I have a life simulator.

"And it's Karuizawa from Class B."

At this point, Horikita Suzune's expression also became somewhat unnatural.

Horikita Suzune had previously suspected that Kitagawa Ryo had changed more than just her and Sakayanagi's past, and if we trace back further, Karuizawa Megumi seemed to be the prime suspect.

However, Horikita Suzune couldn't directly confront him and ask him directly. Even she herself couldn't help but hide those memories of him in some unfathomable place, so naturally, others would do the same.

"Karuizawa-san?"

Akane Tachibana paused for a moment, but quickly recovered, as if remembering something, took out her phone from her pocket, swiped the page a couple of times, and showed it to Suzune Horikita:

Is this Karuizawa?

Big news! Famous theater actors Ryo Kitagawa and Megumi Karuizawa were spotted returning to their hotel together late at night, their intimate behavior suggesting a possible relationship!

"...Indeed, after all, Liang's name is still there, isn't it?"

Horikita Suzune glanced at the news headline and looked away, focusing her gaze on the stack of folders hidden in the gap, reaching out and pushing it further in.

"They even take photos secretly. These tabloid reporters are really something."

Akane then swiped down with her finger and soon saw the photo of the two of them walking side by side, leaning on each other.

Below are those hot comments that have no clear meaning.

Whether it was because of the photo or some scene or sentence in the comments that touched some memory in her, or because she finally realized that Horikita Suzune had been silent for a while, Tachibana Akane also stopped talking, silently typed Karuizawa Megumi's name in the search bar, and then carefully read the encyclopedia entry about her written by the netizen [K&K].

"I really envy their relationship."

Then, Akane put down her phone and let out a sigh.

Horikita Suzune's initial low spirits were immediately replaced by confusion. She looked up at Tachibana Akane with a bewildered expression. How come she remembered that Secretary Tachibana was interested in her brother? Shouldn't she be the one to say that?

"Have you heard of the power of imagery, Lingyin? Many ordinary actions are given all sorts of other meanings in different situations. For example, two people leaving a series of footprints on the beach can feel like a couple?"

Although she didn't understand what Tachibana Akane was trying to say, Horikita Suzune nodded obediently:

"That's indeed a common saying."

"In fact, walking side by side is often given other meanings."

As the student council secretary and a student in Class 3-A, Akane Tachibana always followed behind Manabu Horikita.

To lag slightly behind.

"I heard that Suzune used to look up to Horikita-kun."

"That was a long time ago."

Horikita Suzune quickly distanced herself from the situation, establishing a sacred separation, as she genuinely didn't want to recall that past period, which Kitagawa Ryo still teases her about every day.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, our entire Class 3-A has always looked up to Horikita-kun."

Akane Tachibana readily admitted:

“But unlike Suzune, Suzune saw Horikita-kun’s strengths in the past and thought of him as a flawless person, which is why she wanted to catch up with him.”

"But we wanted to catch up with Horikita because we saw his setbacks."

"Because I wanted to truly help him."

Perhaps feeling that Horikita Suzune had the right to know everything about Horikita Gakuen, Tachibana Akane made no attempt to hide anything from her:

"Horikita-kun... Horikita-kun has always been fighting alone. He's been fighting against second-year and third-year students all along. Suzune should know that, right?"

"Ah."

Horikita Suzune nodded. All of these things, including everything about Nagumo Masaru's influence in the student council, had already been told to Horikita Manabu after she showed him her growth. This could be considered a kind of recognition.

"To put it bluntly, the fact is that the reason why Class 3-A is still Class 3-A is entirely due to Horikita-kun."

"At the very least... if Horikita-kun falls, Class A won't be a sure thing."

Akane Tachibana pursed her lips, as if she felt resentful:

"Because the students in our Class A are always dragging us down...we've lost a lot of class points that we shouldn't have lost, and even our individual points—we always sacrifice ourselves to protect our teammates."

It was something Horikita Manabu had never mentioned. As Horikita Suzune pondered the information contained in the other person's words, she couldn't help but think of Kitagawa Ryo.

"Orange!"

But soon, another man's voice came from the doorway of the student council office.

The person who walked in from there was the current student council president, Horikita Manabu.

He seemed to have overheard their conversation outside the door, and his usually calm face showed a rare slight furrow in his brow.

"You can go out first. I have something to say to you later."

"...Yes, I'm very sorry."

Perhaps not expecting Horikita Manabu to be there, Tachibana Akane quickly wiped her face several times, but her eyes were still a little red from being too emotional. She lowered her head as if she didn't dare to look at Horikita Manabu and left the room.

"You don't need to worry about what Ju said just now. I'll handle that."

After Akane Tachibana left, Manabu Horikita hesitated for a moment before saying this, but then quickly looked up at his sister's eyes and added:

"But there is one thing she said that is not wrong."

"Walking side by side has indeed been given a lot of meaning."

"The same applies to couples; they can only go the distance if they stand side by side, in every aspect."

Horikita Suzune felt that her older brother suddenly seemed a little unfamiliar, and belatedly, she spoke towards the door:

"That Secretary Ju..."

"Shhh."

But Horikita Manabu only gestured for her to be quiet, and a rare smile appeared on his lips:

"Lingyin, keep it up!"

"Some people may seem to be standing at the finish line from the very beginning, but that is actually the place furthest from the starting line."

"Just walk this road alongside him; there's no need to lead or chase."

"What's something Lingyin wants to do with him lately?"

"buying clothes?"

Horikita Suzune never expected that her older brother was a hidden encyclopedia of romance. She subconsciously blurted out something she had planned to say but couldn't because she bumped into Sakayanagi Arisu, and that had been delayed because Kitagawa Ryo left school.

"Then try asking him out."

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

"We'll be leaving now, you two can continue your conversation."

"The key is in the cabinet. Please close the door when you leave."

At Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School, in the tea ceremony club, after the last senior member of the club closed the door with a smile, only Kitagawa Ryo and Shiina Hiyori remained in the club room.

This is a great place that Kitagawa Ryo and Shiina Hiyori recently found. Although the library is quiet, you can't talk loudly. Considering that Ms. Hiyori always unconsciously raises her voice when talking about her favorite novels, the two of them had to start looking for another quiet and secluded place to hold their book club meeting.

As a member of the tea ceremony club, Shiina Hiyori immediately thought of their club's activity room. Finally, after Kitagawa Ryo paid the price of booking all the tea and snacks for the tea ceremony club for three years, the two finally obtained such an excellent location.

The tea on the table was freshly brewed by Hiyori Shiina, and the snacks were handmade by Ryo Kitagawa.

Amidst the rising steam, Hiyori Shiina's eyes crinkled into crescents, her voice soft and sweet, like a fluffy cotton candy cloud.

"Ryo is performing Edogawa Ranpo's 'The Human Chair' this time, right?"

"Hmm, I didn't expect Hiyori to know too..."

"Because the student council has already posted about the award on the forum. Not only that, the drama department was also awarded 100,000 individual points."

"That's okay."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't care much about his personal points; he still had over ten million points in his account.

"If you don't like Liang, you can let me use her."

"Does Hiyori want to buy something?"

"I've found a few more great novels that I want to buy and save for the summer vacation. It would be really interesting to read them on the cruise ship."

"Oh right, speaking of cruise ships, have you bought your swimsuit yet? Everyone in class has been talking about it lately."

"I'm going this weekend; Lingyin invited me."

"Oh……"

At this point, Shiina Hiyori nodded, then, as if she had forgotten the topic, she reappeared with interest, leaning forward slightly to ask:

"By the way, Ryo, have you found any good mystery novels lately?"

"Of course!"

Kitagawa Ryo immediately took a book out of his bag:

"The City of the Queen's Kingdom" is written by a huge fan of Ellery Queen, and the author's style is similar to theirs. He is even hailed as the Japanese Ellery Queen.

"And this book, 'The City of the Queen's Kingdom,' is his representative work and also the work that won the 2008 Honkaku Mystery Novel Award."

"Whether it's a narrative trick or..."

This was the first time Shiina Hiyori had interrupted Kitagawa Ryo's speech. She seemed to dislike the book, and spoke with a slight furrow of her beautiful eyebrows:

"The author is Arisugawa Arisu, right?"

Arisugawa Arisu, this famous mystery novelist, originally chose this pen name simply to try to get her works listed as early as possible when submitting them (in alphabetical order, A is first).

"I won't read his books, no matter how good they are."

Hiyori Shiina really likes Ellery Queen, but she doesn't like the Japanese Ellery Queen—Mr. Arisugawa Arisu.

Perhaps this is not a difficult mystery to solve.

Chapter 129: Because I Like It

Shopping and strolling around the streets are said to be one of the things that girls find hardest to resist, but that makes guys feel most uncomfortable.

Kitagawa Ryo used to find it hard to understand why girls could show superhuman physical strength and willpower in this area. He had even seen cases around him who spent a whole day shopping but only bought two things. His own shopping habit was to prepare a shopping list before going out and then efficiently select items, spending very little time in the mall.

Even after enrolling in Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School, the time spent shopping was reduced by half again.

【Keyaki Shopping Center】As the largest shopping center in Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School, it thoughtfully provides online shopping services for students and teachers. Simply place an order on a specific shopping website, and the goods will be delivered directly to the student's room within a day, which is quite convenient.

However, since Horikita Suzune had already invited him, Kitagawa Ryo still made the rare decision to leave his dormitory and go on a long trip.

During this period, he spent all his time playing games in his dormitory except for attending classes. The game console and cartridges were also delivered to his door after he placed an order.

What comforted Kitagawa Ryo was that, perhaps because he had been making excuses about not feeling well lately, no one had bothered him. Apart from sending a couple of greetings as usual, his door, which had been through countless mishaps and whose spare keys had been left out, had finally been left unopened.

Thinking it would be polite to arrive a little early, Kitagawa Ryo deliberately left his room fifteen minutes before the agreed time. The Keyaki Shopping Center was not far from the student dormitory, and when he got there, there were still seven or eight minutes left before the agreed time.

Kitagawa Ryo casually found a shady spot under a tree in front of the Beech Tree Shopping Center and stood there, idly observing the students coming and going. Since it was the weekend, almost all the boys and girls had changed into casual clothes. Moreover, with the recent hot weather, many girls were also wearing summer clothes in advance, and their fair arms and legs were clearly visible.

However, Kitagawa Ryo didn't have many different styles of casual wear. He was still wearing the uniform shirt. The uniform of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School consists of two sets: a jacket and a shirt. Compared with the uniform jacket, which is fixed in red, students can freely choose the color of the inner lining. In Kitagawa Ryo's memory, Karuizawa Megumi preferred the blue one.

As for Kitagawa Ryo, he didn't care much about that aspect and wore the default white outfit.

Because the temperature was indeed quite high today, Kitagawa Ryo rolled up his sleeves slightly and unbuttoned one more button at the collar as he leaned against the tree, waiting for Horikita Suzune to arrive.

However, after only glancing down at his phone a few times, Kitagawa Ryo felt the gazes of those around him subtly focusing on him when he looked up again. Two girls who looked to be older students walked past him and spoke a little louder, which he could clearly hear.

"This summer outfit looks so nice! Should we go ask what brand it is?"

"...Didn't you realize it was a uniform, or did you just not notice it was fake?"

"A truly handsome guy can pull off a uniform like this, and it even looks like the same person."

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was listening intently to the two girls whispering to each other, Horikita Suzune, who had finally arrived, spotted Kitagawa Ryo at a glance. Feeling a sense of familiarity with the scene, she walked over and stood in front of him.

"Did Liang arrive so early?"

"It'll be about five minutes earlier."

Upon hearing Horikita Suzune's voice, Kitagawa Ryo also turned around. Unlike Honami or Megumi's blue eyes, every time he met Horikita Suzune's eyes at close range, he always felt a faint tickle in his heart from the purplish-red light in her eyes.

Unlike Horikita Manabu, who was obsessed with the length of his sister's black hair, Kitagawa Ryo always felt that what impressed him most about Horikita Suzune's appearance was her pair of charming purplish-red eyes that resembled both a fox and a cat.

"Let's go inside then, the air conditioning is on."

Horikita Suzune turned around and hugged Kitagawa Ryo side by side. Her left hand tried to reach for Kitagawa Ryo's right hand as naturally as possible, but after actually touching it, she didn't know how to hold it or what posture to use. Would it feel unsecure to just interlock the upper half of her fingers? Would it feel too intimate to hold hands with all ten fingers together?