Noon the next day.

A convenience store near a residential area.

"Tsk, there's a nasty question type."

Asami, who was studying on the desk in the office during her break, suddenly smacked her lips and said, attracting the attention of Sayu next to her.

"What's wrong?"

"This, this." Asami picked up the modern reference book in her hand and pointed out a paragraph to her.

"Why did Toyotaro say "——"? Please choose the correct answer from the following options... Hey, isn't this a very common reading comprehension question?" Sayu's eyes showed confusion when he saw the question.

untie.

"Aren't you good at this type of questions?"

After Sayu asked this question, Asami was stunned for a moment, then shook her head in denial.

"I'm not complaining because I can't solve the problem. I just find this idea of ​​"choosing the correct answer" very irritating."

"Explanation?" Sayu tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"right!"

Asami tapped the notebook harder and said slowly: "Obviously the original text has not been written, so who knows what is right? How do we know what the person involved had in mind when he said these words?"

After hearing this, Sayu couldn't help but cast his gaze on his face.

She wasn't sure about the subtext of the original text in the reference book, but she could hear Mami's pointed questions and dissatisfaction, and from this she associated the other party's family conflicts and her friend's ideals that were not supported by her mother.

A wry smile couldn't help but appear on his face, feeling a little difficult to respond.

Asami herself seemed to be suddenly shocked to notice this, and continued her words in a confused tone.

"Well, but if the author of this novel came up with the test questions, then he would know about it."

"Hmm... But that's impossible, right? After all, it says the author is deceased."

"That's right."

Asami nodded at this and muttered rather remarkingly: "The deceased author must have thought this way, 'No, I didn't write it with that idea in mind, so don't interpret me without authorization' or something like that."

"puff……"

The exaggerated tone of resentment made Sayu couldn't help but laugh, "I don't think the person involved would have that tone, but maybe it's true~"

"Oh - that's a great answer!"

So Asami also chuckled for a while, then closed the reference book with a snap, shook her head and said, "I'm exhausted, let's take a short break."

After saying that, he picked up the Pocari placed aside and drank the drink in big gulps.

"Speaking of which, summer is already over, but it's still very hot at noon. It's a shame that you can stay in such a shabby air-conditioned room without breaking a sweat, Sister Sayu."

"Is that so? But a calm mind naturally cools down... Yusuke said so, maybe you feel hot because you are too irritable?"

"Hey -" Asami narrowed her eyes and glanced at her, and said in a long voice: "Yusuke Yusuke... you don't need to go out of your way to show affection in front of me."

"I didn't mean that~ You just asked me." Sayu giggled and stuck out her tongue.

"Yes, yes, it doesn't matter how much you deny it." Asami leaned her body carelessly against the back of the seat, her wheat-colored skin covered with a thin layer of sweat, which made her unable to help but repeat it with her hands.

Pull the hem of your clothes to let the air in.

This action was a little bit charming, and at the same time, a small corner of the suspender belt was faintly exposed, but because all the people present were girls, no one cared about it.

"-Ask a question!"

Mami's eyes flickered as if she had thought of something, and a sinister smile appeared on her lips, "Last night, why did Katozai confess his love to Sayu? Please choose the correct answer from the following options.

A. He feels guilty for doing something bad.

B. He loves Sayu Meizai wholeheartedly.

C. He hates Asami Yuuki so he deliberately takes revenge."

"What the hell, your weird statement."

"Hey~~~Isn't this your favorite reading comprehension question? And it's a specially customized version of Katozai's."

"Ah haha, stop talking, stop talking, it's so funny!" Sayuri shook her shoulders in amusement, "Besides, why did you say Yusuke hates you?"

"That's the literal meaning. After all, I often go to your place to disturb you, right?" Asami spread her hands in a condescending manner, as if to say, "Everything I say is true."

"There's nothing like that. I think Yusuke doesn't hate you, but he just doesn't know how to get along with you, right?" The girl thought for a moment and took a small black bottle from the tote bag in the cabinet.

come out.

"As for the skin thing you mentioned yesterday, Yusuke asked me to give you this."

"Give it to me? This is..."

"Beauty Cream."

"Uh--? No, why does Kato-chan have such a thing??" Asami said in astonishment after taking the small black bottle.

"Huh? Because you were not very concerned about your skin yesterday. This is very effective."

"It's very effective. In other words, Sayu Meizai used this to..."

"Ah, that...well, um, maybe it's a little different." Sayu responded hesitantly, looking a little embarrassed.

Then he added: "However, I did try this before, but I didn't use it much afterwards."

"Hey... why?" Asami asked subconsciously, and then sighed and shook her head, "Yes, after all, you don't need these things at all now, but it's a bit of a gift from your best friend's boyfriend.

It’s weird, so I’ll just assume it’s from you, Sister Sayu~”

After teasing her like this, she generously accepted the bottle of beauty cream and planned to try it when she got home.

At the same time, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since the conflict with Kato Yusuke, she had always been aware of the estrangement between herself and the other person, and had been troubled by it for a long time.

Especially when there is a girl who is very important to both of them, this feeling is even more uncomfortable.

And since Kato Yusuke is willing to ask Sayu to transfer this thing to him, it seems to be a kind of relaxation. Although most of the reasons are probably out of gratitude for taking care of Sayu on weekdays, it still makes her feel

I feel much better.

"Then you can continue to rest. My rest time is over, so I'm going to the front." Sayu glanced at the clock and said, then stood up from his seat.

"Come on, I will continue to work hard."

"Um."

Sayu nodded her head slightly, her gaze lingering on Asami's face for a moment as she opened the reference book again. The other person's focused expression made her narrow her eyes slightly, and she felt a little lonely in her heart.

Then he shook his head vigorously, punched in and walked out of the office.

As soon as Fang entered the store, he was immediately hit by an icy cold air, and the sudden drop in temperature made his skin crawl.

Although it has already entered autumn, the air-conditioning will still be turned on in the store depending on the situation, so as to provide as comfortable an environment as possible for customers who come to shop.

Competition in the convenience store industry is so fierce.

It's just a pain for employees wearing short-sleeved supermarket uniforms. After all, staying in such a cool environment for a long time will still make people feel cold.

First, he glanced at the auntie who was a part-time worker doing nothing behind the checkout counter. Nothing could prove the lack of business at the moment more than the bored look on her face... The girl couldn't help but think this.

Then he quietly began to replenish the products on the shelves.

Thousands of thoughts surged through my mind.

Among them, the image of Mami concentrating on her studies flashed before her eyes several times.

Asami, who aspires to be a novelist and aims to study literature at Hayao University, has already begun preparations early.

Sayu has always seen her studying hard and working hard to pursue her dreams, which made her feel very dazzling but also reminded her of herself.

Unlike Asami, who keeps moving forward, her time has stopped since the day she escaped from her home in Hokkaido, and her identity as a high school student has also stopped.

It was from that day on.

Whether it's summer vacation or taking exams that high school students are most concerned about, these two words seem to have nothing to do with her, as if her life has lost its direction.

Until he was later taken in by Kato Yusuke.

Then I just quietly tossed between housework and part-time work.

While she was getting better at her job, her identity as a high school student was also getting further and further away from her.

Having said that——

She actually studied when she had no housework to deal with. She would even go to the bookstore to buy reference books and follow the progress of high school seniors in a daze.

The amount of knowledge gained through self-study cannot be compared with students who go to school normally. But even so, she thinks it is better than not studying at all.

If someone asked her whether she wanted to take an exam or consider entering a higher education, she would not be able to respond.

Besides, she couldn't go through the application procedures since she ran away from home.

The more I think about reality, the more I feel like my steps are in vain.
To be continued...