I save a pathological girl with a twisted love story.

These are similar words to yesterday's, but how could such a lavish bento box not sell?

"Perhaps this is just an excuse from Natsumi Kage? The materials alone already cost over 100 yen."

"Perhaps he brought it to me on purpose?"

The thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she felt a pang of sadness.

This was the first time she had been treated this way, and it left her feeling lost and helpless.

Yet, a sense of happiness welled up within her that she couldn't suppress.

She wanted to ask Xia Wuzhao if that was really the case, but she was also a little timid.

"Perhaps it's best not to ask. If you ask and it's not what you think, then you'll just seem like you're being presumptuous."

"Perhaps, Xia Wuzhao really couldn't sell herself, so she sold it to me at a low price. Perhaps, that's really the case."

"So maintaining the current relationship might be fine too."

"What a waste." Asahi Aoi clicked her tongue, answering Natsugiri Kai as usual.

But then he took out his wallet from his pocket.

This is a transparent wallet, essentially just a hard plastic bag with a blue stripe seal.

It looks like something you'd buy from a dollar store.

Inside, there were only two pitiful banknotes and a handful of coins.

Aoi Asahi took out a coin and placed it on the table to indicate that she had bought it.

After putting the coins in her pocket, Natsugiri pushed the lunchbox to Asahi Aoi.

The two sat together eating lunch, the midday sun shining from behind, casting their shadows against the wall.

As they swayed, they intertwined.

The air was filled with the scent of sunshine, and the two of them would sometimes chat idly.

However, Natsugiri always seemed nonchalant, while Asahi Aoi didn't want to reveal what was on her mind.

So she asked questions as usual.

Yet, it always reveals a subtle dependence.

Aoi Asahi asked, "Is your house in Second New Tokyo near the school?"

"Probably," Xia Wuzhao replied casually.

If he obtained the Demon Seed, he would indeed make such a wish.

“This is really great,” Aoi said in a muffled tone. “I don’t have parents, and I have two houses. This is probably the luckiest thing.”

She seemed somewhat envious, yet also happy for Xia Wuzhao.

"Perhaps," Xia Wuzhao said casually, "but when I get to Second New Tokyo, I'll still need to work to make ends meet."

"Why not just rent out the house?" Aoi Asahi suggested to Kai Natsugiri. "That way, you only need to collect rent each month."

She said, "Many students at the school will probably need to rent apartments when they go to study at Nihon Shin-Tokyo, so this must be a good business."

“The students will only rent those cheap dormitories with a monthly rent of only 60,000 yen. They’re the kind that’s extremely cheap, with just a living room and a bathroom. You have to do laundry and cook in the hallway, and you have to lay your bedding in the living room to sleep.” Natsugiri Kai rejected Asahi Aoi’s suggestion in this way.

“Is that so?” Aoi Asahi replied.

She turned her head to look at Xia Wuzhao, whose expression remained indifferent as always.

"Would someone like that really do such a thing? Perhaps they would."

"But am I really confident?"

"Is that really not just my imagination?"

"To assume that others like you is incredibly presumptuous."

Asahi thought this, yet she couldn't deny it.

"If only that were true."

She thought this to herself and secretly made up her mind.

"If Xia Wuzhao remains like this tomorrow, the day after, and before the May Day holiday."

"Then, perhaps it really is true."

Her face flushed slightly, as if she were a little shy, which made Xia Wuzhao glance at her again.

"If that's really the case, then what if he confesses his feelings to me during the May Day holiday?"

"So what should I do? I'll probably accept it."

Asahi Aoi thought about it, her heart filled with both anticipation and apprehension.

She longs for happiness, yet she also fears it.

Chapter 37 Sand dampened by leisure and brilliance

When the lush green leaves in the courtyard sway, sending their vibrant greenery into the horticulture department.

Xia Wuzhao placed her lunchbox on the table.

Asahi mocked Natsugiri Kai's messy knot.

He skillfully took the lunchbox and untied the messy blue knot on it.

"The knot you tied is a real dead end. If something urgent happens, it will take a lot of time to untie it. By then, you'll have plenty of time to regret it."

As she said this, the girl carefully unfolded the blue cloth and laid it neatly on the table.

After a few quick tyings, a pretty bow was formed.

She fluttered the wings of the two butterflies, her eyelashes trembling as she looked at Xia Wuzhao: "This is the second time I've done this. You should have learned it by now."

"No," Xia Wuzhao replied.

"Hmm~~" The girl hesitated for a moment: "But aren't you a good student? You should be very smart."

“A good student in high school? What kind of good student is that?” Xia Wuzhao said, “Maybe he’s a good student here, but he’ll be a bad student in Second New Tokyo.”

Asahi Aoi glanced at Natsugiri Kai, but did nothing more.

He simply said, "I'm going to take a nap."

She yawned and walked to the back. Although she felt a little reluctant to leave, she still lay down on the folding bed and fell asleep.

Perhaps because she felt too comfortable, the suppressed fatigue overwhelmed her all at once.

After a short while, he drifted off to sleep.

Xia Wuzhao glanced at it, then stood up and picked up a book from the bookshelf, casually looking at it.

A person is taking a leisurely nap in the sunlight.

The other person was quietly reading a book.

The books are a very diverse collection; some are just about gardening and planting, while others are classic works. There are also many magazines and light novels.

However, they all look very old, as if they have been stored for a very long time.

Xia Wuzhao didn't mind that the books were old; on the contrary, she flipped through them with great interest.

Some pages may be stained, and others may have folded corners.

The stains are sometimes ink and sometimes grease.

When Xia Wuzhao sees these books, she often thinks back to the people who read them before and what they were thinking at the time.

Looking at the book, he felt as if he had touched a corner of other people's lives.

It was midday in late April in this crowded horticulture department.

The atmosphere was as warm as the weather and as tranquil as flowing water.

It's like being cut off from society, so all the heavy, gloomy things in my heart were swept away without me even realizing it.

All you need to do is sit here quietly and enjoy the warm sunshine.

Even a dried-up spring of the heart will gush forth drop by drop something called happiness.

Thirty minutes into the day, Natsuki Kai wanted to wake Asahi Aoi.

But when he reached Aoi Asahi, he stopped.

She was almost lying on her side, face down on the pillow.

Strands of hair slipped off the sailor uniform, spreading out from the back like wet raven feathers and hanging down to the shoulders.

Strands of hair hung down from the bed and piled up on the floor.

It looks like a spider web.

The summer sun made her skin appear almost transparent, and her hair shone with iridescent light.

Even when the sunflower is fast asleep, a sad expression appears on its face.

Even with my eyes closed, clear tears would well up in the corners of my eyes, trickling down my cheeks and onto the pillow.

She clenched her teeth tightly, as if she were fighting against something, almost grinding them to pieces.

Perhaps, when she opens her eyes, she is never able to show her true self.

Only at this moment can she show her true self.

Yet this version of myself is so sad.

Xia Wuzhao watched the sad, tearful girl, then slowly turned and left.

He continued sitting in the chair reading, but this time he only skimmed through the pages.

But he wasn't reading; he was just making the soft sound of turning pages. He was simply lost in thought.

—Aoi was finally awakened when the slow, heavy chimes of Westminster rang.

He struggled to support himself on the iron frame with his hands, forcefully lifting his body.

Asahi looked at Natsugiri Kai's silhouette bathed in sunlight, and for a moment she was in a daze.

She murmured, "What time is it now?"

She had almost forgotten where she was.

Xia Wuzhao closed her book: "Now, it's probably time for class."

Aoi then realized what was happening, quickly washed up, and ran towards the classroom.

But when they arrived at the classroom, class had already started.

Perhaps the teacher was still a little angry.

But when the first and second place winners stood at the door, the teacher could only helplessly say, "Come in."

The students were all looking at Natsumi and Asahi Aoi, and they all began to think that Asahi Aoi and Natsumi might have some kind of relationship.

The girls were all a little jealous.

Asahi Aoi merely exchanged a subtle glance with Natsugiri Kai, as if everything was self-evident.

During class, Asahi listened attentively.

Even after class, she was still very attentive. However, there were always girls causing trouble for Asahi Aoi, though she didn't dare to bully them directly.

But she always finds small troubles, either openly or secretly, or deliberately knocks over Asahina's things, or orders Asahina to buy things.

Every time, Aoi would ask them for money to buy drinks.

He'll be mocked by these girls again: "It's just the price of a drink, why are you being so stingy?"

Often, this kind of entanglement will consume all the time before get out of class ends.

Aoi Asahi was already used to this kind of thing, and she even felt somewhat fortunate about it.

This way, students can spend their breaks peacefully.

After school, she looked forward to going to the horticulture department.

Because Xia Wuzhao always had to go to the horticulture department to pick up her lunchbox, which was one of the few times they could talk.

If they were in the classroom, he and she always kept a considerable distance from each other, as if they were tacitly agreeing to do so.