Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

"I thought Xiangzi was very cute just now, so I secretly took a screenshot and saved it."

"Eh?"

Faced with Iruma Hibiki's frankness, Toyokawa Shoko took a few steps back. Even though she was wearing some makeup at the moment, it still couldn't hide the shyness that turned red to her neck in an instant.

"That's a compliment, right? I should be happy..."

"Yeah, it's a compliment."

"It's okay to keep the screenshots... but you're not allowed to show them to others."

"I won't share my girlfriend's lovely side with others."

Iruma Hibiki responded with a laugh, and it was obvious that his response became another kind of fatal blow to Toyokawa Shoko in front of him.

Her shyness deepened.

"Hsiang, go get some rest. You look very tired. I'm hanging up now. I'll contact you later!"

"Xiangzi..."

Just when Iruma Hibiki was about to talk to Toyokawa Shoko, Toyokawa Shoko ran away.

After the video call ended, the window suddenly became dark, with Iruma Hibiki's face reflected in the window, and then it automatically exited. At the bottom of the video call interface was a map.

Nagasaki Suyo on the map is only a short distance away from Kyoto.

[Hibiki, I think I'm almost in Kyoto.]

News continued to arrive from Nagasaki Suyo throughout the night.

[I'll wait for you at the station. The rain is a bit heavy. Su Shi, please stay at the station and don't move after you get off the bus.]

[Yeah, I heard it!]

After responding to Nagasaki Suyo, Iruma Hibiki opened Toyokawa Shoko's chat box. Looking at her, she seemed worried that he might misunderstand her, so she hurriedly explained:

[Xiang, let's video chat again later. I was a little...unused to being praised like this by someone I like.]

【I see.】

Iruma Hibiki asked with some malicious intent.

After a while, the taxi he had booked drove up to him.

After telling the driver the destination, Iruma Hibiki leaned back in the back seat with peace of mind, enjoying the hot coffee he had just bought.

In such a cold and damp season, a bottle of hot coffee is an absolute treasure.

By the way, the one that Iruma ordered this morning was the one with the colorful packaging that Nagasaki Suyo chose last night.

"Isn't it that Xiang said this because he wanted to see me struggling? Right? I don't think Xiang would do something like that, would I?"

Toyokawa Shoko sent a somewhat scary inquiry, and seeing such an inquiry, Iruma Hibiki also laughed.

[There are some reasons for this, but I'm not lying. I feel humbled and happy to be the boyfriend of a lovely girl like Xiangzi.]

Iruma Hibiki responded.

Then he looked at the rain outside the window.

For some reason, when he responded like this, he felt some subtle emotions in his heart.

He had a strong aversion to such emotions.

But it just happened, quietly and uncontrollably.

Then, Iruma Hibiki opened his phone album, found the photo, and then—

Maybe it was because I stayed up all night and my concentration wasn't focused before.

But now he noticed that behind Toyokawa Shoko, there was a person standing probably at the door of the piano room. Her upper body in the photo was blocked by Toyokawa Shoko, but Iruma Hibiki could still recognize that it was Wakaba Mutsu.

[Mu and Xiangzi are together?]

Thinking of what Wakaba Mutsu said before, Iruma Hibiki lowered his head slightly and pondered for a long time.

He opened his address book and found the contact information of "Mr. Iruma".

But after much hesitation, he finally drank the coffee in his hand in one gulp and gave up.

Now is not the time to talk about such things.

No?

06 Uncontrollable distance

The rain is still falling in Kyoto, but compared to last night, it is almost stopping. A clear morning with sunshine seems to be coming soon.

Iruma Hibiki is late.

Because of Toyokawa Shoko, he was slightly late for his appointment with Nagasaki Suyo.

After all, he felt that he had only chatted with Toyokawa Shoko for five minutes, or even less, but he didn't expect that when he looked at the time again, it was almost 7 o'clock.

Even a taxi couldn't catch up with such a misjudgment. Sometimes, the mistakes people make are irreversible.

But, after all, Nagasaki Suyo is not a fleeting flower. At the station, Iruma Hibiki saw the figure looking around nervously.

No matter how you look at it, you feel uneasy.

No matter how you look at it, you're looking forward to it.

No matter how you look at it, she looks like a girl who has come to a foreign country alone for the first time and is worried about the unfamiliar environment.

Soon, Nagasaki Suyo also saw Iruma Hibiki.

Guluulu——

Accompanied by the sound of the suitcase rubbing against the concrete floor, Nagasaki Suyo ran towards Iruma Hibiki, ignoring the crosswalk and the road in the middle.

Such behavior made Iruma Hibiki stand there in a daze.

"ring!"

Accompanied by Nagasaki Suyo's slightly louder shout across the street.

Iruma Hibiki's hair stood on end.

"Sushi! Just stay there!"

He roared loudly at Nagasaki Suyo.

"Eh?"

At this moment, Nagasaki Motoyo was stunned and stood there, not knowing whether it was because of surprise or because she heard clearly what Iruma Hibiki said.

Then——

[Didi Didi——]

A child drove his rocking car slowly across the road between the two of them. The rocking car was in the shape of a flying saucer and seemed to belong to a child who had a special fascination with alien life.

After the child's rocking car passed by, Iruma Hibiki began to cross the zebra crossing and run towards Nagasaki Suyo.

"Su Shi! The zebra crossing is far away from here. It's very dangerous to cross directly!"

Hibiki Iruma couldn't bear the emotions in his heart at this moment.

Harsh emotions accompanied by slightly terrifying words poured out towards Nagasaki Suyo.

It wasn't considerate enough, but in return, she received a gentle smile from Nagasaki Suyo.

"Sorry, I don't know much about Kyoto or getting around. I thought this was just a place for ordinary pedestrians to walk."

As Nagasaki Suyo said this, on the other side, the owner of the flying saucer was being scolded by his mother.

At this moment, a truck equipped with a crane belonging to the Kyoto Municipal Government passed by in front of Iruma Hibiki and Nagasaki Motoyo.

Only when the truck disappeared from sight did Iruma Hibiki breathe a sigh of relief. The fatigue, weakness, and discomfort all over his body almost broke him down.

"No, it's my fault. I just got angry at Su Shi..."

Iruma Hibiki said in a deep voice.

Feeling a little awkward and stubborn, he just raised his head and then saw the profile of Nagasaki Suyo. At this moment, Nagasaki Suyo looked a little embarrassed, but was smiling gently.

The morning air was slightly warmer, but there was still some frost left from last night's cold weather. The breath exhaled by Nagasaki Suyo was a little warm, and produced a slight, barely noticeable mist.

"Let's go. I've booked Su Shi's room. Let's have a quick breakfast and then go to bed. We can talk about the rest later."

Iruma Hibiki spoke softly to Nagasaki Soyo, then turned his head away deliberately and stopped looking at Nagasaki Soyo's face.

"Well, it all reminds me of Yang Shan's death, and I'm crying."

"Let me take the luggage. Are you cold?"

"It's not very cold... cough..."

Although she didn't catch a cold, Nagasaki Suyo still coughed subtly at this time. It was indeed very cold last night, but she was in good health.

But at this time, Nagasaki Suyo wanted to show her weak side.

So naturally, she "got sick".

"Although it's a bit ugly and may not be useful, if you think it's okay, Su Shi, you can wear this dress first."

Iruma Hibiki handed over his coat.

Then he pulled over Nagasaki Suyo's suitcase. When pulling the suitcase, Iruma Hibiki touched the cold back of Nagasaki Suyo's hand, not knowing whether it was his mistake or Nagasaki Suyo's intentional act.

"Thank you, Hibiki."

"It's okay, let's go..."

Without saying anything or explaining, Hibiki Iruma brought Nagasaki Suyo to the taxi waiting area. He didn't plan to take the cheap bus or train back.

Because it means nothing except wasting precious sleep time.

But before getting in the taxi, Hibiki Iruma wanted to confirm something:

"Sushi, did you really come to Kyoto after taking care of your family and school?"

"Yes, Hibiki, do you want to see my chat history with my classmates and family?"

"what……"

A hoarse sound escaped from Hibiki Iruma's throat.

But Nagasaki Suyo was serious. Soon, she opened her chat history and handed the phone directly to Iruma Hibiki.

"Need not."

The words of refusal were already on the tip of my tongue.

But Iruma Hibiki had inevitably seen Nagasaki Suyo's social media account, which was so clean that it was a little scary.

Apart from Crychic's group chat, the most recent chats were only between him, his mother, and a classmate with the note "Wu Feng".

"Did Hibiki believe me?"

After putting away her phone, Nagasaki Suyo asked this.

"I (Six) Ba Jiu Gu Ba Ling, Ling Gu? Ling. Meng will not deceive Xiang."

Then she asked herself the questions and answered them herself.

"No matter what, I'll always stand by Hibiki."

Once again, she emphasized.

"..."

Iruma Hibiki didn't know how to respond, and soon a taxi arrived. Iruma Hibiki and Nagasaki Motoyo got in the back seat of the taxi together.

After announcing the place, Iruma Hibiki leaned against the taxi's sofa, feeling the proximity—

The next moment, Iruma Hibiki's eyes widened and his whole body stiffened.

Turned.

He saw Nagasaki Suyo leaning on his shoulder.

"Su Shi?"

Instead of observing the situation clearly, Iruma Hibiki called out Nagasaki Soyo's name with a hint of fear.