I.W.B.A.L

　　Kento who was eating fried eggs, after hearing Setsuna's words, looked at the girl in front of him with some hidden emotions in her eyes, and shook his head slightly.

　　"No, he had some unfinished work piled up before, and he knew I could help him with it, so he asked me for help. He almost finished it yesterday, and he probably won't go again this week."

　　Thinking of how Umetaro Nozaki invited him to be his tool last night, Kento couldn't help but chuckle. He had a simple breakfast, put the plate in the sink, and picked up his schoolbag.

　　"Okay, let's go, it's time to go to school."

　　Setsuna seemed to have something else to say, but nodded without saying anything. He quietly followed Kento and left the room. As for the Saionji world, it was also unusually quiet today, with an expression that no one knew what it was thinking about...

　　When he arrived at the school, Umetaro Nozaki had also arrived, and everything seemed the same as usual, but Kento knew that after he left, he probably continued working for a while.

　　He was very suspicious that the reason why Umetaro Nozaki was a little slow in reaction was simply because he did not get enough rest and was in low spirits.

　　"Good morning."

　　"Good morning."

　　After greeting him, Kento sat down, put down his schoolbag, and looked at Umetaro Nozaki behind him.

　　"What time did you go to bed last night?"

　　"About twelve o'clock, or maybe one, I can't remember clearly, what happened?"

　　"No, I'm just a little curious. Do you go to bed so late every day?"

　　"Otherwise I won't be able to meet the deadline, and I don't want to have contact with that troublesome editor. It is very important for me to complete the task perfectly and not meet with that editor."

　　"edit?"

　　Kento was a little surprised, and then he remembered that it seemed that every comic writer had a responsible editor, and they contacted each other on a daily basis to complete work coordination?

　　It seems that it will also involve the content of the cartoonist's work. If the relationship with the editor is not good, it will be quite troublesome for the cartoonist, right?

　　Looking at the dissatisfied expression of Umetaro Nozaki in front of him, it was obvious that he was quite dissatisfied with his editor.

　　Thinking back, he used to contact the editors of the publishing house, and was occasionally asked to make changes to the content. Even if it was just some minor issues, it would still be quite annoying to be pointed out where the shortcomings were...

　　Thinking about it this way, I can kind of understand Umetaro Nozaki's feelings.

　　"Can't you change the editor?"

　　"...It seems possible."

　　Umetaro Nozaki had a thoughtful expression and his eyes were eager to make a move. He was moved by Kento's suggestion.

　　"It's time for class!"

　　Kiryu Yuzuki entered the classroom. When the voice sounded, almost everyone in the classroom sat back in their seats. Kento also stopped communicating with Nozaki Umetaro, slowly looked straight ahead, and listened to the class quietly...

　　— — — —

　　I still owe you one more chapter. I'll update it after I take a shower.

　　Thanks to Kewpie~, FoRce, Qiuyue Xiaosan@, Linglong Dice An Hongdou丶 for their monthly tickets and blades! Thanks to everyone for their recommendation votes!

Cherry Blossom Season: 95. Speed up and run faster than the speed of light

　　"Kento, it's noon, wanna join us?"

　　When it was time for lunch break, Yoshii Akihisa and Sakamoto Yuji called out to Kento as usual. Kento, who was sitting at his seat, looked at the two people who had already walked to the door, and waved his hand slightly, indicating that they could just go, and he would not go to the cafeteria.

　　"It's like this again. Never mind. Yuuji and I will go alone."

　　Yoshii Akihisa mumbled like a little girl, then went to the cafeteria with Sakamoto Yuji and left the classroom. Kento, who was sitting in his seat, was about to continue to the atrium when a figure came to his table.

　　After taking a look at the figure and the long golden hair that reached to the hips, Kento knew who was coming without having to make a careful analysis.

　　despair--

　　A long square box wrapped in furoshiki was placed in front of Kento. Kento couldn't help but look at the lunch box wrapped in furoshiki for a few more times, and then looked at the girl beside him.

　　"Is this a bento?"

　　"You haven't prepared a good lunch recently, right? So I asked mom to prepare an extra one. How about it? Do you want it or not?"

　　Looking at Eriri who was standing beside him with her arms crossed, and then at the other people who remained in the classroom, Kento's gaze fell on the lunch box in front of him. He couldn't help but feel nostalgic. He stood up silently, reached out to pick up the lunch box in front of him, held Eriri's hand, and left the classroom.

　　"Oh - holding hands!"

　　"As expected, you still prefer Sawamura-san? Compared to the blond beauty, Nakano-san is still lacking some highlights."

　　"During this period, I haven't seen Miyamizu-kun and Nakano-san together much. Instead, Sawamura-kun has become more proactive. It seems that if beautiful girls take the initiative, they still have more advantages, right?"

　　"Damn it, Miyamizu..."

　　As soon as the two walked out of the classroom, there was a lot of discussion inside. The two people who had just walked out of the classroom not far away could hear it clearly.

　　Kento noticed this and silently let go of Eriri's hand as they left the classroom. The blonde girl looked at her released hand and a trace of disappointment flashed across her face.

　　Following Kento silently, the two left the classroom and did not go to the atrium. They slowly walked to the rooftop and found that there were not many people there. So they found a secluded place and sat down. Eriri, who was following beside them, also sat directly next to him.

　　He placed the bento in his hand on his lap and first opened the furoshiki. After opening the bento, a scent of food spread out. Kento took a closer look and found that it was indeed a bento for two people.

　　He then set his gaze on Eriri who was standing beside him. Looking at the calm girl, he placed the lunch box on the bench beside him, in the empty seat between the two of them.

　　"How did you ask Sayuri to prepare lunch boxes for these two people?"

　　The bento box was divided into three parts, one part was the carefully prepared dish, and the other two parts were two servings of white rice. Kento picked up one, took a pair of chopsticks from the side, and asked Eriri.

　　"I just asked her to help prepare an extra portion, and she happily prepared your portion."

　　"You didn't say anything else. Didn't you ask?"

　　"No."

　　After thinking about it, it was indeed a normal reaction given Sayuri's personality. She seemed quite tolerant of Eriri's affairs. From Eriri's simple words, she probably associated many things with them and thought that Eriri had a boyfriend, so she excitedly prepared an extra one.

　　He picked up a piece of broccoli with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. It was boiled in water and then salted. The salty taste was indeed like Sayuri's cooking. The taste and feeling were similar to his memory. He hadn't tasted Sayuri's cooking for a long time, so he couldn't remember if it tasted exactly like this.

　　Kento seemed quite silent as he ate the lunch box in silence.

　　Eriri, who was sitting nearby, looked at Kento, who suddenly lowered his head and ate his lunch box in silence. He looked at her from time to time, and then looked down at the lunch box prepared by his mother.

　　"How does it taste?"

　　"generally."

　　"Yeah?"

　　Kento ate his lunch quietly, chewed it carefully, then slowly raised his head and looked at the sky above him.

　　"Because I'm already familiar with her taste, I don't think it's that special. Besides, when I'm with her, I'm the one who's more likely to be in the kitchen."

　　"When you were at my house, you were always in the kitchen. At that time, I thought your relationship with mom was simply because you were my classmate... I was such a fool."

　　She couldn't help but look at Kento beside her, and she bit her lips involuntarily, her mood began to fluctuate.

　　"At that time, I just thought you treated me as a classmate. I didn't expect that when I told you about my relationship with Sayuri, your reaction would be so intense. No, I had guessed that you might be dissatisfied, but I didn't expect it to be so serious. Maybe it was because of a misunderstanding..."

　　Looking at Eriri beside him, Kento's eyes were full of regret.

　　"I thought that the relationship between you and me...the person you liked might be me, but I didn't expect that I was the only one who was kept in the dark. Do you think mom knows that I like you?"

　　"Sayuri?"

　　The topic became a little heavy. When it comes to love, it doesn't matter who knows each other first, it doesn't mean the person belongs to him or her. Kento was very sorry. He had been completely immersed in Sayuri's arms and fell in love with her, and had ignored everything around him.

　　Now think about it again, maybe it is possible.

　　"Maybe she guessed a little bit, and saw something from your opposing attitude, so..."

　　Pursing his lips, Kento stopped talking, lowered his head and quietly ate his lunch box without saying another word.

　　Ying Lili on the side bit her lips, her eyes filled with desire, anger, expectation, and deep sadness. She looked at Kento beside her, and when she saw that he stopped talking, she silently lowered her head and quietly started to eat her lunch box.

　　"You haven't seen her yet?"

　　After a long while, Ying Lili asked again.

　　"When school started, after you fainted, I stood far away and looked at you from afar."

　　"I'm not going to meet her again, all over again..."

　　"It's all over now."

　　Interrupting Eriri's words, Kento looked at the girl beside him, took two quick bites, and put down the empty lunch box.

　　"Thank you for the treat."

　　— — — —

　　The people in the underworld have a daily routine, and no one knows when they can return to the world of the living.

Cherry Blossom Season: 96. Eriri, there is no victory at the end of the sneak run!

　　"Mr. Ishizuka, please take care of this document."

　　Handing the document to a young man's desk, Qingpu Mai looked at the young man who was working hard. She was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, she smiled and looked at the young man in front of her. Even though he had a pair of dark circles under his eyes, he was still working hard.

　　The other party is a newcomer who just joined the company this year, a very simple young man who looks very ordinary, but he is very hard-working at work. At the same time, his personality is very cheerful and kind, with a bit of childish naivety, but not annoying.

　　"Okay, Ms. Qingpu, I'll take care of it right away."

　　The other person turned around and looked at Qingpu Mai who was standing next to him, nodded, picked up the document and prepared to deal with it. However, Qingpu Mai who was standing next to him suddenly asked him something.

　　"How's it going? What's the recent progress with Miss Xiyue?"

　　"Um?"

　　The young man's face flushed. He looked at Qingpu Mai shyly, then lowered his head awkwardly. After taking out the documents, he scratched his head.

　　As if thinking about how to answer this question, the young man hesitated for a moment, looked at Qingpu Mai beside him, and finally mustered up his courage.

　　"Well, what kind of gift does Ms. Qingpu like? I want to give Ms. Xiyue some gifts recently, but I don't know what to give, so I would like to ask Ms. Qingpu for advice."

　　"Hmm? A gift I like?"

　　After hearing Ishizuka's question, the image of Kento with a gift ribbon tied around his body emerged in Qingura Mai's mind. Her cheeks blushed slightly and an ambiguous smile appeared on her face, but it disappeared in a flash. She looked down at the young man in front of her and shook her head slightly.

　　"Why are you asking me? If it's just for your Miss Xiyue to make her happy, I think some common snacks will be enough."

　　"Isn't that too casual? Miss Xiyue has been working very hard recently and has to take care of Chaoyang, so... I want to give her something to cheer her up."

　　The Yuzuki mentioned by Ishizuka and Kiyoura Mai is the person Ishizuka likes, and Chaoyang is Yuzuki's son.

　　That's right, the young man in front of him, a young man who had never been in love, fell in love with a woman who already had a child but whose husband had passed away, and he was deeply distressed about this.

　　Many people in the entire company knew about this. At the beginning, not many people knew about it, and there were many unmarried women who liked Ishizuka. But after a long time, and without Ishizuka himself concealing it, the entire company knew about it.

　　The girls who originally had some interest in him felt a little disappointed and began to actively offer advice to Ishizuka. As for the men in the company, they were also full of gossip and told this newcomer who liked unmarried women about their experiences in getting along with married women.

　　"Is it because of your busy work? You should have known Chaoyang, right? Last time, you said you went to Miss Xiyue's home and became friends with Chaoyang?"

　　"Well, Chaoyang is also a very good child. Should we say that he is worthy of being Miss Xiyue's child? He and I became very good friends right away, so Miss Xiyue shouldn't hate me, right?"

　　Looking at Ishizuka's smile, Qingura Mai felt that the fact that a single woman with a child allowed a young man into her home already explained something, but looking at the young man who seemed not to have figured out the matter yet, she still felt that it would be better to let him figure it out on his own.

　　Normally, he is a very confident and energetic young man, but when it comes to relationships, he seems to have little confidence.

　　"Since you already know Chaoyang, why don't you talk to your Miss Xiyue and ask her to take care of Chaoyang? If Miss Xiyue is busy, you can take Chaoyang home on her behalf and take care of the child. Maybe it can deepen the bond between you and Miss Xiyue."

　　"I see! It can be done this way!"

　　Ishizuka suddenly showed an expression of realization and gradually became excited, leaving Qingura Mai speechless for a moment.

　　"Well, it's easy to use Chaoyang's child as a starting point and become a common language between you and Miss Xiyue. Over time, you and Miss Xiyue, even if you are not a family, will be better than a family."

　　"I see!"

　　"Well, then work hard, and when you're done, go and deepen your relationship with Miss Xiyue!"

　　"Um."

　　"I'm leaving get off work first."

　　Qingpu Mai handed the work to the young man. Before leaving, she gave him an idea and some words of encouragement. Then she slowly returned to her office, packed up her things, and left the company.

　　On the way back, she couldn't help but fall into deep thought. She seemed to be in the same situation as Ishizuka, except that he liked older women, while she liked younger boys.

　　"Setsuna and Kento have been a little too close lately. They haven't had much time. How about signing Setsuna up for a private school?"

　　Qingpu Mai was thinking with a confused and complicated mood. She slowly walked from her company to the intersection of her home, but she found a gorgeous figure on the familiar street in front of her, which made her eyes converge on the other person.

　　The other person was wearing a bright red kimono with flowers and holding a folding fan in her hand. She was standing next to a telephone pole and looking in the direction of Kento's apartment. She had two soft purple ponytails falling behind her shoulders. Her profile was vaguely visible, with a long strand of fine hair hanging down by her ear.