Long Live Love / Back to School

Thus, under these circumstances, Tsukishiro was originally there only to check or supervise Chairman Sakayanagi, took office.

However, Kitagawa Ryo was quite clear that Tsukishiro was less of Ayanokoji faction member and more of a centrist, highlighting his wavering stance.

Of course, perhaps this is exactly the kind of person everyone needs to play the role of Chairman in the chairmanship.

"With Tsukishiro becoming the new Chairman and setting up Special Exam rules, and Nagumo becoming the new Student Council President and adjusting Special Exam rules, just thinking about it makes next semester seem incredibly exciting."

"Indeed, I feel like I'm about to be targeted again--"

Although they said that, neither Sakayanagi Arisu nor Kitagawa Ryo actually felt panicked or worried. They seemed quite at ease, ready to deal with any challenge.

Moreover, Chairman Sakayanagi himself said on the phone just now that Tsukishiro is ultimately just a 'temporary acting' Chairman. If anything goes wrong on his end, he can naturally come back like a king, since this Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is originally one of their family's properties.

"However, simply changing the Chairman won't solve Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's current predicament. They don't have any trustworthy and capable people... I estimate they'll have to wait another six months or so to squeeze a few more in through the First Year admissions."

Although a whole semester and half of summer vacation had passed, Kitagawa Ryo was well aware that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's control over the former Class A, now Class D, was actually not very good. Even though the class Leader, Katsuragi Kohei, did trust him a lot, there was Totsuka Yahiko, whose intelligence and emotional intelligence were questionable, who was assigned to Class A and was dragging him down. There was no one to gather information or do things for him, otherwise he wouldn't have had to personally test Kushida Kikyo.

Hirata Yosuke was originally a spy planted by him. Kamuro Masumi was threatened halfway through when he was intercepted by him. Hashimoto Masayoshi was an extreme and sophisticated egoist. Morishita Ai had always looked down on Ayanokoji Atsuomi's style. After counting the number of people in Class D, there were indeed not many people left for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to win over.

However, Kitagawa Ryo remembered that the other party had always had an ambiguous connection with Miyabi Nagumo, and it was not impossible that the other party would try to skip the First Year and start from the second year.

Perhaps it was because he was with Sakayanagi Arisu always liked to think about these things, or perhaps it was because of Chairman Sakayanagi's sudden phone call, that Kitagawa Ryo, who had decided to clear his mind and enjoy his vacation from the very first day of the holiday, ended up chatting with Arisu about this long and rambling thing.

"I also want to try and defeat Ayanokoji Kiyotaka once."

Sakayanagi Arisu said this.

However, there was no extra emotion in her words, because unlike Kitagawa Ryo, the other party still belonged to her old binary perception of genius and mortal. The reason for defeating him was simply to knock Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from the genius category to the mortal category.

"Hmm? Arisu isn't planning on defeating me?"

Kitagawa Ryo asked this in a teasing tone.

"Haven't we already defeated them?"

Faced with Kitagawa Ryo's questioning, Sakayanagi Arisu, having changed her posture, answered matter-of-factly, resting her legs together on his thighs, leaning sideways on the sofa and winking at Kitagawa Ryo:

"Ryo willingly let me deprive him of many genuine years of his life, didn't he?"

Sakayanagi Arisu has always felt that the reason she is so willing to talk about these plots from the fairy tale "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is because everything she and Kitagawa Ryo have experienced so far has also been a fairy-tale-like and dreamlike journey.

"Isn't that what Liang himself said?"

With Sakayanagi Arisu imitated Kitagawa Ryo's tone, slowly reciting the words she would probably never forget, the words she had heard from him in her final moments before waking from her dream:

"'I, too, was once deprived there—no, I voluntarily deprived myself of an entire segment of my life, perhaps even more than just time. But of course, I don't have the habit of holding tea parties, nor do I have the inclination to give you a riddle like 'Why is a crow like a writing desk?' I was just constantly thinking, constantly thinking about one question—how to keep Alice (Arisu) healthy.'"

Sakayanagi Arisu knew very well that the reason she could act coquettishly and even show a bit of possessiveness in front of Kitagawa Ryo was all because Kitagawa Ryo had solved her congenital heart disease.

So maybe she doesn't accept the widely circulated internet answer to the question "Why do crows resemble writing desks?": "Because I like you for no reason, just like there's no reason why crows resemble writing desks."

Liking someone always requires a reason or a trigger, and for Sakayanagi Arisu, the reason she fell in love with Kitagawa Ryo was probably this passage, especially the last sentence, "May Arisu be healthy."

"So, shouldn't Arisu give me some kind of reward?"

Kitagawa Ryo openly accepted Sakayanagi Arisu's feelings. For him, deliberately concealing his significant contributions to others was something that should only appear in literary works. He never pursued making others regret him for the rest of their lives. All the setbacks he experienced in the past were just for Life Restart, for the happiness of the present.

"OK."

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled, picked up the remote control from the table, and snapped it off, turning off the movie that was nearing its end on the big screen. Then, she quickly extinguished all the dim lights in the room until it was completely dark.

What she didn't know was that, thanks to his 'Hawkeye' (owls are also eagles), Kitagawa Ryo could clearly see everything around him even in such darkness.

However, for the girl who was trying her best to hide her shyness, this pitch-black darkness was the best remedy for her fear.

Kitagawa Ryo watched as Sakayanagi Arisu cautiously explored towards him, letting her tentatively use her feet to find the right spot, then gently tightening her arches to clamp her feet together.

The next instant, an electric-like sensation shot straight up his spine to his brain.

At this moment, Alice has largely transformed into the tyrannical and unreasonable Queen of Hearts, single-mindedly focused on 'beheading' him.

Written request for leave

My daughter hasn't been feeling well these past few days, and with the temperature dropping and her fever starting, she just can't take it anymore. She's taking a day off today, and I'm helping her send out the leave slip. Sigh, the temperature here has also suddenly dropped, almost twenty degrees Celsius. Everyone, please take care of yourselves these days.

Chapter 264: Love Endures

It must be said that the pitch-black environment and the enchanting, lingering atmosphere do indeed give one the illusion that time seems to stand still. So much so that when Kitagawa Ryo and Sakayanagi Arisu walked out of the private cinema, they were somewhat unaware that it was already past six or seven o'clock in the evening.

Having avoided the students' lunch rush, and having finished their dinner in a rather quiet and leisurely restaurant, unlike yesterday when Amasawa Ichika had already dragged them into the room at this time, Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to still be bothered by the experience of being forced to return indoors due to the unbearable heat at noon, or perhaps it was simply a simple post-dinner stroll, and suggested going for a walk on the deck.

There weren't too many students on the deck at 8 PM. Most of them were quietly admiring the starry sky above, and quite a few girls were taking pictures with their phones. Kitagawa Ryo remembered that Sakura Airi had mentioned this morning that she often came here to take pictures around this time a couple of days ago, but probably because her camera hadn't been repaired yet, he hadn't seen her.

Speaking of which, this was also Kitagawa Ryo's first time enjoying the night view from a cruise ship. After all, he had already been in his room at this time the previous two nights. The night after the Uninhabited Island Special Exam had been his best chance, but he ran into Chabashira Sae, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D who seemed to be suffering from a mental shock, and in the end, he didn't get to see it.

Thinking about it that way, the last time he looked up at the starry sky like this on Uninhabited Island, he was accompanied by Sakayanagi Arisu.

Seemingly exhausted from the ordeal in the private cinema's bathroom, Sakayanagi Arisu took a few steps, then grabbed Kitagawa Ryo's arm and pulled him to sit on a nearby bench, letting out a long, tired yawn.

Although Kitagawa Ryo had been consciously controlling the intensity of his and Sakayanagi Arisu's movements all day, trying to maintain a rhythm of playing for a while and then resting, who knew that Arisu would suddenly seem possessed by a rabbit in March in the private cinema... Come to think of it, he had originally planned to have today as his day off.

Thinking about it this way, it's just like a middle school student who's happily on vacation but then immediately receives a notice that they have to attend extra tutoring classes.

Although Arisu's skill level is about the same as the harmonica she just learned this morning, there's nothing that can be done about it, since Kitagawa Ryo is more physically and mentally resistant to files.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was calmly continuing to use his fairly extensive astronomical knowledge to tell Sakayanagi Arisu, who was drowsy and nodding her head incessantly on his shoulder like a chick pecking at rice, about the constellations they could currently observe, a polite inquiry suddenly came from beside them:

"Would you two like to buy each other a bouquet of flowers?"

Turning around, standing behind the two of them was a man in casual clothes pushing a cart full of various bouquets. The armband he wore indicated that he was a staff member employed by the school. However, no one but the school could possibly bring out so many flowers to sell at this time.

It turns out that the school really put a lot of effort into figuring out how to empty students' wallets during this seven-day cruise vacation. Many of those who could stay on the deck to look at the stars and moon during this time were couples or people with romantic relationships, making it a great opportunity to sell flowers.

Moreover, Kitagawa Ryo could tell at a glance that the vast majority of these bouquets came from the Uninhabited Island where they had just spent fourteen days. It's just that wildflowers that no one cared much about on the Uninhabited Island were transformed into products that many students were willing to pay for after being carefully packaged by the school.

Misaka Sakayanagi Arisu, also looking a bit sleepy, turned her head. The staff member, who had received prior training, added with a smile:

"Have you two thought about giving each other a bouquet of flowers? Couples can enjoy a 12% Discount."

Unlike the usual approach of "Brother, brother, buy a bouquet of flowers for the pretty sister next to you," the school's main strategy this time was clearly to sell two bouquets at once. After Kitagawa Ryo and Sakayanagi Arisu did not say they didn't need any, the staff members started to introduce the varieties and meanings of the flowers in each of their bouquets.

"... That's some serious salesmanship!"

About ten minutes later, looking at the bunches of vibrant orchids and frangipani flowers that he and Arisu each held in their hands, and glancing at the school's sales staff who had left to make their next sale, Kitagawa Ryo made a somewhat helpless remark.

"So what should we do with the flowers? They're quite pretty."

Sakayanagi Arisu rubbed her temples, seemingly trying to shake off the idea that girls' intelligence declines during the dating phase.

After all, these two bouquets of flowers cost them a total of 10,000 Private Points. It seemed a bit too extravagant to spend them for such a short while and the intangible emotional value.

Sakayanagi Arisu's question suddenly reminded Kitagawa Ryo of a Valentine's Day rose story he had told Karuizawa Kei a long time ago.

The roses given by the young man were carelessly thrown into the hotel trash can where he and his girlfriend were staying the next day. The roses given by the middle-aged man were carefully cared for by his wife for several days and remained vibrant until the following week. The roses given by the elderly man were carefully made into sachets by their spouses and are still worn by them to this day.

Although this is just a fictional story, it still provided Kitagawa Ryo with some good ideas.

After listening to Kitagawa Ryo briefly retell the short story, Sakayanagi Arisu also spoke thoughtfully:

"So, 'liang' means to make these two bunches of flowers into sachets?"

As she spoke, a hint of hesitation appeared on her face:

"But I'm not very good at mending."

Although she said that, Sakayanagi Arisu knew in her heart that she was not only bad at sewing, but also practically an idiot when it came to cooking, cleaning and many other daily tasks. In terms of the requirements for traditional Japan bride training, she would be considered absolutely unqualified.

"It's just a direction to draw inspiration from; the essence is still to transform the short-lived blooming of these flowers into a lasting memory in our lives."

Kitagawa Ryo simply smiled slightly, then pointed to the white frangipani he was holding—a flower whose meaning of hope, new life, and Resurrection — that Sakayanagi Arisu had just bought for him. He stood up and greeted her warmly.

"You'll find out when you come with me, Arisu."

With a slightly puzzled Sakayanagi Arisu, she easily made her way to the DIY Free Kitchen on the cruise ship. After paying the rental fee at the front desk, Kitagawa Ryo took the bouquet out of its packaging in Arisu, washed it with water, and set it aside for later use.

Next, he found some eggs in the kitchen cabinet, stewed them with chopped ginger, covered them for ten minutes, and simmered them for another eight minutes before taking them out and peeling them.

Reheat the fire and add water, then add the eggs and rock sugar. After the water boils, Kitagawa Ryo tore the purchased egg flowers into pieces and put them into the pot. Cook until boiling again, then turn off the heat and pour out the egg flower and egg sweet soup to cool.

"Frangipani flowers have always been edible, and they also have the effects of relieving summer heat and dampness, moisturizing the lungs and relieving cough. Making it this way can also nourish yin and clear heat -- what do you think, Arisu? I'll make you some herbal tea with this next time."

"Hmm... it feels pretty good."

Sakayanagi Arisu carefully sipped the soup Kitagawa Ryo handed her, and nodded in agreement, somewhat understanding his action and thought process.

"It's a pity, though, that the bunch of white Phalaenopsis orchids I bought for Arisu has medicinal and edible uses."

"It's okay, I really like the flowers Liang sent."

Upon hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu simply shook her head slightly. The white butterfly orchid symbolizes pure and lasting love. Thinking of what the salesperson had just said, she unconsciously tightened her grip on the bouquet of flowers in her hand.

Although the flower symbolizes everlasting love, its blooming period is only two days. She can't even turn a bouquet of flowers into a secret recipe for the two of them like Kitagawa Ryo does, which really makes Sakayanagi Arisu a little disheartened.

Seemingly sensing Sakayanagi Arisu's thoughts, Kitagawa Ryo pondered for a moment and then offered her a suggestion:

"Actually, making two sachets isn't as difficult as Arisu imagined. Just like swimming this afternoon, I can teach Arisu from the side."

"Besides, I believe that with Arisu's learning ability, she should be able to get started quickly. It's still early tonight, so why don't we give it a try?"

Having said all that Kitagawa Ryo had to say, Sakayanagi Arisu no excuse to refuse any longer and quickly nodded in agreement. After all, just as Kitagawa Ryo had said, she truly believed she could do it, because it was something she genuinely wanted to accomplish.

After buying the necessary fabric, scissors, and needlework from a nearby shop, Kitagawa Ryo and Sakayanagi Arisu finally returned to the deluxe private room they had booked in advance and began to enthusiastically study how to make sachets together.

First, the petals of the Phalaenopsis orchid were dried and crushed, and mixed with other Chinese herbs such as borneol and mint. Then, the cloth was cut into the desired shape. Perhaps because they had been talking about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland all day, Sakayanagi Arisu ultimately chose to make it into the shape of a rabbit bag, and then it was sewn together.

Under Kitagawa Ryo's careful guidance, Sakayanagi Arisu put on the thimble, which resembled a thumb ring. This little gadget was usually made of metal and had many small indentations on it, mainly used to hold the eye of the needle in place so that the needle could easily pass through clothing without hurting the fingers.

Thread the needle and sew the three sides of the fabric together from the reverse side, leaving only one opening for the spices. Turn the fabric inside out, stuff it with the crushed flower petals, and then sew the opening closed. Tie it tightly with a colorful ribbon to finish.

Under the bright lights, the two were having a great time on the large bed in the room. At first, Kitagawa Ryo had to teach him step by step, but after Sakayanagi Arisu the essentials, he simply watched with his eyes.

Generally, thimbles are worn on the middle finger, but since Sakayanagi Arisu already wore a sports ring on her left middle finger, she opted to wear it on her ring finger instead, which represents being married.

Kitagawa Ryo gazed gently at the girl sitting on the bed, her eyes slightly narrowed as she earnestly threaded the end of the needle through the eye of the needle. Perhaps, like the sports ring on the girl's middle finger, symbolizing her aspiration to improve her health, this rough, uneven, and aesthetically unappealing thimble was imbued with a special meaning at this moment.

Even geniuses have to learn how to fall in love from scratch.

"It's done--"

A small cheer from Sakayanagi Arisu interrupted Kitagawa Ryo's thoughts. After tossing all the tools and remaining materials onto the bedside table, Arisu excitedly rushed to him, holding two finished products, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"... I've always hoped that Ryo could be with just me."

Her scent mingled with the fragrance of the nearby orchids, wafting towards me.

"But compared to that idea, making sure I can keep Ryo by my side is probably more important."

"The rest... we'll deal with it another day."

Chapter 265: Back to School (4k5)

Relaxed days always pass quickly. Perhaps because starting from the fourth day, no girl called him out for a whole day like Karuizawa Kei, Amasawa Ichika, and Sakayanagi Arisu had done in the first three days, the second half of the cruise vacation became even more leisurely and relaxing for Kitagawa Ryo.

One day at lunchtime, I would keep my appointment with Horikita Suzune; one evening at dusk, I would gaze at the enormous sunset that seemed to sink into the sea with Shiina Hiyori, while casually chatting about various anecdotes from detective novels; one night, I would capture the dazzling starry sky over the sea with Sakura Airi; or I would spend several hours in the arcade with my classmates Ken Sudō, Miyake Akito, Yamada Albert, and other boys, letting my mind wander.

On the afternoon of the last day of the seven-day vacation, it was Ichinose Honami who invited Kitagawa Ryo out.

Having booked the school's No. 1 private swimming pool for who knows how many times, Kitagawa Ryo, who had just changed into his swimming trunks, walked out of the men's locker room. After lying back on the chair and squinting for a while, he saw Ichinose Honami had also changed into her swimsuit.

Unlike the swimsuits worn by other girls she had seen in the past few days, and even the swimsuit that Honami herself had worn during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, Ichinose Honami was wearing a standard school uniform one-piece swimsuit (i. e., a school swimsuit) today, which was quite unusual.

To be honest, with Ichinose Honami's figure, she would always naturally exude a bit of sensuality no matter what swimsuit she wore. Although the standard swimsuit did indeed show almost no skin, the one-piece, form-fitting design, combined with Honami's figure that made her look like a high school student, actually created an outstanding effect.

What caught Kitagawa Ryo's attention even more was the chest area of his swimsuit. As a standard school swimsuit, it usually had a stretchable number tag with the student's name and class printed on it. But the tag that was swaying slightly with his movements had his name on it. It was the name tag that Ichinose Honami had taken from him during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam.

Looking at the "K" that seemed ready to fly away at any moment, Kitagawa Ryo himself twitched the corners of his mouth. However, Ichinose Honami didn't seem embarrassed at all. She sat down next to him, smoothing her hair, and didn't seem to have any intention of going into the water. Instead, she lazily stretched first.

"I'm going back to school tomorrow."

"Well, including the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, we've been away for three weeks now, and we're starting to miss ANHS a bit. But thankfully, the school still has some conscience and has given us a little over two weeks of summer vacation."

Kitagawa Ryo yawned softly. After the initial excitement wore off, by the sixth or seventh day, most of the students had begun to lose interest in the Luxury Cruise Ship.

Of course, this is also closely related to the visibly shrinking wallet.

Under the school's deliberate guidance, the students' spending power and speed can only be described as astonishing. In fact, spending nearly 100,000 yen in the first month of the semester was just a small test. According to information obtained by Kitagawa Ryo, a lucky student in Class D who won a 500,000 yen prize from the school had already spent all the credit limit on his prepaid card yesterday.

"I'm also starting to feel like going home."

Ichinose Honami turned to the side, her words carrying a complex mix of emotions.

Since starting school, she hasn't seen her mother and younger sister for more than four months, which is indeed an unprecedented length of time in Ichinose Honami's life so far.

"So we'll see each other soon, after we get back to school."

As if wanting to give courage to Ichinose Honami, who was caught in a kind of "near-home trepidation" feeling, Kitagawa Ryo subconsciously grasped the other's slightly cold right hand and softly comforted her.