I have a life simulator.

Because she needed to try on clothes, Horikita Suzune let go of their hands, which she had been holding for quite some time and had almost forgotten about. She carefully held onto the warmth of her palms and hid them behind her back, waiting for Kitagawa Ryo to come out of the fitting room.

Horikita Suzune learns everything very quickly because she is very focused on everything she does.

This naturally includes emotions.

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

"Um, I'm so sorry, could I use your fitting room again?"

Wearing a pure white sleeveless dress, Karuizawa Megumi returned to the shop she had just been in and apologized to the shop assistants inside.

"Of course, it's fine."

The shop assistant naturally remembered the girl who had just bought a dress from their store, and since there was no one else in the store, they kindly agreed.

About three minutes later, Karuizawa Megumi, who had changed back into her usual casual clothes, came out of the fitting room carrying the dress and put it into her shopping bag.

Is there anything you're unhappy with about this outfit?

The female shop assistant next to her was puzzled by Karuizawa's behavior. After all, Karuizawa had just been extremely fond of this piece of clothing, and looked very satisfied when she looked in the mirror. She even asked Karuizawa to cut off the price tag, as if she intended to wear it out immediately.

Moreover, from her personal perspective, Karuizawa Kei herself is very suitable for this look. Her flawless white dress is so appealing that even she herself is somewhat smitten, let alone boys.

After all, beautiful things always give people a sense of healing.

"No, no, I really like this one, but... I just want to keep it for later."

Kei Karuizawa noticed the clerk's confusion and brushed it off with a reasonably convincing excuse.

Thank you, goodbye.

After glancing at the time on her phone, Karuizawa Kei left again.

Like most shopping malls, Keyaki Shopping Center also has lockers for customers at the entrance of the stairs on each floor. Karuizawa Kei ran there, found an empty locker, stuffed the shopping bag containing her clothes into it, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

I almost forgot.

"Since you've decided to abandon certain ideas, you should do it thoroughly."

"Reconciling with your past self is an extremely difficult thing."

"It's a good story, but not the story that people want to see."

This is what Ryo said to her a few days ago on the way back to the hotel after she and Kitagawa Ryo performed in "The Human Chair".

Although it seemed like just some casual comments on the play "The Human Chair," Karuizawa Kei keenly sensed Kitagawa Ryo's change in mindset.

She was the person who accompanied Kitagawa Ryo the longest, and also the one who paid the most attention to him, understood him the most, and cared the most about any changes in him.

Kitagawa Ryo's last major emotional upheaval occurred after Horikita Suzune appeared. After that point in time, his relationship with Horikita Suzune began to progress rapidly, and Horikita Suzune herself seemed to have grown up overnight.

Based on what happened to her, Karuizawa Kei could easily deduce some things.

This time, however, a sudden change occurred in Sakayanagi Arisu.

She had been closely monitoring Sakayanagi Arisu's actions over the past few days, and even had a sense of déjà vu that felt almost familiar.

Because everything the other person did was no different from what she did when she was seven years old.

But this will not yield any results.

Dwelling excessively on past emotions and memories, even trying to use them to prove or blackmail the present, is definitely a negative trait.

Karuizawa Kei had already noticed this.

Of course, it might also be because in the two memories she had in her dreams, she and Kitagawa Ryo never actually ended up together.

Kitagawa Ryo's actions weren't driven by a desire to make them like him, but rather by a desire for their happiness. This aspect of his personality seems somewhat similar to Ichinose Honami, yet they are completely different.

Liang is the type of person who would rather see them grow into better people than hear "I like you" a hundred times.

That's why Karuizawa Kei has worked so hard to get to where she is today, to become a girl whose name can be found in search engines and whose personal encyclopedia has been written by fans who have been following her.

Just as improving oneself is always the best answer to the question of how to pursue others, Karuizawa Kei believes and is certain that once she has grown into a better version of herself, she can confess all her feelings to Kitagawa Ryo.

It's not the suspension bridge effect, not Stockholm syndrome, and not the so-called gratitude mentality after being rescued.

It's just a normal, girlish liking, suppressed in her eyes yet blossoming on her tongue.

In the story, the short, ugly, and self-conscious chair maker needs to crawl into a large chair to achieve his wish.

But Karuizawa Megumi no longer needs to wear that sleeveless dress that she used to regard as armor.

Reaching out to close the locker door, Karuizawa Megumi locked the shopping bags in the darkness.

"benefit?"

At that moment, another girl's voice suddenly came from behind, from the entrance of the stairs.

A silver-haired girl, looking a little out of breath and with a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, stood behind her carrying a large schoolbag. She was Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C.

"Oh, it's Hiyori. I never expected to run into you at the mall."

Karuizawa Megumi, who was startled and almost thought she had bumped into Horikita Suzune and Kitagawa Ryo, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was Shiina Hiyori. She quickly walked over to her and said with a smile.

She and Hiyori Shiina had known each other for a long time, and had even participated in the theater troupe's auditions together. If Hiyori Shiina's parents hadn't taken her abroad to study for a period of time due to work reasons, it's possible that she and Hiyori would have been the only ones to join the theater troupe at that time.

However, because of this relationship, the two have always gotten along quite well and can be considered good friends. Therefore, Karuizawa Megumi's tone and actions are quite intimate.

"Hiyori actually came to the mall today. Is it because the library is out of power?"

With a smile and a playful remark, Karuizawa Kei took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to Shiina Hiyori, gesturing for her to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Of course not... Does Hui think I just spend all my time in the library?"

Shiina Hiyori took the tissue and muttered a rebuttal while wiping her sweat.

"I wonder if someone said that you could live in Dongyu's library for the rest of your life—oh right, and add a tea ceremony club too."

Karuizawa Megumi reached out and weighed the backpack Shiina Hiyori was carrying on her back, asking with some surprise:

"Why don't you put your bag in the locker first? Carrying so much stuff here, people who know you will think you're buying things, and people who don't will think you're here to sell things."

"...It's just that I haven't walked such a long distance in a long time."

Although she was still somewhat resistant, Shiina Hiyori eventually listened to Karuizawa Kei and put her heavy backpack in the locker. Feeling light and free, she began to stroll around the third floor with Karuizawa Kei.

Since Hiyori Shiina hadn't asked why she came to the mall, Megumi Karuizawa wisely refrained from asking further questions and simply discussed some ordinary topics.

"Did Hiyori buy a new swimsuit?"

"No, I don't really like wearing that, and besides, I don't think the school will actually take us on a vacation this summer..."

Hiyori Shiina also realized the pattern of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing Junior High School and shook her head, asking Megumi Karuizawa:

"Is Hui here to buy a new swimsuit? Or has she already bought one? I think I saw Hui storing something in the locker earlier."

"What I just saved was just a summer outfit... haha, not a swimsuit."

"I see."

Shiina Hiyori looked thoughtful, frowned slightly for a moment, then smiled again and said:

"Should I go with Hui to buy a new swimsuit? I think the women's clothing store is on the fourth floor..."

While saying this, Shiina Hiyori began to seriously help Karuizawa Megumi understand the situation:

"I think Hui looks good in lighter colors, hmm..."

Karuizawa Kei realized early on why Kitagawa Ryo cared so much about Shiina Hiyori, because she also liked the other's personality.

There were no hidden wounds, nor complicated past events; her existence was like the earth after a snowfall, pure and clean.

Just as Karuizawa Kei was about to forget her purpose and agree to the other party's request, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a shop across the street from the corner of her eye. Behind the transparent glass wall, there was a boy who looked like he had just come out of the fitting room.

He was led by the hand of another girl in a very natural way, and taken to the dressing mirror, which was just two steps away.

Chapter 131: The Girls' Little Tricks

When Horikita Suzune led him by the hand from the fitting room to the full-length mirror no more than two meters away, Kitagawa Ryo finally understood a little of what Horikita Suzune meant when she said, "When two people go shopping together, life feels long."

Buying clothes for someone else and being led by someone else to buy clothes are indeed two completely different experiences. Unlike the experience of quietly waiting by the mirror, facing the girl's sweet smile and softly asking if the clothes she is wearing look good, and finally giving a positive compliment, all Kitagawa Ryo needs to do now is stand there and let Horikita Suzune do as she pleases.

Perhaps because Kitagawa Ryo usually wore that white uniform shirt, the first summer outfit Horikita Suzune chose for him was also a white T-shirt, the simple style of which perfectly showcased the boy's refreshing look.

Horikita Suzune reached out to smooth out the slight wrinkles in Kitagawa Ryo's clothes on his shoulder. She was a little shorter than Kitagawa Ryo, so she raised her arm a little higher. With this movement, her top seemed to draw a beautiful semicircle on her chest as if it were tracing the curves of her body.

"How about it?"

With both hands, she swept the clothes down from under Kitagawa Ryo's armpits to his waist in one go, completely smoothing them out. Only then did Horikita Suzune take a small step back, satisfied, and ask Kitagawa Ryo in the mirror.

"pretty good."

Kitagawa Ryo casually turned around a couple of times. In reality, even when trying on clothes, it's difficult for people to truly see their full appearance in front of a mirror. Ultimately, these actions are all for the benefit of their companions, just like buying clothes is initially for others to see.

Besides, Kitagawa Ryo is already a perfect clothes hanger. Even if Horikita Suzune has no eye for clothes, the final product will still look great on him.

"But aren't these white T-shirts a little too hard to wash?"

Although he was fairly satisfied, Kitagawa Ryo had already considered the potential troubles that might follow.

Most students at Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School do their own laundry. After all, being allowed to attend a fully enclosed school like Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School by their parents suggests they have a decent level of self-reliance.

Although there is a laundromat at Beechwood Shopping Center, it is not very popular among students. On the one hand, like other facilities on campus, washing clothes at the laundromat requires paying a personal credit fee. On the other hand, many students are not willing to wash their underwear with other people's clothes. They will only reluctantly choose the laundromat if they really have no way to clean it themselves or if they have a large down jacket.

While pure white clothes are refreshing, they are indeed quite prone to getting dirty.

In particular, Kitagawa Ryo keeps a cat in his dorm and enjoys cooking in the kitchen himself, so the sheer number of stains he gets is enough to give him a headache.

"That's not something Liang should worry about. I'm very good at that."

Horikita Suzune seemed quite confident, but considering that she had lived independently since childhood and had excellent cooking skills, it was indeed only natural that she had mastered all these domestic skills.

"If Liang finds it difficult to wash later, just call me and ask me to come down. After I wash and dry it, I will return it to Liang."

Horikita Suzune spoke with perfect naturalness, as if stating a fact that had already been established.

Borrowing things is one of the best ways to bring two people closer. It not only easily creates a common topic of conversation, but also brings two direct meetings: one when borrowing and one when returning.

"Then let's wrap this one up first."

Before Kitagawa Ryo could react, Horikita Suzune, while talking to the salesperson next to her, picked up another piece of clothing she had previously picked out and stuffed it into Kitagawa Ryo's arms, then reached out and pushed his back to send him into the fitting room.

Horikita Suzune stood quietly at the door of the fitting room, holding the already wrapped shopping bag. She saw her own silent smile reflected in the mirror.

Dressing up for someone you like and dressing up for someone you like—these two behaviors are perhaps connected at the most basic level of emotional logic. They bring a deep, unfathomable sense of satisfaction and peace.

"Horikita-san?"

Just as Horikita Suzune's thoughts began to drift into this sluggish comfort, the clothing store door opened again. The hurried footsteps and greetings brought her back to her senses. Turning around, she calmly nodded after recognizing the visitors.

"Shiina-san, Karui-san, are you here to buy clothes together too?"

"This floor should mainly be men's clothing stores; the women's clothing stores need to be on another floor."

Horikita Suzune hadn't used such a cold, seemingly veiled tone in a long time, but she had keenly sensed that the two people who had come together were seeking the same thing as her.

Just a few days ago, she was wondering if Sakayanagi Arisu's behavior was a bit too extreme, but undeniably, what the other party showed that day completely made her realize what was going on.

Horikita Suzune doesn't believe that Kitagawa Ryo's experience with her is unique, but she also believes that her experience with Kitagawa Ryo is unique. Therefore, she feels that she cannot truly watch without any reservations as Kitagawa Ryo is actually with other girls.

She is someone who is dedicated to everything she does, and can get stuck on a particular thing for years without looking back.

The same goes for feelings.

Perhaps because she had had very little interaction with others in the past, Horikita Suzune herself did not expect that she had so many feelings stored up in her heart, as if she was just going to bring them all out in this relationship.

Sakayanagi Arisu's words actually revived all the emotions that Horikita Suzune had hidden in her heart in the past. Perhaps the word "revive" is not appropriate, because they had always been there.

But she did it willingly.

Before Shiina Hiyori could grasp the meaning behind Horikita Suzune's words, and was about to explain why she was there, how she met Karuizawa Megumi, and how she saw Kitagawa Ryo on her way, Karuizawa Megumi spoke first:

"Just as I was about to go upstairs, I saw Horikita and Ryo here. Is Horikita here to help Ryo choose clothes? Ryo has never liked buying new clothes. I guess it's because he wore too many costumes when he was acting in the theater troupe. After all, he was basically running around from one place to another for those two years."

"Yes, Liang was indeed very busy back then."

Shiina Hiyori seemed to have grasped the meaning a little, but not completely, so she just nodded to the side.

"Because I saw a few outfits that were really suitable for Ryo when I was here a few days ago. When your drama club went out of school the time before last, the one that brought back Hotaru, I helped Ryo clean her room. That's when I realized that Ryo didn't have many clothes."

Horikita Suzune tightened her grip on the shopping bag in her hand, smiled, and nodded, saying:

"I also washed his clothes at the time, so I remembered the size and everything. And I think my taste is pretty good, Liang just liked the clothes I picked out for him."

As she spoke, Horikita Suzune held up the shopping bag in her hand to show it off: