Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

The dog started running around excitedly as soon as it arrived. Suddenly, it started running, and Youzhen and Xingge had to quickly keep up. For a moment, it was unclear who was walking whom.

It took them quite a while before they were able to sit down on the lawn to rest. Bruce also came over and sat down next to them, sticking out his tongue to cool off.

"Oh, right, the uncle also gave this to me."

Yuma said, taking a ball out of her pocket.

Bruce started excitedly circling around Yuma after seeing the ball, showing that he really enjoys playing with it.

"Would you like to try playing ball with Bruce, senior?"

"it is good."

Xingge took the ball from Youzhen, waved it in front of Bruce, and then threw it. Bruce immediately darted off in the direction the ball was thrown, and soon returned with the ball in its mouth. It then placed the ball in its mouth on the grass, waiting for Xingge to throw it again.

Xingge seemed to have found some fun too; looking at the well-behaved golden retriever, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up. She played with Bruce for a while, and when she stopped, her arms felt incredibly sore.

Yuma wiped the ball that Bruce had brought back clean with a tissue and put it in her pocket.

"Oh my, isn't this Bruce?"

An old woman walked over with a small black dog on a leash. She seemed to recognize Bruce by the collar around his neck.

"Uncle Ida asked me to bring Bruce for a walk." Yuzhen quickly stood up and explained to the old lady, "Uncle twisted his back yesterday, so he asked me to walk the dog for him today."

"Oh, I see. I live right across from his house. I was wondering why I hadn't seen the little guy in front of his shop today."

After the old woman finished speaking, she bent down and placed her hand on Bruce's head, and Bruce affectionately rubbed her hand against his.

“Ida told me that it was raining heavily that night, but he left his phone at the store, so he had to go back to get it.” The old lady sat down next to Yuma. “Then he saw Bruce, who was soaking wet, at the store entrance. The little guy had wounds on his body at that time.”

"How pitiful, was she abandoned?"

As Xingge watched the two dogs chasing and playing on the lawn, she imagined the scene the old woman had described.

"It should be, but it's very well-behaved. It seems to know that Jing Tian is going to help it. When Jing Tian took it to the vet for a check-up, it didn't resist." The old lady took out a water bottle from her bag, took a sip of water, and paused for a while. "After that, it often sat in front of Jing Tian's shop, and later Jing Tian took it home."

"It's good that they met each other."

After listening to the old woman's story, Yu-zhen felt that fate was truly a wonderful thing.

“All life encounters other life and then something is born,” the old woman said, standing up. She beckoned, and the little black dog ran back. “Ida and Bruce met, and then they both got each other’s company. That’s a good thing.”

Grandma took the puppy home, and Bruce obediently ran back and sat next to Yuzhen and Xingge.

“Then we should head back.” Yuzhen stood up and stretched. “We should take Bruce back to Uncle Ida.”

"Let's go then."

The temperature at noon was much more comfortable than in the morning.

Xingge looked at Youzhen, who was holding Bruce's hand, and nudged him with her elbow.

"what happened?"

"Um... well... I quite like these little animals."

When Xingge spoke, she lowered her head and buried half of her face in her scarf.

“Hongxia is very popular with these little animals, and I sometimes really envy her when I see her. That’s why I wanted to walk the dog with you today.”

"This is quite rare. I feel like this is the first time you've taken the initiative to talk to me about something like this."

Yuzhen leaned closer to her, wanting to see the expression on her face, but Xingge turned her head away.

"I hope that you can be as frank as you are today in the future."

"I've been frank enough."

"Senior, you have absolutely no correct understanding of your own personality."

Bruce, who was walking in front of the two, turned around and called out twice to Xingge, perhaps agreeing with Youzhen's words.

……

The two saw Uncle Jingtian sitting at the shop entrance waiting from afar.

"Sorry, sir. We're a little late."

Yu-chan led Bruce to the old man, untied the rope, and Bruce ran around the old man once before lying down next to him.

"It's alright, it seems Bruce is having a lot of fun too." The older man extended his hand, and Bruce lifted his head to rub it against him. "Thanks for your hard work, Yuuma. By the way, is this your girlfriend?"

The older man noticed Hoshika next to Yuuma.

"Yes, she is my girlfriend."

Yuma took Xingge's hand when she wasn't paying attention, but Xingge didn't dodge.

Chapter 40 Stereotypes

When Yuzhen and Xingge were about to leave, Bruce stood up and nudged them, as if he was very reluctant to part with them.

"Haha, it seems Bruce really likes you two." Uncle Ida watched their interaction. "You can come to my place anytime to play with him."

"Thank you, uncle."

After saying goodbye to Uncle Ida and Bruce, Yuuma and Hoshika returned to Ijichi's house together.

"Are you sure you're okay not coming home?" Xingge kicked off her shoes as she entered the room, then walked barefoot to the shoe cabinet and found some slippers. "If you're not coming home, what will your older brother eat for lunch?"

"It's okay, he'll have lunch at the school cafeteria himself."

Just as Yuzhen finished speaking, his phone rang. He answered, "Hello, who is this?"

"Aren't you going to read the contact name?" Youxing's voice came through the phone. "Have you finished walking the dog? What should we eat for lunch?"

"I'm having lunch at Senior Xingge's house. Or you can figure out how to make it yourself?"

As Yuzhen spoke, she and Xingge walked into the living room and sat on the sofa.

"Is this Yuuki? If you haven't eaten, you can come to our house."

Mrs. Ichichi heard Yuuma's voice on the other end of the phone. She moved closer to Yuuma, wanting to invite Yuuki to have lunch with her there.

"Auntie Ichichi, I won't bother you any longer."

Yuuki's tone suddenly became affected, and Yuuki looked disgusted. He put his phone on speakerphone on the coffee table.

“My troublesome younger brother has caused you so much trouble, and I apologize on his behalf,” Yu Xing continued. “So I won’t go and cause any more trouble. Have a wonderful day, everyone.”

"He hung up the phone."

Yuma took the phone back and put it in her pocket.

"What a polite and well-behaved child, just like Yuuma."

'If I could, I really wouldn't want this kind of evaluation.'

Yu-ma thought to herself after hearing her aunt's evaluation.

……

On Monday afternoon, there was a physical education class. After Yuzhen changed into her gym clothes in the locker room and returned to the classroom, the class monitor came to find her.

What are you doing?

Yu was surrounded by a group of people, all of whom looked serious.

"Kenzaki-kun, do you know what the events for today's PE class are?"

The class monitor pushed up his glasses and stared at Yuzhen with a serious expression.

Seeing their expressions, Yuuma assumed it was something important. He swallowed hard, then thought carefully before answering, "I think it was dodgeball."

"This is it."

Yuzhen looked at her classmates, who seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, and couldn't understand what was wrong with them today.

"What's wrong with dodgeball? You can't possibly not know how to play? That's impossible."

"How could it not be? We're worried about something else, something related to Ijichi-kun."

"Then hurry up and tell us."

Yuzhen was getting a little impatient with their dawdling, especially when he heard that it was related to Xingge. He wanted to know what had happened.

"Well... there's a rumor that Ijichi-san is the 'Demon King of Ochanomizu'," a girl said tremblingly. "I heard she has hundreds of fierce-looking henchmen. If we accidentally hit her while playing dodgeball and hurt her, wouldn't we all be sunk into the sea along with her hundreds of henchmen?!"

"Yeah, I accidentally bumped into her desk that day, and her eyes were so scary." The speaker was a boy. "Was I almost killed?"

Yuzhen remembered him. It seemed that Xingge hadn't slept well that day. She complained to him after school that she hadn't slept well and was in a bad mood because she had accidentally glared at someone and forgot to apologize.

Speaking of which, the Demon King of Ochanomizu? What's so terrifying about that chuunibyou title? And Hoshika has hundreds of followers? How come he didn't know?

“Aren’t you overthinking this? She’s not as scary as you think.” Youzhen was trying to correct their perception of Xingge. “She’s just… a little unsure how to communicate effectively with others? Hmm, that’s probably a fair way to put it.”

However, everyone's eyes suddenly filled with admiration when they looked at Yuma.

They seemed to genuinely believe that Hoshika was some kind of yakuza boss, and that Kenzaki, who spoke up for her, was a pure-hearted high school boy who had fallen head over heels for her after she had rescued him by chance. Interestingly, many girls in their class thought this contrasting pair was wonderful, and in their eyes, the tall Kenzaki Yuuma was the one on the bottom.

"Anyway, I'll put Kenzaki and Ijichi in the same group. Kenzaki, please stand at the very back for her." The class president patted Yuuma on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. "That way, everyone can come back alive."

"That's why I said, it's just dodgeball, no one will die."

Yuuma was too exhausted to explain anymore. Had he been dragged into the world of some kind of comedy light novel? Why were all the people in it thinking so strangely? And no one was listening to his explanations at all.

In short, through the behind-the-scenes manipulation of the class monitor and the sports committee member, Yuzhen and Xingge were assigned to the same team, and everyone else just nodded at each other.

Everyone had only one goal: to prevent the ball from hitting Ichiji Seika and for everyone to return home alive.

That's why I said no one would die. Yuzhen looked at their little actions and determined eyes, and sighed helplessly again.

……

Although they said they were going to let him win, these guys, who seemed to have lost their minds, didn't dare to be too blatant. They were already trying their best not to throw the ball at Ijichi Seika.

However, Xingge's team seemed to be struggling, and several of them were even eliminated under these circumstances, leaving the stage amidst the disappointed gazes of their opponents and teammates.

Fortunately, Yuma was still very capable. He had been consistently training, so he was able to catch the ball easily even when it was weak.

Kenzaki-kun truly lives up to his reputation as the Demon King's man.

Everyone looked at him and thought the same thing.

Yuuma, holding the ball and still thinking about who to throw it at, suddenly sensed something was off about the way everyone was looking at him. These guys were definitely thinking something unpleasant. That was Yuuma's intuition.