The Troublesome Summer Isn't Over Yet

It looks so real.

Liang rolled over in bed.

He was simply having the grandest dream in his cramped and damp basement.

That's all.

Please take one day off.

I'm taking a day off to adjust my mood and also to organize the outline and the content of the next chapter.

I'm very sorry for making the same mistake as before. I wrote this passage on impulse without thinking it through. I hope this kind of plot won't happen again. Thank you to all the readers who gave me feedback. I will learn from this experience.

I'm so sorry.

Chapter 53: The Troublesome Summer Is Not Over Yet

Keyaki Mall, the largest shopping area for Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, is also the main place for students' daily activities. Especially at the end of summer vacation, students from all grades gather here to make the most of their remaining time, making it particularly lively.

However, the summer heat had not completely dissipated, and even girls who loved shopping found it hard to withstand the high outdoor temperatures. As a result, the popularity of various coffee shops also increased, with crowds of people taking a break and chattering about school topics.

"I heard that the First Year made quite a stir this year, apparently splitting the total of over 80 million points in the VIP Exam?"

"Huh? Could it be that someone capable of leading an entire grade has already appeared in the first semester of the first First Year? I remember that Aya only started doing this kind of thing after she entered the second year, right?"

Two girls, seemingly in second grade, were stirring ice in their glasses and chatting, their heads propped up on their hands. One of them, a pretty girl with orange-yellow hair and a matching sunflower hair clip, seemed quite interested in her companion's topic and looked up to ask.

"It seems there really is such a popular figure in the First Year. But now that you mention it, Asahina Nazuna, he does resemble Nagumo a bit. I remember he was only assigned to Class C when school started, but he managed to upset Class A in the summer exams."

Now that you mention it, I think I vaguely remember it.

Asahina Nazuna tapped the table lightly with her index finger and hesitantly began to speak:

Do you remember the fight between the second-year students and Class 1-D at the beginning of this semester?

"It seems like it all just fizzled out in the end."

Another girl recalled that although more than four months had passed, the incident had caused quite a stir, so she still had some recollection of it.

"Well, it can't really be said that it was all over. It was Ya who made them give up, because the other side had evidence that could turn the situation around in an instant."

"Oh, there's such a secret behind it."

The girl nodded thoughtfully, then asked with a hint of sarcasm:

"Speaking of Nagumo, how are things going between you two? I heard he's about to be promoted from Student Council vice president to president."

She was well aware of the friendship between Asahina Nazuna Miyabi Nagumo, who had been classmates since elementary school, and there had always been rumors that Miyabi Nagumo had been pursuing Asahina Nazuna.

"Ya... um?"

Asahina Nazuna sighed, looking somewhat troubled, and said:

"Actually, I might not even want him to be the Student Council. I have a feeling that with his personality, he'll cause a lot of trouble."

"Pfft, Asahina Nazuna should have more faith in Nagumo. After all, he led Class B to Class A and almost unified the entire grade. At this rate, the school's Special Exam will soon be something he can easily handle."

"That's exactly why I'm having a headache. Right now, I'm actually hoping someone will suddenly appear and give him a good dressing down, so he won't get so arrogant."

Asahina Nazuna sniffed and, bored, drew circles on the table with her finger:

"As for pursuing me? I know his playboy personality all too well. Student Council recruiting this year, he initially said he would recruit me, but after I refused, he immediately recommended Ichinose, First Year student... He's practically hitting on girls everywhere."

"Ichinose? He's in Class 1-B, oh, he should be in Class C now. Is that Ichinose Honami?"

"Who else could it be but her? But she dropped to Class C in just one semester, that feels a bit fast."

"Actually, it's also possible that this year's Class C is just too strong, after all, it's Kitagawa Ryo."

"Kitagawa Ryo... if he joined the Student Council, maybe he could stop Miyabi?"

Asahina Nazuna made a casual remark, glancing out the window, but her eyes widened as if she had seen something incredible:

"Hey... I think we don't allow pets at our school."

"That's true, but there's a cat cafe in Keyaki Mall. If Asahina Nazuna wants to pet cats, she can go there."

That's not what I meant.

Asahina Nazuna pointed to the two people walking towards them outside the window and said:

"If I'm not mistaken, what that boy is holding looks like a cat, right?"

"Oh... let me see, it's Kitagawa Ryo."

"Is he Kitagawa Ryo?"

"Having said all that, Asahina Nazuna, you haven't even met the other person?"

"I'm not going to actively interact with First Year. We're not even in class together, and besides, they just came back from outside, didn't they?"

Asahina Nazuna explained somewhat speechlessly that there is a significant information gap between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, and the school has many rules prohibiting the disclosure of certain information. Therefore, unless they are in the same club, upperclassmen and lowerclassmen generally do not interact much, except for students with extremely strong social skills such as Kushida Kikyo and Ichinose Honami.

"It doesn't matter about the people, but what's wrong with the cat?"

"And it's super cute!"

Asahina Nazuna's face was practically pressed against the glass wall of the coffee shop; after all, few girls could resist such a fluffy cutie.

"We've been walking around for so long and no one from the Student Council has come forward to intervene. It seems like it's been approved by the Student Council?"

To verify her hypothesis, Asahina Nazuna took action and pulled out her phone to call her childhood friend, Miyabi Nagumo. After all, he was the vice president of the Student Council, so why not take advantage of such a convenient channel?

"Wow, it's rare for you to call me first."

The call was answered quickly, and a somewhat frivolous male voice came through.

"Looks like you're planning to accept my Confessions?"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and pouted at Asahina Nazuna, saying:

"Let's talk about it when you defeat Chairman Horikita."

"It'll be soon, you'll be able to see it at the Sports Festival next semester."

Miyabi Nagumo didn't try to steer the conversation away like before; instead, she answered seriously, but then immediately switched back to her previous tone:

"So, you didn't call just to talk about these trivial things, did you?"

"Oh, I mainly wanted to ask about something. I just saw Kitagawa Ryo, First Year, holding a cat in public near the Keyaki Mall. I remember that cats aren't allowed at this school, right?"

"About this matter."

Miyabi Nagumo frowned, recalling the boy who had pried open the Student Council door that morning and left a deep impression on her.

"Everything in this school can be bought with points, remember that line?"

"You mean he used points to buy himself the right to own a cat? How much did he spend? I'm tempted too."

"Um, that might be a little too tempting."

Miyabi Nagumo paused, carefully choosing her tone, and said:

"And the other party didn't just buy a license to own a cat."

"He bought a student's place for that cat."

"Ha?"

Even though she was a well-traveled and knowledgeable person, Asahina Nazuna was a little dumbfounded and almost knocked over her drink. She hurriedly and clumsily steadied the cup.

"In this school, Twenty Million Personal Points can be used for one class transfer or to offset one withdrawal."

"In other words, the school assigns a value of 20 million Private Points to each student."

"And Beichuan paid 20 million Private Points."

Even Miyabi Nagumo still doesn't quite understand Kitagawa Ryo's behavior. After all, even someone who practically controls the entire second year and manages to squeeze money out of the school during every Special Exam wouldn't easily come up with 20 million Private Points, let alone spend such a huge sum of points on a cat.

"Is it incomprehensible?"

Noticing that Asahina Nazuna was also silent on the other end of the phone, Miyabi Nagumo teased.

"I suddenly have a very romantic feeling."

"There must be some special connection between Kitagawa and that cat, like finding this dying kitten on a rainy day or something like that."

"Spending 20 million points... that sounds so romantic!"

However, to Miyabi Nagumo's surprise, Asahina Nazuna seemed to be deeply moved.

"But then again, since it's registered as a student, shouldn't the cat have a name too?"

Miyabi Nagumo typed on the keyboard, brought up the file, and casually replied:

"Yes, it does have a name, but since it doesn't have a surname, we used Kitagawa Ryo's surname for registration convenience."

"Let me see..."

"It's Hotaru, Kitagawa Hotaru."

"You really don't care what other people think, Kitagawa."

"Isn't the senior student the same? And she probably doesn't have any friends at all."

"Juniors who talk like that won't be well-liked."

I don't consider myself a likable person either.

Kitagawa Ryo carried Hotaru slowly down the corridor of the Keyaki Mall. It was the little one's first time leaving his room, and he was very active, perking up his ears and tilting his head back, curiously looking around like a chick that had just hatched from its egg. His bright red eyes blinked, attracting curious glances from the students and even the shop staff nearby. If it weren't for the loud flash warning when taking photos, someone might have come up to take pictures.

After all, this is probably the first time in the many years since Tokyo Koudo Ikusei High School was founded that a student has been seen keeping a pet.

So much so that even Kitagawa Ryo and the tall, beautiful girl walking beside him were overlooked.

"Hasn't Kiryuin found the place yet?"

"Don't rush me. I have a regular coffee shop; I don't care about the others."

With silver-white hair reaching her waist, the girl, who was over 170 centimeters tall, spoke in a confident and carefree tone that matched others' impressions of her.

Kiryuin Fuka was the first student Kitagawa Ryo met on his first day at the school.

Before heading to his class, Kitagawa Ryo sneaked into a convenience store to gather information. He gleaned some of the school's rules from the free items on display. He was about to take two free bottles of shampoo as evidence that he might need, but he was told that even free items required registration with his student ID.

Kitagawa Ryo hadn't received his student ID yet, and just as he was about to give up and put the shampoo back, this strange upperclassman appeared.

Seemingly because of the style of the school uniform, the other person recognized Kitagawa Ryo as a first -First Year student at a glance. She seemed quite interested in Kitagawa Ryo, who had come to the convenience store on the first morning of school and wanted to take free items, and offered to pay for Kitagawa Ryo.

Although it was originally free.

In return, Kitagawa Ryo needs to fulfill a rather strange condition.

However, because there was no time limit, Kitagawa Ryo had long forgotten about it.

"We're here. Come in with me."

Kiryuin Fuka finally found her ideal shop, and with a bold gesture, she pushed open the coffee shop door. Turning around, she gave a few words of advice:

"Although you've already purchased a membership for this cat, it's best not to bring it in. Leave it at the entrance and let the receptionist watch it for you."

"Um."

Kitagawa Ryo was well aware that bringing pets into such a restaurant was a bad thing to do, so he patted Hotaru's head, signaling it to stay obediently at the entrance.

Ying, of course, obediently lay down there.

Although he had given the receptionist some instructions, Kitagawa Ryo was still a little worried, so he chose a seat that was relatively close to the door to make sure the kitten was within his sight.

However, it seemed like only a short while later, a group of students gathered around Ying to watch the spectacle.

Perhaps we should have a "No Feeding" sign made and hung up for the fireflies.

One person quickly ordered the drinks, and Kiryuin Fuka got straight to the point:

"Nagumo is going to be the new Student Council."

"It should be something for next semester."

Reluctantly turning his gaze away from Hotaru, Kitagawa Ryo returned after washing his hands and nodded, saying: