I have a life simulator.

"I heard that when Kiryuin-senpai entered the school, he was a student in Class A of the first year, but now he has been pushed into Class B by Nagumo."

"I'm not telling you this for such a trivial reason."

Kiryuin Kaede spoke with utter disdain:

"Capable people can survive well in society even if they don't graduate from Class A, while incapable people will not have a smooth life even if they get into Class A."

"Tokyo Advanced Educational High School is only three years in a lifetime. It's too hasty to use it to decide your entire life."

Kitagawa Ryo looked at Kiryuin, who was leaning against the sofa cushion with his arms outstretched, and chuckled:

"Senior is indeed an interesting person."

"That still can't compare to you, junior, who spent 20 million points on the cat."

Kiryuin Fuka seemed to appreciate Kitagawa Ryo's words quite a bit:

"I'm telling you some things about Nagumo just to make things more interesting."

"So, senior sister really knows about student council matters."

Kitagawa Ryo rested his chin on his hands and answered calmly:

"Even though you said that, I'm still very curious about your stance."

"My stance, my personal stance, doesn't really matter."

Kiryuin Kaede shrugged indifferently:

"Just like you said, I don't have any friends at all, and I'm always all alone in class."

"With her looks, making friends should be a pretty easy thing for her."

Even though he didn't have much contact with Kiryuin Kaede, Kitagawa Ryo knew very well that if it weren't for the other party's intentional rejection, Kiryuin would never have been isolated given her abilities and appearance.

From this perspective, the other party should have common topics with Rokusuke Koenji from Class 1-D.

"Maybe it's because I'm just unlucky. At first, my classmates wanted me to join the group activities, but it seems like they all failed in the end."

That's just because no one can stand your eccentric personality.

Kitagawa Ryo took the drink that was served. It seemed that Hotaru, who was lying in front of the coffee shop, had brought a lot of people to the place, so the shop also gave them a free shaved ice dessert.

Kiryuin Kaede picked up her spoon and started eating without any hesitation. She didn't seem to care about her current situation; rather, she seemed to be enjoying her life.

"There seems to be a lot of people gathered up ahead, shall we go check it out?"

Wow, what an adorable kitten!

Why is there a cat here? Is it a stray cat from the school?

"Please, how could there be stray cats here? And it's obviously very clean, okay?"

It seemed that another group of girls shopping had been attracted by Ying. They squatted around Ying with great interest, looking like they wanted to touch her but dared not.

"Little kitty~"

The girl at the front finally dared to reach out and touch Ying's head.

The lazy firefly sensed the change in wind pressure, swayed and raised its head. The first thing that caught its eye was a pair of white sandals, above which were ivory-white calves with round, bent knees. A girl in a sleeveless dress was peeking out from there with a bright smile, her azure eyes shimmering with curiosity and gentle light, and she was carefully reaching out her hand to it.

"Now I'm starting to believe that my senior sister has some bad luck on her side."

Kitagawa Ryo looked at the scene there speechlessly.

To Karuizawa Kei's somewhat surprised reaction, the kitten, who had been lying on the ground indifferent to the various comments from others, suddenly jumped into her arms.

And he was intimately rubbing his fingers against hers.

This is truly... a rather unfortunate turn of events.

Chapter 54: Rotten Grass Turns into Fireflies

Even after finishing her exams on the deserted island, Karuizawa Megumi still dreams of the scene where she and Kitagawa Ryo look up at the starry sky in the deepest night on the island.

The moonlight, like water, created a weightless, ethereal atmosphere. The lush grass in the woods swayed in the shimmering water, growing softly and damply around them.

For the first time, she felt completely at ease. Even though everything in the past had told Karuizawa Kei that this relaxation would only melt away her protective shell little by little, causing her to lose all vigilance and defenses, and become soft and bloated.

But she still couldn't resist these feelings; in fact, these feelings swelled up rapidly, like a sponge that had gradually absorbed water.

Karuizawa Megumi felt a sense of security stemmed from Kitagawa Ryo's understanding of her. He knew her past very well, which allowed him to avoid touching any points that might hurt her. From this perspective, Kitagawa Ryo was the most suitable person for Karuizawa Megumi.

This feeling can quickly establish an initial trust between the two, but it becomes an obstacle when Karuizawa Megumi wants to take it further.

Karuizawa Kei would be frustrated to discover that she actually knew nothing about Kitagawa Ryo, from his eating habits to his hobbies. After realizing this, every time Karuizawa Kei talked to Kitagawa Ryo, she had a strange feeling, as if she was not facing a person, but a mystery shrouded in mist.

Reason told her that she didn't need to rack her brains to solve the mystery, because Karuizawa Megumi didn't have that much energy; she only needed to protect herself.

But Karuizawa Megumi still went up to him, trying to glean details of the past from Kitagawa Ryo's fragmented words.

For example, a scar.

Or, a cat.

"Meow!"

Karuizawa Kei stretched out her finger, and the white kitten nuzzled against it familiarly with its head. Its fluorescent eyes were full of kindness and affection, as if it had seen a long-lost friend.

"Hui is so popular with small animals."

Accompanying Karuizawa Kei on her shopping trip were Matsushita Chiaki, Sato Maya, and Sakura Airi. They were quite interested in the cat that suddenly pounced on Karuizawa Kei and gathered around it.

"This cat seems to be very affectionate towards Hui."

"Is it the cat at the coffee shop? Used to attract customers?"

Girls are naturally powerless against such cute creatures, and even the most shy Sakura Airi couldn't resist reaching out to touch Hotaru's head.

However, Hotaru still nestled into Karuizawa Megumi's arms with considerable pride. After all, this was her number two former cat owner, so it was understandable to pet her, but she could leave the others alone.

“If it weren’t for the fact that pets aren’t allowed on campus, I think Hui could have taken the cat home with her.”

"I feel like I'm only attached to Hui."

After being rejected, Airi Sakura looked at Megumi Karuizawa with envy, which made Megumi Karuizawa herself a little embarrassed.

"Haha... I don't know what's going on either. Why don't we go ask the shop owner? Since the cat is lying at the door, the staff inside should know something about it."

Just as Karuizawa Kei was about to let the kitten go in and ask, the coffee shop door opened from the inside out. Kiryuin Kaede, holding a shaved ice and munching on ice without any manners, glanced at Karuizawa Kei and said:

"Kitagawa Ryo is looking for you. Oh, and the cat is his too."

With just that one sentence, and without caring whether Karuizawa Megumi understood, Kiryuin Fuuka turned her head with great flair, her long, silver-white hair tracing an arc in the air, and strode back into the shop with arrogant steps.

"Kitagawa Ryo? Is he the one from Class C?"

Matsushita Chiaki, who was standing nearby, noticed what the other person was saying and asked Karuizawa Megumi with a curious expression:

"Why don't you go in and take a look first? I just saw a dress in a shop next door. I can have Sato and Sakura come with me."

"I'll come find you in a bit."

As soon as she finished speaking, Matsushita Chiaki grabbed Sato Maya and Sakura Airi, who were still confused, and ran into another clothing store not far away.

Startled by her friend's sudden action, Maya Sato, who was already staggering while running, asked, panting heavily:

"what happened?"

"Ha, you haven't figured it out yet?"

Matsushita Chiaki looked on incredulously as she watched Karuizawa Megumi walk into the coffee shop through the glass wall, explaining as she did so:

"Megumi is clearly dating Kitagawa from Class C."

Seeing the puzzled looks on his two friends' faces, Matsushita Chiaki sighed:

"From the alliance between Class C and Class D on the deserted island to being seen going to the swimming pool together before the preferential treatment exam, all signs indicate that Kitagawa and Megumi's relationship is unusual."

"That doesn't necessarily mean they're dating."

Maya Sato looked completely oblivious.

"And it always feels a bit strange to interact with people outside of class."

"..."

Matsushita Chiaki rolled her eyes in return, then took out her phone and searched the school forum for a post that the student council had published just an hour earlier:

[Approval for Kitagawa Hotaru to enjoy all the rights that ordinary students should have on campus]

"Huh? Kitagawa Hotaru? Who's that?"

Maya Sato leaned closer to take a look and asked a question:

"Matsushita, you actually pay attention to the student council's posts? That's amazing!"

Because the student council manages various clubs and other affairs at the school, in accordance with the principle of information disclosure, almost all school affairs, big and small, are published on the forum. Due to the high frequency, many first-year students have chosen to block the official account. After all, if anything happens, everyone will discuss it on the forum, and there is no need to worry about missing important announcements.

It's truly rare to see someone like Chiaki Matsushita reading through student council posts one by one.

"I just happened to be flipping through some things today and noticed it."

Matsushita Chiaki naturally wouldn't reveal that she had been actively following the school's activities to obtain firsthand information. Similar to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, she was also a D-class student who hid her abilities and deliberately lowered her presence to please her friend.

"Kitagawa Hotaru is that cat."

"Judging from the content of the announcement, it seems that Kitagawa Ryo spent points to purchase this qualification for it."

"Tsk, Class C has so many points, they still have to collect 400,000 from Class D every month."

After making a small, sarcastic remark, Maya Sato finally realized the original topic:

"But what does this have to do with their relationship?"

"..."

Matsushita Chiaki leaned against the wall and sighed, realizing for the first time the poverty of his friend's thinking ability:

"Didn't you see how affectionate the cat was towards Hui?"

"What kind of relationship do I need to establish to get the cat belonging to a boy from another class to be affectionate towards me?"

Still reeling from Matsushita Chiaki's reasoning, the two nodded in agreement, though they didn't quite understand.

"That does make sense."

"This cat might have been raised by both of them together."

Why did Nae pretend not to recognize this cat just now?

"It would be awkward to date boys from other classes, not to mention that Beichuan and Class D don't have a good relationship."

The three girls, one after another, pieced together the truth of the matter.

"Then what do we do?"

Sakura Airi cautiously raised her hand to ask a question.

"It's definitely a secret. Since the two of them don't plan to go public, we certainly can't reveal it to them."

Matsushita Chiaki looked around at the coffee shop not far away, but unfortunately the glass curtain wall there only allowed people to see out from the inside, but not from the outside.

"Actually, I'm more worried about another issue."

Seeing the puzzled looks from the other two, Matsushita Chiaki thought for a moment and finally shook her head:

"Never mind, I guess I'm overthinking it."

She still didn't voice her hypothesis, because if it were to spread, it would undoubtedly cause a major upheaval in Class D:

Will Kei Karuizawa use the more than 20 million points she won to transfer to another class?

Actually, Matsushita Chiaki had never thought about this question before, but today's encounter made her feel a little uncertain.

If Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Megumi are indeed dating...

Matsushita Chiaki pursed her lips, trying to dismiss the thought of unpredictable consequences, because she knew very well that if the other person really wanted to transfer classes, Class D had no way to stop them.

-------------------------------------

Its name is Firefly.

Kitagawa Ryo initially thought he would be a little flustered when facing Karuizawa Kei, because for the past semester, he had not chosen to let Hotaru and Karuizawa Kei meet. Every time Karuizawa Kei visited his room, Hotaru would obediently hide in the closet without making a sound.

However, when Karuizawa Kei actually met Hotaru, he regained his composure without a second thought. From his speech to his actions, his every move was so fluid that even he found it hard to believe.