I won't be a loser.

"Since you're here, would you like a drink? It's my treat."

When the words fell, Yuigahama Yui's expression was a little moved, while Yukinoshita Yukino's expression seemed very indifferent, and Hikigaya Hachiman turned his head away and did not continue to look at Kento.

"No need. Also, Kawasaki-san."

"Ok?"

Saki Kawasaki, who was making the cocktail, heard someone calling her name and noticed that it was in the corner where Kento was, and there were three other people. Her eyes fell on Yukinoshita Yukino, and then looked at Yuigahama Yui.

"Yukinoshita, Yuigahama... Is he also a student at Sobu High School?"

Finally, her eyes fell on Hikigaya Hachiman, and Saki Kawasaki asked casually.

Hikigaya Hachiman, who was standing among the three, already regretted coming here today, and Yukinoshita Yukino took the opportunity to launch an "attack" on Hikigaya Hachiman.

"Even though we're classmates, your name isn't remembered. In some ways, that's pretty impressive, Hikigaya-kun."

Then the three of them started communicating with Saki Kawasaki. They got to know Saki Kawasaki's younger brother and learned from his brother that Saki Kawasaki would come home very late. They came here to learn about Saki Kawasaki's situation.

She wanted Saki Kawasaki to go home early and not let her brother worry, but Saki Kawasaki was working here for family reasons. When Yukinoshita Yukino threatened her that "the school prohibits working late at night", Saki Kawasaki suddenly mentioned as if inadvertently, "Yukinoshita, your father seems to be a county councilor, right?", which made Yukinoshita Yukino break down her defense.

Yuigahama Yui suddenly stood up and stood up for her friend.

"What does this have to do with Yukino's family?"

"What does my family's affairs have to do with you?"

The casual rebuttal made Yuigahama Yui fall into silence all of a sudden. Kento, who was sitting next to her, was watching the girls quarreling. He found the scene of Yuigahama Yui and Yukinoshita Yukino being left speechless by Kawasaki Saki's rebuttal very interesting.

- - - -

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and blades! Thank you all for your recommendation tickets!

Chiba New Story: 457. Supporting Poor Female High School Students in the City

There is nothing wrong with wanting to help others, but Yukinoshita Yukino's condescending attitude made even the wise man sitting next to her feel nauseous.

They also wanted to help Saki Kawasaki, who was in trouble at home. It seemed that Kento at least respected Saki Kawasaki's own opinion. She was unwilling and did not force the other party, while Yukinoshita Yukino threatened Saki Kawasaki with school rules.

"Before leaving, that boy named Hikigaya seemed to have asked you to meet him in the early morning?"

Saki Kawasaki was wiping the wine glass, with her head down quietly. After a moment of silence, she slowly raised her head and looked at the smiling sage.

He wanted to say something, but lowered his head silently and stood quietly behind the bar. He still didn't open his mouth to tell Xianren his thoughts clearly. It was late at night, around 2 o'clock. Xianren, who had drunk quite a lot, was a little sleepy and slowly stood up.

"Goodbye."

"Ah."

Kento said goodbye to Saki Kawasaki and left the bar. He was still sober and returned to his home from the hotel alone. At this time in the early morning, he returned to his home, turned on the lights and entered the house, then sat down at the entrance.

With his head lowered, his mind was in a daze. He couldn't think clearly about anything. He just didn't want to do anything and didn't want to move at all.

This went on for about half an hour before he slowly stood up, went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and then returned to his room in his pajamas. He lay down on his bed, closed his eyes and rested.

It was around 7 o'clock in the morning when I woke up in a daze, opening my eyes according to my biological clock.

After casually taking care of his own affairs, he went to school, listened to some classes, stayed there for a while, and then returned to his home. Feeling a little tired, he went straight back to his bedroom, lay back on his bed, and continued to rest.

When he woke up, the sky outside the window was already pitch black. He only woke up when he heard Yuanye Ningning knocking on the door. But even after waking up, his head was still a little dizzy. After dinner, he sat down at the computer desk in the office.

After checking some information and reading some stories, he turned off the computer and went back to his room to rest.

After locking the door and prohibiting others from entering, he lay down on his bed, thought for a while, picked up the mobile phone beside him, contacted other people in Tokyo, and then completely gave up thinking and closed his eyes to rest.

……

It was a week later that I came to the bar again. Seeing Saki Kawasaki standing behind the bar gave me an inexplicable sense of security. If Saki Kawasaki no longer worked here, it would be a bit regrettable for Xianren.

He is a person who doesn't like changes very much. If Saki Kawasaki leaves this place, it will be a change for Xianren. Losing familiar people will always make him feel a little uncomfortable.

"Good evening, Mr. Miyamizu."

"Well, good evening."

As usual, he ordered a glass of gin. There was a somewhat conflicted look on Kawasaki Saki's face, as if she wanted to ask something. He waited quietly for the bartender. When the glass was brought in front of him, Kawasaki Saki slowly came to Xianren.

"I remember Mr. Miyamizu, you're a student at Chiba University?"

"Ah."

"I... have a question I'd like to ask Mr. Miyamizu."

"go ahead."

"Like those private schools, there are scholarships, right?"

Xianren, who was sitting at the bar, did not expect Kawasaki Saki to ask this. His eyes fell on the girl, and the other party was also looking directly at Xianren, but the teardrop mole at the corner of her eye attracted Xianren's attention from time to time. After looking at each other for a long time, he couldn't help but smile softly.

I originally thought that Saki Kawasaki was going to ask a more in-depth question, but I didn't expect her to just ask such a simple question. This made the wise man, who was somewhat expectant, a little disappointed, but he still gave a positive answer.

"Scholarships for private schools do exist, of course, but only large private schools have such incentive mechanisms. Smaller private schools don't have the financial resources to do so."

A thoughtful look appeared on Saki Kawasaki's face.

"Also, scholarships from private schools aren't completely free of charge. If you achieve your goals, you might get a small amount, maybe 1 to 2 yen. But compared to the monthly tuition fees, it's a drop in the bucket. Plus... I personally don't think it's possible to rely entirely on private school scholarships to cover my living expenses."

It's not that Xianren is here to discourage Saki Kawasaki's enthusiasm, but the fact is that scholarships exist only for a very small number of people, and more scholarships are more like tuition waivers.

"It's nominally a scholarship, but it's more like a discount or exemption. Small private schools don't offer many scholarships, and large private schools are extremely expensive. Before entering university, I also attended a small private school. The teaching quality was naturally very high, but the fees were not cheap... Kawasaki, if you want to use the scholarship to alleviate your family's financial pressure, it's unrealistic."

After these remarks, Saki Kawasaki fell into silence.

"If you want to temporarily relieve the pressure on your family, you can apply for a scholarship, but a scholarship only temporarily shifts the current financial pressure to the future. If you can't solve the scholarship problem in the future, you will end up in 'personal bankruptcy'."

“A scholarship?”

"It depends on your needs. You can apply for financial assistance from a student aid agency. That's a nice way of putting it. To be frank, it's a student loan, which comes in two different forms: interest-free and interest-only. But overall, it's not a good option. The conditions of some agencies are no different from loan sharking."

Seeing that Saki Kawasaki's eyes were a little fluctuating, the wise man who was sitting there spoke up to remind her.

"These days, there are quite a few people filing for personal bankruptcy because of student aid. It's not absolutely necessary, so I think it's best not to consider it. Of course, this is all your personal matter."

Saki Kawasaki, who was originally somewhat tempted, fell into deep entanglement and hesitation after the wise man's repeated exhortations.

The dilemma that Saki Kawasaki is in is not unique to Kawasaki.

After getting married and having children, the young couple found that their family’s financial ability was very difficult to take care of one child. However, as long as they had one more child, they could get subsidies from government policies to ease the financial pressure on their family.

Born!

However, as my second son grew up and started school, I found that the financial pressure on my family had increased again, so I looked into the benefits of the third son policy.

Hesitate for a moment, then regenerate!

But when the third child had grown up and was about to face the problem of tuition fees, the couple, who already had three children and had entered middle age, no longer had the energy to have another child and fell into financial pressure.

The poorer the family, the more children they have. As a result, the eldest son in such a family always has to sacrifice his own future. He either drops out of high school to work, or reluctantly goes to a specialized university and then enters society early to ease the family's financial pressure.

In such a family, the most common phrase heard is: 'How can we have so much money?'

Thus, with one sentence, a nearly universal excuse, the possibilities for children growing up in such a family were cut off, leaving them trapped on a path with a visible future, like their parents, reckless in their youth, then entering the gray and colorless state of middle age...

"Are you planning to go to college?"

"..."

Saki Kawasaki's grades in school are average, not excellent, but not bad either. It's just that during this period of time, she has been working part-time in the middle of the night this semester, and she has relaxed a bit in her studies, so her grades have dropped slightly.

If possible, she naturally hopes that she can go to university. She lives in a family full of pressure. It is like a pair of invisible big hands that tightly squeeze Saki Kawasaki's whole body, but she is not crushed, but becomes strong.

She took on some of the family responsibilities early on, hoping to make her younger brothers and sisters live more comfortably, but even such a strong girl was not completely without any complaints.

When facing someone like Yukinoshita Yukino, facing the condescending Yukinoshita Yukino, she still revealed her deep dissatisfaction with life.

"Speaking of which, Yukinoshita, your father is a county councilor, right?"

If the roles of the two people were reversed, would Yukino Yukinoshita be able to look down on Saki Kawasaki and say something like "Cinderella's magic will expire at 0 o'clock" which is a subtle threat?

There is no "if" in life. Saki Kawasaki is just an ordinary person from an ordinary family. Her father is not a county councilor, and her mother is not the daughter of a wealthy family. She is just an ordinary person born in an ordinary family, that's all.

"Direction of approach?"

"..."

Saki Kawasaki fell silent and did not give any answer. For her, who had once given up the idea of continuing her studies, she didn't know how to answer even if she was asked to express her expectations of continuing her studies.

He picked up the wine glass in front of him and took a small sip. As Saki Kawasaki couldn't give an answer, Kento couldn't think of how to help her for a moment.

Saki Kawasaki, who was standing in front of the wise man, was also struggling and entangled in her heart. She didn't know how to answer the wise man's question. She stood quietly with her head down for a while. She slowly raised her head, looked at the wise man in front of her, and moved her lips slightly.

"2, 200 million yen..."

"Ok?"

The voice was very low, and the wise man only heard Kawasaki Saki seemed to say something. He raised his head and saw the girl in front of him. His face looked a little conflicted and he bit his lips tightly.

"I...I...if...I need 200 million yen...Mr. Miyamizu, is there anything I can do?"

"Does your family need 200 million yen? Well... a typical annual income for a person is about 200 million yen. After deducting various expenses, if you live in your own home, 200 million yen should be enough to support you for about two years. During those two years, it should be enough for your family to take care of your younger brother and sister. It's a relatively conservative amount, but it's not easy to have an income of 2 million yen in a short period of time."

Facing the hesitant Saki Kawasaki, after hearing her words, the wise man sitting in front of her shook the wine glass in his hand and began to think seriously.

"Speaking of which, for some people, it's not a difficult thing, but for some people, even 10 yen is a very difficult thing. This society is really unfair..."

At this time, the wise man couldn't help but sigh. Even though he had already understood the truth of the survival of the fittest in this society, every time he thought about it, he couldn't help but look a little lost and depressed.

"How about this, I'll meet your parents."

"……Um?"

"Let me talk about your situation and help you solve your current predicament. I don't think it should be a big problem. Otherwise, if you suddenly don't need your family's support and can live on your own, it will cause your family to worry, right?"

Saki Kawasaki was stunned for a moment and couldn't understand what the wise man meant.

"Hmm? Eh? W-What do you mean?"

Saki Kawasaki was completely stunned as she stared at the man in front of her.

"It's a bit of a charity event in advance, and I also want to take a gamble and see if you'll disappoint me."

"..."

She didn't understand what Xianren meant, but looking at the pure look in his eyes, Kawasaki Saki couldn't help but bite her lip. She felt that the other party had no ill intentions, but her mood was a little complicated.

"I……"

"Although it's charity, you don't need to take it too seriously. I'm just treating this as a game. You don't know when it will end. Don't hold your hopes too high. If you feel resentful towards me when it ends suddenly, then it won't be that meaningful."

Saki Kawasaki didn't know how to start, so she was silent for a long time and nodded slightly.

After exchanging contact information with Saki Kawasaki, Xianren left the bar and returned home.

When he returned to his bedroom and turned on the light, he saw Himeno Ikera, Kousaka Iori, and even Madoka Nene lying on his bed. However, Fujiwara Momoka was not in his bedroom.

"..."

After staring for a while, Xianren turned off the bedroom light, left the room, entered the bedroom of Nene Madoka and Iori Kosaka, and lay down on their beds to take a nap.

- - - -

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and blades! Thank you all for your recommendation tickets!

Chiba New Story: 458. Family factors are important

It seemed like someone was willing to sponsor their daughter. After Saki Kawasaki returned home and told her parents about it, they seemed to feel suspicious. At the same time, they suddenly became concerned about Saki Kawasaki's affairs and asked why the other party came to Saki Kawasaki.

It was obviously not easy to tell my parents that I was working part-time late at night, especially in a place like a bar.

In order to avoid her parents' suspicion, Saki Kawasaki remained silent for a moment and casually used a convenience store as her part-time job. After telling her parents, their expressions seemed a little complicated, but they did not delve into it and just believed Saki Kawasaki.

I confirmed the meeting time with her, which was set for a weekend evening at a family restaurant near Kawasaki's home.

Xianren didn't care much about these things. After getting the news from Saki Kawasaki, he agreed and agreed to the place and time of the meeting.

Then a few days passed slowly. On Sunday evening, the wise man, who had been resting at home, stood up, informed the others, and walked towards the door. He put on his coat and went to the meeting place.

"welcome."

When entering the family restaurant, Xianren, who had received the news in advance, learned that Kawasaki Saki's parents had arrived and Kawasaki Saki had also arrived at the family restaurant. He looked around the store and saw two people with light blue hair at a window seat. One of them was Kawasaki Saki, so he slowly walked towards the other.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was a little solemn. Both of Saki Kawasaki's parents looked unhappy, and Saki Kawasaki looked down at the cup in front of her, with a hint of irritation in her eyes.

It seems that things are not as smooth as imagined. Before they met, the Kawasaki family seemed to have had some disputes about "funding".