You little brat. Almost being late and provoking me would've been bad enough.
But you've barely started school, and already you're fooling around with a girl in my class.
Just you wait. I'll teach you a lesson...
In an instant, everyone in the classroom turned their attention to Bai Qiu.
Manabe Kazu, sitting in the front row, turned around and watched Yui's little antics. She covered her face.
Those two...
Yui Hirasawa was startled and quickly pulled her hand back, secretly feeling relieved at the same time.
Thank goodness she hadn't been the one called on.
Bai Qiu: "..."
Bai Qiu stood up and glanced at Yui. You're still laughing?
Do you have any idea you're the reason I'm in trouble?
Fortunately, this wasn't a problem for him.
With his 5.3 vision, Bai Qiu quickly found the underlined sentence on the multimedia screen, even from the last row.
After a little thought, Bai Qiu began to speak eloquently, backing up his points with sound reasoning...
Hiratsuka Shizuka was a little surprised. His answer was actually pretty good, so she let Bai Qiu off the hook.
Takamatsu Tomo couldn't help thinking, Bai Qiu-kun is amazing... As for her, she couldn't understand what other people were thinking...
After sitting back down, Bai Qiu glared at Yui Hirasawa.
Yui Hirasawa played dumb, trying to get away with it by acting cute.
The afternoon classes passed quickly.
The Going-Home Club members Yui Hirasawa and Bai Qiu set off for home together.
On the way, Bai Qiu tried to talk Yui into joining a club.
She shouldn't just settle for things as they were!
Meanwhile, after Goto Hitori saw that no one was paying attention to her,
she slung her guitar over her back and hurried away at top speed.
A pink blur was all that remained.
Goto Hitori quickly boarded the train home.
She lived outside the prefecture, in Kanagawa.
It was south of Tokyo.
She'd chosen to attend high school in Tokyo so she could go somewhere nobody knew her, bury her dark past, and make a fresh start.
Even though the commute took two hours each way, Goto Hitori had still come.
She'd spent the entire afternoon feeling excited.
Now, she couldn't even put her feelings into words.
Delight? Excitement? Joy? Thrill? Anticipation?
Hahahahaha... Rock Queen Goto Hitori was here!
So Goto Hitori hurried home, eager to brag to her parents and her little sister, Nili, and share her happiness with them.
That was why she wasn't planning to kill time at the park near school today.
Usually, so her family wouldn't think she had nothing to do after school,
Goto Hitori would sit around at the park for an hour or two to pass the time.
She didn't need to today.
Bai Qiu-kun really was a good person!
He'd not only agreed to form a band with her, but also become her friend and let her add him on Line.
Someone like her had actually made a friend and started a band. It felt like a dream.
On the train, Goto Hitori usually sat in her seat trembling.
Now she wore a perverted-looking grin, and every so often she let out a strange little "hee-hee"...
And with her long pink bangs covering her eyes,
the passengers around her gave her a strange look, then quickly moved away.
Don't get involved with weird people.
Goto Hitori held her phone, staring intently at the screen.
The Line interface.
There were only three contacts.
Her mom, her dad, and Bai Qiu.
Nili was too young to have a phone.
After saying goodbye to Yui Hirasawa, Bai Qiu
walked into a large supermarket.
He needed to stock up on supplies.
To put it simply, he was going to buy food.
Bai Qiu only cooked for himself now and then.
Most of the time, he ate at restaurants or bought boxed meals.
He went to the food section
and began browsing.
Kobe Beef Instant Noodles, Abalone Kelp Instant Noodles, Goji Pork Bone Broth Instant Noodles, Shrimp Cream Soup Instant Noodles...
Eating only ordinary instant noodles
could easily lead to malnutrition. But what if they were premium instant noodles?
Surely that wouldn't be a problem.
That was what Bai Qiu thought.
Of course, he couldn't live on instant noodles alone.
He picked out a premium boxed meal and a few drinks as well.
Bai Qiu paid and left.
He arrived at the foot of a luxury apartment building.
In Japan, luxury apartments were often very expensive.
They were usually where wealthy people lived.
Bai Qiu lived alone.
Like Yui Hirasawa's parents, his own parents had been busy with work since he started middle school, leaving him to live overseas.
So Bai Qiu had plenty of freedom and had rented this apartment for himself.
There were only two units on each floor.
The air was fresh, and the surroundings were beautiful, so the rent naturally wasn't cheap.
But that wasn't a problem for Bai Qiu.
The few light novels he'd written before had earned him a fair amount in royalties, even though he wasn't writing any at the moment.
He had enough savings to spend freely, and royalties still came in from time to time.
He used facial recognition to enter through the glass doors.
He waited for the elevator, stepped inside, and pressed the button.
As soon as he stepped out, Bai Qiu was stunned.
Why were there so many shipping crates? He didn't think he had any packages coming.
Was he about to be kicked out for not paying rent?
That didn't make sense. He'd paid six months' rent up front.
Besides, so many boxes were blocking the hallway, and his front door was completely blocked.
Bai Qiu didn't know what to do.
How was he supposed to get inside?
The management of even a luxury apartment might just tell him to deal with it himself, right?
By the time they actually sent someone over, it would be too late.
Clearly, Bai Qiu didn't have much faith in the building management.
Maybe he should ask Yui Hirasawa to put him up for the night.
Just as Bai Qiu was letting his imagination run wild,
he heard a thud, followed by a girl's scream.
It caught his attention. Bai Qiu looked toward the sound.
The door to the next apartment was ajar.
Bai Qiu walked closer and saw all kinds of items scattered on the floor, as well as a girl in a blue-green uniform who had fallen down.
He immediately understood why there were so many things outside.
"Are you all right?"
Nagasaki Sosei turned around instinctively, her face contorted in pain and tears in her eyes.
"I live next door..."
To avoid being mistaken for a burglar who'd broken in, Bai Qiu hurriedly explained.
Nagasaki Sosei panicked.
"Ah! I'm so sorry. I just moved in. I'll move my things right away."
Full of apologies, Nagasaki Sosei struggled to get up from the floor.
The moving company had not only arrived early, but had also left all her belongings outside Bai Qiu's door by mistake.
So she'd had no choice but to move them herself.
Only when she started moving them did she realize how many things she had, and how heavy they were.
"It's fine."
Bai Qiu waved his hand.
"Do you need this?"
Bai Qiu held out a Band-aid and pointed at Nagasaki Sosei's fair arm.
There was a slight bruise, and a little blood was seeping out. She must have scraped herself when she fell.
Nagasaki Sosei accepted it without thinking.
But when she saw the penguin design on the Band-aid, her pupils contracted slightly.
Chapter 9: Helping Nagasaki Sosei Move Her Things
The Penguin Band-Aid brought someone to Nagasaki Sosei's mind.
And through a chain of associations, that person made her think of someone even more important.
Before you continue