In fact, I can add unlimited points

"I, I...I used to..."

Looking at Ichinose hesitating and unable to utter a complete sentence, Shiranami Chihiro sighed.

After reluctantly kissing Aragaki Shun on the cheek, he simply stood up and walked outside, "Xiao Fanbo, I will lend you my boyfriend temporarily. When the new day comes, you must remember to return him to me."

"Oh no, we can't wait until tomorrow. I'm going back to my dorm now and waiting. Xiao Fanbo, remember to come to my room and say hello when you go back."

"I haven't even spent the night at Aragaki-kun's place yet. You're not allowed to get ahead of me, otherwise I'll be angry even if it's Xiao Fanbo."

"Chihiro..." Ichinose looked at the disappearing figure of Shiranami Chihiro, his eyes filled with emotion, "Thank you, but I really don't have such thoughts."

After Bai Bo left, seeing the pink-haired girl breathe a sigh of relief, Aragaki Shun also stood up.

"Let's go for a walk outside and enjoy the fresh air together!"

He did not forget that Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Megumi were hiding in his room.

Since Ichinose wanted to tell him some more private information, he naturally had to find a more suitable place.

Not to mention that the situation tonight is simply weird. In order to prevent the fifth and sixth knocks on the door, I'd better go out quickly and deal with Ichinose's problem.

.........

"Has Aragaki agreed to date Chihiro-chan?"

After leaving the dormitory building, the two walked together on the deserted street, feeling the cool evening breeze.

Aragaki Shun didn't say anything the whole time, but just stayed silently beside the pink-haired girl, waiting for her to sort herself out.

It was just a little surprising that when the two of them just walked into an area without surveillance, Ichinose's first conversation was not about herself, but about the relationship status of Aragaki Shun and Shiranami Chihiro.

"I've always known what Chihiro meant. Last night, I officially stated my stance and exchanged our thoughts with her."

"But we weren't officially dating at that time, because Chihiro said she wanted to prepare a romantic confession before confirming the relationship. But tonight she came to tell me that the plan was cancelled. Anyway, we are indeed in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship now."

"Cancelled?" Ichinose was a little confused. As the girl's best friend, she knew she had imagined countless confession scenarios. "It's only been a day, why is this happening?"

"Who told you to behave so strangely today? Chihiro's sense of crisis is rising, so naturally she's not going to do those formalities anymore."

"Ah? Is it because of me?"

Ichinose was stunned on the spot. She could never guess that this was the reason.

"Yeah, if you hadn't come, Chihiro and I would probably have had a great night tonight."

"Wow~Should I say sorry?"

As if he couldn't see Ichinose's rosy face, Aragaki Shun just nodded shamelessly and started moral blackmailing.

"Just saying sorry won't do the trick. I've put aside my own nightlife to help you solve your psychological problems. As a businessman, I have to accept a corresponding reward."

"Huh? This, this, this is not possible. I promised Chihiro, that, no..."

Hearing Aragaki Shun's half-joking words, the girl suddenly became incoherent.

Are there corresponding rewards for giving up the nightlife?

What on earth is Aragaki-kun hinting at?

"Then I'll keep it in mind for now. Now let me hear what strange things happened to you during your junior high school years."

Ichinose breathed a sigh of relief at first, but after he realized what was happening, his expression suddenly became extremely interesting.

"Aragaki-kun, did you guess it?"

"You're already the third person to come to me because of your middle school scandal!"

"Anyway, this is definitely the aftermath of another rumor-mongering incident. There's no need to guess."

156. Ichinose's confession; the possibility of switching to a more erotic style

"I'm a criminal. I stole things when I was in junior high school."

Looking up at the moonless starry sky, Ichinose leaned against the wall and finally began to confide his secret past to Aragaki Shun.

"Actually, I come from a single-parent family. My mother worked while raising me and my younger sister, who is two years younger than me."

"Although my family is not rich, I never feel that I am unfortunate."

When talking about her family, Ichinose smiled naturally and peacefully.

It is obvious that the girl recognizes her family from the bottom of her heart, instead of deliberately pretending in front of outsiders.

Aragaki Shun could understand this.

After all, it is the 21st century with highly developed productivity. As long as an ordinary family does not live in a war-torn country, it will be no problem for them to support themselves.

In this case, as long as family relationships are harmonious and one can lower one's spiritual needs a little, even ordinary people from poor backgrounds can truly feel the taste of happiness.

But the reality is that such examples are quite rare.

Because the prerequisite for achieving this is that many members of the family must learn to be content with what they have and be able to get enough satisfaction from ordinary life without pursuing higher demands.

Otherwise, the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, housing and transportation will turn into mountains and crush families striving for happiness.

If nothing unexpected happens, since Ichinose starts with these words, the difficulties she encounters later should still be the contradiction between the embarrassing reality caused by poverty and the pursuit of beauty.

After all, it is impossible for a normal person to be in a rational state forever. When a person's material needs are met, he will instinctively begin to pursue more social and psychological needs.

This is the nature that people are born with, and there is no need to be too harsh on it.

"Raising two children while working is too tiring for a mother alone, so I thought about not continuing my studies after graduating from junior high school and going out to find a job to support my sister with my mother."

"But my mother refused. She told me to study hard and hoped that both my sister and I could live a good and happy life. We shouldn't sacrifice one for the other."

"So, my mother worked even harder just to help me earn money for high school, hoping that I would grow up to be an upright person, but I failed her..."

At this point, Ichinose's voice gradually became choked with sobs.

The following memories gradually brought her to the darkest part of the girl's life. Even though almost a year had passed, she was still deeply trapped in its shadow and found it difficult to move on to a new life.

"Knowing my mother's determination, I studied very hard so that I could take advantage of the special student system and reduce the burden on my family."

"But when I became the top student in school, in the summer of my third year of middle school... my mother collapsed from pushing herself too hard."

Aragaki Shun's eyebrows moved for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, this kind of accident was actually inevitable.

The hemp rope is cut at the delicate point, and bad luck finds the poor.

This is so simply because in the same degree of hardship, the rich can easily get through it by paying with their wealth, while the poor can only sacrifice their health, future and even their lives.

The risk resistance of the two is completely not at the same level.

Ichinose's mother wanted to support a stable life for her family of three, and the only thing she could sacrifice was her own health.

In this situation, it is normal to collapse due to working too hard.

"That's how my mother ended up in the hospital."

"Even worse, it was almost my sister's birthday at that time."

Ichinose's choked voice grew deeper and deeper, and what followed was probably the forgotten past that she didn't want to recall at all.

And now, in order to prevent herself from becoming a burden to Class A, she wants to uncover the scar with her own hands.

Aragaki Shun had a headache, and to be honest, he really didn't want to delve into such troublesome matters.

In his opinion, what has happened has passed. Since no irreparable regrets have been caused, he just needs to learn from the lessons and keep moving forward. When he is strong enough to face all challenges, he naturally does not need to dwell on the powerlessness of the past.

So when facing Kikyo Kushida and Megumi Karuizawa, he simply proposed a deal without delving into their dark history, let alone thinking about acting as a psychologist to help them overcome their past and move towards a bright future.

Everyone has their own way of life. As long as it doesn't interfere with him, it's none of Aragaki Shun's business what they want to do, what hobbies they have, or what regrets they are trapped in.

But the person standing in front of him now is Ichinose Honami, his key helper as the leader of Class A, who can coordinate relationships within the class and make the whole class united.

Whether from an emotional or interest perspective, Aragaki Shun cannot let her collapse like this.

Hey~ Why do you have to come to me to talk about such trivial family matters?

Although I am very grateful for your trust in me and your willingness to disclose such privacy to me, I am really not good at dealing with this kind of thing!

"My sister has always been very well behaved. She is only in the first year of junior high school and could have been happier, but because she understands the family situation, she never asks for anything."

"She endured all the demands, from beautiful clothes to her favorite snacks to trendy makeup. She even avoided attending friends' gatherings to avoid embarrassing her mother."

"I just kept enduring it, enduring it, and this little sister... for the first time got what she wanted, which was the hairpin that was very popular last year."

Hearing this, Aragaki Shun realized that the turning point had arrived.

I just don't know whether the next person to explode will be my sister, my mother, or Ichinose herself.

Hey~ There are countless diseases in this world, but if these diseases have one source, it can only be "poverty"!

"I think my mother must have forced herself to work overtime in order to buy her that hairpin, which is why she was forced to go to the hospital."

"I still remember my mother crying and apologizing to my sister on the hospital bed. After her anticipation turned to disappointment, my sister cried and cursed, while shouting that she was looking forward to the hairpin."

This is wrong!

Ichinose knew this very well, but she couldn't blame her sister.

Because my sister has been too sensible over the years, this is the first and only time she has longed for a birthday present.

But the mother was not wrong either. In order to fulfill her sister's wish, she was exhausted from working overtime.

Everyone is working hard to maintain this family and has endured so much hardship, but things still developed to this point.

Ichinose inevitably becomes confused, doubting whether his previous morals are really useful, and instinctively wants to do something.

"As an older sister...I have to find a way to make my sister smile again."

"I remember thinking this, so after school on my sister's birthday, I didn't go home but went straight to the department store."

Aragaki Shun sighed in his heart. It was obvious what the girl wanted to do next.

So, the depression in Ichinose's heart is because of stealing a hairpin?

After thinking about it, it should be more than that.

It's impossible that the hairpin is actually a valuable item worth more than gold, right?

"After my mother collapsed from exhaustion, the family had to pay for medical expenses, so the funds originally intended for my sister's birthday were naturally used up."

"Given our current financial situation, it was impossible for my family to buy that hairpin, which was worth over 10,000 yen, through legitimate channels. So, I resorted to... theft. I simply stole it."

"What's the big deal about doing this bad thing for my sister? After all, there are so many bad people in this world. We who have endured until now shouldn't be blamed... That was my dark thought at the time."

Ichinose's voice was heavy, and the sorrow and sense of atonement that came from it made people wonder if she had done something unforgivable.

But Aragaki Shun found it hard to empathize. It was just a hairpin, and its real value might be only a few dozen yen, but it was hyped up to a price of over ten thousand yen. It can only be said that anything that is labeled as "fashionable" can reap a wave of fans' money.

But no matter how much the hairpin is priced at, it is not a big deal in the eyes of Aragaki Shun.

The reason why Ichinose suffered so much can only be attributed to her having very correct values ​​and high moral standards.

If it were any other slightly mischievous middle school student, if he was caught stealing, he would be beaten and cry loudly. After he finished crying, his parents would pay the money and the matter would be over.

"Wait, did you succeed or fail in this theft?"

"It worked. I didn't get caught," Ichinose looked up at the sky, not letting Aragaki Shun see her expression as she said this. "It was my first time stealing something, and no one caught me. I immediately went home and gave the hairpin to my sister as a gift."

"Because it was stolen and not specially cared for, it was quite rough as a birthday gift, but my sister was very happy after receiving it."

"Seeing her smile, I felt my guilt ease for a moment, but I knew it wasn't right!"

Looking at Ichinose's self-deprecating attitude, Aragaki Shun sighed a little. The key point comes after understanding.

"Since hairpins are decorative items, they should be worn on the head for people to admire. So did your mother find out about this?"

Ichinose's mother worked so hard that she was taken to the hospital, but she still couldn't buy such a thing. So where did the hairpin on her sister's head come from?

No one knows a daughter better than her mother. As long as Ichinose's mother finds out something is wrong, she will find out the truth sooner or later if she investigates further.

How will Ichinose's mother react then?

Just pretend to be dead and hope for luck and ignore it?

It is obviously impossible for the other party to make such a choice, as he could raise a daughter with Ichinose's personality.

"That was the first time I saw my mother really angry. She slapped me hard and took the hairpin from my sister. My sister was crying and didn't understand what was going on."

"Afterwards, my mother, who was supposed to remain in the hospital, ignored her own health and dragged me to the store, where she knelt down in front of everyone and begged for forgiveness."

"At that moment, I truly understood the gravity of the crime I had committed. No matter what excuses I made, the fact of the crime was unforgivable."

This is Ichinose's past, a crime she has been hiding that she doesn't want to reveal.