My love index is at its maximum.

Chapter 195 This day, my sixteenth birthday, was destined to be anything but peaceful.

The first day of August was a refreshing and dazzling morning.

Tazaki Tsukasa propped his face up with his left hand, casually twirling a ballpoint pen in his right. His gaze lazily drifted to the azure sea outside the window. On the table lay the expense sheet for the July training camp—the Empress had gone on strike because she was angry.

The beech leaves outside the window shimmered in the morning light.

The cicadas chirped softly, mingling with the sound of waves crashing on the shore and the cool sea breeze.

Around 7 a.m., Kana Shimamoto came in carrying coffee and sandwiches, and the two drank them facing each other. The sandwiches contained tomato slices and cheese slices, and tasted quite good. Tsukasa Tazaki ate two of them before starting to drink his coffee.

As the sun rises higher, the azure color of the sky becomes even deeper.

However, Tsukasa Tazaki saw on his phone that the weather forecast said it would start raining tonight and would continue for several days.

“Tazaki,” Kana Shimamoto suddenly spoke up, “I was too reckless last night.”

Tsukasa Tazaki raised her face: "She knows about what happened between you and me."

“Unbelievable…” Shimamoto Kana said in a neutral voice, gently stroking the indentation from her glasses on the bridge of her nose with her fingertips: “But the way you did it, really, sigh, it’s just too hurtful.”

"It's okay, she's so smart."

"Being smart doesn't mean you won't get hurt, and the teacher is also very unhappy."

Kana Shimamoto, resting her chin on her hand, spoke sullenly, then smiled. Tsukasa Tazaki patiently waited for her to continue. The married teacher always spoke slowly and deliberately, giving off a very comfortable feeling.

"It feels like my beloved couple has been broken up." Kana Shimamoto moved her fingers from the bridge of her nose to her earlobe, rubbing it as she said, "And I'm the one who broke them up, so I'm not happy!"

Tsukasa Tazaki shook his head: "It has little to do with you."

"But at least you got caught by her while you were being intimate with me!"

"That makes sense."

"Even the teachers felt ashamed to face her."

"You feel a sense of shame, like being caught cheating by the wife, right?"

"Stop talking about these inappropriate things." Shimamoto Kana rested her chin on her hand, watching him as if she were watching a movie. Sunlight streamed in from the open window, drawing a line across the center of the table, sharply separating light and shadow.

The boy's two hands rested on the table; his right hand was in the light, and his left hand was in the shadow.

"I said..." Shimamoto Kana spoke again, her cautious tone as if she were holding a world-destroying button, "You really don't have any feelings for Kuriyama-kun?"

"To be honest, my heart does race occasionally," Tsukasa Tazaki said, pretending to think for a moment. "But most of the time, we stay just close friends."

“Uh…” Shimamoto Kana frowned helplessly and tapped the table lightly with her fingernails.

Tazaki Tsukasa admired her beautifully manicured pink nails.

She had applied a layer of almost transparent nail polish; if it weren't for the slight shimmer under the light, it would be completely undetectable. After a while, Shimamoto Kana asked helplessly, "Am I, this 'Chestnut Party' member, now homeless?"

"It's okay, just become a 'multi-island party'."

"It seems pretty good."

Kana Shimamoto smiled without showing her teeth, stood up, tidied up the tableware, and took it to the cafeteria. The sea breeze blew in through the wide-open windows.

Tsukasa Tazaki lowered his head and picked up his pen again.

He rested his wrist on the table and stared at the laptop for a long time.

The accounts have been sorted out. What's the next step?

Despite his exceptional memory, he couldn't immediately recall what to do next.

When Shimamoto Kana returned to her room, he remembered that after finishing writing down the July accounts, he needed to immediately send them to the school's finance officer and then apply for activity funds for August.

"Here, let me show you something."

Kana Shimamoto pulled a piece of paper from the drawing board on the side of the bookshelf and handed it to Tsukasa Tazaki.

A pencil drawing.

A handsome young man with the same profile as him leaned against a pillar reading a book, two kittens played and frolicked in the corridor, and a girl set up a drawing board to paint.

"Drawed by Kuriyama-san."

Kana Shimamoto rested her delicate arms on the table with great ease, looked into his eyes and said, "You two are such a perfect match. It should be like the ending of all youth stories. You should be happy and healthy forever, enjoying the sweetness of love."

"Is it because the teacher lacks that kind of experience herself that she places her hopes on me and her?"

"That's it."

"Then why not experience it yourself instead of watching others?" Tsukasa Tazaki turned the painting over and placed it face down on the table, then walked towards her.

Kana Shimamoto bit her lower lip, seemingly finding it difficult to speak: "I'm way past that age..."

"Isn't there still a chance?" Tsukasa Tazaki lowered his head, kissed her hair, and said softly, "I look forward to seeing you, teacher, appear before me as a bunny girl."

"How embarrassing..."

"Why don't we try it now?"

"Eh?"

Tsukasa Tazaki took her hand and stood up: "Really, I've never cared about your age. Don't mind it either. If you're still having these wild thoughts, just take some bread to the beach to feed the seagulls, or go to the convenience store to make instant noodles."

"why?"

"Relieve stress!"

"Good idea." Shimamoto Kana rested her head on his shoulder, and a refreshing fragrance wafted over her.

Tazaki Tsuyoshi held her waist without moving, listening to her quiet breathing as if she were fast asleep.

After a while, Shimamoto Kana looked up at him and asked, "Tell me honestly, besides Hoshino-sensei and me, who else do you like?"

"It's gone."

"Where is Ninomiya-kun?"

Tsukasa Tazaki gently stroked the warm skin of her waist and whispered, "I'm very close to liking you. Maybe I'll like you this afternoon or tomorrow morning, but not now."

"Where's Kikawa-san?" Shimamoto Kana persisted in asking.

"Then it's even less about liking her." Tsukasa Tazaki thought for a moment and replied, "We've known each other for a long time, we're quite familiar with each other, and I admire her character very much."

"You don't like any of these three beautiful girls..."

Kana Shimamoto looked very happy, her eyes as gentle as water, and the corners of her lips lazily turned up: "It's so hard not to love or hate that she only likes older girls like Tazaki-san!"

"Yes, besides the two teachers, there is one more."

Kana Shimamoto smiled and pinched the soft flesh on his waist: "Who?"

"The manager of the convenience store where I work."

Tazaki stroked her hair and said slowly, "I am very grateful to her. After I moved out of my family home, she helped me establish myself in Tokyo. She treated me so well that it was almost like she was taking care of me."

"You live a very carefree life, don't you, three older sisters!"

"Hey, don't pinch me..."

Kana Shimamoto let go of his hand and pushed him away impatiently: "Alright, I'm going to talk to your aunt. You can stay here by yourself!"

Tsukasa Tazaki clutched his back and returned to the window to continue the work he hadn't finished.

When you get tired, look up at the lush beech trees. The weather is sunny and clear, and clusters of red dragonflies are wandering on the lawn.

After lunch, he went to the swimming pool and swam a few laps in the 25-meter-long pool, which was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Then he lay on a lightweight folding chair and drank an ice-cold cola.

The swimming pool is separated from the street by a fence, and through the gaps in the greenery, one can see the hillside, the sea, the harbor, and the city. The colors of the sky and the sea are all an unmistakable azure, and everything, from the fresh scent of the sea to the hues of the sunlight, is strikingly vivid.

After finishing the cola.

Exhale all the air from your lungs and sink to the bottom of the deep water.

Warm water, gentle water, and quiet, quiet...

At 2 p.m., Aunt left in the Cullinan, and Tsukasa Tazaki was able to regain access to the small room.

Back in his room, he put on his headphones and sat by the window reading "Critique of Pure Reason," reading it over and over again.

I've listened to "Valder Fields" on the Sony WF-1000 noise-canceling earbuds over and over again.

She lay in the fields of Wald.

She slept soundly, dressed in an exquisite custom-made gown.

The man crying on the steps outside the door

He said he truly loved life.

A sudden downpour of heavy rain swept in at dusk, soaking the lawn before vanishing just as quickly. A moist southerly wind, carrying the scent of the sea, began to blow, gently swaying the branches and leaves of the beech trees.

Tazaki Tsukasa sat slumped in his chair, staring blankly at the book in his hands, half-awake and half-asleep.

Fingers pinched the page foot and turned the page; the day had passed in the blink of an eye and it was now the 8th.

After nearly half a month of intensive training, the kendo club students were given a day off and rushed to Kamakura at the foot of the mountain early in the morning to play.

The Minister, Little Cutie, and Kana Shimamoto got together and went in and out of various shops in the shopping street of Komachi-dori in Kamakura, while Tsukasa Tazaki waited empty-handed outside the shop.

Wearing black sweatpants and green tennis shoes, with a handsome face that resembled a two-dimensional character, he was admired by the crowded tourists on the shopping street.

Every now and then, lustful girls, young women, and women would come up and strike up a conversation.

Tazaki Tsukasa didn't even bother to say another word, and simply shook his head and refused with a cold face.

With a charm rating of 10, he naturally knows how attractive he is to women, but with his current relationship situation already in a mess, how could he dare to cause himself any more trouble?

“kiki~”

He heard a unique, affectionate address from behind and turned around.

The little cutie was wearing a light blue dress with delicate, wavy patterns. The dress was off-the-shoulder, clearly showing her smooth shoulders and her fair, slender legs peeking out from under the skirt, making her look very feminine.

"How is it? How is it?"

Ninomiya Shiori held out her arms, asking questions while observing his reaction.

"It evokes the cool feeling of the sea." Tsukasa Tazaki gave a thumbs up.

“Hehe~” Ninomiya Shiori leaned close to his ear and whispered, “I’ve discussed it with Kosakura. We’re going to buy some maid outfit props later. I’ll wear them to your room this afternoon to play.”