Because I Like You

"And it's Karuizawa from Class B."

At this point, Horikita Suzune also looked somewhat uneasy.

Horikita Suzune had previously suspected that Kitagawa Ryo had altered not only her and Sakayanagi's past, but going back further, Karuizawa Kei seemed to be the prime suspect.

However, Horikita Suzune couldn't directly confront him and ask him directly. Even she herself couldn't help but hide those memories of him in some unfathomable place, so naturally, others would do the same.

"Karuizawa?"

Tachibana Akane paused for a moment, but quickly recovered, as if remembering something, took out her phone from her pocket, swiped the page a couple of times, and showed it to Horikita Suzune:

Is this Karuizawa?

Big news! Famous Actor Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei were spotted returning to their hotel together late at night, their intimate behavior suggesting a possible relationship!

"... Indeed, after all, Liang's name is still there, isn't it?"

Horikita Suzune glanced at the news headline and looked away, focusing her gaze on the stack of folders hidden in the gap, reaching out and pushing it further in.

"They even take photos secretly! These tabloid reporters are really something."

Tachibana Akane then swiped down with her finger and soon saw the photo of the two of them walking side by side, leaning on each other.

Below are those popular comments that have no clear meaning.

Whether it was because of the photo or some scene or sentence in the comments that touched some memory in her, or because she finally realized that Horikita Suzune had been silent for a while, Tachibana Akane also stopped talking, silently typed Karuizawa Kei's name into the search bar, and then carefully read through the encyclopedia entry about her written by the netizen [K&K].

"I really envy their relationship."

Then, Tachibana Akane put down her phone and let out a sigh.

Horikita Suzune's initially downcast mood was instantly replaced by confusion. She looked up at Tachibana Akane with a bewildered expression. How come she remembered that Secretary Tachibana was interested in her brother? Shouldn't she be the one to say that?

"Have you heard of the power of imagery, Suzune? Many ordinary actions are given all sorts of other meanings in different situations. For example, two people leaving a series of footprints on the beach can feel like a couple?"

Although she didn't understand what Tachibana Akane was trying to say, Horikita Suzune nodded obediently.

"That's indeed a common saying."

"In fact, walking side by side is often associated with other meanings."

As the Student Council secretary and a student in Class 3-A, Tachibana Akane always followed behind Horikita Manabu.

To lag slightly behind.

"I heard that Suzune used to idolize Horikita."

That happened a long time ago.

Horikita Suzune quickly distanced herself from the situation, establishing a sacred separation, as she genuinely didn't want to relive that past memory that Kitagawa Ryo still teases her about every day.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, our entire Class 3-A has always looked up to Horikita- kun."

Tachibana Akane readily admitted:

"But unlike Suzune saw Horikita- kun's strengths in the past and thought of him as a flawless person, which is why she wanted to catch up with him."

"But it was because we saw Horikita's setback that we wanted to catch up with him."

"Because I wanted to truly help him."

Perhaps feeling that Horikita Suzune had the right to know everything about Horikita Manabu, Tachibana Akane made no attempt to hide anything.

"Horikita- kun... Horikita- kun has been fighting alone all along. He's been fighting against second-year and third-year students all along. Suzune should know that, right?"

"Um."

Horikita Suzune nodded. All of these things, including everything about Miyabi Nagumo's influence in the Student Council, had been told to her by Horikita Manabu after she demonstrated her growth. This could be considered a form of recognition.

"To put it bluntly, the fact is that the reason Class 3-A is still Class 3-A is entirely due to Horikita- kun."

"At the very least... if Horikita- kun falls, Class A won't be a sure thing."

Tachibana Akane pursed her lips, as if she felt resentful:

"Because the students in our Class A are always dragging us down... we've lost a lot of Class Points that we shouldn't have lost, and even our Private Points —we always sacrifice ourselves to protect our teammates."

It was something Horikita Manabu had never mentioned. As Horikita Suzune pondered the information contained in the other person's words, she couldn't help but think of Kitagawa Ryo.

"Orange!"

But soon, another man's voice came from the doorway of the Student Council Office.

The person who walked in from there was none other than the current Student Council President, Horikita Manabu.

He seemed to have overheard their conversation outside the door, and his usually calm face showed a rare slight furrow in his brow.

"You can go out first. I have something to say to you later."

"... Yes, I'm very sorry."

Perhaps not expecting Horikita Manabu to be there, Tachibana Akane quickly wiped her face several times, but her eyes were still a little red from being too emotional. She lowered her head as if she didn't dare to look at Horikita Manabu and left the room.

"You don't need to worry about what Ju said just now; that's something I'll handle."

After Tachibana Akane left, Horikita Manabu hesitated for a moment before saying this, but then quickly looked up at his sister's eyes and added:

"But there's one thing she said that wasn't wrong."

"Walking side by side has indeed been given a lot of meaning."

"The same applies to couples; they can only go the distance if they walk side by side, in every aspect."

Horikita Suzune felt that her older brother suddenly seemed a little unfamiliar, and belatedly, she spoke towards the door:

"That Secretary Ju..."

"Shh."

But Horikita Manabu only gestured for her to be quiet, and a rare smile appeared on his lips:

"Suzune, keep it up!"

"Some people may seem to be standing at the finish line from the very beginning, but that's actually the place furthest from the starting line."

"Just walk this path alongside him; there's no need to lead or chase."

"What's something Suzune wants to do with him lately?"

"Buying clothes?"

Horikita Suzune never expected that her older brother was a hidden encyclopedia of romance. She subconsciously blurted out something she had planned to say but couldn't because she bumped into Sakayanagi Arisu, and that had been delayed because Kitagawa Ryo left school.

"Then try asking him out."

"We'll be leaving Hiyori, you two can continue your conversation."

"The key is in the cabinet. Please close the door behind you when you leave."

At Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, in the Tea Ceremony Club, after the last senior member of the club closed the door with a smile, only Kitagawa Ryo and Shiina Hiyori remained in the club room.

This is a great place that Kitagawa Ryo and Shiina Hiyori recently found. Although the library is quiet, you can't talk loudly. Considering that Ms. Hiyori always unconsciously raises her voice when talking about her favorite novels, the two of them had to start looking for another quiet and secluded place to hold their book club meeting.

As a member of the Tea Ceremony Club Shiina Hiyori immediately thought of their club's activity room. Finally, after Kitagawa Ryo paid the price of booking all the tea and snacks for the Tea Ceremony Club for three years, the two finally obtained such an excellent location.

The tea on the table was freshly brewed by Shiina Hiyori, and the snacks were handmade by Kitagawa Ryo.

Amidst the rising steam, Shiina Hiyori's eyes crinkled into crescents, her voice soft and sweet, like a fluffy cotton candy cloud.

"Ryo is performing Edogawa Ranpo's 'The Human Chair' this time, right?"

"Hmm, I didn't expect Hiyori to know too..."

"Because the Student Council has already posted about the award on the forum. Not only that, the Drama Club was also awarded 100,000 Private Points."

"It's alright, I guess."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't care much about his Private Points; he still had over ten million points in his account.

"If you don't like Liang, you can let me use her."

"Does Hiyori have something she wants to buy?"

"I've found a few more great novels and want to buy them to read on the cruise ship during the summer vacation. It'll be so much more interesting."

"Oh, right, speaking of cruise ships, have you bought your swimsuit yet? Everyone in class has been talking about it lately."

"I'm going this weekend, Suzune invited me."

"Oh..."

At this point, Shiina Hiyori nodded, then, as if she had forgotten the topic, she reappeared with interest, leaning forward slightly to ask:

"By the way, Ryo, have you found any good mystery novels lately?"

"Certainly!"

Kitagawa Ryo immediately took a book out of his bag:

"The author of <The Castle of the Queen> is a huge fan of Ellery Queen, and his writing style is similar to theirs; he has even been hailed as the Japan Ellery Queen."

"And this book, <The Castle of the Queen>, is his representative work, and it also won the 2008 Honkaku Mystery Novel Award."

"Whether it's a narrative trick or..."

This was the first time Shiina Hiyori had interrupted Kitagawa Ryo's speech. She seemed to dislike the book, and spoke with a slight furrow of her beautiful brows:

"The author is Arisugawa Arisu, right?"

Arisugawa Arisu, this famous mystery novelist, initially chose this pen name simply to ensure that her works would appear as early as possible in each submission (in alphabetical order, A is first).

"I won't read his books, no matter how good they are."

Shiina Hiyori really likes Ellery Queen, but she doesn't like the Japan Ellery Queen—Mr. Arisugawa Arisu.

Perhaps this is not a difficult mystery to solve.

Chapter 129: Because I Like It

Shopping and strolling are said to be one of the things that girls find hardest to resist, but that makes guys feel most uncomfortable.

Kitagawa Ryo used to find it hard to understand why girls could show superhuman physical strength and willpower in this area. He had even seen cases around him who spent a whole day shopping but only bought two things. His own shopping habit was to prepare a shopping list before going out and then efficiently select items, spending very little time in the mall.

Even after enrolling in Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, the time spent shopping was reduced by half again.

[Keyaki Mall] is the largest shopping center in Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. It thoughtfully provides online shopping services for students and teachers. They can simply place an order on a specific shopping website and the goods will be delivered directly to their rooms within a day, which is quite convenient.

However, since Horikita Suzune had already invited him, Kitagawa Ryo still made the rare decision to leave his dormitory and go on a long trip.

During this period, he spent all his time playing video games in his dormitory except for attending classes. The game console and cartridges were also delivered to his door after he placed an order.

What comforted Kitagawa Ryo was that, perhaps because he had been making excuses about not feeling well lately, no one had bothered him. Apart from sending a couple of greetings as usual, his door, which had been through countless mishaps and whose spare keys had been left out, had finally been left unopened.

Thinking it would be polite to arrive a little early, Kitagawa Ryo deliberately left his room fifteen minutes before the agreed time. The Keyaki Mall was not far from the student dormitory, and when he got there, there were still seven or eight minutes left before the agreed time.

Kitagawa Ryo casually found a shady spot under a tree in front of the Keyaki Mall and stood there, idly observing the students coming and going. Since it was the weekend, almost all the boys and girls had changed into casual clothes, and with the recent hot weather, many girls were also wearing summer clothes in advance, and their fair arms and legs were clearly visible.

However, Kitagawa Ryo didn't have many different styles of casual wear. He was still wearing the uniform shirt. The uniform of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School consists of two sets: a jacket and a shirt. Compared with the uniform jacket, which is fixed in red, students can freely choose the color of the inner lining. In Kitagawa Ryo's memory, Karuizawa Kei preferred the blue one.

As for Kitagawa Ryo, he didn't care much about that aspect and wore the default white outfit.

Because the temperature was indeed quite high today, Kitagawa Ryo rolled up his sleeves slightly and unbuttoned one more button at the collar as he leaned against the tree, waiting for Horikita Suzune to arrive.

However, after only glancing down at his phone a few times, Kitagawa Ryo felt the gazes of those around him subtly focusing on him when he looked up again. Two girls who looked to be older students walked past him and spoke a little louder, which he could clearly hear.

"This summer outfit looks so nice! Should we go ask what brand it is?"

"... Didn't you realize it was a uniform, or did you just not notice it was fake?"

"A truly handsome guy can pull off a uniform like this, and it even looks like the same person."

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was intently listening to the two girls whispering to each other, Horikita Suzune, who had finally arrived, spotted Kitagawa Ryo at a glance. Feeling a sense of familiarity with the scene, she walked over and stood in front of him.

"Is Liang here so early?"

"It'll be about five minutes earlier."

Upon hearing Horikita Suzune's voice, Kitagawa Ryo also turned around. Unlike Honami or Megumi's blue eyes, every time he met Horikita Suzune's eyes at close range, he always felt a faint tickle on his heart from the purplish-red light in her eyes.

Unlike Horikita Manabu, who was obsessed with the length of his sister's black hair, Kitagawa Ryo always felt that what impressed him most about Horikita Suzune's appearance was her pair of charming purplish-red eyes that resembled both a fox and a cat.

"Let's go inside then, the air conditioning is on."

Horikita Suzune turned around and hugged Kitagawa Ryo side by side. Her left hand tried to reach for Kitagawa Ryo's right hand as naturally as possible, but after actually touching it, she didn't know how to hold it or what posture to use. Would it feel unsecure to just interlock the upper half of her fingers? Would it feel too intimate to hold it with all ten fingers together?