Classroom of the Elite, I Have a Life Simulator 47

Sure enough, less than half a minute after Kitagawa Ryo sent his message, Shiina Hiyori replied:

"I've read it. I read the Japanese version when I was eight and the English version when I was twelve. I haven't read the French version yet."

Shiina Hiyori didn't have a habit of using stickers or emoticons. The messages she sent were basically in this concise and clear format.

"Hiyori, what do you think of the rose character in The Little Prince?"

The rose was the only rose on the Little Prince's planet. Before she bloomed, there were only some nameless little flowers on the planet. The Little Prince had never seen such a beautiful flower, and he fell in love with this rose, caring for it meticulously. During the time the Little Prince spent with the rose, he thought it was a unique flower that only existed on his planet and nowhere else. However, the rose, loved by the Little Prince, proudly tested him again and again. This was also one of the reasons why the Little Prince left his planet to begin his interstellar journey.

"The rose? She's a character that makes one's heart ache, isn't she?"

Once Shiina Hiyori started talking about books, she became excited, and her messages quickly shot towards Kitagawa Ryo like a barrage of artillery.

"There are generally four common ways to write a tragedy of love:

First, a relationship that ends before it even has a chance to begin.

Second, a permanent missed connection that could have been avoided by a narrow margin.

Third, a significant sacrifice that is considered insignificant by the other party."

"And."

Shiina Hiyori paused for a while before slowly sending her last message:

"Only much later do you realize what you truly lost back then."

"Looking at it this way, the rose actually fits all four categories."

"She and the Little Prince had mutual feelings, but they didn't truly say 'I love you' until the Little Prince decided to leave; the Little Prince watered her and made a glass dome for her, and she diligently dressed up for him every day, but neither of them felt that the other had made any sacrifices for them; finally, it wasn't until the Little Prince came to Earth and met the fox that he realized he had already formed a taming relationship with the rose. They were each other's unique, each other's whole world."

"But the Little Prince could no longer return to his planet to see this rose."

Shiina Hiyori seemed not to have had enough. Almost subconsciously, she typed her thoughts and sent them to Kitagawa Ryo:

"Kitagawa-kun, is it convenient for you to talk on the phone?"

"It's convenient, it's convenient."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't mind. He got up, took out his earphone cable from his bag, connected it to his laptop, and initiated a voice call with Shiina Hiyori.

"Kitagawa-kun, you're up very early today, or did you not sleep at all last night?"

Shiina Hiyori's voice soon came from the other end. Perhaps because it was already past ten in the evening where she was, her volume was slightly lowered, and she was speaking very close to the microphone. Kitagawa Ryo was wearing in-ear headphones, so he could even clearly hear her breathing and the slight rustling of blankets.

"Maybe it's because of the time difference."

Kitagawa Ryo pulled his earphones slightly away from his ears. The sound of her breath, as if whispering in his ear, lessened. He leaned back on the hotel bed and asked softly:

"Hiyori should be going to sleep soon."

A slight rustling of fabric and a faint sound came from the other end:

"In bed."

Shiina Hiyori honestly reported her situation. She might have found this situation of talking on the phone while hidden under the covers in a dark room somewhat novel. Kitagawa Ryo could even feel her voice seeming to move closer.

"Ah... don't worry, I took a good nap today, so it's okay to stay up a little later tonight."

Only then did Shiina Hiyori realize what Kitagawa Ryo meant and replied belatedly.

"Mhm."

Kitagawa Ryo also replied softly. He was still looking at the four ways of writing a love tragedy that Shiina Hiyori had sent him, and suddenly remembered the scene last night when Karuizawa Kei leaned against him and asked him not to leave.

Distracted, Kitagawa Ryo naturally didn't hear Shiina Hiyori call out "Hello?" "Hello, Kitagawa-kun?" twice. Shiina Hiyori, holding her phone under the covers, called out crisply into the microphone of the earphone cable with a hint of anger:

"Ryo."

Only then did Kitagawa Ryo snap back to reality, quickly apologizing to Shiina Hiyori:

"Sorry, I was spacing out just now."

"Hiyori, did you want to continue talking about the rose?"

"I did at first, but now, I'm a little angry."

Kitagawa Ryo could almost guess Shiina Hiyori's slightly puffed-up cheeks through the screen. This had happened before. When they were discussing the plot of a mystery novel, Kitagawa Ryo unintentionally spaced out, and the result was that he had to agree to a strange condition:

No thinking about other things while discussing books with Hiyori, and absolutely no spacing out!

He remembered that this condition was set less than a month ago, and now Kitagawa Ryo had already broken it.

"...Okay, I promise I won't do it again."

Kitagawa Ryo could understand the frustration of talking enthusiastically while the other person is looking down and not listening at all. He quickly thought of a solution.

"I need to keep an eye on Kitagawa-kun."

Shiina Hiyori proposed a condition faster than Kitagawa Ryo:

"Voice calls alone are not enough. Kitagawa-kun, you have to turn on video."

"Only me, unilaterally?"

"Because I'm in bed."

Shiina Hiyori even shook her blanket, indicating her current situation.

"Fine, fine."

Kitagawa Ryo had no other choice. Since he was the one who broke the agreement first, he had no option but to turn on his camera.

"Can you see me?"

Because only he had turned on his video feed, Kitagawa Ryo could only wave his hand at the black screen on the other side.

"A little closer."

Hearing Shiina Hiyori's reply through the earpiece, Kitagawa Ryo placed his laptop on his knees and pulled his legs up. This adjustment seemed to meet the girl's approval:

"Mhm, that's good."

"I feel an inexplicable sense of nervousness. Am I going through a job interview or something?"

Because he couldn't see her, yet she could see him, this slightly awkward situation made Kitagawa Ryo's facial expression appear somewhat stiff.

"It's alright, Kitagawa-kun, don't worry about it."

Shiina Hiyori let out a sweet laugh and stretched out her finger, tracing the face of Kitagawa Ryo reflected on her screen bit by bit—from his eyebrows to his nose, then his lips—as if she could truly touch him through the glass.

"Actually, at first, I also thought the rose was pretentious, prone to temper tantrums and petty moods, ungrateful, and even lied to The Little Prince, claiming she was the only rose of her kind in the world."

"But later, I felt that the rose really had no other choice. Many people say that what she and The Little Prince gave to each other wasn't equal, but after all, she was just a flower. All she could do for The Little Prince was to bloom—to bloom beautifully—and then stay by his side."

Shiina Hiyori began to recite that monologue from when the rose bloomed in the earpiece:

"She chose her colors with care. She dressed herself up, adjusting her petals one by one.

She did not wish to appear all crumpled like the poppies. She wanted to bloom in the full radiance of her beauty. Oh yes, she was a coquettish creature.

She had been dressing herself up in secret for days, and then, one morning, just at sunrise, she suddenly showed herself.

And after having worked so painstakingly at her toilet, she yawned and said:

'Oh! I am scarcely awake... I beg that you will excuse me... My petals are still all disarranged...'"

"Don't you think that's very girlish, Kitagawa-kun?"

Shiina Hiyori smiled softly and continued:

"Wanting to show one's best self to a lover—the rose is no different from an ordinary girl."

"..."

Kitagawa Ryo was silent for a moment before asking Shiina Hiyori further:

"But The Little Prince left in the end."

"Mhm."

Shiina Hiyori rolled over, held her phone against her heart, and replied with her eyes closed:

"Because the rose's heart is the most sensitive and insecure, yet she insists on putting on an arrogant front. She wants to bare her four little thorns to the tigers around her—which might not even exist—to prove that she can protect herself."

"She asks The Little Prince to water her and build a glass screen to shield her from the wind; these are all tests she issues to The Little Prince."

"Why test him?"

Kitagawa Ryo replied instinctively:

"Many tragedies in love end in tragedy precisely because of the mutual testing between lovers."

"Because they both want to know if they are... the only one in the other's heart?"

Shiina Hiyori pursed her lips, trying to find a reasonable answer:

"Perhaps some people think this is tragedy for the sake of tragedy, but people truly caught in love will indeed engage in such foolish, mutual torment. If they can confirm it, they can keep walking together forever."

"It feels like Hiyori knows a lot about this."

"I've just read many books describing such plots. It's probably just armchair theory, right?"

"The rose only wanted The Little Prince to dote on her, because from the moment she was a seed, he was the only one in her world. So, she hoped that in The Little Prince's world, she would be the only rose."

Shiina Hiyori sighed softly:

"After leaving the rose, The Little Prince saw five thousand roses identical to his own, yet he was not moved."

"Do you know why, Kitagawa-kun?"

Kitagawa Ryo nodded at the camera:

"Because she was the one The Little Prince watered himself, the one he protected with his own hands. The caterpillars on her were the ones he killed one by one."

"He listened to all her complaints and self-pity, and he listened to all her silence and unspoken words."

"That is my rose, the one and only rose."

Listening to Kitagawa Ryo's answer, Shiina Hiyori unconsciously tugged at the hem of her pajamas.

She stared straight through the lens into Kitagawa Ryo's black pupils, as if he were saying these words directly to her.

But Shiina Hiyori also knew clearly that in Kitagawa Ryo's eyes, there was only a black screen, and the rose in his words...

Was not her.

"It seems Kitagawa-kun is also very fond of the rose."

Shiina Hiyori felt a tug at her heart; she felt that perhaps this was because she didn't want to see Kitagawa Ryo reduce his book-related interactions with her due to a romantic relationship.

After all, she truly needed a book friend she could communicate with, just a book friend.

"So, does Kitagawa-kun have any other questions about The Little Prince?"

Shiina Hiyori curled the corners of her lips upward. Even though it was well past her usual bedtime, she felt as if she still had endless things to say. She gently rested her phone against her forehead, and the moment she opened her eyes, she could see Kitagawa Ryo's face on the screen, appearing as if he were right there beside her.

"Not at all. Hiyori's analysis of The Little Prince is spot on. Should I say, as expected of Hiyori?"

Kitagawa Ryo looked at the morning sun gradually rising outside the window and suddenly remembered the matter regarding Hotaru:

"Hiyori, I gave Hotaru to Kei. I might not be able to share photos of Hotaru like I used to from now on."

"...?"

The longest silence yet came from the other end of the line. Kitagawa Ryo naturally knew that Shiina Hiyori was very fond of Hotaru, but he didn't know how to explain or defend himself, so he could only look at the camera pitifully:

"I could ask Kei to take some photos for me, and then I can send them to you. How about that?"

Kitagawa Ryo stammered, his final words barely audible.

"I think Kitagawa-kun should show a little sincerity when apologizing, for example, by making a heart shape with your hands?"

Shiina Hiyori's tone was so cold that Kitagawa Ryo was startled into instinctively making a heart shape with both hands toward the camera.

The next second, he saw that Shiina Hiyori had changed her profile picture to this photo of him.

"Goodnight then. Let's video call again when we have time."

Shiina Hiyori's tone carried a small sense of satisfaction and the cheerfulness of a successful prank.

Kitagawa Ryo watched helplessly as Shiina Hiyori hung up the phone, her profile picture quickly turning gray to show she was offline.

"What was that all about?"

He leaned against the headboard with a wry smile. As soon as he closed his eyes, he recalled the scene from last night where Karuizawa Kei had begged him.

"So, so Ryo, don't go, okay?"