Master of Time Management

It has to be said that his mission outside the school this time was really arduous. Not counting possible unexpected events, he already had three tasks: to meet Honami's parents, to meet with Yuki, and to successfully deliver the gift that Katsuragi Kohei gave to his sister.

However, Kitagawa Ryo certainly wouldn't tell Ichinose Honami the rest of these things now. What he needed to do now was to tolerate and understand this little bit of weakness in the other party.

"... Actually, even now, I still haven't figured out what to say to my mother or how to talk to her when I actually see her."

"Some things will naturally come out when you get to the right place and the right people."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, I believe in Honami."

Kitagawa Ryo could understand the Ichinose Honami harbored when facing him, but in reality, he never compared Honami and Megumi in his heart.

Not every reborn person can be transformed overnight. Just as everyone knows that studying hard can improve grades and exercising hard can improve physical fitness, there are still so many people in reality who cannot make changes. Therefore, Kitagawa Ryo is willing to affirm Karuizawa Kei's changes, but is also willing to be tolerant and wait for Ichinose Honami.

Unlike himself, who Life Restart with many talents, the rebirth and past memories that Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami only provide them with a head start in information. In a sense, it is not much different from the prophecy that every elementary school child knows. "If you don't finish your homework tonight, you will be scolded by the teacher tomorrow."

If you do nothing, you will fail.

Or, doing something like that would be the end of you.

Perhaps all you'll get is this feeling.

Among the many literary works that Kitagawa Ryo has read, some protagonists are even given the ability to be reborn and go back in time multiple times. Unlike him, who can only simulate a scenario a maximum of three times, many stories find the final optimal solution only after countless repetitions and cycles.

It was only after realizing this that Kitagawa Ryo understood why Ichinose Honami's simulation chapter was titled "[Ichinose Honami's Summer Time Rendering]", because perhaps from the end of the simulation until the start of this summer vacation, the other party was still unconsciously recreating everything from the past.

During the first semester, Kitagawa Ryo even pessimistically thought that no matter how many times she could start over, Ichinose Honami would probably never be able to truly confront her mother honestly, because she even chose to blame all her inner conflicts on Karuizawa Kei, who was completely unrelated to her in reality, in order to avoid finding a solution to this problem.

It was precisely because of these reasons that Kitagawa Ryo was so pleasantly surprised to see Ichinose Honami's struggles and changes during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam.

Whether it's letting go of the imposed obsession with Karuizawa Kei, or being willing to confront his mother with her, these are the things Kitagawa Ryo has always hoped to see in Honami.

Karuizawa Kei once said that the moment she truly felt reborn was when she saw Kitagawa Ryo in the theater.

Ichinose Honami, it will probably be this summer.

It was indeed slow, but fortunately it wasn't too late.

After a simple warm-up, Kitagawa Ryo laughed and pulled Ichinose Honami into the pool. The huge splash they made sent water flying high into the air. For a moment, the water droplets caught the sunlight streaming down from above, reflecting a rainbow-like spectrum in their cross-sections.

The weather is perfect, and they are still young, so there's no need to worry about them getting old anytime soon.

The seven-day vacation on the Luxury Cruise Ship finally came to an end. After watching the cruise ship slowly sail into the port and dock, the First Year students, with the unique fatigue and excitement of the end of a trip, took the school bus back to the campus of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

"I'm back--"

Although it might seem strange to others to say this in an empty dormitory, Kitagawa Ryo, knowing his own situation, still said it out loud as usual. He quickly and neatly closed the door, and the next second he felt a slight weight on his shoulder. Hotaru, whom he hadn't seen for several weeks, had already gracefully stood up.

"Here, this is a gift for Hotaru."

After handing the conch shell, which was a bit too big for a cat and had been bought with Karuizawa Kei, to Hotaru, Kitagawa Ryo began tidying up the room that hadn't been used for almost a month.

After opening the windows for ventilation, cleaning the dust, making the bed, and putting away all the miscellaneous trinkets brought back from the luggage, Kitagawa Ryo carefully cleaned Hotaru's little nest. Just as Kitagawa Ryo took the towel Hotaru handed him and wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead, his phone, which was placed to the side, suddenly vibrated.

He picked up the phone and glanced at it; it wasn't any of the girls in his contacts, but an unfamiliar number he'd never seen before.

"Hello, this is Kitagawa Ryo."

"Is it Kitagawa Ryo, who lives in dormitory Dormitory 408 of the First Year?"

The two voices on both ends of the phone spoke almost simultaneously. Kitagawa Ryo was slightly taken aback, feeling that the female voice on the other end sounded strangely familiar.

"Yes, it's me. May I ask who you are? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'm Kiryuin, a second-year student. You First Year should have just finished your exams and returned to school today, right? If you have time now, come to the coffee shop on the second floor of Keyaki Mall. I have something to ask you."

After the other party introduced herself, Kitagawa Ryo remembered that the other party was Kiryuin Fuka, whom Sakayanagi Arisu had mentioned to him on the cruise ship a few days ago. However, since he had only met her briefly a few times in a simulation in the past, he did not remember her for the time being.

"Is this something that can't be told over the phone, senior?"

Kitagawa Ryo had originally planned to ask for more information, since he was certain that apart from being the heir of the Kitagawa Family, he had basically had no connection with her in his life. He hadn't seen her during his first semester of First Year. However, according to Sakayanagi Arisu, Kiryuin Fuka was someone who didn't care much about family background, so he was also a little puzzled as to why she would suddenly come to him at this time.

"Sounds like you have time? Then hurry up and come over, after all, you don't want anyone to know you're secretly keeping a pet cat in your dorm, breaking school rules, right?"

However, what Kiryuin Fuka said next explained part of Kitagawa Ryo's doubts. Hearing the hollow electronic busy tone after the other party hung up the phone, Kitagawa Ryo subconsciously looked at the cat standing on the shoe cabinet with its four paws together, looking docile and not causing any trouble:

"... I can't even imagine what you've been doing while I was away from school."

"Meow meow meow."

Faced with Kitagawa Ryo's resentful tone, Hotaru also let out a couple of aggrieved cries, and then quickly hid in her little nest, only showing her two front paws and her little head, which made Kitagawa Ryo unable to help but chuckle.

"Alright, alright, I'll go out and see what's going on. You stay here and watch the house."

After giving Hotaru these instructions, Kitagawa Ryo left the dormitory and hurried towards the location that Kiryuin Fuka had indicated over the phone.

But when he actually arrived at the coffee shop on the second floor of the Keyaki Mall that the other person had mentioned, and was beckoned over by the white-haired senior sitting in the corner, he discovered that there was another girl with long orange hair and a sunflower-shaped hair accessory sitting there. She was resting her arm on the table, looking at him with her chin propped up, feeling both a little awkward and expectant.

"Hello, I'm Asahina Nazuna, a second-year student."

After feeling Kitagawa Ryo's gaze fall upon her, Asahina Nazuna smiled and introduced herself, her gentle and approachable demeanor catching Kitagawa Ryo's eye.

Of course, the more important reason was that he had heard this name from Horikita Suzune before; she seemed to be a girl who was close to the next Student Council President.

Unlike Asahina Nazuna, who maintained social politeness, Kiryuin, who had summoned Kitagawa Ryo, quite disregarded manners and simply sat back down, casually wrapping his arms around the back of the chair and crossing his legs, asking casually:

"Now that you're here, it means that little white cat really is your pet cat, right?"

After Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement, Kiryuin casually switched his legs, turning his body slightly towards Asahina Nazuna:

"Okay, the truth is out. Send me the rest of the reward now."

"Okay, I'll send it to you now."

After receiving a satisfactory reward, Kiryuin Fuka nodded and put her phone back in her pocket, but she didn't seem to have any intention of leaving. She continued to observe Kitagawa Ryo across from her with great interest, and finally Asahina Nazuna, explaining the reason for their meeting today.

A few days ago, after a white kitten rescued her precious amulet, Asahina Nazuna had been curious about where the kitten came from, whether it was wild or kept by someone. However, she spent two days wandering around the scene but couldn't find it anywhere. Occasionally, she would run into it but couldn't catch up with it no matter what.

Although she had considered asking her close classmates or Miyabi Nagumo for help, Asahina Nazuna worried that if she found out it was a student's pet cat, it would be an act of repaying kindness with enmity. However, she couldn't find out the truth on her own.

After much deliberation, Asahina Nazuna finally found Kiryuin Fuka in her grade who was skilled, interested in the matter, and whose solitary nature meant she didn't have to worry about leaks. She commissioned her with a certain number of Private Points as payment.

"That's roughly how it happened. Anyway, thank you so much for your cat, Kitagawa-kun. I won't tell anyone about this anymore."

Seeing Asahina Nazuna stand up and bow slightly to thank him, Kitagawa Ryo said polite things like "It's okay" and "There's no need to thank me," but he was still somewhat worried because of her relationship with Miyabi Nagumo.

After all, there aren't many things about him that could be used against him, but Ying happens to be the most important and easiest thing to find out about him.

"Does Asahina Nazuna- senpai like my Hotaru?"

Thinking about it, Kitagawa Ryo also asked this question softly.

"Hmm, so cute! So this child's name is Ying? That's a lovely name! And she's so clever; she even knew to scare away the crows and bring me the amulet back back then."

Seeing the genuine excitement on the other person's face, Kitagawa Ryo nodded and casually offered a suggestion:

"I'll be leading the Drama Club to a competition outside of school soon, so could I trouble Asahina Nazuna- senpai to look after Hotaru for a few days?"

Chapter 266: The Time Management Master (4k5)

"Great! I'd be more than happy to accept that."

To be honest, Asahina Nazuna agreed even faster than Kitagawa Ryo had expected. The moment she opened her mouth, she was already starting to think about the specific details on her fingers:

"Even though it's just temporary lodging with me, basic cat litter and food should still be needed... Wait, I don't think you can buy these in the school store. Kitagawa-kun, how do you usually manage?"

Even with the extraordinary insight granted by his golden talent, the 'Super Detective,' Kitagawa Ryo couldn't detect anything unusual or suspicious about the gentle, bright-eyed senior in front of him. Therefore, his tone became more natural, and he casually replied:

"I've already made these things with the materials I bought before, so you can just take them with you when the time comes. Besides, Hotaru is a very smart girl, so you don't need to worry about her much."

He wasn't bragging when he said that. After all, if it weren't for the fact that it would be too shocking if someone saw it, Hotaru could easily do her own thing, like emptying her cat food, burying the litter box, and even living independently. She bathes herself more often than he does, and there's no need to worry about her scratching or biting anyone.

"I believe that. If they weren't that smart, they probably would have been caught by the school already, right?"

Asahina Nazuna seemed particularly interested in the topic of Hotaru, and Kiryuin Fuka, who had been sitting next to her mostly playing on her phone and not saying much, also chimed in, which was quite unusual.

"It's definitely an overly clever little guy. I hid for half a day, chased it for half a day, then pretended to leave and hid again for two hours before I finally found it had entered room 408 of the First Year building through the window."

Listening to Kiryuin Fuka's nonchalant tone, Kitagawa Ryo indirectly realized that this second-year senior had the advantage of being physically superior to everyone else, and he also felt that her personality was quite eccentric. After all, being able to outwit and outmaneuver a cat for an entire day, even though it was Private Points request, was not something a normal person could do.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the current development of the situation is the most favorable one that Kitagawa Ryo envisioned. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the two second-year upperclassmen and formally exchanging their contact information, Kitagawa Ryo got up to say goodbye to Asahina Nazuna and Kiryuin Fuka and left the coffee shop.

Unlike the impression he had of Miyabi Nagumo, Asahina Nazuna had a good first impression of Asahina Kitagawa Ryo, who was said to have a good relationship with him. As for Kiryuin Fuka, since they didn't interact much, she was still described by Sakayanagi Arisu as being like Koenji Rokusuke, making her a well-known oddball among the second-year students.

As Kitagawa Ryo was sorting through the details of his conversation and interactions with the two second-year upperclassmen, and thinking that since he was already there, he planned to buy some daily necessities on the upper floors of the Keyaki Mall, he suddenly noticed that two shops on the fourth and fifth floors seemed to be under renovation.

As the largest and most comprehensive shopping center on campus, Keyaki Mall has always been one of the most frequented places by all students. The opening of each floor and each storefront is naturally a topic of great interest to everyone. Kitagawa Ryo only searched for relevant keywords on the campus forum and quickly found the answers he wanted from various discussion posts.

According to several cryptic anonymous user replies, it seems the school plans to temporarily bring in some new shops during the last two weeks of the students' summer vacation. It sounds a bit like the kind of street circus acrobatic performances that used to go from house to house. However, the specific business details of the shops are probably kept very secret by the school, so there aren't many decent replies.

Even though it was just a piece of information without any context, the students reacted quite enthusiastically. After all, although Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School had built as many multi-functional facilities on campus as possible to enrich students' extracurricular life, it was still a completely closed management model. Facilities such as zoos and amusement parks, which high school students could easily visit after school, were basically not available to the students at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. Therefore, they paid special attention to these new initiatives by the school and wanted to try something new.

Looking at the few shops completely blocked by the screen, Kitagawa Ryo paused thoughtfully, sensing a strong atmosphere of scarcity marketing, which unconsciously reminded him of the text message he received on the cruise ship.

Following the Treasure Hunt Game on the cruise ship, the second round of testing for First Year students seems to be about to begin in earnest.

At seven o'clock on the morning of the second day back at school, while most students were still enjoying their summer vacation and dreaming, Kitagawa Ryo, full of energy, used his key to push open the door to Sakayanagi Arisu's dormitory, went straight to her bedside, and reached out with both hands to pull the still sleepy Sakayanagi Arisu was wearing pink pajamas, out of bed.

"The early Arisu to get up and exercise with me! We already agreed on this, so hurry up, the sports club started their morning exercises half an hour ago, and Suzune did too. I even saw her when I came over."

"... So sleepy, is it really this early? yawn"

Like a kitten whose Fate has been seized by the scruff of its neck, Sakayanagi Arisu Kitagawa Ryo to straighten her upper body, sat on the quilt, rubbing her sleepy eyes, swaying as if she would fall down again at any moment.

"It's already seven o'clock, hurry up and get up. Let's quickly wash up and go for a jog."

Kitagawa Ryo handed Sakayanagi Arisu the clothes she had placed on the bedside table, then took out his phone and used the app that came with his fitness ring to check Arisu's sleep quality from the previous night before nodding in satisfaction.

"She seemed to sleep quite soundly last night, that's good."

"After all, it's definitely more comfortable to sleep in the bed you're used to."

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to have woken up a bit, covered her mouth and yawned softly, then groggily unbuttoned her pajamas right in front of him, took them off, and raised her arms directly.

"Liang, can you put this on for me?"

After all, they had been honest with each other, so Kitagawa Ryo didn't hesitate. He took the shirt from the bed, grabbed the hem, and shook it in the air to stretch it out completely. Then he helped Sakayanagi Arisu put it on by the collar, smoothing down the bulge that was bunching up at her chest.

"You 'Arisu to take care of things yourself, Arisu. I'll go get your toiletries ready first."

After saying that, Kitagawa Ryo walked to the washbasin in the room, filled the toothbrush cup with warm water, and squeezed toothpaste onto the toothbrush.

As soon as he finished doing all that, Sakayanagi Arisu cuddled up his waist from behind, her head resting against his back as if she hadn't quite woken up yet.

At least they changed their clothes.

"Brushing my teeth and washing my face made me feel refreshed."

Since it had been agreed beforehand that special training would be conducted, and especially since it was only the first day, Kitagawa Ryo Sakayanagi Arisu, and directly handed her the toothbrush and toothpaste cup that he had already prepared.

"... Liang, please help me brush it."

"Why didn't Arisu just say that she'd let me help you finish today's goal later?"

In response to Kitagawa Ryo remark, Sakayanagi Arisu simply raised one finger:

"Because I feel like this will make me wake up faster."

She had largely given up, and it was as if, after realizing that she couldn't truly control the man in front of her completely, she simply let him control her instead—in a sense, the complete opposite of Karuizawa Kei.

"... This will not happen again."

Faced with Sakayanagi Arisu's slightly open mouth, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth, Kitagawa Ryo had no choice but to take the toothbrush and, controlling the amount of force, insert it directly into her mouth.

As it turns out, the results are outstanding.

He wasn't the novice that Sakayanagi Arisu imagined. In his past life, when taking care of his seriously ill sister, he was used to brushing her teeth, let alone turning her over and wiping her body every hour. Now, dealing with Sakayanagi Arisu a piece of cake. In no time, he had her wide-open eyes, wide awake, letting the soft toothbrush brush over her tongue, gums, and roots, moving up and down, left and right, deep and shallow. So much so that when he intermittently pulled the toothbrush out to rinse his mouth, he even felt a strange sense of loss and a desire to bite down on it.

Kitagawa Ryo, having gone the extra mile, also washed Sakayanagi Arisu. After everything was ready, he enthusiastically took her down the elevator from the dormitory building and found a flat open space to start their morning exercise.

Because it was the first day, Kitagawa Ryo's workout wasn't very intense, but the physically weak Sakayanagi Arisu still finished the last part panting, slightly bent over with her hands on her knees, feeling like she didn't want to move a single finger anymore.

"You've worked hard. Take a shower when you get back to prevent catching a cold."

Kitagawa Ryo approached, gently patting Sakayanagi Arisu's back to help her catch her breath, while smiling and offering his praise:

"To treat Arisu, breakfast is on me this morning."

As soon as he uttered those words, Sakayanagi Arisu, who felt like he could barely catch his breath, still managed to lift his head and stammered in denial:

"I want to eat it, cold... something you made for me yourself."

"Okay, I'll make it for Arisu spot, then let's go back together."