Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

Hibiki Iruma couldn't understand.

"I dreamt about something from the past."

He was the first to answer the question. At least he didn't want to stand there stupidly thinking about something weird.

"Something from the past?"

Ijichi Hongxia became a little curious.

"Come to think of it, except from Pochi-chan, I rarely hear you talk about your past."

"Ok?"

Iruma Hibiki showed a puzzled look in response to Ijichi Kouka's words.

"Like, what was Hibiki like in elementary school?"

"Ah... indeed, I rarely mention this matter."

Iruma Hibiki responded.

"Even Pochi-chan told us that she didn't know what you were like before."

Ijichi Hongxia asked with some curiosity.

Of course, she was definitely not curious about this topic.

But before, Iruma Hibiki said that he had a nightmare in the past, so Ijichi Nikka subconsciously thought it happened earlier.

Then she thought about it carefully and realized that indeed, they knew nothing about Iruma Hibiki's past.

“I was a terrible person when I was little.”

Iruma Hibiki replied.

"I'm probably the type of person who, if I design a game in the future, people will use the shadow of my childhood to play games on me."

"Eh? Games?"

Ijichi Hongxia looked puzzled, as if she didn't quite understand what was said, while Iruma Hibiki started laughing. He came back to reality a little and became much calmer and soberer.

"For example, when Hidetaka Miyazaki was a child, he couldn't hold it in any longer and had to go to the bathroom, but he found that the bathroom door couldn't be opened from this side."

"Or, when Yang Qiying was a child, he was picking ginseng in the mountains and was poisoned to death by a ginseng spirit."

Iruma Hibiki was telling some strange jokes, but Ijichi Nijika was a little confused.

"..."

Then, Iruma Hibiki fell into silence.

"Sorry for the weird words."

"It's ok."

"So this has something to do with Hibiki's past?"

Ijichi Kouka's question completely woke Iruma Hibiki up from her dream.

"Well, it's related, Hongxia, haven't you heard such a joke?"

"No, so what? What is this related to? I'm a little curious!"

“You probably won’t find it online.”

Iruma Hibiki responded softly.

He wasn't too resistant to telling Ijichi Hongka about his past.

On the contrary, maybe it would be easier to be honest.

And if he thought about it carefully, he basically knew about Ijichi Hongxia's past, so it was actually a bit late to confess his past now.

92 That strange emotion

But now is not a good time.

Although Hibiki Iruma didn't object to others knowing the topic he wanted to talk about, it was not appropriate to talk about it in public.

After all, who would believe the identity of a time traveler? It would be great if he was not diagnosed with radio-wave paranoia and a Chuunibyou. Iruma Hibiki still remembers that when he was a child, there was a Chuunibyou patient next door in his class who once said that he was brought from the other side of the invisible boundary.

At that time, Hibiki Iruma thought that she was also a time traveler, but in fact she was just a person with a middle school syndrome.

We didn’t contact each other much after that.

For ordinary people, the existence of time travelers is actually no different from the second-year syndrome.

Only friends who know you very well will think that you will be believed when you say it out loud. Otherwise, when faced with such an outrageous fact, everyone will only look for suitable reasons for it, just like a guy who does not have a strong scientific literacy will desperately look for a scientific explanation when faced with something so-called "supernatural" that he believes to be something.

So if someone hears us talking about this kind of topic here, not to mention his situation, maybe even Ijichi Nikka will be considered to have some connection with chuunibyou.

Of course, the classmates in the class are very nice and won't do anything out of line, but it would still be a pity if the relationships that have been hard-earned become distant because of this.

Of course, for Iruma Hibiki, his desire to be completely honest with Ijichi Kouka at this moment is not actually pure.

In other words, Hibiki Iruma didn't want to say these things just because the person in front of him was Nikka Ijichi, the atmosphere was just right, and he was telling weird jokes about another dimension.

This might be one of the reasons, but for Hibiki Iruma, deep down in his heart, his emotions were more directed towards another person——

Nagasaki Suyo.

Nagasaki Soyo is the only person who knows everything about his past, even the opportunity for time travel. Although Shiina Riki has also confessed that he decided to tell everyone the truth about himself at that time, in fact, Iruma Hibiki has not encountered a good opportunity to explain this matter until now.

Even Goto Ichiri didn't know——

The reason why Goto Ichiri didn't know was actually different from that of Ijichi Kouka.

Hibiki Iruma subconsciously regarded Ichiri Goto as someone he should take care of.

Around that time...

Facing Goto Ichiri's confession.

This is why he refused so much.

But for some reason, at this moment, Iruma Hibiki wanted to talk about all of this with the people in front of him, including Goto Ichiri. Perhaps... in his opinion, making Nagasaki Suyo not seem so special would allow the relationship between them to return to normal.

Perhaps some of the subsequent problems can be solved, rather than being in such a mess as they are now.

"Is it something serious?"

Ijichi Hongxia asked.

"Let's go talk somewhere else with fewer people, shall we?"

She added thoughtfully.

As for Ijichi Hongxia, she smiled brightly for the first time in a long time.

Because she misunderstood Hibiki Iruma a little, she thought Hibiki Iruma was going to talk about his own band next.

That was what she heard early in the morning, the helplessness and requests for help from Goto Ichiri.

Goto Ichiri was very worried about Iruma Hibiki, but she was helpless and didn't know what she could do. Perhaps with Goto Ichiri's level of stupidity in interpersonal communication, facing the distressed and painful Iruma Hibiki, her inner desire to help was probably already reached. If she could become a tool, she would wish she could just go directly to Iruma Hibiki and let him use her.

Of course, humans cannot achieve this level.

Because of this, the distance between people can sometimes be farther than any other distance in the world, like the distance between civilizations that can never exceed the speed of light and the stars.

"okay."

Iruma Hibiki agreed.

And Ichichi Hongxia's slight awkwardness also disappeared.

And in the end...

It's not that Ijichi Hongxia didn't act like a fool during her lunch alone, thinking about nothing and just immersed herself in the delicious food.

After all, cold bento is not food that exists for enjoyment. The happiness brought by cold meals is always halved. At least Ijichi Hongxia is just like her personality. She likes to eat warm food.

While she was eating, she felt that she was really weird today.

It's just an ordinary day, isn't it?

It's obviously just a small thing.

And in the final analysis, this matter is Iruma Hibiki's private matter, or it is part of it that he probably decided to conceal. The leak of information from Goto Ichiri is actually a very serious matter.

It's no surprise that Hibiki Iruma would get angry and blame Ichiri Goto for this.

but why……

After she knew it, she became unhappy?

It's not the kind of sadness that comes from not feeling sorry for your friend when he or she is facing difficulties.

But it's another one.

Ijichi Hongxia was a little confused about her own feelings.

Until Yamada Ryo patted his shoulder.

"What about the ringing?"

"He seemed a little tired so he fell asleep in the classroom."

The frightened Ijichi Kouka was like Iruma Hibiki who suddenly woke up, a little confused and unable to hide her emotions.

She was startled, but she did not criticize Yamada Ryo harshly as usual. Instead, she reacted too calmly, which made Yamada Ryo feel strange.

"Regret it?"

Suddenly, Yamada Ryo said this.

"Eh?"

But for Ijichi Hongxia, such words were a bit incoherent and completely incomprehensible.

When she turned around, she saw Yamada Ryo's eyes that left a deep impression on her and that she couldn't avoid.

Yamada Ryo's eyes were the same light yellow as her hair, but at this moment, perhaps because of the bright sunlight and the cool color of her hair, they appeared a little golden. The emotions in her eyes were as calm as always, without any noticeable disturbance.

Normally, Yamada Ryo is like this. At first glance, she seems like a cold girl, but occasionally she will burst out with shocking remarks at strange moments.

But at this moment, facing such familiar eyes, Ijichi Hongxia suddenly realized that Yamada Ryo was serious and she wanted to talk about a very important topic at this moment.

Moreover, based on her understanding of Yamada Ryo.

Yamada Ryo's next words were important, and, if nothing unexpected happened, they would be brutal.

Yamada Ryo is just like that, occasionally he will come up with some insightful opinions, and sometimes he will just say some weird trash talk.

As for Yamada Ryo.

She also fell silent.

Perhaps it was a rare occasion, and he was a little concerned about the friendship between himself and Ijichi Hongxia, so he couldn't blurt out the words that he had wanted to say for a long time in his heart.

perhaps--

This is what happened at noon.

Ending

This is the most difficult volume.

I don't know why I want to say this.

These days have been like a curse. I've experienced a series of serious illnesses, including fractures, COVID-9, coughing up blood, insomnia, etc. Since September, I haven't had any chance to write a book properly... I rushed to update it, and the next day I couldn't get up because of a headache, but fortunately, I've finally had enough rest now.

When I started writing again, I suddenly had an illusion for some reason. I felt that my writing became much smoother after not writing for a long time. Was it a blessing in disguise?

All in all, this volume ended with some bumps and bruises, and at the end of this volume, the originally expected emotional changes of the characters were finally laid out!

The next volume will cover the crucial six months after the C Group's disbandment, leading up to the next Spring Break Golden Week holiday. This time, the story won't span a long time! It'll roughly begin the week after the show, and everyone's currently awkward relationships will come to a close! (This is the so-called "harem (good) palace (ship) ending"!)

As usual, I would like to thank everyone who has been with me all the way until now!

I will continue to work hard.

Please rest assured that I have recovered well, and in the second half of the month, I will be fully capable of resuming the updates on a stable basis. For the parts that have not been updated this month, I will update them in October!

Volumes: Six Volumes of Christmas Bear and Salmon

sequence

The small room was filled with intense panting until the morning light filled the room. The panting stopped for a moment, and then with the sound of something huge falling to the ground, everything was over, just like the hour hand that was only half a circle away from pointing to 5 and killed the night.