Don't you guys dislike me?

The senior student took her eyes off the book and said, "Good morning."

Kotonoha Katsura sat next to Yuichi and couldn't wait to start chatting. Most of the topics were about her new friend, Chizuru Amamiya. They could do many things together that they had never experienced alone before, and the happiness was doubled.

Yuichi is a boy after all, and there are many things he cannot understand.

The smile on Kotonoha's face gradually increased. It seemed that accepting Chizuru Amamiya was the right choice.

As if she felt that the emotions had been brewing enough, Gui Yanye asked softly:

"Yuu-chan, do you still have to work after school?"

"Yes, what's the matter?"

Gui Yanye's eyes dimmed for a moment, then she smiled and raised her head:

"It just seems like Yuu-chan has been very busy lately, and I don't think I've seen you except on the train and at lunch."

The girl tried to soften and slow down her tone, as if she was bringing it up casually, not wanting to cause trouble for Youyi or embarrass him.

"Well... I've been a bit busy lately. You can go to karaoke with Amamiya, go shopping together, go to the library together, etc. Friends you've made with great difficulty should be cherished."

The plain voice became a little softer, taking care of Gui Yanye's emotions.

Why did you push me away with such a gentle tone... Why did you act like you were entrusting me to Chizuru...

Being a thoughtful girl, she seems to have realized that Yuichi wanted to give her more opportunities to socialize, and wanted to cultivate her relationship with Chizuru, so that she would no longer curl up under Yuichi's protection and could experience more of the ups and downs of youth.

But if this means growing distant from Yuichi, she would rather not have it. Yuichi is her best friend, and everything will become meaningless if she loses Yuichi.

"Is Yuu-chan short of money?"

Katsura Kotonoha hugged her schoolbag tightly and asked suddenly, which surprised Yuichi:

"Nope."

"Then why did You-chan go to work right after school? It must be tiring, right? You-chan must have some difficulty that she won't tell me, right?"

The soft voice rose in pitch due to excitement, gaining a slightly sharper tone.

Her sudden voice drowned out the sound of the moving tram. The carriage fell silent and the passengers turned their eyes to her.

Gui Yanye found it difficult to adapt to these gazes, so she lowered her head and remained silent.

The book in Kasumigaoka Utaha's hand remained silent for a long time, and her attention seemed to be drawn to it.

Youyi goes to work as soon as school is over?

She wondered, remembering that the two of them returned home at about the same time, but Yuichi would go out again around 5pm. It was obvious that Yuichi had not told the truth to Kaede...

Why do you hide your part-time job hours?

When it comes to matters related to part-time work, she thinks over and over again and there is only one answer - Yumiko Miura.

The assumption that Tachibana Haruna had joked about that night kept appearing in her mind. Her fingertips stroked the pages, feeling a slight warmth, and a bad premonition surfaced.

Just as Yuichi was about to explain, the train stopped at the platform at an inopportune time.

"I'm sorry... I'll go to school alone today."

The long bangs covered Kotonoha's eyes, and Youyi couldn't see her expression. He only heard these words ringing in his ears. When he looked in the direction of the voice, the girl's delicate back had already blended into the crowd during the morning rush hour.

126. Escape

"Stop looking, everyone is gone."

Kasumigaoka Utaha pushed the dazed Yuichi.

"Um……"

Midsummer has arrived, and the ginkgo trees on both sides of the street are lush and green, with dense branches and leaves intertwined overhead, casting mottled shadows.

It rained for a long time last night, so the road surface was still a little wet this morning.

Surrounded by students from Hane High School in light blue uniforms, Yuichi has always been low-key, but he can't help but be accompanied by Kasumigaoka Utaha.

"Have you forgotten the agreement you made?"

Yuichi looked ahead and said calmly.

"Oh, of course not. I just happened to walk beside you. No one would associate it with our relationship."

Kasumigaoka Utaha held her schoolbag in both hands, looked ahead, and her cherry lips moved slightly.

"That's what you say to other people. Now you're using it to fool me. Don't you think that you're looking down on my intelligence?"

"You are quite smart, scumbag. You even know these things."

Yuichi ignored the sarcasm in his sister's words.

"I just saw that you were dumped by a girl, so I just wanted to keep you company out of kindness."

"Like this..." Youyi lowered his eyelids, thinking.

"But it will be over soon." Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes skipped over Yuichi and looked towards the school gate not far away.

After walking a few more steps in silence, Youyi spoke in vain:

"Are you free at noon?"

"Oh? You actually asked me out?" Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly laughed, and the ice melted at this moment. The cold and beautiful flowers bloomed stunningly, attracting bees and butterflies to dance around.

Kasumigaoka-senpai actually smiled!

All eyes from around gathered around him, subtle yet intense, and both the seniors and juniors had shy blushes on their faces.

"That's right..."

Homosexuals repel each other. Facing so many enthusiastic gazes, especially from men, Yuichi felt a little uncomfortable. He frowned and moved to the side of the road.

Perhaps she noticed Yuichi's discomfort, or perhaps Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't want the conversation to be interrupted, so her smile faded and she became lazy and casual again.

The smile just now was like a fleeting beauty, breathtakingly beautiful yet disappeared in the next second. They looked back with regret or averted their gazes.

The girl moved lightly, approaching Yuichi inconspicuously, as if she had found some fun, and she could not hide her smile when she spoke:

"I'll just promise you... After all, I'm your sister."

Before they could agree on a meeting place, Youichi had already stepped into the school gate. He looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha's disappearing gaze from afar and couldn't help but sigh:

“You are so welcome…”

……

……

I left home a little early this morning, and the classroom was a little noisy when I walked into it. I glanced past the small group that didn't change much every day, and walked to my seat.

Surrounded by the crowd, Yumiko Miura was fiddling with her manicure. The smile praised by her friends looked reserved and fragile. Suddenly, she seemed to sense something. She kept smiling but glanced back calmly.

The smile is more absent-minded.

……

……

After school in the morning.

Yuichi poked Horie Tomoya:

"I won't be going to dinner with you today. Please talk to Kotonoha and the others for me."

Tomoya was playing games intently, and I don't know if he heard anything but kept responding.

When he won the fierce battle against the boss, he looked at the empty seats at the back table and then he realized something.

Staggering to the first year of high school, Katsura Kotonoha was standing outside the door with her lunch box and Amamiya Chizuru, with her heads lowered, as if they didn't know what attitude to use towards Yuichi.

Should I use a strong tone to explain my feelings to You-chan? Or should I patiently tell him what I think? Should I apologize first? After all, it's not good to leave You-chan alone without any reason...

Yep! Let’s do it!

As Kotonoha thought so, her big deep purple eyes became more determined. When Horie Tomoya came into her sight, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, and there was a hint of nervousness, but she soon discovered something was wrong.

The girl looked around Tomoya in confusion, and when Horie Tomoya walked in front of her, she couldn't wait to ask:

"Horiie-san, where's Yuu-chan?"

"Yuichi asked me to tell you that he's not coming today, so there's no need to wait for him."

Hearing this, she became even more uneasy and asked quickly:

"Did Yuu-chan say what it was?"

Tomoya Horie paused, frowned, and tried hard to recall Yuichi's words from his own movie-level operation, and finally shook his head helplessly.

"Is this..."

At this time, Katsura Kotonoha has attributed the reason for Yuichi's leaving to herself. It must be because of her willfulness that Yuichi didn't come... Otherwise, why didn't Yuichi come today, just after she was willful?

It's such a coincidence, so coincidental that it seems inevitable.

The girl's snow-white cheeks gradually turned pale. She blamed herself and regretted why she said those impulsive words.

She has always been good at finding reasons in herself and taking all the blame for things.

The delicate body trembled slightly, making Chizuru Amamiya at a loss, and she could only pat it gently.

The corridor was still bustling, and no one noticed Gui Yanye's mood changes until the lunch box fell to the ground with a crisp sound, and the corridor suddenly became silent.

The noise naturally woke up Gui Yanye. She looked around in confusion. Why were people looking at her? At her feet?

The girl looked at the ground in confusion, and then she came to her senses.

This lunch box for four people was really too heavy. She lost control of her emotions and accidentally dropped the lunch box onto the ground. The lunch cloth spread out and the food was all over the floor...

Gui Yanye squatted down and cleaned up the mess on the ground. She wiped away her tears with her sleeves and repeated:

"sorry Sorry……"

I don't know if he was apologizing to Chizuru and Tomoya for not delivering today's lunch, or to his mother who worked so hard to cook, or something else...

Bad premonitions kept appearing in her mind, forcing her tears to flow continuously.

After the silence, whispers began to murmur among the crowd, as annoying as flies and mosquitoes flying around your ears.

Horie Tomoya scratched his head and narrowed his eyes, exuding an aura of intimidation without even getting angry, which silenced the chattering junior schoolmates. After all, he was the one traveling with the Demon King.

He smacked his lips, and bent down with Chizuru Amamiya to help Kotonoha Katsura clean up.

When Tomoya's stomach growled, he returned the clean floor to its original state, and his clothes were all soaked.

"Horiie-san and Amamiya-san, thank you for helping me clean up, and I'm sorry... I dropped your lunch boxes on the ground."

Katsura Yanye's eyes were red and she leaned over to apologize from time to time.

Horie Tomoya waved his hand and said nonchalantly:

"It's okay, I'll handle it myself."

After saying that, he left on his own without waiting for Gui Yanye to try to persuade him to stay.

Chizuru Amamiya held Kotonoha Katsura's hand, and a trace of apology arose in her heart, and she whispered:

"If the lunch boxes are gone, then we can just go to the cafeteria to eat!"

Kotonoha wiped the tears from her face and raised the corners of her mouth forcefully, as if responding to Chizuru's smile:

"okay."

127. Yuichi, have I ever done anything to make you unhappy?

Yuichi bought some bread and milk and walked back to the stairs, climbing up to the place full of stories.

——Rooftop.