I have a life simulator.

Kitagawa Ryo was also somewhat amused and exasperated by this, but since he was the one who had left the person waiting in the hotel until now, he wasn't entirely confident.

As it turned out, he and Xue were indeed in a conjugate, cotton-like mother-daughter relationship.

If one side shows even the slightest weakness, the other side will immediately and without hesitation seize absolute dominance.

Therefore, when Kitagawa Ryo was a little more forceful, Yuki bit his earlobe in a very aggrieved manner. Compared to the time at the school during the cultural festival, this time it was very light, and she didn't even use her teeth. She just pinched that small piece of soft flesh between her lips, which were as moist as cherry blossom petals. Rather than biting, it was more like rubbing, grinding, and licking.

As if suddenly realizing this, Kitagawa Ryo changed his mind again, unusually hardening his heart, and commanded in an even colder tone:

"I will always keep my promises to Xue, but I also hope that Xue can sometimes consider my feelings."

To Kitagawa Ryo's surprise, the moment he uttered those words, it was as if some mysterious switch had been flipped. The girl's wine-red pupils became so large that they seemed to be dripping water, and every inch of her skin no longer needed to be warmed with hot water as before; it was now completely hot, even scalding.

In that instant, Kitagawa Ryo's mind involuntarily flashed back to a section of follow-up information from the rhesus monkey experiments:

The monkeys raised by false cotton mothers almost all showed a complete inability to integrate into the group after they grew up and left their mothers. Their physiological and intellectual levels were all below average, and they were even unable to mate independently.

But humans are clearly different from monkeys.

At least Kitagawa Ryo didn't suffer from any of these aftereffects.

However, Xue seemed to be different. It was only because he knew he was in the wrong during the last cultural festival that he chose to cooperate throughout the entire process, giving up absolute dominance to the other party without hesitation for a second, and that's why he didn't realize it in time.

Suddenly realizing he had messed something up, Kitagawa Ryo managed a weak smile, feeling he had found a different perspective on the aforementioned material.

They can only be considered normal individuals in the presence of their 'cotton mother'; the subtle psychological influence has long affected their physiological functions, so they only remember the figure that left the deepest impression on them—

It instinctively produces one of the most primitive biological reactions.

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

"Jingle Bell--"

Hotaru, who was fast asleep in her own bed with a very unruly sleeping posture, reflexively reached out and slapped the ringing alarm clock on the bedside table to stop it. Without any intention of staying in bed, she sat up abruptly. Her long eyelashes fluttered for a while, and then her beautiful neon-colored eyes were fully open. Without any hesitation, she threw off the covers, lightly stepped into the neatly arranged slippers by the bed, and pattered her way out of bed.

It is 8:00 AM now.

Starting today, she is another year older.

Thinking of this, Hotaru happily drew back the curtains in her room. The snow from last night had stopped, and the winter sunlight shone in from there, making the girl stretch. Her slender, fair wrists and arms were revealed from the sleeves of her pajamas as she did so, radiating a soft light under the sunlight.

However, the only thing that Hotaru regretted was that when she left the room, Kitagawa Ryo's shoes were no longer in the entryway. All that was left for her was the breakfast that had been prepared and a note explaining the situation.

"I have a competition tomorrow, so I'm going back first... Tomorrow, did you leave at night, brother?"

After carefully washing up, Hotaru ate her breakfast while picking up the note and reading it over and over again.

After finishing breakfast, Hotaru, as if familiar with the place, pushed open Kitagawa Ryo's door, but immediately frowned subconsciously, sensing a slightly strange smell.

"It seems that because of the snow, there hasn't been much ventilation these past two days..."

After muttering this to herself in confusion, Hotaru went over and opened the window of the room halfway.

Then, as usual, she sat down at Kitagawa Ryo's desk and took out one of her notebooks from the bookshelf and opened it.

Hotaru always felt that the life simulation settings her brother made up to comfort her when she was little were very suitable for re-creation. In addition, she did feel lonely and bored during the years she spent abroad, so she often followed Kitagawa Ryo's ideas and freely imagined them. Just as she was always the protagonist in the other's stories, he was always the protagonist in the stories she wrote.

However, Ying's creative work didn't last long today, because soon her phone received a text message reminding her that a package had arrived and she should sign for it as soon as possible.

"Huh? Did I buy anything before?"

"Local express delivery... sent early this morning, the sender is Xue, a name I've never heard of, the note says 'Happy Birthday,' is it related to my brother?"

"Sigh, just how many girls has my brother met?"

Ying sighed helplessly, her pen tip lightly touching the paper, before finally deciding to get up and get it.

The door to the room was closed behind her, and the sunlight streaming through the window illuminated the area. A gentle breeze caressed the notebook on the desk, and the girl's thoughts were thus neatly put to rest.

Chapter 379: Next Year Today

"Thank you so much for your support and encouragement to the Tokyo Advanced Educational High School Drama Club. It has allowed us to stand on this stage again and receive this weighty honor..."

As Kitagawa Ryo accepted the judges' trophy on stage and began to give his acceptance speech into the microphone and camera, the girls backstage who had just removed their makeup and costumes all wore indifferent expressions of normalcy.

To be honest, even Amazusa Ichika, who had no prior acting experience and mostly just coasted along in the drama club, could clearly feel the level of dominance that Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Megumi's combination represented in these high school level competitions. Winning awards in these competitions was practically a one-click process; in a sense, it was something they could just walk into.

It was precisely because of this that Amasawa Ichika quickly and listlessly shifted her gaze from the stage to the audience, and then, as if noticing something, tugged at the sleeve of Ichinose Honami, who was standing next to her:

"Over there, Fanbo, that must be Ryo's younger sister."

"Yeah, it's the one sitting in the middle. It's a pity I can't leave the team as openly as Ryo, otherwise I would definitely go and say hello. It's been two years since I last saw him."

Following the direction pointed out by Amazusa Ichika, Ichinose Honami quickly found Hotaru's location, nodded in confirmation, and said with a hint of regret in her voice.

"The color of your eyes is almost exactly the same as mine."

"Can you see clearly from this far away?"

"Can't I feel it?"

Tianze Yixia pouted slightly in dissatisfaction, squinting her eyes to see more clearly:

"But she is indeed a very beautiful child. The way she claps is so cute. Both siblings are so good-looking... I'm a little curious about what kind of excellent genes their parents have."

"It's not that exaggerated. Ryo and Hotaru are not related by blood. And Ichika, you'd better not bring up the topic of parents in front of them."

"oh I got it."

Upon hearing this, Amazusa Ichika nodded seriously. Compared to Ichinose Honami, who had known her for a long time, she was indeed quite lacking in certain aspects of knowledge about Kitagawa Ryo, especially regarding Kitagawa Ryo, her younger sister whom she had never met in the simulation but who did exist in reality.

"But it turns out that the two of them are not related by blood?"

"Yes, but it doesn't affect their relationship. You should be able to tell from the fact that Ryo came out specifically to celebrate Hotaru's birthday, right? In Ryo's heart, Hotaru will always be his sister."

"is it?"

Tianze Yixia nodded thoughtfully, but a strange sense of déjà vu welled up in her heart.

Despite having no blood relation whatsoever, she innocently and naively stayed by his side as his younger sister.

Hey...isn't this exactly what she did before?

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

"What is your name?"

"Kitagawa Ryo."

"Your class?"

"Class B, Grade 1"

"Alright, Kitagawa Ryo, Class 1-B, regarding the accusation raised by Mr. Sima to the Academic Affairs Office that you violated the Tokyo Advanced Educational High School rules yesterday, December 24th, the day you left school to participate in the competition, by leaving the team without permission in a non-emergency situation, do you have any objections or additions?"

"Nothing."

"Okay, now we are officially informing you of the final results of the Academic Affairs Office's investigation into this accusation. According to the investigation, Kitagawa Ryo from Class 1-B violated several school rules and regulations during this off-campus competition. According to the relevant regulations, he should be expelled immediately. However, since he holds a protection point that can exempt him from one expulsion penalty, the two are offset against each other. Therefore, this expulsion penalty is cancelled and the protection point is invalid."

After saying that, the teacher from the academic affairs office continued to ask:

Do you have any objections or additions regarding the school's final decision?

"That's all. I accept the final outcome of this matter."

"Alright, then this matter ends here."

After the head teacher, seated in the main seat, solemnly announced that the incident was now over, the other teachers from the Academic Affairs Office who were observing the proceedings, as well as Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-B, all stood up from their seats with varying expressions. After all, it had only been a few days since Kitagawa Ryo received the award, and it was hard not to feel that the violation of the rules and the use of it was the result of the other party's deliberate actions.

But there was nothing they could do. After all, the protection points were Kitagawa Ryo's spoils, and the teachers couldn't stop him from using them however he wanted. Apart from Hoshinomiya Chie herself, who was starting to feel a pang of regret and a strong sense of ownership, most of the other teachers were just there to watch the show. After all, the transfer controversy hadn't been over for more than a few days, and Kitagawa Ryo was now a well-known figure at the school.

After signing his name on the final report to indicate his acceptance of the school's final decision, Kitagawa Ryo had just stood up to stretch his limbs when Hoshinomiya Chie approached him with concern:

"How are you? Are you alright? I hope the people from the academic affairs office didn't give you any trouble. If there's anything you need, just tell me. You're a student in our Class B now, so we definitely won't let you suffer even the slightest bit of grievance."

"It's nothing, it's just that I was asked some normal questions."

Although he knew long ago that he would inevitably be entangled by this homeroom teacher who was just as troublesome as Chabashira Sae after transferring to this class, Hoshinomiya Chie's boldness still exceeded Kitagawa Ryo's expectations. If it weren't for the fact that the other teachers in the room hadn't all left yet, he estimated that she would have grabbed his arm.

After subtly creating a slight distance between himself and the woman who showed absolutely no sense of distance or propriety, Kitagawa Ryo quickly walked out of the meeting room. Karuizawa Megumi, the class representative of Class 1-B, was already waiting in the corridor. She was clearly also worried about her unreliable homeroom teacher, so as soon as she saw Kitagawa Ryo come out, she immediately rushed over and asserted her dominance, which made the other teachers nearby raise their eyebrows and whisper among themselves.

After all, Kitagawa Ryo's transfer to another class was initiated by Karuizawa Megumi, who was in a different class. Combined with the existing rumors of a romantic relationship between the two, many girls in the school who admired romance had already imagined a whole dramatic love story.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, that's why I did it, because I knew everything would be fine."

Faced with Karuizawa Megumi's concern, Kitagawa Ryo shook his head indifferently, then glanced at the time on his phone again.

10:12 PM on December 25th.

After his drama club group returned to school from the competition today, his actions were immediately reported to the academic affairs office by the accompanying supervising teacher, Sima Kedian, and the matter dragged on until now before it finally came to an end.

"Hui must be tired too. Today you participated in a competition and went back to school, and you've been staying with me until now."

"If Liang put it that way, then it is indeed a bit true."

After yawning slightly, Karuizawa Kei rubbed her eyes and, as she walked out with Kitagawa Ryo, casually asked:

"Isn't Liang the same? It seems like you didn't come back to the hotel all night yesterday. I only saw you come to meet up this morning. Did you stay with Ying until midnight before you went to sleep?"

"...Pretty much, but Ying just won't let me give her a birthday present this year, I don't know what's going on."

"Hmm—that's normal, isn't it? After all, for her, the fact that Liang was able to leave school to celebrate her birthday with her is already a very precious birthday gift."

After chatting about Hotaru for a while, the two entered the dormitory building. Because they were on different floors, Kitagawa Ryo, who arrived on the fourth floor first, waved goodnight to Karuizawa Megumi, who was still in the elevator.

As the elevator doors slowly closed and continued upwards, Kitagawa Ryo showed no intention of returning to his room. Instead, he walked steadily to the adjacent stairwell and began to descend to the next floor.

All we can say is that Karuizawa Kei, as the class president of Class 1-B and a member of the drama club, can go back to his room to wash up and go to sleep now, but this master of time management has even more things to consider.

At this time of day, the campus is already almost deserted, let alone on such a cold day. Most students would probably prefer to stay in their rooms, wrapped in blankets, playing games or resting, enjoying the first few days of their winter break.

However, this group obviously does not include Horikita Suzune from Class 1-A.

When Kitagawa Ryo found her, she was holding an umbrella under a street lamp, looking up at the snow. The light focused on that small patch of light, illuminating only the delicate snowflakes in that area of ​​the sky. Everything else was hidden in the darkness of the night. From a distance, it looked as if only the background where the girl was standing was snowing for her.

In that instant, Kitagawa Ryo once again understood why Hotaru had named the chapters related to Horikita Suzune in the simulator "Winter Dream".

The more he was immersed in such a pure white snowy night, the more deeply he could feel the charm of Horikita Suzune's long, straight black hair, which she had grown since childhood and was now long enough to reach her waist. It was even a little breathtaking.

Upon seeing Kitagawa Ryo's figure, Horikita Suzune instinctively folded her umbrella and jogged towards him. The ends of her hair, fluttering with her movements, shone and shone brightly under the streetlights, as if sprinkled with fluorescent powder.

Just like the scene last semester when Kitagawa Ryo picked up Horikita Suzune on a rainy day, they once again held hands and held up the same big umbrella.

"I was pulled into a half-day meeting by the academic affairs office, which is why I'm so late now, all because of my leaving campus this time..."

Before Kitagawa Ryo could finish speaking, Horikita Suzune gently shook her head and pressed her right index finger against his lips:

"Explaining is also a waste of time."

After saying that, Horikita Suzune straightened Kitagawa Ryo's collar again:

"Don't you feel cold without a scarf?"

"I didn't tie it because I didn't receive a ringtone from it."

Although it sounded like some kind of cheesy love talk, Kitagawa Ryo spoke quite frankly, after all, the first hand-knitted scarf he ever received was indeed from Horikita Suzune's simulation.

"...I thought the wardrobe would be full of hand-knitted scarves given to me by other girls."

"I think it's because you all hold this kind of view that no one has sent me anything."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo sighed helplessly. Fortunately, he had a fluffy, warm little animal in his dorm who could occasionally play the role of a scarf. After all, the animal liked to lie on him since winter began, and wrapping it around his neck counted as wearing a cat scarf.

"And it seems like I've been busy picking out gifts for Hotaru for the past few days."

"Indeed, Liang should have delivered mine too, right? I didn't know what to send at the time, so I just sewed a small pouch myself."

"Yes, Ying likes it very much."

Is it your favorite?

"So even this needs to be argued about?"

"After all, I always want to get along well with Ryo's family in advance... Just like how my brother admires Ryo, I hope Hotaru can also accept me. Otherwise, I feel it will be troublesome after we get married. Ryo probably doesn't want to have to make a choice between me and Hotaru falling into the water and who to save first, right?"

"I remember Suzune could swim."

"Yes, yes, that's why I was thinking of getting to know her beforehand so I could bring her up with me and save her from having to jump into the water again, right?"

At this point, Horikita Suzune made another subtle comment:

"But I think it's more likely that Liang will be able to pull us both out, one in each hand."

"It really is."

Just when Kitagawa Ryo thought the conversation would continue leisurely, Horikita Suzune suddenly stopped, her tone lowered, and she bluntly brought up the topic that the two of them had been intentionally avoiding.