My love index is at its maximum.

The cold wind blowing from Tokyo Bay was still relentlessly pounding against the windows, but there was a heater inside the activity room, so the whole space was cozy.

Tazaki Tsukasa pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Kuriyama Sakura.

The minister spoke softly, "If you're busy, you don't have to come. There's nothing much to do here anyway."

Tazaki Tsukasa retorted, "So you know the club has nothing to do?"

“Yeah,” Shiori Ninomiya stretched, “It’s incredibly boring here. The vice-minister, who has nothing to do, can only sit around playing on his phone.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a quiet space,” Kuriyama Sakura replied calmly, turning a page of her book. “If you two find it boring, you don’t have to come. Nobody’s forcing you.”

"..."

Tazaki Tsukasa looked helplessly at Ninomiya Shiori, who was also looking at him, and the two of them sighed at the same time.

"Sakura, let's go play on the playground together, okay...?"

Shiori Ninomiya stood up, wrapped her arms around Sakura Kuriyama's neck from behind, and gently shook her: "Kiki still has to train, aren't you going to go with her?"

“He’s incredibly skilled.” Kuriyama Sakura glanced at Tazaki Tsukasa, her tone icy. “Even without training, he’s number one. Why should I waste my time with him?”

She's angry.

She's still upset because Tsukasa Tazaki dragged her to the sports field under the pretext of training, and then inexplicably got her a job making promotional posters for the sports festival.

Shiori Ninomiya's eyes darted around, and she glared at Tsukasa Tazaki: "Kiki, apologize now!"

"...Minister, I'm sorry."

“Look, Sakura, this scoundrel apologized!” Shiori Ninomiya said happily, then clapped her hands as if she had thought of something: “I remember Sakura can also play the guitar, how about we have a three-person concert?”

Kuriyama Sakura closed the book, looking at her with a half-smile: "Tazaki apologized, what about you?"

"Huh?"

"You don't think you're innocent, do you?"

Tazaki Tsukasa suppressed a laugh, ready to see how the little cutie would be bullied by the club president.

“…Hmm, that makes sense. Let me think about it,” Shiori Ninomiya turned her head away, avoiding his gaze. “You can’t blame me for this. You know how wicked Kiki is. Back then, he pinned me against the wall and threatened me with a wall slam to make me help him…”

Kuriyama Sakura looked at Tazaki Tsukasa with a smile, her cherry-colored lips slightly parted: "Tazaki-san, please demonstrate seppuku now."

"...I'll go run a few laps on the track."

Tazaki Tsukasa stood up, ready to make a run for it.

When Kuriyama Sakura said "Sit down," he obediently sat down, placing his hands on the table, just like a quiet and well-behaved elementary school student.

“Tasaki-san,” she rubbed her temples, her head aching, “you have other plans, now you should tell me everything.”

Tsukasa Tazaki shook his head with his mouth tightly shut.

It's not that I don't have any, but I can't lie, so I refuse to answer.

Shiori Ninomiya took a small step back, glancing towards the doorway, about to rush out.

"Ninnomiya, go back to your seat!"

"……Oh."

Shiori Ninomiya lowered her head and sat back in her seat.

Kuriyama Sakura didn't press her for details. Instead, she rested her chin on her hand, gazed up at the crimson sunset outside the window, pondered the scenery for a moment, and then calmed herself down, slowly shifting her gaze back to the book.

As expected of a literary girl, her series of movements just now were as graceful as a poet finding inspiration and burying herself in writing poetry.

Shiori Ninomiya breathed a sigh of relief, tilted her head and looked at Tsukasa Tazaki with a smile, her expression as if to say, "I'm saved."

Tsukasa Tazaki nodded, once again feeling fortunate to have met the girl from Hokkaido.

She is lively, cute, and has a good figure. She is also kind and approachable. Although she comes from the countryside and is at the bottom of the social hierarchy in school, she can get along well with everyone.

Everyone loves Shiori-chan!

Although I can be a little cunning at times...

Time passed slowly, and the setting sun was about to disappear behind the horizon, the sky gradually transitioning to a deep blue.

“The days are getting shorter and shorter…” Ninomiya Shiori broke the silence and became lively again. She leaned her upper body against Kuriyama Sakura’s arm: “Sakura, shall we go get some pizza?”

Kuriyama Sakura glanced out the window.

The distant playground was only dimly illuminated by the light streaming from the streetlights, and the voices of sports club members returning from training reached my ears sparsely, sounding as if they were far away.

December is just around the corner, and the days will become shorter, so the time spent in the activity room will seem to be getting shorter as well.

"Let's go home," Kuriyama Sakura said, closing her book and putting it in her bag. "Let's go home. That's the end of today's club activities."

Tsukasa Tazaki wanted to ask, "Do we have club activities?", but he didn't say it because he knew he would get scolded for it.

After packing our things, we changed our shoes together.

After club activities ended, the school building immediately became empty. It was dark and deserted, appearing both desolate and lonely.

The sun had already set, and the lights streaming down the school path were quite dim. The last rays of the sky were not enough to illuminate the shadows, and everything in sight was shrouded in the darkness of the night.

As I walked to the school gate, streetlights were lit up on both sides of the slope.

Shiori Ninomiya and Sakura Kuriyama were discussing where to eat pizza, while Tsukasa Tazaki followed aimlessly behind them.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and the wind howling through the gaps between the tall buildings slaps hard against my face.

A person was standing under the lamppost ahead.

With her blonde hair, blue eyes, signature white tights, a scarf covering her beautiful face, and long, shapely legs beneath her skirt, she looked like a beautiful princess.

It took a lot of effort for Tsukasa Tazaki to control the urge to run up and say hello.

Based on his understanding of his older brother, if his brother appeared here waiting for him at this time, it must mean that she had agreed to what they had just discussed.

"Hey, it's Kikawa-san!" Shiori Ninomiya raised her arm and greeted loudly, "Hello, let's go eat pizza at the Italian restaurant together, wanna come?"

Kuriyama Sakura paused, turned around, and looked at Tazaki Tsukasa meaningfully.

In the dim light, Tsukasa Tazaki couldn't make out her facial expression, but he could guess that she was smiling, though whether it was in fifth gear or first gear was unknown.

Kikawa Yui fiddled with her golden hair as she slowly walked towards the three of them.

As the evening breeze blew, her skirt fluttered gracefully.

After slightly adjusting her disheveled scarf, Kuriyama Sakura asked, "You've been out of school for so long and aren't you going home? Are you waiting for someone here?"

“Yes.” Yui Kichikawa nodded calmly, her demeanor unchanged: “Wait for Tazaki. If you’re not happy, you can go home first.”

immediately.

Both of them turned their heads to look at Tsukasa Tazaki.

Judging from his expression, it seemed he was being asked to choose between two options.

"..." Tazaki Tsukasa suddenly felt like an Italian about to see pineapple being added to a pizza.

fortunately.

There is a third person here.

“Let’s go together,” the little cutie bravely squeezed between the two most beautiful girls, holding one of them by the hand, and smiled innocently and cutely: “Let’s go eat pizza, let Kiki treat us, and then you can cause trouble for him after we’re full.”

"Um……"

Kuriyama Sakura looked away from Tazaki Tsukasa, pretending to be indifferent.

“That works too.” Yui Kikawa played with her long golden hair, a smile playing on her lips.

Tsukasa Tazaki sighed.

Needless to say, a large number of my brain cells are going to die tonight.

After walking along the brightly lit Shinjuku Avenue for more than ten minutes, the four of them turned onto a small uphill road, where an Italian-style restaurant appeared at the top of the slope.

A white-painted Western-style house, probably converted from a residence into a restaurant, had a very small sign that was easily missed if you weren't paying attention. The restaurant was located in a residential area surrounded by high walls, and its small entrance made it inconspicuous among a cluster of shops.

"It's really hard to find a restaurant in a place like this," Shiori Ninomiya said, looking around the shop entrance. "Kiki, how did you know about this place?"

"Mr. Shimamoto brought me here once before." Tsukasa Tazaki smiled as he pushed open the shop door, and a bell rang out.

"welcome!"

The little cutie looked around curiously.

The restaurant isn't very spacious, with only four or five tables and a counter that can also be used as a table, but these are just for decoration. The real fun of this restaurant is in the large private rooms.

Behind the bar, a short-haired woman in a blue dress looked up and asked, "Hello, do you have any members?"

Tazaki Tsukasa took out Shimamoto Kana's membership card and handed it to her. The woman looked at it carefully, then called the cardholder to confirm, before reaching out and pressing the small bell on the table.

A short while later, a waiter wearing an apron came over and led the four of them into a private room inside.

Chapter 301 Tazaki-kun, you've really given me a big problem.

I don't know if it was a coincidence or not.

The private room we entered this time was decorated like a study.

After changing into slippers at the entrance, Shiori Ninomiya immediately hopped inside, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looked around.

The ceiling was high, the floor was covered with a soft carpet, the heating was just right, the sofa was impeccably comfortable, and a vertical piano stood in one corner of the room.

"This is a private restaurant? That's amazing!"

Shiori Ninomiya clung to Tsukasa Tazaki's arm, her mood as cheerful as a little girl visiting a friend's house.

"There probably isn't any pizza here, so your wish won't come true tonight." Tsukasa Tazaki chuckled and led her to the sofa to sit and rest.

Kikawa Yui glanced at him and went to the wall with the murals to admire the paintings.

A large oil painting, the subject of which is a river.

A moon hangs over the river, its light faintly illuminating the opposite bank. What kind of scenery lies on the other side? The composition doesn't capture it; the moonlight is too hazy, making all the outlines indistinct and elusive.

She wasn't interested in painting.

It was purely to kill time and give Tsukasa Tazaki some space to think.

Besides the paintings, the most eye-catching decoration in the private room is the bookshelves that fill both walls. An astonishing number of books are densely packed on the shelves, including foreign language books, Japanese books, and even ancient books and scrolls.