Restricted Death

Chapter 60 "Fair" and "Competition"

Nobu returns to the student council office and finds Hinamori inside.

I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, what I have to face must be faced.

"President..."

Hinamori stood up nervously, looking as if she had done something wrong.

"Why are you here?" Xin asked.

"I... I originally came to find you." Hinamori said in a low voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Kanisawa-senpai was here just now."

Xin suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

"and then?"

"When she saw me here, she asked me why I was here. I...I said I came to see you, and she said I skipped class and wanted to tell my homeroom teacher. I...I couldn't help but argue with her." Hinamori's head lowered lower as she spoke.

"Just a quarrel?" Xin asked calmly.

"...Maybe what I said was a bit harsh."

Hinamori thought, putting aside other things, Kanisawa-senpai was after all a good friend of the president. When he was interning in the present world before, the president even allowed himself to be hit by a hollow in order to save Kanisawa-senpai.

This kind of friendship that involves life and death was described in that way by me. I was really going too far.

Xin took a deep breath: "How bad is it?"

Hinamori didn't know what to say now. She couldn't just repeat those words again. She secretly glanced at Xin's expression and thought that the president might be angry.

"President, I'm sorry, it's my fault. I was..."

"Did you skip class?" Xin asked.

"……Yes."

"I don't think Kanizawa said anything unpleasant to you, did he?"

"...I'm sorry, President. I was wrong. I'll go apologize to Kanizawa-senpai." Hinamori looked like she was about to cry.

Xin was in a state of confusion at the moment, thinking to himself that it was all his own fault.

He walked over to his seat and sat down, sighing deeply.

"Hinamori, go back to class first."

"..."

Hinamori hesitated, then walked closer to Nobu and whispered again, "I'm sorry, President. I really didn't mean to do that to Kanizawa-senpai. I... I was just too angry at the time, so..."

Xin asked back: "You should be a relatively stable person, right?"

"I……"

Xin waved his hand, indicating that Hinamori could go out.

"President..."

Hinamori's eyes suddenly turned red.

Xin just felt irritated, especially irritated.

And regret.

I may have been too hasty and failed to handle these things properly.

I don't know how Rukia is doing. I haven't seen her today.

Hinamori finally left the student union office. She suddenly covered her face in a state of collapse. She didn't know why she suddenly became like this.

Mingming's relationship with the president had just made a breakthrough, but nothing that happened afterwards made her happy.

Hinamori returned to the classroom during the afternoon class.

She was sitting there in a daze, when she suddenly realized that someone had sat down next to her. She thought it was Rukia, and her expression suddenly brightened.

But when he turned around, he found that it was Renci.

Her disappointment was beyond words. She ignored the other person and turned away.

"That Hinamori..."

Renci spoke hesitantly.

"What's the matter?" Hinamori responded weakly.

"I have something to tell you."

"..."

Renji mustered up his courage and immediately said a lot: "Hinamori, I think you are a very good girl. You are very cute and have excellent grades. Especially in terms of Kidō, you are very gentle, cheerful, and considerate..."

Hinamori listened to his compliments and then looked at him suspiciously. "But..." Renji continued, "There's only one girl in my heart. You should know who this girl is, Hinamori. So, I'm sorry, Hinamori, I don't deserve this. I also hope you and Rukia won't quarrel because of me anymore."

Hinamori's eyes were a little dull. She looked at Kira not far away with a stiff face. Kira looked like "it's none of my business".

Renji said sincerely, "Hinamori, I hope you and Rukia can reconcile."

"..."

Hinamori was not angry at all. Instead, she burst into laughter. Her laughter was quite hearty, as if she had released all the pent-up negative emotions.

"Abarai, you really are... a little cute."

Renji got anxious: "Hinamori, I really only like..."

"Alright, alright," Hinamori interrupted him. "I know you mean well, and it's rare for you to be so devoted to Rukia, but... you're mistaken. Maybe you misunderstood what I said before. I don't have any feelings for you in that sense, not at all! We can handle the issues between Rukia and me, so don't get involved in girls' affairs."

Lianci looked confused. Don’t you like me?

The conversation between the two attracted the attention of several classmates around them. Kira felt that Renci was really embarrassing, so he came over and pulled him away.

After calming down, Hinamori's eyes dimmed again.

Another day has passed.

Hinamori arrived very early. As soon as she opened the classroom door, she saw Rukia already sitting at her seat.

"dew……"

She looked delighted, but stopped herself just as she was about to speak.

At this time, there was no one else in the classroom except them, so Hinamori walked over.

"Rukia..."

Rukia had heard the footsteps a long time ago, and only when she heard her calling her did she slowly raise her head. She noticed that Hinamori did not look well.

"……peach."

Hinamori smiled when she heard him call her that.

"Morning, Rukia."

"Ah."

Hinamori stood there, hesitating for a moment.

"sorry."

They both spoke at the same time, both startled.

Hinamori immediately said, "I'm sorry for you, Rukia."

Rukia shook her head slightly, wanting to say something but stopping herself, then said, "Sit down and talk."

Hinamori sat down in her seat, looked at Rukia and said, "I shouldn't have treated you like that, Rukia. You're right. I took the initiative to match you and Renji because of my selfish motives. And... I admitted to you directly that I liked the president that time, it was also out of my selfish motives. I thought that since I said it first, you couldn't... I'm sorry, Rukia."

Rukia said slowly: "You have the courage to speak before me. It's nothing. Someone has to speak first."

Hinamori grabbed her hand, "But Rukia, I don't want to lose you as a friend."

"……Um."

"Then we can continue as before, okay?"

Rukia said quietly, "How could it be the same as before? What should we do about the president?"

Hinamori's throat was choked. She actually wanted to say directly that her relationship with the president was no longer the same as before, but looking at Rukia in front of her, she couldn't bear to let her suffer again.

After some thought and struggle, she made a decision.

Don’t talk about this with Rukia yet, and don’t establish a relationship with the president yet.

It is better to consider this matter in the long term. Anyway, the president will graduate in more than a year. The president will go to the Fourth Division, and I will go to the Fourth Division in the future, and Rukia will definitely go to the Sixth Division.

By then, Rukia's feelings for the president might have gradually faded.

I'll confess to her then.

Hinamori smiled and said, "Then let's compete fairly."

"..."

Rukia stared at Hinamori blankly, not knowing how to respond.

In her heart, she actually felt that this was unfair to Hinamori, because the president had said that he liked her, but she had not told Hinamori about this.

In Rukia's opinion, Hinamori is out of the so-called fair competition...

But she also didn't want to lose her friend Hinamori, and if she said it directly, she was afraid Hinamori wouldn't be able to accept it.

After some inner struggle, he had no choice but to nod.

"Okay, fair play."

(End of this chapter)