You have to...work hard for me."

But surprisingly, he didn't make any excessive demands like before.

"Of course."

"Then... when we meet again, you must achieve your goal. I don't want to hear this excuse again."

"...I will."

Even though the summer vacation is still long.

But the road of life...seems to be longer.

If we have expectations for each other, then the waiting time will not be painful.

Wind arises from causes and conditions.

But the wind will not stay in one place.

The story between the boy who seems to be always slow in feelings and the tsundere girl who is never very frank about her feelings, let's just come to an end here for now.

Listen to me quietly

Occasional self-talk

Maybe it's just my own psychology.

But now, free of any worries, I felt a profound sense of refreshment when I opened my eyes today. It's like the inherent layering of human senses... This feeling might be more intuitively expressed through taste.

If you consume a normal dessert after consuming a highly sweet food, the sweetness won't be as noticeable to your current palate. Similarly, if you eat salty food after a sweet meal, the flavor will be intensified. Similarly, if you're constantly in a state of comfort, no matter how comfortable the situation, you'll still feel bored and uninterested.

Well...I guess it's because I've been involved in matters related to my seniors and have been very busy with them, so I feel very comfortable now that I have some free time.

"So..."

Although we need to rest, the only leisure activity we can do is playing games.

"Which one should I play first..."

Having experienced the baptism of the shopping season, I am afraid that I will suffer from the fear of making choices again.

Chapter 0: Occasional Monologue

A person experiences many things throughout life. Some, like eating, are as mundane as anything else. While eating is important, it happens so often that no one remembers the exact types of food or dishes they ate at each meal. Similarly, because certain events happen so often, it's quite common for people to forget their details without reminders. This isn't because the person involved doesn't take the matter to heart, but rather because of various reasons—like a series of troubles, for example—that push past important but distant events to the side.

"That's just sophistry, and I refuse to accept it."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

I don’t know what day it is today.

When I was on my journey of collecting Kunte cards, a person who should not have been forgotten by me but I had forgotten him... and who I had forgotten completely appeared in front of me.

Well, actually we met a few days ago.

That's right, it was Yehui who I had agreed to go to the Comic Newcomer Award with this summer. I was responsible for designing the story, while she, who was good at drawing, was responsible for considering the character designs and researching the storyboards. Unfortunately, even though the workload was insignificant compared to Yehui's, I still couldn't complete it properly.

I had agreed a few days ago to come up with a plot for her, but I was too immersed in dealing with my senior's affairs, which made me feel extremely embarrassed when facing Ye Hui knocking on my door.

"Hey, Sheji~ I'm here to listen to the plot you wrote~"

I was naturally caught off guard that Ye Hui, dressed in cool summer clothes, would brave the scorching sun to come to my house... However, what caught me even more off guard was that she stated her purpose straight away, as if she was deliberately not giving me time to find an excuse.

Fortunately, my ingenuity was as sharp as ever. The flash of inspiration that had occurred to me when I woke up immediately gave me a reason, which I then explained to Ye Hui in a serious tone.

but...

"So, Sheji, you've completely forgotten about this matter, right?"

After hearing my explanation, Ye Hui pouted in frustration...or perhaps even anger. Under normal circumstances, that would be a cute expression, but in my current situation, it was undoubtedly a dangerous signal.

"Well... you can't say that..."

I couldn't help scratching my head. It wasn't because I wasn't paying attention to my personal hygiene, but rather a natural reaction to a guilty conscience.

"I understand. I'm not important to you at all, so there's no need for you to care about what I'm asking of you. Is that right?"

As if she'd been wronged, Ye Hui's purple eyes began to gleam with tears. This situation truly aroused a sense of guilt within me. In my opinion, making a girl cry is a serious matter. Especially when it comes to a girl like Ye Hui...

"Of course not! Ye Hui, you are very important to me, so of course I take your entrustment very seriously... It's just that I have a lot of things going on recently..."

It would have been fine if I had just gotten involved in my senior's affairs, but even my palm was scratched for no apparent reason.

"But there's not much time left until the end of the event. If I don't have you to provide the plot, I won't be able to draw anything even if I have free time." Ye Hui was still expressing his inner dissatisfaction.

According to my previous impression, Ye Hui always easily forgave me even if I did something wrong. The reason she was able to complain so much this time must be that she took this event very seriously...

"Yes, yes...it's all due to my lack of consideration." And at this time, you must admit your mistakes.

"It would be fine if you didn't have time to talk to me. But now that I've taken the initiative to come to you, you're still playing games, and you haven't even thought of the plot yet."

"...So, I'm really sorry..."

"Oh... never mind. Actually, I could have more or less foreseen this outcome."

After sighing helplessly, Ye Hui's attitude finally changed and he seemed less angry.

"After all, I've known you for such a long time."

"..."

Does that mean you're used to me breaking appointments? I feel like my guilt is deepening.

"Then let's not talk about it anymore. Since we've already wasted so much time, there's no point in complaining any further."

"Yeah...that's right." I nodded hurriedly.

"It's better not to answer at this time. Otherwise, I might get angry." Ye Hui reminded me.

"Ah...sorry."

"...Just kidding." Although she said that, I really didn't hear any joking in her tone.

Ye Hui took out a stack of manuscript paper from his bag and said, "These are the parts I've already drawn. You probably haven't seen them yet. Besides, it's been so long, even if you've thought about the next plot, you'd have forgotten it, right?"

"Well..."

Didn’t you agree not to mention it again?

"Well, although a lot has happened before, I don't have anything else to do now. This means I can devote myself to creating comics completely." I said and reached out to take the manuscript.

...I feel like I've overlooked someone again, but it shouldn't be anything important.

【Xiao Ye: A-choo! 】

"Hmm? Wait."

When I was about to read the content, Ye Hui suddenly called me. I subconsciously stopped what I was doing because her tone was as if she had discovered something serious, which made me very concerned.

"What...what happened?"

As Ye Hui gradually approached me, my mind suddenly started to wander.

"What's wrong with your hand?"

With a gentle touch, Ye Hui gently pulled the bandaged right hand in front of him.

"...I'm not sure, but it's probably a knife wound."

I noticed when changing the dressing that the wound was very neat, probably an incision left by a sharp weapon... Although I don't understand how it happened, I still hope that there won't be any obvious scars.

"Oh? Did you, Sheji, get injured while cooking?" Ye Hui asked me with concern about the reason for my injury.

"...I don't think so."

If you are cooking, you will not hurt your fingers no matter how hard you try.

"Come to think of it, Shaji's parents are traveling too... and after getting tired of takeout, he wanted to cook for himself. There's nothing shameful about secretly trying to cook, so it's okay to admit it. I won't laugh at you."

Serious speech. But why can't I be moved... I always feel like Ye Hui is just talking to himself.

“I’m touched, but it’s really not…”

"No need to say more... I'm really bad for getting angry at you without even asking for your full answers..."

For some reason, Ye Hui seemed to connect the wound on his hand with the plot I hadn't thought of, and he felt regretful. Hey, hey... I didn't even have time to apologize, why is it you who's apologizing in the end...

"...Huh?" He couldn't help but ask.

I really can't understand why a hand injury can affect my brain's thinking. Ye Hui is also a smart person, so he should understand this principle.

"Well, since you're tired of takeout meals, and I happen to be here, let me make lunch today."

Ye Hui stood up as if the proposal had already been decided.

"Well, I think we shouldn't bother..."

"How can you say it's troublesome? I don't think you're troublesome at all. Even though I usually make small snacks like cookies, I'm also very good at cooking."

You look so confident... But that's not what I'm focusing on. And I didn't ask you to cook for me...

"Well, Sheji, just focus on your thoughts. I'm going to go buy some ingredients for today's lunch."

"Wait..." I wanted to stop her, but she didn't give me a chance to say anything.

Ah...the high school girl cooked for me.

Why did things turn out like this for no apparent reason... I feel like Ye Hui is being particularly solitary today.

Is she doing this to keep an eye on me?

"..."

While thinking about things, I looked at Ye Hui's completed work... It looked quite good, with a high degree of completion. He's called a newcomer, but I always feel that this is better than many newcomers... But who can guarantee that there won't be better players among the other contestants?

Take the pairing of Li Moya and Jiu Mu Ting, for example. In terms of drawing skills, Ye Hui still can't easily compete with them. This is something that comes down to experience. But this is not the main point. The most important thing about comics is the plot.

In other words, if our works must be compared, the biggest factor in determining victory is the control of the story content... and from this point of view, I am not necessarily inferior to Kurimasa.

Wait, why am I thinking about winning or losing... Logically, I shouldn't be interested in this kind of thing.

"Oh, what a hassle..."

I just can't muster any motivation.