Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

but--

I hope the person on the other end of the phone has fun.

With such constraints and requirements, Kita lost some of the independent opinions he usually had.

"Well, I need to know what kind of store it is."

"Is it some place selling small accessories, or a clothing store..."

Kita said this.

And Iruma Hibiki also realized why Kita said that.

"If you want, let's go shopping together."

Hibiki Iruma answered.

"Is it really possible?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"That's great! I just found a piece of clothing I really want, but I'm worried if it will fit..."

Kita started talking about very youthful and girlish topics.

"What kind of clothes?"

"A dark dress. Let me look for it!"

After a while, Iruma Hibiki saw the photos sent by Kita.

"It's beautiful, it should suit you very well."

"Really, really!?"

"Well, at least that's how it seems to me."

Iruma Hibiki's praise wasn't a lie.

At least for a guy like him, as long as it's not too outrageous, it can be considered good-looking.

For example, Goto Ichiri's sportswear. Maybe he was just used to it after seeing it so many times, but he unexpectedly thought it was pretty good.

It suits Goto Ichiri very well.

Of course it would be a bit strange if Kita wore it.

But at least the clothes in front of him should be more suitable for Kita.

"But if we're all together, it's better not to go to the clothing store."

"We can go get something to eat together. It just so happens that none of us have any plans to lose weight recently!"

"I'm OK."

Iruma Hibiki agreed.

"And, Senior! I told you that I prepared an exchange gift for you on Christmas. Since you and Pochi-chan were not here, I brought it to you separately afterwards!"

"what……"

"Thank you."

Iruma Hibiki actually knew about this and he was prepared.

But in the end, of course, it was not sent out.

After Kita reminded him, Iruma Hibiki remembered that the gift he prepared was still in the cardboard box under the bed.

"You're welcome!"

"I also have a gift here that I didn't have the chance to give you before."

"Huh?! Really?! I'm so happy!"

-

This kind of chat lasted for a long time.

It lasted so long that Hibiki Iruma lost track of time.

By the time I realized how tired I was, an hour had already passed in the conversation.

The two people's topic started from plans for tomorrow and then continued to share their daily lives.

Kita was also very interested in what Hibiki Iruma said about Shanghai.

So that in the end——

Hibiki Iruma almost blurted out something to Kita completely.

Maybe it's the relaxed atmosphere.

In the end, Iruma Hibiki did not deliberately hide anything and still told some of the information. After all, he did not want to keep these as his secrets.

He thought he would get some strange comments, but Kita said:

"How interesting! Is this true? Or is it just a setting from a novel by a senior?"

Facing the excited Kita.

Finally, Iruma Hibiki's reply was:

“It’s a setting, and it’s also true.”

When hearing this answer, Kita was silent for a while.

"A senior like that must have felt lonely and sad from time to time... That's why I left Tokyo at that time."

She didn't question it at all and believed the outrageous setting like a fool.

certainly--

For Kita, it is very easy for her to believe such things.

For example, what she particularly likes to watch recently are love stories with alien settings.

Such words also touched Iruma Hibiki slightly.

"It doesn't matter now."

He said this, trying to make the atmosphere more pleasant.

24 The Flying Squirrel That Wasn't Caught

Oh, my dear friend, have you ever seen the sunrise in Tokyo at four in the morning?

Of course I haven't seen it, because the sun usually rises after 4 o'clock in Tokyo.

Ijichi Hongxia sat in the restaurant. The sky was gray with only a hint of white in the distance, as if a drop of milk was dropped into a bottle of black ink. Liquids of different densities began to intertwine under the diffusion of molecules, leaving traces and winding tracks at the junction.

The sound of steady breathing could be heard from the room. Ichichi Xingge was still asleep at this moment.

That's right.

The actual time to wake up is at least a few hours later.

For the average high school student, getting up at 7 o'clock is enough.

Even Goto Ichiri usually only gets up at around 5 o'clock to rush to school.

That is to say, this is when no one is around.

For Ijichi Hongxia, the current world is a world of nothingness and non-existence.

If this can be considered philosophy.

Then Ijichi Hongxia's philosophy is that a world where one is alone is not a world at all.

Today was the agreed meeting time, and she should have rested well and kept her energy, but Ijichi Hongxia woke up too early in the morning.

Probably because of insomnia.

Maybe it was because I had such a good dream that I was still very moved when I woke up.

She dreamed that she was standing on the stage of Tokyo Dome.

There was no one around.

Only she stood there holding the drumstick.

The huge audience in the audience was staring at her.

When she was so flustered that she was at her wit's end, someone suddenly patted her shoulder.

"Hey!"

The man whispered in her ear as if he was trying to scare her on purpose.

She was indeed frightened in the dream, but when she turned around, Ijichi Hongxia seemed to have returned to the campus not long ago, but also a long time ago.

The moment when Iruma Hibiki scared her in the back seat.

The images changed rather quickly, but that's how dreams are sometimes.

Soon, Ijichi Hongka returned to the stage.

She felt like she had slept for a long time but woke up in a class that was still in session. She felt like she was out of the loop and everything around her was making sounds but she couldn't hear them clearly.

She saw Chihaya Aine seemed to be saying something. She was very excited, wearing a gorgeous performance costume, and she raised her hand high.

"A returning child and the lead singer of this band! Chihaya Aine!"

"The next thing is—"

Following Chihaya Aine's finger, she pointed to Nagasaki Suyo on the other side.

"Aine-chan, I'm sorry for being a bit long-winded. We're here to perform."

"Eh? Why is this happening..."

Chihaya Aine looked a little unhappy.

"But this is our first time on a stage like this, so we can't not introduce everyone properly!"

"Xiang Xiang probably thinks so too."

"Hey, we agreed to only use nicknames like that in private."

Eh?

Whose name did Aine mention just now?

Ijichi Hongxia stood there in a daze.

When I came to my senses, I suddenly realized that I was sitting at the back of the stage, next to the drum set.

She turned around——

At this moment, Hibiki Iruma, holding a guitar, was standing next to Ichiri Goto. Both of them were fully prepared and were equally nervous.

"Hongxia."

Yamada Ryo came to her side and took care of her.

Chihaya Aine's crosstalk has reached its limit.

What are we going to perform...?

Ijichi Hongxia couldn't remember at all.

Until the moment the prelude came out.

"This song is the one we didn't have the chance to play back then! But right now, it's here to witness our rebirth!"

-

When she woke up, this beautiful dream made Yidi Zhihongxia feel lost in the early morning light for some reason.

It’s like gaining a world, but losing it in an instant.

It seems like I have found the meaning of life, but have lost the opportunity to pursue it.

Regret is the biggest devil.

Because it will always be like a sharp blade, piercing the softest part of the heart on a certain night countless years later.