I have a life simulator.

Forget it, let the pet owner fend for themselves.

After all, Hotaru didn't want to relive what Sakayanagi Arisu had done to her when she was weak, pitiful, and helpless.

The completion condition for the chapter "[Sakayanagi Arisu's Spring Wish]" is: "Find the twisted aspects of Sakayanagi Arisu's personality and correct them."

The first simulation by the owner of the pet was a complete failure.

Hotaru licked her paws, tilted her head, and heard Kitagawa Ryo's voice say:

"I am leaving."

Then came the sound of the door closing and footsteps fading away.

Hotaru unconsciously recalled the scene after Kitagawa Ryo left during the last simulation:

"I really want to see you... Liang."

The silver-haired girl holding her unconsciously muttered this.

She lowered her head, her deep purple pupils flashing with a color that made Liang tremble slightly.

"I really want to see him again with these eyes."

"I want to hear his voice."

I want him to hear my heartbeat.

"I want to touch him."

Sakayanagi Arisu stroked Ryo's back, instantly closing the distance between herself and the cat, unconsciously uttering her thoughts:

"And then I wanted to—ruin him."

Firefly: Σ(っ°Д °;)っ

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

"Yo, Kitagawa."

On his way to school, he ran into Takeru Sudo. As expected of an athletic star, he looked energetic even in the morning. He quickly walked over to Ryo Kitagawa and patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Have you not been sleeping well these past few days? You always seem really tired."

"I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping, but it's okay."

Kitagawa Ryo pressed his temples, trying to muster his strength to answer:

"How's Sudo? How's his final exam preparation going?"

"I probably won't bother Kitagawa to buy points for me again."

Sudo Takeru looked very confident. He knew that he had passed the midterm exams because of Kitagawa Ryo's help. He had been working hard during this time to fulfill his promise to Kitagawa Ryo.

"However, some other things have happened recently."

Slightly annoyed, Takeru Sudo scratched the back of his head and carefully chose his words. Although the current apparent leaders of Class D were Honami Ichinose and Suzune Horikita, he still felt that Ryo Kitagawa was more capable, so he always sought out Ryo Kitagawa first when something came up.

"Those people in Class C... I guess it was Long Yuan who instigated them. They actually came to cause trouble for me early this morning while I was doing my morning exercise, deliberately harassing me, which prevented me from completing my planned goals this morning."

As if to vent his anger, Takeru Sudo couldn't help but kick away a small stone on the road.

"Well, Sudo probably held back by now."

"Of course, I completely ignored them."

"After all, those guys in Class C only ever exchange a few insults, nothing like the harsh insults you gave me last time, Kitagawa."

Under Kitagawa Ryo's verbal test, Sudo Takeru's anger threshold has increased considerably. If this had happened at the start of the school year, he probably would have already lost his temper and started a conflict.

"That's good. If another student conflict breaks out, the atmosphere in Class D will probably explode."

"Huh? Really? I feel like everyone's acting pretty normally."

Takeru Sudo looked puzzled, but considering that he was currently juggling tutoring and club activities and had no energy left for networking, it was understandable.

It's said that before dropping out of school, Yamauchi and Ike took their anger out on Sudo Ken and gave him a dressing down. This incident was quite a blow to Sudo, since he had always considered those two guys as friends. But he never expected that their persistent thought was why Sudo Ken hadn't failed the midterm exams and dropped out with them...

"Sudo should be going to the summer tournament with his club during the summer vacation, right?"

So Kitagawa Ryo didn't bother explaining and casually changed the subject. The moment basketball was mentioned, Sudo Takeru's attention was immediately drawn, and he excitedly exclaimed:

"That's right, after all, I'm already a full member of the team, and I can finally leave the school!"

"Then keep it up and try to earn some personal points."

"It's not that I'm asking you to return my points."

Fearing that Takeru Sudo might misunderstand, Ryo Kitagawa quickly added:

"Sports clubs can't eat wild vegetable meals every day, can they?"

Upon hearing the words "mountain vegetable set meal," Takeru Sudo immediately frowned.

"Yeah, given the current situation in Class D, we might really have to eat that bland, awful meal every day from now on."

"Speaking of which, someone from Class C also mocked me like that, saying I was a defective product that was supposed to eat three years' worth of free meals."

"They're wishing you won't be expelled for three years and that you'll graduate smoothly."

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo's answer, Sudo Ken paused for a moment.

*Smack!* He slammed his fist into his palm, a look of sudden realization on his face.

"Yes."

"...Anyway, besides you, are there any other people in the class being harassed by Class C?"

"Oh, let me think, in terms of sports clubs, it seems like those guys from Class C have been stalking Miyake lately too."

Akito Miyake was the only member of Class 1-D to join the archery club. Incidentally, very few people in Class 1-D joined any clubs; most of them just wandered around the school after school doing nothing.

Kitagawa Ryo did have some impression of Miyake Akito, partly because the other party had once defeated Class C on behalf of Class D in Karuizawa Megumi's simulation, and partly because the two had met up close at the club introduction meeting at the beginning of the school year.

In Kitagawa Ryo's memory, Miyake was a person who was somewhat unbalanced in his studies, a bit like Sudo. He was not academically gifted but had a talent for sports. However, he was much more obedient or rather, more introverted than Sudo. Sudo had two friends, Ike and Yamauchi, while Miyake seemed to have no friends at all. He would often go straight to the club for training as soon as get out of class was over.

"I guess they're planning to instigate another so-called violent incident, just like when they framed me."

Takeru Sudo pursed his lips. Although almost two months had passed, he was still somewhat shaken. After all, he had almost caused a violent incident because of Takuya Yagami's scheme. If Ryo Kitagawa hadn't appeared, his name would be on the list of those expelled from school now.

"Who knows? It's impossible to say for sure right now, but I'll think of a plan first."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head and instructed Sudo:

"In short, don't respond for now, and don't go to places without surveillance cameras, such as the special teaching building, and the fence near the river between the first and second teaching buildings..."

Sudo Ken listened with some astonishment as Kitagawa Ryo rattled off a list of dangerous locations.

This... feels much scarier than Class C.

"understood."

Swallowing hard, Ken Sudo nodded in agreement.

The two chatted as they walked to the classroom of Class 1D. The classroom, which had been vacated by six students who had dropped out, had six empty desks and chairs removed, making it visibly more spacious.

"Good morning, Ryo."

Honami Ichinose, who was sitting in the front row on the left and chatting with the girls, was the first to raise her hand and greet them.

Good morning, Honami.

With a smile, Kitagawa Ryo responded and walked to his seat, putting down his bag and pulling out a chair to sit down.

As the students from Class D arrived one after another, the classroom gradually came alive. Kitagawa Ryo pretended to hold a book in his hand, but in reality, he was listening to all sorts of gossip in the class. For example, some girls had gotten tired of the mountain vegetable set meals and decided to pool their money to buy some ingredients to cook for themselves. So-and-so was suspected of dating someone from another class.

The slightly noisy tranquility made Kitagawa Ryosuke feel sleepy, and he lazily yawned.

"Good morning."

Horikita Suzune, who was sitting next to Kitagawa Ryo, entered the classroom. She glanced at Kitagawa Ryo, who looked quite sleepy, and asked:

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

Good morning, Lingyin.

Kitagawa Ryo rubbed his eyes:

"I've been feeling a bit sleepy these past few days."

"Spring drowsiness, summer fatigue, autumn lethargy, and winter hibernation are normal phenomena."

Uncharacteristically, Horikita Suzune chuckled and made a lighthearted remark, then pulled a can of energy drink from her bag.

"I bought this from the vending machine this morning, do you want it?"

Kitagawa Ryo quite unceremoniously grabbed the energy drink, twisted the tab with great flair, and downed it in one gulp:

"Although I feel it's not very useful, it's a good thing to be able to take advantage of Lingyin."

"Are you really willing to take advantage of a mere 220 yen?"

"Could there be an even bigger one?"

"...Has Arisu not come yet this morning?"

"Rin's ability to change the subject is too stiff."

Although he said that, Kitagawa Ryo's gaze honestly went over there.

The bell had already rung for class, but Sakayanagi Arisu's seat was still empty.

"He's absent again."

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his eyes and responded in a low voice:

"Yeah, he's absent again."

Chapter 80: The Liar

Although the class advisor, Tomoya Mashima, had mentioned during the morning class that Arisu Sakayanagi had already requested leave for the day, as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the class, while the rest of the class was rushing towards the student cafeteria, Ryo Kitagawa headed straight for the dormitory building without hesitation.

He tried sending a text message to Arisu Sakayanagi during class to inquire about her situation, but not only did he not receive a reply, the few messages he sent remained unread.

Because there are not many students, Tokyo Advanced Educational High School only has three dormitory buildings, one for each grade, with boys and girls living together. However, considering the convenience of daily life and possible conflicts, the boys' dormitories are arranged on the lower floors, while the girls' dormitories are generally on the tenth floor or higher.

Almost no students return to their dormitories immediately during lunch break, so the waiting area in front of the elevator is empty, completely unlike the chaotic scene of students crowding together every morning when going to school or in the afternoon when leaving school.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the thirteenth floor as he remembered it, the elevator doors, which were about to close, sensed someone approaching. A girl quickly walked in, patting her chest as if relieved.

"Phew, I finally made it."

"Eh? Isn't this Senior Ryo?"

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at it and recognized it as Amasawa Ichika from his class. Ichika's identity was suspected to be a spy sent by the White Room, but her stance was strange. Last time, she had even specifically revealed part of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's plan to him.

"So, Liang... what kind of weird title is 'senpai'?"

Tianze Yixia blinked, revealing a slightly sly smile:

"Because I skipped a grade to get in, I'm a year younger than everyone else. And as a newcomer to the drama club with no experience, Ryo can be considered my senior."

Kitagawa Ryo asked casually, still thinking about Sakayanagi Arisu, so he just hummed in response and fell silent. Amasawa Ichika, however, seemed to have noticed something strange and suddenly spoke up:

"Are you going to the girls' dormitory, senior?"

Because there were only two people in the elevator, Amazu Ichika could tell at a glance which floor Kitagawa Ryo was heading to. She stared at the lit-up "Thirteen" and asked curiously.

Although Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School is co-ed, generally, no, in the vast majority of cases, boys do not go to the girls' area on the upper floors. After all, even if they are dating someone and want to go to their girlfriend's room, it is easy to see strange things in the corridor.

So even though the school didn't explicitly prohibit boys from going to the girls' dormitory area, nor did it put up a sign at the elevator entrance that read "Girls' Dormitory, Boys Keep Out," cautious boys still wouldn't easily set foot there.

But girls can freely go to the boys' dormitories.

Within a second, his thoughts began to wander in strange directions, so Kitagawa Ryo quickly pulled himself back and calmly replied:

"Yes, we're going to see Sakayanagi-san. Didn't she take the day off this morning? I'm a little worried."

"Oh--"

Tianze Yixia deliberately dragged out her words, and this somewhat affected gesture actually looked rather cute on her. She said with a grin:

"But Ryo-senpai might be disappointed, because Sakayanagi-san hasn't come back since she went out last night, and I live right next to her."

"Yeah……"

Kitagawa Ryo nodded, but thinking about it, it made sense. If Sakayanagi Arisu really had some health problem, the infirmary at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School would definitely be useless, and she would have been sent to an off-campus medical facility immediately. No wonder the message she sent hadn't been marked as "read".