Their restricted abilities are refreshed every week.

"Thank you, Shirakawa-san." Goto Ichiri tore off another piece of paper, drew his own hair tie pattern on it, crumpled it into a ball and threw it to Shirakawa Haru.

As for the notes that were filled with writing, she would fold them carefully and store them in her pencil case.

After seeing the note of thanks that Goto Ichiri handed him, Shirakawa Haru smiled at Goto Ichiri who was lying on the table again, then folded the note and put it in the desk.

He knew that the conversation had concluded successfully.

"Haru-kun, what were you and Goto-san talking about just now? I'm a little curious."

The note from Takamatsu Deng had a slight fragrance. Shirakawa Haru couldn't tell what the fragrance was. It was a bit like the hard and light smell of stone, and a bit like sea salt, smelling fresh and a bit salty. He guessed that this was the smell of a supernatural frequency radio wave from aliens, a smell unique to Takamatsu Deng.

"This is a secret. I won't tell you." When replying to Takamatsu Deng, Shirakawa Haru didn't need to think as much as he did when replying to Goto Ichiri. He would just write whatever came to his mind. "If you have a secret in the future, I will keep it for you."

"Since Qingjun doesn't want to say, then I won't ask." Gao Songdeng quickly handed over another note.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, secrets are like this. If one person knows it, it's a secret. If two people know it, it's still a secret. But if three people know it, it's no longer a secret." Baichuan Qing explained patiently.

“I don’t quite understand it, but it makes sense.”

"I just thought of this and said it with emotion."

Textbooks were haphazardly spread out on the desk. Takamatsu Deng had piled her pencil case and textbooks together, blocking the teacher's view like a fortress on a battlefield. Takamatsu Deng glanced at the note several times with disapproving eyes before finally putting pen to paper. She knew it was Goto's secret, and she knew Shirakawa Haru had done the right thing by not sharing the conversation with her to protect Goto's secret, but she still felt unhappy.

This feeling of resentment stems from Haru-kun not telling me about his conversation with Goto-kun, and perhaps there's also a sense of resentment mixed in. Why would I feel so resentful about Haru-kun's response when he clearly did nothing wrong? Perhaps it's because, in that moment, he prioritized Goto Ichiri over me.

The tip of the gel pen touched the paper, but no words were put into place. In that brief moment, Takamatsu Deng analyzed his emotions and concluded that he was jealous of Goto-san, who was so easy to talk to Haru-kun.

This feeling is perfectly normal, Gao Songdeng reflected, reflecting on her experience with numerous literary works and the inner journey of singers in creating songs. In interpersonal relationships, some people desire to be the most important person to their friends, often asking them awkward questions. If their friends answer in the affirmative, they feel incredibly important in their eyes, and feel happy; if they answer in the negative, they feel sad.

It was her own problem, Gao Songdeng thought. She told herself not to overthink it.

"If you're free during the academy festival, could you please come to the Astronomy Club? I'd like to get your help."

Gao Songdeng took out a few aquarium-style stickers from her pencil case. She searched for a while and put a penguin on the note.

"Hmm... maybe I'll be free. If I have some free time, I'll definitely go to the Astronomy Department. After all, writing regular rating reports for the college clubs is one of my responsibilities. If I really don't have time, I'll just grab two people to do the hard labor for you."

As the student council president of Hinomori, he has the power to decide whether a club should be established or abolished.

Normally, he only needed to review the review report, but the student council member in charge of writing the review report was too busy and didn't have the energy to complete it. Upon learning of this, Shirakawa Haru volunteered to take on this part of the work. The student council member was grateful and did his best to do his part.

"Don't do that," Takamatsu wrote. "I invited Haru-kun to the Astronomy Department that day because he's my friend. Before it reopened, the Astronomy Department was a place only friends could enter."

"Since you said so, Deng, I have to come, right?" Shirakawa Haru wrote jokingly.

"No!" Gao Songdeng wrote this sentence with a heavier brushstroke, leaving deep marks on the paper. "If Qingjun dares to say that again, I will be angry."

"I'm sorry, Deng, I got a little carried away." Shirakawa Haru answered sincerely.

"Anyway, Haru-kun, you must come to the Astronomy Club on the day of the school festival. I'll be waiting for you there."

"I will definitely come. Just wait for me at the Astronomy Department."

Shirakawa Haru handed the note to Takamatsu Deng. After reading it, Takamatsu Deng did not hand over a new note. The conversation between the three of them about the notes ended there.

Class B, Grade 1.

Compared with Class A of Grade 1, Class B of Grade 1 seems to be much more noisy.

Their morning class was physical education. Because it was raining outside, the outdoor stadium could not be used. The physical education teacher was too lazy to force the students to go to the indoor stadium for exercise in such heavy rain, so he just let them use some chess or flying chess to entertain themselves, and just don't make too much noise.

Of course, Toyokawa Shoko felt that the class was too noisy at the moment, so she turned on her cell phone and put on headphones, listening to music while previewing the knowledge system that she would learn next year. Her desk was very clean, with almost only books and pencil cases, which was in sharp contrast to the desks of other people in the class.

A person approached from a distance, took a few glances at what Toyokawa Shoko was studying, and then showed a considerate expression.

"Why was Toyokawa-san late this morning? Was he sick? It rained heavily last night, so he must have kept warm."

Yuki Suho stood beside Shoko Toyokawa and spoke with a tone full of concern.

"It's just for personal reasons." Toyokawa Shoko wanted to say, "What's my business?" But when she thought about how close Suo Yuki and Shirakawa Haru seemed to be, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue and said, "Thank you for your concern."

Toyokawa Shoko responded stiffly. She suddenly remembered that even if Suho Yuki and Shirakawa Haru had no relationship, she shouldn't have responded to her concern in such a tone. Her tone should have been softer. Keeping in touch with these classmates would be a valuable asset once she entered society. By simply putting on a few smiles, she could secure a possible future opportunity. Why not?

But now Shoko Toyokawa doesn't want this opportunity. She feels that there is no need for her to do these things anymore.

She has a debt of 30 million yen on her back, but she doesn't feel that the debt is too heavy to suffocate her.

Yesterday, she and Shirakawa Haru spent the last summer festival in Chiba Prefecture together at the Cultural Street. They fished for goldfish, ate takoyaki, and watched the fireworks display. At the end, Shirakawa Haru asked her to treat him as a friend. On the way home, it rained heavily, so he slept at her house.

In the early morning, Shirakawa Haru and I were still there drinking and eating oden. The sound of the piano was sometimes gentle as water and sometimes violent as waves, just like a glass full of wine was thrown into it and the water overflowed from the headphones.

After his family went through a dramatic change, he gave his first nocturne, "Late Night," to Shirakawa Haru. His actions and expressions told her that she could use him as a backer and a source of confidence.

During the school festival, I'll invite Haru to walk around the school together. When Toyokawa Shoko thought of this, even her heart, which had become a little restless due to the noisy noises in the room, calmed down.

"That's strange... Toyokawa-san, why do you smell like oden?"

Zhou Fang Yuxi tilted his head and asked with some confusion.

Chapter 4700: First Co-performance ()

The classroom was filled with the noise of shouting and chairs being dragged.

Suo Hou Yuki's soft voice sounded like a thunderbolt from the blue sky to Toyokawa Shoko's ears. She quickly turned her head to look out the window and found that it was still raining heavily outside, with no sign of lightning or thunder.

Her heart was in her throat.

"Mr. Suo, I didn't hear you clearly just now. Could you please repeat what you just said?" Toyokawa Shoko put the pen cap on and closed the book, then looked up at Suo Yuki's face, which was a little condescending at the moment.

"I'm curious why Toyokawa-san smells like oden."

Suho Yuki seemed oblivious to Toyokawa Shoko's cold tone and continued to speak in response to her defiant words, "I'm just a little curious. Toyokawa-san has never been late before, but today he's been acting out of character, and he even smells strongly of oden."

She was obviously trying to cover it up with the smell of shampoo, Suho Yuki added in her mind.

Toyokawa Shoko wanted to receive Hinomori's highest scholarship, so she couldn't break any of Hinomori's rules. But not only was she late today, she also smelled of oden. The rich scent of shampoo in her hair suggested she must have showered that morning. If she had come to school earlier, she might not have been late.

She seems so confident, is there someone speaking for her behind her back?

Even if she was late due to force majeure, she would still lose the opportunity to be selected for the highest scholarship of Hinomori, because Hinomori's evaluation method for the highest scholarship is so strict.

There are very few people in the school who can influence the evaluation of the highest scholarships, only two in total.

One is the chairman.

One is her brother, the current high school student union president, Haru Shirakawa.

Her observation skills are not much inferior to Shirakawa Haru's. At the same time, because she is a girl, she has a considerable understanding of women's psychology and thoughts, and is better able to explore and discover the secrets behind those abnormal things.

"I was late because it rained heavily this morning. As for the smell of oden on my body... Could it be that Suo Fang has so much free time now that he even cares about what his classmates eat for three meals a day?" Faced with Suo Fang Yuki's relentless pressure, Toyokawa Shoko was not willing to be outdone.

"If there's nothing else, could you please stop bothering me, Suho-kun?"

"Sorry, sorry, Toyokawa-san, you go ahead and do your work first." Yuki Suho showed an expression of belated realization, as if she was blaming herself for disturbing Shoko Toyokawa's studies.

But in Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, the expression on her face was extremely hypocritical, and it was obvious at a glance.

She didn't know why Suho Yuki always competed with her. As the student council president of the junior high school, Suho Yuki was as good at socializing as Shirakawa Haru, so her attitude towards her was obviously a little unusual.

"It's okay." Seeing Toyokawa Shoko and Suho Yuki turning and leaving, I felt that she was thinking about something in her mind.

What a trouble! Shoko Toyokawa suddenly wanted to go back to that cramped little house. Usually she hated to go back to that coffin-like home, but now she felt nostalgic for such a coffin-like house.

Are your goldfish at home safe and sound?

Shoko Toyokawa kept the goldfish that Haru Shirakawa gave her in the bathroom sink.

Before leaving, she fed the goldfish some breadcrumbs. The goldfish swam lazily in the pond, as if floating in the sky.

This goldfish is very smart. When Toyokawa Shoko puts her finger into the water, the goldfish will swim over and kiss her fingertips to show its affection for her.

This thought might just be an emotion imposed by Toyokawa Shoko on the goldfish, or maybe the goldfish was just hungry and mistook her fingers for bread crumbs. In any case, Toyokawa Shoko was now restlessly thinking about the fat goldfish.

She always wondered if the goldfish was hungry, whether there was enough oxygen in the water for it to breathe, and what she would do if she came home tonight and found the goldfish dead.

When I get home tonight, the smell of alcohol and various spices in the room should have dissipated.

She wanted the smell in the room to last a little longer, so that she could have the illusion that Shirakawa Haru was still living in this small room. She realized that she didn't want to stay in that small, narrow room, but wanted to be with Haru.

Toyokawa Shoko felt drowsy. The noisy classroom sounds reached her ears hazily, as if through a layer of water. She felt as if she were standing underwater, gazing at the shore, the golden sunlight hitting the floating water, creating a shimmering shimmer.

Toyokawa Shoko went to bed at 4:30 last night and slept until around 9:00 when Shirakawa Haru woke her up. But strictly speaking, she didn't fall asleep until around 5:00, so she only slept for less than four hours.

I didn't seem to have anything to do on the day of the college festival. Things like personnel scheduling don't take much time, and more of the preparations were done before the college festival.

If he is free on a sunny day, would you like to ask him out?

Toyokawa Shoko quickly thought that as the student council president, Shirakawa Haru might be busier than her that day, but she sincerely hoped that he would not be too busy that day and could spare some time to accompany her.

The heavy rain took a turn for the worse at four in the afternoon.

First, a ray of sunlight pierced through the thick clouds, and then the continuous rain quickly evaporated under the scorching sun, and the sky soon cleared up.

The chairman asked Shirakawa Haru to go to his office.

There was tea in the white porcelain cup, with pine needle-shaped tea leaves rising and falling in the cup. There was a muffin on a small bone china plate next to it, sprinkled with a lot of icing sugar.

The interior decoration of the chairman's office of Hinomori Academy is quite restrained, contrary to his generous and unconventional personality. The walls are covered with cheap wallpaper, and the surface of the bookcase in the corner has a lot of paint peeling off.

Shirakawa Haru and the chairman sat opposite each other, separated by a small-leaf rosewood desk.

"Shirakawa-kun, you've done a great job. Both of your contracted sponsors are full of praise for your abilities." The chairman sipped his tea from his porcelain cup. "In particular, Manager Matsuo of the ECHO Music Store in Chiba Prefecture is particularly impressed. May I ask why?"

"Is this Gyokuro?" Shirakawa Haru picked up the teacup and took a sip. "Good tea."

"It's a traditional Yame Hongyokuro tea. My friend brought it to me after returning from a business trip," the chairman said to Shirakawa Haru, smiling a little more. After all, tea lovers love to hear their tea praised. "It has thin, tight, straight strands, slightly rounded and flat like pine needles, and a dark, lush green color. The tea soup is bright green, and the taste is fresh, not bitter or astringent. It's considered the best tea."

"It's a pity that I can only drink it this once." Baichuan Qing said regretfully, "It would be great if I could drink it more often."

"Stop trying to change the subject. If you want to drink some tea next time, just come to my office. My friend brought me quite a bit of tea, and I can't finish it all by myself anyway. Why not find a few more tea buddies to share it with?" The chairman smiled and slapped the table a few times. "I'm wondering why there's such a sudden large expense in my account."

"Oh, that's the Steinway D274 Spirio Record, a world-class piano produced in Hamburg, Germany," said Haru Shirakawa.

"That doesn't seem to be within the scope of expenses." The chairman looked at the paper contract that Shirakawa Haru handed him.

"Why is it gone?" Shirakawa Haru blinked and asked in confusion, "I bought it to be placed in the school piano room for students to use. The piano in the Hinomori High School piano room is really too old, so I wanted to get a new one."

"Even so, there's no need to buy such an expensive piano. If you're not going to perform on a world-class stage and just want to practice in a university practice room, a Yamaha CF6 is more than enough."

"Since I've already bought it, I have to buy the best." Shirakawa Haru smiled and said seriously, "I will pay for this piano myself and pay it back before next summer vacation."

"So you're using my name?"

"That means we don't have that much money all of a sudden." Shirakawa Haru watched the Gyokuro gradually sinking into the cup. The chairman didn't like to strain his tea; he liked to watch the tea leaves sink to the bottom of the cup.

"Does Toyokawa know about this?" The chairman looked at Shirakawa Haru's serious face and suddenly felt that he had nothing more to ask. The reason he liked this student was not only because he brought great benefits to the school, but also because of his perseverance and his selfless dedication to helping others. "If she knew you bought her such an expensive piano, I think she would be eager to marry you, right? Oh, and a Roland keyboard, right?"

"I'm not doing this for such superficial reasons," Shirakawa Haru whispered. "I've seen Xiangzi perform on stage, and I don't want to treat such a dazzling girl as just an illusion. The magic that the fairy brought to Cinderella will disappear at midnight, but I want this magic to last forever."

"That's why I said that the girls you helped would probably regard you as their first love." The chairman sighed.

"I only regard Xiangzi as a friend." said Shirakawa Haru.

"There's nothing for you to do now, so get out of here." The chairman stood up and took away all the plates and muffins in front of Shirakawa Haru. "Before you leave, take the red jar on the cabinet. It contains my Gyokuro tea. Take it back and drink it."

"Okay, I'll leave smoothly right away." Shirakawa Haru took the chairman's Gyokuro tea and put the chair back in its original place.

"Remember to make the school festival beautiful."

The chairman's voice came from behind Baichuan Qing. He waved his hand and promised the chairman that it would be done beautifully and he was sure to be satisfied.

Chihaya Aine sat in the RING. The glass windows were covered with winding water stains. Tiny snails were crawling on them, leaving white traces.

Every time someone pushed the door open, she would look up, her eyes revealing anxiety.

"Don't be so impatient. Didn't Nagasaki promise you to come to RING for practice today? She's not the type to break her promise. Just wait a little longer. She's about the same age as us. She must have just finished class and gotten out of school." Shirakawa Haru sat next to Chihaya Aine and ordered a matcha parfait and put it on the table.

A passing stray cat approached and obediently sat down beside Shirakawa Haru. Her beautiful, heterochromatic eyes blinked at Shirakawa Haru, then glanced at the parfait on the table, as if asking if he had ordered it for her. Shirakawa Haru nodded at her and pushed the spoon on the matcha parfait toward Lena.

"Mmm—delicious."

Lenai's eyes narrowed into slits. She was on the shorter side of the band, and even with her perfectly proportioned figure, her legs couldn't touch the ground when she sat on the raised bar stool. After eating the parfait, her legs kept dangling in the air, like a swing being pushed.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long." Nagasaki Suyo pushed the door open and walked in. Her clothes were a little messy, and there were a few strands of hair on her forehead because of sweat. It was obvious that she had run to RING.

"We didn't wait long, it's just that Aine was a little anxious." Takamatsu Deng stood up from his seat and took the initiative to pull out the chair for Nagasaki Suyo.

Takamatsu Teru's initiative surprised Nagasaki Suyo and Riki for a moment. They didn't have much of a sense of the change in Takamatsu Teru's personality, so they still regarded her as the girl who was a little introverted and didn't dare to open her heart.

"Because I want to perform soon. Just think about it, being able to stand on the stage and play will definitely attract a lot of envious gazes! I was born for this moment!" Chihaya Aine raised her fist, baring her teeth and claws like a little lion. "Our Hinomori Academy Festival is coming soon. I wonder if there will be a chance for me to perform on stage then? President, can we have a live performance on the day of the academy festival?"

Chihaya Aine looked at Shirakawa Haru with hopeful eyes.

She is obviously a very beautiful girl, but because of the big glasses on her face, Shirakawa Haru always feels that she is a little silly when looking at her:

"The stage built for the college festival may not be able to meet the needs of the official live performance, but if more than a certain number of students express the need for a live stage, the proposal to build a formal live stage can be approved."