Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

It really is a super powerful monster! And it’s different from a little kitten like me.

As Qi Liangliang thought about this, he sat cross-legged on a roof somewhere, looking at the sea of people returning home from afar.

When she first became a "nekomata", she liked to climb onto other people's roofs.

Later, after being "educated" by the "Tenryo Bugyo" of Inazuma Castle, he remembered that this was something he should not do - or in other words, he remembered that "if he did this, he would be beaten."

Only at the time of dawn and dusk, the flow of people going to and from the market was particularly dense. In order to maintain order in the city, the officers and soldiers rarely had time to go above the roofs, which gave her an opportunity to take advantage.

She loved to climb to a high place after a long day's work and admire the scenery of the entire city from afar, as well as the laughter carried by the wind. This reminded her of her imagination of the human world when she was a kitten and heard it from "Grandma"'s stories.

Although after actually living in the city, I found that some things are not so magical...

But she still feels that the human world can always bring her surprises.

For example, the "powerful slime monster" Mr. Zheli who is hiding in the alley!

"But why—"

It is clear that he can now transform back into human form as soon as he leaves the store, and his demonic power flows freely, not at all like he was locked tightly in the kitten's body a moment ago. However, when he went to the suburbs with Zhe Li and others, he still felt the same restrictions as in the store.

Or, it seems that just by staying by Zhe Li's side, she can't cast any magic?

The last time she felt the urge to revert to her true form and flee was during her first encounter with the "fox demon master" at Narujin Taisha Shrine. The awe-inspiring presence of this "superbly powerful demon" made her tail tingle. But even that Yae-sama only managed to make her want to return to her true form.

Just like just now, I wasn't afraid at all, but I just couldn't control my body. This was my first time experiencing this.

"It's weird."

The girl tilted her head and thought for a long time, and finally shook her head.

"Whatever! ... What delicious food will we have next time? I hope we can switch to eel..."

The green silhouette ran lightly on the eaves, soon fell to the ground, blended into the crowd, and disappeared.

Chapter 15: Autumn Frost and Falling Maple Leaves, Snow Clears and Meets the Plum Tree: Chapter 2.0: Dumplings

A few days passed after that.

A door to another world. The biggest change for the coffee shop "nascita" is probably that occasionally one or two customers dressed in strange clothes come in to try something new, and the seats that have not been occupied for a long time regain their value as tables and chairs.

Fortunately, in addition to the generous donation from Kaedehara Manye, Baodeng Zheli also obtained a small amount of the otherworldly currency called "Mora" through normal business procedures.

Once you have money in your pocket, you start thinking about how to spend it.

Why not take Su Shi to the market on the "outlying island"?

The day when this sudden inspiration came to me happened to be CRYCHIC’s regular visit day.

At the tea party of the band girls, Nagasaki Suyo suddenly clapped her hands together as if she had thought of something.

"By the way, Li Xi's birthday is approaching."

Shiina Riki glanced at her and said, "So what?"

"What do you mean by 'what'? Of course I want to throw a birthday party for little Lixi."

"No need." Li Xi rejected the idea the moment he heard the word "party." "I don't have the habit of celebrating my birthday. And I don't want you to celebrate my birthday either."

Lixi's birthday is August 8th, which is always summer vacation.

She didn't have any friends close enough to celebrate her birthday on a special holiday, and she hadn't bothered to take care of her birthday for years. Of course, her family would still prepare gifts for her, but as her birthdays became more frequent, they weren't so insistent on sending her blessings and gifts on the day itself. Sometimes they would come a few days early, sometimes a few days late. She had gotten used to it.

Now that Nagasaki Suyo suddenly mentioned this matter... Although it is not a good idea to think so, once the person speaking is Suyo, even if it is the most ordinary matter, Li Xi feels that this woman has other intentions.

Li Xi's suspicious gaze seemed to hurt Su Shi. She whimpered, wiping the air from the corners of her eyes, and said in a tearful voice: "What a cold Li Xi~"

"Su, Su Shi!?"

It was clearly a hypocritical acting, but Takamatsu Deng still panicked and quickly cast an anxious look at Nagasaki Suyo.

"Xiao Deng~ Woohoo, I just wanted to return the favor to Xiao Lixi." Su Shi rubbed her eyes hard to force out the tears, but she forgot to suppress the corners of her mouth, so she had to cover her mouth with her palm instead. "I kept the birthday present that Xiao Lixi gave me carefully and cherished it~!"

"I gave you a hairpin. If you cherish it, use it!"

Su Shi's expression made Li Xi's eyes twitch a few times, and he complained again.

"Um, um, Riki!" Deng hunched his shoulders as if he had seen Yang Gongfei's standee being knocked over. He looked at Shiina Riki with some trepidation and stammered, "I think it would be better to apologize to Sushi-chan..."

"?"

No matter how I look at it, it seems like this woman is being sarcastic! Why is it me who has to apologize?!

"Haha, just kidding~"

Fortunately, Su Shi still had some conscience. Seeing that Deng Xiaozi Li Xi was a little bit unable to support him, he put away his hypocritical crying face and showed Gao Song Deng that he was fine. After confirming that Deng was comforted, he turned to Li Xi, who was rolling his eyes and almost rolled back his head, and said:

"But, saying we want to celebrate a birthday isn't just something I say casually. I've already prepared a birthday present for little Lixi."

Sushi's birthday was on May 5th, shortly after CRYCHIC formed and before their first live performance. Li Xi, though far from close at the time, still prepared a cheap panda-shaped plastic hairpin for Sushi as a gift...

As the saying goes, a small gift may be made but the thought behind it counts. Su Shi saw the "essence" of Shiina Riki through such a simple gift.

And now that she has gone through so much, it would be unreasonable for her not to prepare a return gift.

"...Never mind. Whatever you want. Just don't bother me and Deng."

Li Xi sighed softly.

Although she would never admit that they were "friends", it was an indisputable fact that they had spent several months together as band members - she knew that when Su Shi was serious, she would show a "serious expression", and even though she liked to argue with others, she would not be stubborn at such times.

She just didn't understand: what she had given was just a cheap hairpin, so was it necessary to insist on a return gift?

"—Here. Hot cocoa with the lamp."

Deng just breathed a sigh of relief because the tension between Su Shi and Li Xi had dissipated. Toyokawa Xiangzi, dressed in a waiter uniform, presented her with a drink. She quickly turned around and thanked him: "Thank you, Xiao Xiang."

"No, no, this is just my job." Xiangzi showed her a bright smile and handed her a small plate. "Mr. Manager, please give me this plate of ice. It will help me cool down faster."

Deng blinked, turned around and said to the counter, "Thank you, Zheli, too."

After Xiangzi served the drinks, he held the tray to his chest and looked around with his big eyes blinking. "Everyone, are you talking about birthdays?"

"Is Xiaoxiang going to the party too?" Su Shi asked.

"Me, me?" Xiangzi blinked. "If you don't mind..."

Even though she is no longer a member of CRYCHIC, she has no intention of severing their relationship.

Even if she is destined to fight alone, it does not mean that she has to be alone; even if she is not by her side, memories and emotions will still accompany her in her battle - this is exactly what Takamatsu Deng conveys to her through his singing.

So, since there is still time and opportunity to spend time together, why not seize it?

"Of course I don't mind!" It was Deng who spoke again.

She looked at Xiangzi earnestly and said word by word, "If Xiaoxiang is willing to come, I will be very happy."

"Then I'll bother you." Xiangzi smiled and nodded. Deng also smiled faintly.

...Isn't this my birthday party?

Li Xi looked at the two people in harmony and was speechless for a moment.

Never mind. Just do as you please...

"That's settled then. Everyone, please meet at Nascita on time next Friday!"

Su Shi raised his little fist and shook it, saying.

Wakaba Mutsu also followed her example and silently raised his fist to indicate that he had read it.

Xiangzi pinched his chin and murmured, "Looks like I have to prepare the gift carefully."

"Forget about the gift." Li Xi heard this whisper, glanced at her pensive expression, and said, "Your current situation is not very good, right? There is no need to spend money on preparing any gifts. ... I have already received your kindness."

The last sentence was spoken so softly that only Gao Songdeng beside him could vaguely hear it.

"How can that be!" Toyokawa Shoko raised her eyebrows, her expression serious. "Birthdays are important days. Celebrating birth is also celebrating meeting each other. I owe you all so much that a verbal apology is far from enough."

"Eh--"

At this moment, Li Xi seemed to see Toyokawa Shoko again when they first met.

Twice the Xiangzi means twice the Su Shi.

"……up to you."

Shiina Riki let out a long sigh.

It was this kind of harmless trouble that troubled her the most!

●

"then."

That night, Nagasaki Suyo faced the store manager who was about to close the store with an unbeatable smile.

"Let's go shopping 'across the street' together tomorrow? We need to find a suitable gift for Zheli~"

……

Oh, it turns out there’s an ambush here.

Chapter 16 of the Box: Autumn Frost and Falling Maple Leaves, Snow Clears and Meets the Toon Tree: Chapter

Although she was born in the island country of Japan, Nagasaki Suyo, whose social circle has always been quite narrow since childhood, unexpectedly has never been to the seaside.

I only learned swimming as part of the compulsory curriculum at school, and I haven't been in the water since I went to Tsukinomori in junior high school. Now, even if I want to remember how to breathe, I might not be able to do it.

She once thought that if she continued on her current path in life, she would be admitted to Tsukinomori High School as an ordinary student, perhaps study a university department that interested her (there was a high probability that she would still stay in Tokyo), and after graduation, she would directly sit in an office and become a strong woman like her mother.

Youth is about the blazing summer sun, the cool sea, the sweat-soaked beach volleyball, and even waiting for dusk to fall, strolling with someone you love on the beach, bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, a pair of long footprints stretching all the way to the end of summer...

All of these were just fantasies from girls' comics, and Nagasaki Motoyo never expected them once.

But, maybe…?

Now? If there's this "door"?

If she were with this man who always easily stirred her emotions...?

"——Sushi, what are you thinking about? It's time to move on."

"Ah. Yeah! I'll be right there..."

Su Shi quickly withdrew his gaze from the distance at the junction of the sea and sky, and trotted a few steps to catch up with Baodeng Zheli.

Because the two of them had made an appointment early in the morning, no one from either Lenai or CRYCHIC could disturb them, and the port city opposite the "gate" was not as crowded as last time because it was not yet noon.

But even when walking on the wide stone road, Su Shi still held Zhe Li's arm tightly.

"It's just like a date." Su Shi said.

Zhe Li smiled and said, "Is this a date?"

"Hmph. Anyway, for Zhe Li, going out alone with a girl is a date."

Su Shi couldn't help but puff up her cheeks when she said this.

In the past, her memorable first "date" with Zheli was just a short stroll in Sunshine City before returning to the coffee shop. However, Zheli and Xiangzi stayed there for the entire afternoon and even grabbed a pair of dolls, as if to provoke them... Although she knew that this absolutely did not happen, she couldn't help but make such an association.

At the same time, he placed the doll given to him as a gift on the bedside and touched it every day.

After all, even if it reminds me of unhappy things, it is still the first gift Zheli gave me...

"Are you still sulking?" Zhe Li couldn't help but laugh.

He wasn't some slow-witted romantic comedy hero. While his "date" with Toyokawa Shoko was forced by circumstances, he knew full well that Suyo would be upset after it was over. Or rather, let's not even talk about Suyo; any girl would be upset to hear that her boyfriend had spent most of the afternoon on a date with another girl without her knowledge.

Even if one could guess that it was just a means to keep Xiangzi and prevent her from escaping, it did not affect the fact that this was a date.

Therefore, the doll that Zheli bought for Su Shi had some meaning of making amends - of course, he didn't intend to write it off, but to use a physical object to prove that "I also thought about you well at that time."

As for what's next? All I can do is spend some time with her and wait for her to calm down.

After all, "tolerating Su Shi's 'willfulness'" was an agreement between the two long before they fell in love.

"I, I'm not such a petty person." The girl pouted, staring at the smooth stone road, and muttered, "It's just...it's just that Xiaoxiang thought of this before me...so-"

"Don't think so much."

Zhe Li put his arm around Su Shi's shoulders and patted her back gently.

"I will always be here and will not go anywhere. Until you don't want me anymore."