The Three of Us / I Can't Bear to Watch (4.5k)

Upon hearing Sakayanagi Arisu mention the name Yuki, Amasawa Ichika herself showed a rare hint of embarrassment. Unlike Sakayanagi Arisu, who had already noticed her little scheme in the later stages of the simulation, Yuki had never realized her good friend's slightest ulterior motive. Instead, she seemed more like a traitor who had run away.

Seeing that Amasawa Ichika stood there stunned for a while without answering, Sakayanagi Arisu retaliated by adding fuel to the fire:

"Don't even think about saying that the two of them are going to stay out until the end of the Cultural Festival when Xue isn't around. Or do you really want to bring their biological father, who's been chasing after them, to point at Ryo and say something like that in front of Xue—"

"I've actually slept with him, really, you can ask him if you don't believe me?"

Chapter 345: The Three of Us

As soon as she said those words, Sakayanagi Arisu began to regret them. After all, if you really thought about it, her situation wasn't much better than Yuki's; she had essentially dragged herself into the conversation.

It can only be said that this time travel from simulation to reality weakened both her and Xue's physical abilities to the level of a chaotic battle in the hospital ward, while allowing Amasawa Ichika, the sports student in the White Room, to successfully mature and ultimately achieve an unexpected overtaking.

The thought that while those two sickly girls were still struggling with rehabilitation and exercise, Amasawa Ichika had already easily snatched the trophy that the two of them had been fighting for for over a decade in the simulation made even Sakayanagi Arisu feel a little resentful.

"Then Arisu come with me."

On the other side, Amasawa Ichika obviously didn't want to see the scenario described by the other party happen, or perhaps she felt that bringing in Sakayanagi Arisu could help her share some of the firepower from Yuki, so she immediately made this suggestion without thinking.

"I've already met with them. You'll have to go by yourself."

Sakayanagi Arisu immediately saw through Amasawa Ichika's thoughts. She had just managed to control her temperature in front of these two, and she was unwilling to do something that would only put her under pressure and offer no benefit.

"Hmm--How about this?"

Seeing that Sakayanagi Arisu was acting as if the matter was none of her business and that she wouldn't get involved, Amasawa Ichika, equally quick-witted, offered her own bargaining chip:

"If Arisu willing, I'll agree to do you a favor, like how about I teach that Nagumo a lesson? Hasn't he been buzzing around you like a fly lately? Arisu must be pretty annoyed by him too."

"So you knew about this too... Alright, deal's done."

Sakayanagi Arisu glanced at Amasawa Ichika with some surprise. Miyabi Nagumo had indeed been showering her with attention in the Student Council lately. The reason was quite simple: as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. This guy was currently being treated like a toy by the Acting Chairman, Tsukishiro, and was eagerly waiting for the day when Sakayanagi Narimori would return to his loyal position as Chairman of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. So, he had to cultivate a good relationship with the other party's precious daughter beforehand.

It can only be said that the once arrogant and domineering Student Council president Nagumo, has indeed had his edges smoothed out by the years. He used to be a big fan of the Classroom of the Elite Studio mentality that "dragons coil around me and tigers lie down for me" in ANHS, but after being shattered by Tsukishiro's discipline and iron fists, he has become this somewhat subtle figure.

As for why Sakayanagi Arisu chose to agree to Amasawa Ichika, besides the fact that Miyabi Nagumo had indeed been bothering her for the past month or so and affecting her daily life, the real reason was that she knew she couldn't hide forever. Some things were better resolved by having the three of them confront each other face to face. After all, Yuki had already confirmed that she would be enrolling in school next April, which was just over four months away. If they dragged it out until then, who knew what kind of messy and unexpected changes might occur in the meantime? It was better to be upfront sooner rather than later.

Moreover, with Amasawa Ichika taking the lead, theoretically she can now stand on the same side as Xue again, so things shouldn't get as awkward as before.

"Okay, I'll go with you. Wait a moment."

After making up her mind, Sakayanagi Arisu Matsushita Chiaki, who was serving as her deputy, and then walked towards the Gymnasium with Amasawa Ichika.

"By the way, how are we going to get in later? I remember that the facilities and facilities in each class don't accept students from other classes, right?"

Before she had taken two steps, Amasawa Ichika had already presciently thought of this problem.

"I can get in using my Student Council membership, since the Student Council is responsible for supervising and maintaining order at this Cultural Festival. You'll have to figure it out yourself."

Sakayanagi Arisu simply shook her head dismissively, almost as if to say that this was the confidence she gained from joining the ANHS Student Council.

"Let me think... how about I borrow a phone from one of the guests and sneak in? I can just cover my face with the hood, since they only check phones for tickets anyway."

"... Would any guest really be so trusting as to lend their phone to a student from ANHS University? And why would they trust you? Or rather, what benefit would they get from lending you their phone?"

Faced with Amasawa Ichika's rather whimsical suggestion, Sakayanagi Arisu simply rolled her eyes slightly and casually made this sarcastic remark.

How will you know if you don't try?

But Amasawa Ichika seemed quite confident in the plan, quickly surveying the surrounding guests and swiftly locking onto her target:

"Look at that girl, she seems a bit naive and silly, but she's someone worth trying to be with."

Before Sakayanagi Arisu utter another word of complaint, Amasawa Ichika had already swiftly run over to the blonde girl who was standing on a path near the Gymnasium, looking somewhat troubled as she tapped and poked at her phone. After exchanging a few words and fiddling with his own phone a couple more times before handing it to the girl, Amasawa actually managed to get the guest-only phone from her and ran back with a smug look on his face.

"See? I told you there wouldn't be any problems."

Seeing the surprise and shock on Sakayanagi Arisu's face, Amasawa Ichika simply waved his phone at her in a showy manner:

"Got it."

"What did you say to her? Why did you agree so readily?"

"Well, it's nothing really. That girl had just spent almost all of the 5,000 Private Points, but she was hungry. So I told her I was in Class 1-A, and there was a dessert shop on the third floor of the teaching building. If she was willing to lend me her phone, I would text my classmates and ask them to bring her some food for free. She readily agreed."

After briefly explaining the negotiation process, Amasawa Ichika glanced again at the personal information on the phone she had received:

"Her name is Nanase Tsubasa, and her age matches. She might even enroll in ANHS next year. We can look after her then."

At this point, Amasawa Ichika couldn't help but feel a little emotional:

"Actually, she and I are the same age. If the White Room hadn't insisted on putting me here early, I guess I would have had to wait until next April."

Seeing that Amasawa Ichika's words implied she was getting the better deal but was still acting innocent, Sakayanagi Arisu simply sneered:

"I hope you'll still say that when you see Xue later."

"Then forget it."

Amasawa Ichika once again chose to follow her heart. After all, if she was the biggest beneficiary of age, then Xue was undoubtedly the biggest victim in this regard. Xue was originally the same age and grade as Kitagawa Ryo and Sakayanagi Arisu, but due to a series of unforeseen circumstances, she was forced to enroll a year later. If she were to flaunt this in front of Xue, it would likely have a significant effect on breaking her defenses.

"Alright, now that we've got the phone, let's split up and meet up again once we're inside."

After speaking cautiously, Sakayanagi Arisu quickened her pace and soon distanced herself from Amasawa Ichika, who had mingled with the group of guests. She went straight to the Class 2-A student in charge of selling tickets at the entrance, casually waved the Student Council's banner and said a few words, and was easily let through, entering the Gymnasium first.

Amasawa Ichika's trip went smoothly. After all, there were too many guests today, and the students at the ticket booth had become mechanical, just swiping their phones to collect payments and handing out tickets for people to pass through. They had no interest in paying attention to the guests' specific attire and appearance. Besides, they really didn't expect that a student would do something like borrowing a guest's phone to sneak in. Amasawa Ichika successfully used Nanase Tsubasa's phone to sneak in.

Incidentally, it's also thanks to Miyabi Nagumo's incredibly low, almost free, ticket price that, without exaggeration, is probably the only place left for Nanase Tsubasa to freely enter and have fun during this Cultural Festival, given the limited balance on her phone.

After successfully reuniting with Sakayanagi Arisu, Amasawa Ichika and the other person began their search. However, after searching the entire rest hall, they could not find any trace of Kitagawa Ryo or Yuki.

"Looks like this is the only option."

After confirming that the two were not currently in the waiting area, Sakayanagi Arisu took out her phone from her pocket in front of Amasawa Ichika.

"You want to contact Liang directly?"

"How could that be? If we did that, Xue might drag Liang into playing hide-and-seek with us."

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head, then skillfully opened an app installed on her phone. It was the same app that had been recommended to her and Kitagawa Ryo when they bought sports rings together during summer vacation. The two of them had already linked their relationship on it and shared their real-time locations, making it perfect for finding someone at this time.

"Let me see, those two are somewhere to our northeast—over here? They should be watching a theatrical performance inside."

Following the directions on the map, Sakayanagi Arisu arrived at a 'theater' that had already stopped taking tickets and had been showing for about half an hour. She checked the Matoba and schedules displayed on the nearby screens before speaking to Amasawa Ichika:

"It'll be over in about half an hour, let's wait here."

"Um."

After saying that, the two chose a resting spot directly opposite the exit of the theater and began their not-so-long wait in quiet, yet somewhat conflicted, mood.

Incidentally, since cats still can't enter the venue, Hotaru was once again placed outside.

"It doesn't mean anything..."

Even though the play on stage had reached its climax in the final chapter, Xue, sitting in the back row of the audience, still looked uninterested and disdainful, as if she was about to say something like, "I don't think it's as good as --".

"That's already considered quite good among high school students."

Sitting next to her, Kitagawa Ryo gave a fairly objective evaluation without any bias: Miyabi Nagumo had indeed put her heart into these performances, the students in Class 2-A were indeed of good quality, and with the expensive stage equipment, the performances were quite impressive, at least better than the self-entertaining stage play project of Class 1-B, which looked like a make-believe game.

"Isn't Ryo a high school student too?"

"You can't compare us like that; after all, I'm at a professional level."

"As for your profession, does Liang still plan to be a stage Actor in the future?"

At first glance, it seemed like a very ordinary question, but the battle-hardened Kitagawa Ryo immediately sensed the trap in this somewhat deadly question and calmly replied:

"Before, it was just to raise money for my sister's medical expenses. After enrolling, it was to establish Drama Club and use the excuse of going out to compete to go out of school to see the snow. I definitely won't continue after graduation."

"That's true. After all, Ryo has been a theatrical Actor for so many years. Retiring at the peak of his fame and fortune is indeed a good choice. How about we travel around together after graduation?"

"That's great. I really want to go to Hokkaido with Yuki to see the snow, so you can get a stronger impression of 'it's something completely different from white brick walls'."

"Am I really that stupid? I need to make that impression even more."

"Tch, do you want me to repeat what we said when we were just chatting about each other's names?"

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo himself couldn't help but recall the Matoba from back then.

"Hello, my name is Liang."

"Hello... I'm Yuki."

I think Liang's name is better than mine.

"Um?"

"Because the name 'Liang' (凉) is self-explanatory; for example, when the wind blows on your body, it means 'cool' (凉)."

"Isn't the meaning of 'snow' quite clear?"

"Never seen it before."

"The book describes it as white, cold, falling from the sky, like a flower. But I can only understand the first two, namely, white and cold."

"Why?"

"Because the walls in the room are like that, white, and feel cold to the touch."

"So, should I call you 'Wall' from now on?"

"... Actually, I don't feel there's any difference."

Memories are indeed things that are constantly beautified by the passage of time. The conversation that once felt inexplicably bitter and sad now feels somewhat nostalgic. Not only Kitagawa Ryo, but Yuki herself was also stirred up by his words. However, what she remembered was the scene when he first took her out of the White Room to see the first snow in Tokyo.

The feeling of those cold snowflakes falling softly into my palm now feels incredibly warm.

The play on stage has come to an end.

"It's chilly outside."

As the girl spoke, she naturally turned her gaze toward the exit.

Chapter 346: Unbearable to Look At (4k5)

Since Sakayanagi Arisu was positioned directly opposite the exit, Kitagawa Ryo had just walked out with the flow of the audience when he caught a glimpse of her. Of course, there was also Ichika Amasawa, who was pulling her hood down as Amasawa Ichika as possible, but he recognized her immediately as wearing his jacket.

To be honest, it's not unusual for these two to work together, since they've been through a simulation together before. From the final challenge on the Uninhabited Island to certain periods of the recent Sports Festival, Sakayanagi Arisu and Amasawa Ichika have a history of collaborating. But right now, they're undoubtedly the pair that Kitagawa Ryo least wants to see.

What bothered Kitagawa Ryo even more was that since Ichika, who should have been resting in his dormitory at this time, had taken the initiative to come to the campus, it meant that something must have happened in the dormitory. Just as he had expected, Ayanokoji Atsuomi wanted to use this Cultural Festival to get rid of this open traitor in the White Room.

However, this wasn't the time to think about Ayanokoji Atsuomi, because Yuki, who had come out with him, had also noticed Sakayanagi Arisu, who made no attempt to hide her intentions. She just didn't seem to have noticed that the mysterious hooded figure beside her was Amasawa Ichika, and with a slight frown on her handsome brows, she walked over and asked:

"Did they follow us all the way here? Or does Arisu really have some weird fetish, enjoying secretly watching me and Ryo on our date?"

Yuki's aggression was undoubtedly quite strong, but Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't so easily swayed by those two sentences. On the contrary, Amasawa Ichika, who was standing next to her, was a little caught in the crossfire and choked a bit. After all, she had actually followed Karuizawa Kei and Kitagawa Ryo on their date for a whole day on the cruise ship, and was almost about to carry out a secret operation by staking out a corner outside.

However, her commotion successfully drew Yuki's attention, so she took the opportunity to pull her hood up slightly and greeted Yuki in a tone so intimate that even Kitagawa Ryo felt it was shameful to act cute:

"Long time no see, Xue, sister?"

It can only be said that if this had happened six months ago, Xue would probably have been fooled by this sweet and cloying greeting. But after learning this morning that the other party had also completely preserved the memories from the simulation, the image of Amasawa Ichika in her mind suddenly changed from a younger sister type who was on her side and could help her complain about Sakayanagi Arisu to a rather subtle inferior woman.

"Oh, isn't this Ichika? I heard from Ryo that you were feeling unwell and took the day off to rest in your dorm. What brings you here now?"

Upon hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu merely pursed her lips, feeling that Yuki's aggression towards Amasawa Ichika was not as strong as hers. She could only say that she still hadn't noticed that the size of the clothes the other person was wearing was wrong. No wonder Amasawa Ichika was able to keep it from her so many times that he had taken advantage of the person he was holding hands with without her even realizing it.

However, upon closer reflection, it's hard to say which situation is more damaging: simply being unaware or knowing everything but being completely powerless to stop it, and having her occasional outbursts of possessiveness on the cruise ship only to be treated like a child by Kitagawa Ryo.

"Because I kept thinking about how Sister Xue was coming today, all my discomfort suddenly disappeared. Hug--"

As it turns out, Amasawa Ichika was indeed a master at pretending to be innocent and childlike. Even Ichinose Honami didn't notice anything amiss with her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to slip past Karuizawa Kei during the day and Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam. In the end, Amasawa Ichika's literal and despicable act succeeded, and she almost managed to score the point before Karuizawa Kei could.

Xue probably didn't expect Amasawa Ichika to suddenly hug her so affectionately. However, compared to Tsubaki Sakurako, her biological younger sister, she actually treated Amasawa Ichika more like a younger sister in the simulation. Although she was definitely influenced by Kitagawa Ryo at the beginning, she did have a kind of empathy and compassion for the children from the White Room.

In a sense, she also poured some of her unexpressed maternal instincts into Amasawa Ichika. It was a remnant of the White Room Rhesus Monkey Plan. However, Kitagawa Ryo, who should have been the one to bear these emotions, fled the White Room halfway through. When they met again, he was no longer the sickly child who could be held and comforted by Yuki.

That's why, Amasawa Ichika pounced on her so simply and directly, Xue Amasawa Ichika, who had been arguing with him, instinctively caught him and let him give her a big hug.

But then, Kitagawa Ryo saw Amasawa Ichika, who was resting her head on Yuki's shoulder and rubbing her cheek and ear against it, mouthing a few words to him, gesturing for him to look at the phone in her pocket.

The timing was perfect; the text message that Amasawa Ichika had set to be sent on a timer arrived on Kitagawa Ryo's phone. Kitagawa Ryo quickly took it out and scanned it again, quickly gaining a certain understanding of the current situation.

The next second, Amasawa Ichika skipped away from Xue's embrace again, and a little embarrassed, pulled her hood down lower.

"Sorry, sorry. I sneaked out of the dorm, so it's best if no one else sees me."

But to her surprise, Xue responded with a kind smile:

"So—is this why Ichika is wearing cool clothes? Or is Ichika some kind of Doraemon from the future who doesn't have his own room and can only live in the cool wardrobe now?"

To be honest, Kitagawa Ryo really wanted to complain at this moment that even though the other person had his own bed in the White Room, he still kept coming to sleep on the lower bunk with him. However, his strong survival instinct and the suddenly oppressive atmosphere that followed the words successfully stopped him from speaking.

Incidentally, the first and only resident of Kitagawa Ryo's wardrobe so far is a kitten that was left outside again at this time.