My love index is at its maximum.

The calico cat followed, rubbing its head against "Sardine's" rear end while loudly meowing.

"Sardine" turned around and patted the calico cat's head a few times, but the calico cat didn't leave; instead, it rubbed against him even more.

Meow~!

Fat Orange lay on the ground, utterly dejected, his eyes lifeless.

Free from worldly desires.jpg

After observing for a while, Tsukasa Tazaki realized that the calico cat was currently in heat, and he remembered that the fat cat "Sardine" didn't have testicles.

Kana Shimamoto also noticed this. She gave the orange tabby a strange look, then whispered in Tsukasa Tazaki's ear, "Poor kitty..."

"Hmm, that's pretty pitiful." Tsukasa Tazaki nodded. "He originally chased away a lot of stray cats to protect his food supply, but he unexpectedly gained an extra female cat as a bonus, but... it's not good!"

"What are you talking about?" Shimamoto Kana punched Tazaki Tsukasa hard, then buried her face in his back and laughed in a low, suppressed voice.

Kuriyama Sakura squatted down, both amused and exasperated, and patted the cat's head: "It's okay, you're a stray cat anyway, it doesn't matter if you don't have offspring."

"Hahaha..." Tsukasa Tazaki couldn't hold back any longer.

At that moment, he felt a sense of relief, as if he had finally gotten his revenge!

"Can't you have a little sympathy!" Kuriyama Sakura turned her head and glared at him with displeasure.

"Sardine" blinked and kicked away the calico cat that was still rubbing against its butt.

Kuriyama Sakura bit her lip, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

Soon, she couldn't hold back her laughter any longer and covered her mouth.

"Um... Haha, sardine, I'm sorry... This is just too funny."

Meow~!

Daju's originally aggrieved voice became unusually calm, faintly revealing a sense of loneliness that came from seeing through the world's illusions, which brought tears to the eyes of those who heard it.

Today's outcome: the "Sardines" have lost!

……

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Murakami Mizuiro finally got his wish and went fishing with Tazaki.

The rain was still falling, and Kitagawa Academy seemed deserted and quiet.

The lights shone alone, their pale light attracting many moths. A Mercedes-Benz drove by, its headlights illuminating the lush greenery, and soon stopped in front of the auditorium.

A driver dressed in a black suit and white gloves came down with an umbrella and respectfully helped Kuriyama Sakura into the car.

Tsukasa Tazaki and Kana Shimamoto also hitched a ride.

The air was thick with moisture, and the streets of Tokyo, thoroughly washed clean, were deserted. The signs on both sides of the road were lit up, and the red and blue neon lights reflected an almost psychedelic color in the rain.

"Eh……"

After Tsukasa Tazaki got off the train at Higashi Shinjuku, Sakura Kuriyama leaned out of the car window and smiled gently: "See you on Monday."

It feels like... the little tablet has become cuter.

No, not cute at all. Tazaki Tsukasa will remember this second time he's been blackmailed; he'll get his revenge soon.

……

On Saturday, May 15th, it was still raining.

However, according to the weather agency's forecast, sunny weather will continue from tomorrow until the rainy season arrives.

After getting up, Tsukasa Tazaki opened the window, and a small amount of rain drifted into the room through the window with the wind.

I took a deep breath of fresh air, gazed at the Shinjuku skyscrapers with their tops shrouded in clouds in the distance, and then closed the window.

I went into the bathroom to wash up and took a mouthful of water.

"Gurgle gurgle... Ptooey!"

Brushing my teeth with mint-flavored toothpaste and washing my face with volcanic mineral mud facial cleanser—facial cleanser that I only dared to buy after the secondary market opened up.

Just as I was about to go to Sakura's house, Hoshino Hanami called.

"I'm going back to my hometown in Kyoto this weekend, so don't slack off just because no one's watching you."

Tazaki Tsukasa's good mood instantly vanished by half, and he said dejectedly, "Why do we suddenly have to go back to Kyoto?"

"Lu Jian suddenly said she wanted to see her grandma and insisted on taking me back with her."

"She's so old, can't she take the Shinkansen by herself?"

"Okay, okay, why are you arguing with her... I'm not going to say anything more, bye-bye."

After hanging up the phone, Tsukasa Tazaki gritted his teeth and wrote down the debt in his diary.

[The hatred of having one's wife stolen is irreconcilable; sister-in-law, you just wait!]

Without a teacher, Sakura's family doesn't seem to need to go; playing with a group of rough, thuggish men from a yakuza gang isn't exactly something that 'makes people happy'.

Putting on a pair of tennis shoes, Tsukasa Tazaki went out with an umbrella and walked into the nearest large supermarket.

I bought shrimp, tofu, pickled vegetable pancakes, onions, and beef; I also bought some toilet paper and a bottle of mold remover. While waiting in line to pay, the cash register broke down, and the cashier was a novice and clumsy, resulting in a very long queue of customers waiting to pay.

If only the teacher were in line with me... Tsukasa Tazaki thought to himself idly as he passed the boring half-hour of queuing.

On the way back, I bought a can of Coke from a vending machine.

They drank as they walked.

I got home at 10 a.m. and shook the water droplets off my umbrella in the hallway before going inside.

The tennis shoes got soaked in the water.

hateful!

After changing into his loungewear, Tsukasa Tazaki listened to Italian radio while scraping off the mold on the walls and then spraying on mold remover.

At noon, I went into the kitchen to prepare lunch.

First, peel the shrimp shells, rinse them clean, and then spread out absorbent paper towels. Arrange the shrimp meat on the paper towels one by one like soldiers in formation to absorb the water.

Then I poured half a can of corn and half a can of green beans from the refrigerator, blanched them, poured them out to cool, and chopped some ginger and onion.

Heat a frying pan, pour in oil, and spread it evenly.

Stir-fry the chopped ginger slowly over low heat, then add the corn and green peas to the pan. Turn the heat to high and gently shake the pan while frequently turning the vegetables with a bamboo spatula, sprinkling in a little salt.

Finally, add the drained shrimp, drizzle with a little sake to remove any fishy smell, and pour in a little soy sauce for added flavor. The yellow corn kernels, green peas, and red shrimp tumble in the pot, creating an enticing sight.

When the food was cooked and plated, several prompts popped up one after another.

[Cooking Skill Proficiency +30]

Current skill level: Beginner (120/100)

Cooking (Beginner) → Cooking (Advanced)

Current skill level: Proficient (20/1000)

Tsukasa Tazaki took a bite, and it tasted good.

But he also understood that this evaluation was only good for him personally, and far from enough for Hoshino Hanami, a foodie.

You need to have at least a 'professional' level of cooking skills to get her to think it's acceptable, and if you want her to praise you, your cooking skills need to be at least 'proficient' level.

With the leftover onions, Tsukasa Tazaki used them to stir-fry a plate of light and refreshing beef, and also made a vegetable salad, making for a pleasant lunch.

Before starting to eat, he took a picture with his phone and sent it to Hoshino Hanami.

[Hanami: It looks so delicious (drooling.jpg)]

[Tazaki: I'm practicing hard! For my absolute favorite teacher, Hoshino, I will become the best chef in the world!]

[Hanami: ...Um, um...if I don't agree in the end, can I still eat it?]

[Tazaki: Eat up, eat up (exhausted.jpg)]

[Hanami: Hahaha... You'd better try your best, the teacher is very picky.]

[Hanami: Let me show you the scenery of Kyoto (Kyoto street scene.jpg)]

[Tazaki: Can you take me next time? I'm so bored in Tokyo all by myself...]

I waited ten minutes before receiving a reply.

[Hanami: Hmm... I'll take you with me next time I go somewhere.]

[Tazaki: Great! 】

[Hanami: (fist.jpg)]

The weather started to clear up when I was doing my homework in the afternoon.

Murakami Mizuiro called, and Tazaki Tsukasa held the phone to his ear with his shoulder and continued doing his homework.

"Hey, Tazaki..."

"To make a long story short, I'm doing my homework."

"I feel so bored with life. Is all I can do is eat, sleep, exercise, poop, go to school, inherit the family fortune after graduation, travel abroad a few times a year, get married and have children, and then die?"

"Otherwise what? What do you want to do? Hurry up and die?"

"I'd like to go fishing."

"Damn it!" Tsukasa Tazaki rubbed his temples, looking exasperated. "Just how obsessed are you with fishing?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say I'm particularly interested in fishing, it's just that I've been asking you to go fishing and you've never agreed, which makes me unhappy."

"Get lost, I'm not gay!"

"Come and keep me company, or I'll do a live stream of myself jumping into Tokyo Bay for you."

"I'm telling you, you'd better wear a helmet, or I'll make sure you don't see the sun tomorrow!"

"Hey? You've seen Johnnie To's 'Election' too? Haha, Tony Leung Ka-fai is really silly, who goes fishing without a helmet?"

Tazaki Tsukasa hung up the phone with a dark expression.

The two met at Shinjuku Station and spent 3000 yen to buy a bunch of bait and groundbait. Murakami Mizuiro also bought a motorcycle helmet to wear.