Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

"Hide High School and Shimo High School's school hours should be different. What are your afternoon classes that day, Pochi-chan?"

"If Goto-san comes! I'll come too! But... this is the class welcome party, will our presence disturb it?"

"Ah, that's not the case. It's better to say..."

Ijichi Hongxia pondered for a moment, then she looked at Liang.

"How about we just organize a welcome party performance? And then, as for the music selection—"

Ijichi Hongxia turned around and took her goose yellow schoolbag, rummaged in it for a while, and then found a piece of manuscript paper.

The manuscript was signed by two people.

One is [Iruma Hibiki] and the other is [Toyokawa Shoko].

That was a song written by Hibiki Iruma that the band "The End of the Past" didn't have the chance to perform.

27 Sunshine on Homecoming Day

[Hiroshi! Be sure to bring your guitar to school today!]

[Eh? Are you going to perform?]

【secret!】

Ijichi Hongxia attached a very cute emoticon package at the end of such a chat.

Iruma Hibiki, who didn't understand the meaning, smiled faintly and just brought his guitar to school. In fact, he would have brought it even if Ijichi Hongka hadn't told him.

Because there is Crychic rehearsal today.

As Hibiki Iruma entered the classroom, she sensed a strange atmosphere.

Is this his first time back to school after a long absence?

In fact, if you think about it carefully, in the past few days, he has become a bad guy who often skips classes.

Probably before he stepped into his seat, Iruma Hibiki was suddenly bothered by a hair on his face. It tickled the side of his cheek slightly and then went straight into his mouth. Iruma Hibiki brushed it away with his hand, feeling a little troubled.

It was a light blue hair.

【Xiangzi's.】

In just a moment, Iruma Hibiki confirmed this.

He stroked the hair gently, then a warm feeling surged in his heart, and then he walked towards his seat with a hint of anticipation.

"Hiroshi, welcome back!"

Ijichi Hongka was the first to come forward and greet Iruma Hibiki.

"Well, I'm back."

He was talking in strange ways, like someone from a light novel where the protagonist spends the night at school.

In fact, for Iruma Hibiki, there were times when he wished to treat the school as his home. For example, when he would be beaten when he returned home because he failed the exam, he wished he actually lived in the school. Of course, that was in his previous life.

Now that he said I was back, there was a noticeable difference in his mood.

"The teacher said we can't get too excited about today's after-school activities, or we'll be denied the right to use the classroom for the welcome party after class, so everyone is secretly holding back."

Ijichi Hongka came very close and whispered to Iruma Hibiki.

"That's right! Hibiki, come with me."

Then suddenly, Ijichi Kouka, who was a little too excited, stood up and grabbed Iruma Hibiki's left hand with both hands.

"Ah, here I come. Wait a minute, let me put down my guitar."

Iruma Hibiki quickly took off the guitar from his back, and was then dragged to the front door by Ijichi Kouka in front of his classmates.

"Clang, clang! Look at this!"

Then, at the classroom door, Hibiki Iruma saw a poster.

No matter how you look at it, this cute poster is definitely from the hand of Ijichi Nikka.

On the top of the poster was written something like [Welcome Party for Iruma Classmates!].

Then there seemed to be many messages from classmates below.

Please enjoy your high school life, Iruma-san!

There are many messages like this.

There are signatures from both boys and girls.

……

"..."

Iruma Hibiki fell silent.

"How about it?"

Ijichi Hongxia suddenly asked at this moment.

"Hey, Xiang..."

After waiting for a long time without any response from Iruma Hibiki, she stretched out her hand, spread her five fingers in front of Iruma Hibiki and shook them quickly from side to side.

She always did this to Goto Ichiri before.

"Ah, sorry, I was a little moved just now so I was distracted. Thank you Hongxia."

Iruma Hibiki thanked Ichichi Kouka and touched his nose, where he felt a sour feeling.

It's probably that feeling where you suddenly realize that your best friends care very much about something that you didn't expect or care about, and are doing their best to do the best for you.

"As long as you're happy."

Ichichi Hongxia smiled brightly.

At this moment, facing the brilliance of Ijichi Hongxia, Iruma Hibiki felt a little dazed.

If you think about it, this is how their first encounter was.

In spring.

He was a week late.

Then I came to the classroom that day, ready to face the lonely campus life alone, and made up my mind to focus my energy outside of school and manage my youth only by working part-time to make friends.

But at that moment.

The girl with sunny hair in the front seat suddenly turned around, smiled at him, and began to introduce herself.

[Is Hongxia's smile back then the same as it is now? ]

Iruma Hibiki suddenly thought so.

If you think about it, his emotions at the moment are a little unfair.

Although it was clearly the decision of everyone in the class, his attention was all on Ijichi Hongka.

"what happened?"

Ijichi Hongxia asked.

It was probably because Iruma Hibiki hadn't spoken for a long time.

"There's a surprise after school."

Then, without waiting for Iruma Hibiki to answer, Ijichi Hongka put her index finger close to her face, leaned her body slightly to one side and winked at Iruma Hibiki.

"I'll look forward to it."

Iruma Hibiki responded seriously.

Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just now I was just not very good at dealing with this kind of situation..."

Then he responded like this.

Hibiki Iruma is basically a dead kid.

Before crossing over, he was ordinary, and after crossing over, he wanted to do something big, but he experienced a hellish life for the first ten years, until now——

He suddenly felt dazed.

It was as if I had walked back from the trenches of Verdun in the muddy and rainy winter to the streets of Paris, where the fire in the bar was crackling with warm lights.

For some reason, Hibiki Iruma suddenly felt a resonance with a scene he had seen in a movie before.

After relaxing, you will feel warm and tired.

It's like soaking in warm water.

Everything felt much more relaxed.

Ijichi Nichina smiled slightly because of Iruma Hibiki's response. After all, Iruma Hibiki's current reaction was the best compliment to her no matter what.

"Let's go, morning classes are about to start."

"Um--"

Then, Ichichi Hongxia turned around and took two steps forward. After all, it was time for class and the bell had rung.

But Ijichi Hongxia only took two steps before turning around to check whether Iruma Hibiki had caught up.

Naturally, at this moment, Hibiki Iruma was following behind Nikka Ijichi. Nikka Ijichi suddenly stopped, causing Hibiki Iruma, who was following her closely, to bump into her slightly.

"Sorry, Hongxia."

With a hint of worry, Iruma Hibiki apologized to Ichichi Nikka.

"It's ok."

Ijichi Hongxia quickly stabilized her body.

"It was my fault for stopping so suddenly."

Then she said this.

This time, the two walked back to the classroom side by side.

Just as they sat down, the teacher walked in and smiled after looking at Iruma Hibiki.

"Iruma-san, you and Ijichi-san will share your handouts today. They're all in my office. Please come pick them up after class."

"is teacher."

"present!"

After Iruma Hibiki's response, the class monitor stood up and greeted the teacher first.

Speaking of which——

Hibiki Iruma looked in the direction of his class monitor.

What is her name?

After thinking for a long time, Iruma Hibiki still didn't get the answer.

28 Is this a joke or are you serious?

The moment the class started, it felt like a lifetime ago for Hibiki Iruma. The teacher's voice at the podium seemed distant, and his thoughts were a little vague. When he focused his attention back on the handouts in front of him, he saw Ijichi Kouka tap the tip of her mechanical pencil.

In cooperation with Ijichi Nijika, Iruma Hibiki put his right hand under the desk, but it touched Ijichi Nijika's left hand which was hanging there at the same time. With a hint of apology, Iruma Hibiki wanted to apologize, but what responded to him was Ijichi Nijika's smile.

It's like saying:

It's ok.

In this case.

Then, Iruma Hibiki saw Ijichi Kouka writing softly on the blank space of the handout in front of her:

【It doesn't matter?】

[It's okay, I was just distracted for a moment.]

Iruma Hibiki also responded.