Ring, Ring

It's no exaggeration to say that if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka were still the same Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from last summer, he would definitely not hesitate to take action against Ichinose Honami and the others this time. Kitagawa Ryo himself clearly remembered that during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam during Karuizawa Kei's second mock exam, the other party planned to personally force Karuizawa Kei, the Leader, to withdraw from the exam due to injury in order to achieve his own goals.

However, the other party did not do that during this Mixed Training Camp Exam.

To be honest, Kitagawa Ryo was quite pleased with this. After all, it at least showed that after nearly a year of study at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, the Masterpiece of the White Room had undergone a significant change in his thinking and actions. He couldn't say for sure that it was a good thing, but it was certainly what he hoped to see.

"Hmm? Liang, where are you looking? Is something the matter?"

Ichinose Honami has always paid close attention to Kitagawa Ryo's various little actions, especially since the two of them are now sitting face to face. So, as soon as Kitagawa Ryo shifted his gaze for a moment, Honami keenly noticed it and followed Kitagawa Ryo's gaze.

"It's nothing, I just overheard the people at the next table talking about Nagumo. Did Honami and Megumi hear about it?"

Kitagawa Ryo didn't want to drag the unsuspecting girls around him into his mess with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, so he once again brought up Miyabi Nagumo as the perfect topic of conversation, which easily diverted the attention of the two of them.

"Nagumo? The school has already issued another official announcement. Although it's only been a short while, I reckon the whole school probably knows by now."

Karuizawa Kei seemed genuinely concerned about leaving food for Kitagawa Ryo, eating quite slowly, one bite at a time. When he suddenly brought it up, her pupils widened as if she'd remembered something, and she lowered her voice, saying:

"Could it be that Liang made this too?"

"I don't have that kind of ability. The wild boar isn't my pet. How could I control it to precisely target Nagumo? Besides, this only works if Nagumo himself is foolish enough to refuse to return to the Forest School with the group and insists on hiding in that forest alone, even though the school had already warned that wild boars would be appearing."

Faced with Karuizawa Kei's rather off-topic question, Kitagawa Ryo himself chuckled. He guessed that the impression he had left on her in the past was indeed too deep, so much so that whenever his old rival or opponent got into trouble, he would subconsciously assume that Kitagawa was plotting against him in secret, but in fact, that was not the case.

After all, if he really wanted to recruit Miyabi Nagumo, he could have done so when he noticed some clues around the time of last year's Cultural Festival. But it can only be said that he really didn't have that intention. Even disregarding the fact that his relationship with Miyabi Nagumo was somewhat sordid due to his relationship with the Horikita Siblings, her completely unreliable character and shameless behavior alone made Kitagawa Ryo have absolutely no such thoughts.

According to the school's announcement, Nagumo's injuries don't seem to be serious.

Ichinose Honami recalled the notice she had seen in the dormitory before. She wasn't the type to gloat over other people's misfortunes, but since Kitagawa Ryo Miyabi Nagumo were already sworn enemies, she would still habitually side with the former when speaking.

"Well, actually, because I and... came back late this morning, we did see the school's ambulance carrying Nagumo out on the way. In terms of injuries alone, they weren't serious, but the location was rather awkward, and if not handled properly, there could be quite a problem with long-term effects."

Just like Karuizawa Kei earlier, Kitagawa Ryo unconsciously omitted the words "Amasawa Ichika" as he spoke. Although both of them were actually trying to cover up their intentions, sometimes it is indeed necessary to conceal them like this.

"... Is the location rather awkward?"

"Will there be long-term consequences if it's not handled properly?"

Whether it was because Kitagawa Ryo's words were somewhat ambiguous, or because a certain rumor about Kitagawa Ryo was still rampant, Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei exchanged a glance, both feeling their faces flush slightly, clearly thinking the same thing without prior agreement.

"Cough cough, stop, stop, it's not that kind of thing."

Seeing the obvious changes on the faces of Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, Kitagawa Ryo immediately guessed what they were thinking about, and quickly cleared his throat to steer the conversation back on track.

"Nagumo was injured on his face, and the staff told me at the time that it might leave a large scar, or what is called disfigurement."

After Kitagawa Ryo explained that the part of Miyabi Nagumo's injury was actually her face, Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei awkwardly looked away. It's understandable that they were overthinking it, since thanks to Kitagawa Ryo's shocking revelation in the bathroom that day, the students in all twelve classes across three grades at the Forest School had been discussing it countless times over the past few days, so it was natural for them to overthink it.

"My face... well, it feels pretty serious to Nagumo too."

After briefly imagining what Miyabi Nagumo's face would look like with a few more scars, Karuizawa Kei shook her head.

"Anyway, I think if his face were disfigured, the second-year female students would probably wake up a bit. Real society is a cruel society that judges people by their looks."

Compared to Karuizawa Kei, Ichinose Honami thought a bit further ahead:

"Indeed, but this might actually make Nagumo's mentality more twisted, or rather, more hysterical. After all, for someone like him, these superficial things might be more important than what's unseen inside. Liang should be more careful in the future. I have a feeling that Nagumo will become even more... well, a bit more of a mad dog?"

It was rare to hear such words from Ichinose Honami, and Kitagawa Ryo himself couldn't help but chuckle.

"A barking dog doesn't bite. If he really goes berserk like this time, he'll actually be easier to deal with."

After discussing Miyabi Nagumo's situation, Kitagawa Ryo steered the conversation back to the main topic of the Special Exam.

"Speaking of which, how's class going this time? I've heard a few words from Watanabe and Hamaguchi, but I still need to hear what you guys have to say to feel at ease."

"The class was alright, except a group of girls were ambushed and cornered for a while at the beginning, but Himeno and Amikura happened to be there too, so they didn't suffer any losses."

Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei quickly recounted what they had encountered and seen that morning from their own perspectives.

"We noticed something was wrong halfway through, and then we ran into Kanzaki. He told us that you were being attacked by students from other classes, so we gathered the students from Class B and assembled them near the turnaround point."

"Oh right, we actually ran into Suzune along the way. She seemed to be on her way to find Hiyori, and Honami and I asked her to pass on a message."

"Suzune went to find Hiyori?"

When Kitagawa Ryo heard these two names spoken by Karuizawa Kei, he was quite surprised and couldn't quite imagine how these two people could be connected.

"Hmm, it seems they said they wanted to return the ring to her."

Ichinose Honami nodded, then, for reasons unknown, added:

"It's the ring Liang gave her."

"... Suzune went to return Hiyori's ring."

Although he only heard snippets of information from Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, Kitagawa Ryo quickly deduced the whole story in his mind and turned his gaze to Class 1-A, staring intently at Shiina Hiyori, Sakayanagi Arisu.

"I'm going to talk to Arisu about something."

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Ryo took a deep breath and didn't even bother with the previous tactic of adding rice to divert attention. He simply left the plate on the table, put down his chopsticks, and stood up. His aloof attitude caught Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei off guard.

"Is this matter still related to Arisu?"

As Kitagawa Ryo's figure receded into the distance, Karuizawa Kei was somewhat stunned.

"I think so?"

Ichinose Honami wasn't surprised at all, and leisurely picked up her bowl to take a sip of miso soup.

"Wait a minute, why do I have a feeling that it was Honami who provoked Liang to go just now?"

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo had already approached Sakayanagi Arisu, Karuizawa Kei suddenly realized something and glanced at Ichinose Honami with some suspicion.

Who knows?

Ichinose Honami lowered her eyes, a half-smile playing on her lips.

Chapter 421: The Ring, The Ring

Because the Student Cafeteria has now completely transformed into a group dining system based on individual classes, Sakayanagi Arisu no longer needs to deliberately conceal anything as she did a few days ago. Instead, she sits directly with Matsushita Chiaki. When Kitagawa Ryo approaches, the two are nodding and whispering to each other.

"You've arrived? Have a seat."

Facing the sudden arrival of Kitagawa Ryo, Sakayanagi Arisu didn't seem surprised at all. She turned her head and patted the seat next to her, while Matsushita Chiaki had already tactfully taken her tray and sat down elsewhere.

"Did Liang eat so fast today?"

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo empty, Sakayanagi Arisu slightly turned her head, her bright, amethyst-like eyes flickering as if she understood his intentions. She made a couple of light tapping motions with her chopsticks in the air, the tips gently clinking together, before pointing towards Horikita Suzune not far away, her tone slightly teasing:

"Liang found me first, and won against Suzune again."

"I came to see Arisu not to settle your bet, but simply to ask him the truth Arisu what I'm about to ask."

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo had no intention of joking or teasing her anymore, but was instead staring at her seriously, a rare look of panic flashed across Sakayanagi Arisu's face. She pursed her lips slightly, obediently placed her chopsticks on the bowl, and took a deep breath.

"Liang, if you have any questions, just ask."

"What role did Arisu play in the theft of Hiyori's ring?"

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo had even stopped eating and come over to ask this question, Sakayanagi Arisu no longer hid it, but her gaze wandered somewhat aimlessly, as if she dared not meet Kitagawa Ryo's eyes to answer.

"If I had to put it simply, it would be 'I acquiesce'."

Upon hearing Sakayanagi Arisu's brief answer, Kitagawa Ryo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this was theoretically one of the most acceptable answers for him. If Arisu given him a more extreme answer in a straightforward manner, Kitagawa Ryo would probably have been at a loss and had a headache for quite some time.

"The one who actually did this was Motodoi Chikako from Class C, which was probably Ayanokoji's idea. Because she wanted to ask students from Class A for help, she talked to Chiaki twice. My answer to her was that I would pretend I didn't see it. If you put it that way, it sounds like I'm an accomplice. What do you think, Ryo?"

It's unclear from which sentence it started, but Sakayanagi Arisu had just been completely overwhelmed by Kitagawa Ryo in terms of momentum, became calmer and calmer as she spoke, and in the end, she even smiled and took the initiative to ask Kitagawa Ryo this question.

"... reason."

However, Kitagawa Ryo did not answer Sakayanagi Arisu's question immediately, but continued to press for an answer.

At the same time, seemingly dissatisfied with Sakayanagi Arisu's wandering gaze, Kitagawa Ryo reached out and, as if no one else was around, used both hands to stroke her cheeks from both sides, forcefully turning Sakayanagi Arisu's face towards him. He also moved closer, half-forcing her to meet his gaze.

Sakayanagi Arisu's face is quite petite, but thanks to her persistent exercise over the past six months, she doesn't appear thin or slender to the touch. If you apply a little pressure to her palms, you can even feel a bit of plumpness.

"Liang Mingming already knows the answer, so asking a question she already knows the answer to is as illogical as trying to verify a fact she already knows."

Even so, Sakayanagi Arisu was still going in circles.

Girls are made of sugar, spices, and something beautiful.

And everyone wants to appear as perfect as possible in front of the person they like.

Through Sakayanagi Arisu's reply, Kitagawa Ryo felt that he had once again confirmed the truth behind why the other party and Yuki had been able to tug at each other's throats for almost ten years without any result during the last simulation.

"Alright, then I'll tell Arisu my answer."

Unlike the main psychological barrier between Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami, which arose from past simulations, the issue between Sakayanagi Arisu and Shiina Hiyori is a completely new problem that arose during their nearly one year of interaction in reality. After all, Shiina Hiyori did not appear at all in either of Sakayanagi Arisu's two simulations.

For Kitagawa Ryo, although he had expected it, this was indeed the first time he had faced a situation that was new now but would definitely continue to occur in the future, and that was why he needed to handle it properly.

Kitagawa Ryo always had a very clear understanding: this world is not a scenario where all the heroines suddenly realize the truth and abandon all their worries to achieve a perfect life after perfectly completing the simulation. Even though they have experienced several lives of varying lengths in the simulation, in reality they are still high school students of seventeen years old. Their lives are still long, and they will certainly encounter many difficulties.

Including him, everyone's personality will not remain at the moment the simulation ended. A brand new life will bring new changes. What he did back then was perhaps to help them avoid that worst timeline.

Moreover, Sakayanagi Arisu's simulations are never considered perfect.

Rather, it's precisely because of this that the trio born from that simulation became the most severely ill among the already prominent girls around Kitagawa Ryo.

"I think it's partly my fault, because I was fooled by Arisu and failed to realize Arisu thoughts immediately, so I just ignored it."

"And Arisu also had her other half's fault, but the mistake was that she didn't realize it was my fault. That's my answer."

As the one who, after completing all the simulation chapters, tells Hotaru that he wants to bring happiness to everyone, and who is the most greedy being in this life because he was the most alone in his past life, Kitagawa Ryo has long known just how difficult it would be to fulfill those words.

However, what troubled him was never his relationship with the girls, but rather the relationships between the girls.

Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, Karuizawa Kei and Shiina Hiyori, Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu, Sakayanagi Arisu and Amasawa Ichika...

As the number of girls increases, the number of possible combinations among them will undoubtedly also increase.

Kitagawa Ryo would certainly like to see everyone's relationships be like Karuizawa Kei and Shiina Hiyori's, where they can openly and frankly communicate, acknowledge and reconcile with each other. But he would never expect it, because each of these girls has her own personality and character, rather than being a standardized assembly line product that automatically meshes perfectly with the others once one is added.

Even so, Kitagawa Ryo did not want the story to reach its worst possible conclusion. Rather, it was because he had personally witnessed the sharp knife that was used to stab others that he tried his best to prevent such a thing from happening from the very beginning.

Just like what I'm saying to Sakayanagi Arisu now.

Kitagawa Ryo's meaning is simple: if you feel that you have developed some kind of negative emotion, it would be much better to talk to him directly, demand it directly, or even just yell at him, than to do anything you're doing now. At least it would directly cut off the possibility of going from 'I acquiesced' to 'I did it'.

Perhaps she hadn't expected Kitagawa Ryo to give such an answer, or perhaps it was because the gazes of the other students around her were becoming increasingly focused on them, Sakayanagi Arisu herself didn't know what she was thinking, but she just took the initiative to open her left hand to him, her slender, white fingers standing straight.

Ichinose Honami's Sports Festival and Shiina Hiyori's Cultural Festival, the third Matoba that was bound to be discussed repeatedly in the forums for quite some time suddenly appeared in front of the entire school.

"Then, Liang has to give me a ring too."

Even after so many years, Kitagawa Ryo still clearly remembers that distant afternoon when he used the 'Marriage Contract' prop in the White Room.

Now, this boomerang has returned across time and space in a way no one expected.

The transition from simulation to reality, the leap between the two timelines and world lines, brought many new things to everyone, but inevitably erased much of the old past.

During the Cultural Festival, Yuki would mock Sakayanagi Arisu for no longer being able to reminisce about those two variety shows that were once watched and adored by countless people but now only exist in the memories of a handful of them. However, Sakayanagi Arisu doesn't actually dwell too much on these memories. After all, it's enough for her and Kitagawa Ryo to remember these things, and even Amasawa Ichika and Yuki seem superfluous.

If Sakayanagi Arisu to choose what she still harbors resentment about, it would actually be that temporary setup that only existed in the simulation and did not materialize in reality— the Marriage Contract between the two of them, which was created through a prop.

Because compared to shared memories that are all the more precious when fewer people know about them, this is the kind of social awareness that Sakayanagi Arisu truly wants the whole world to know, understand, and believe in.

She wasn't as nonchalant as she appeared on the surface.

She actually cared about it a lot.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so easily persuaded by the shop assistant to buy those two sports rings while shopping on the cruise ship last summer, and I wouldn't have insisted on wearing them on my left middle finger.

As everyone knows, the rest is history.

Just like the saying "It's not scary to wear the same clothes, it's embarrassing for whoever looks worse", ever since Kitagawa Ryo suddenly pulled out the ring for Shiina Hiyori at the Sports Festival, Sakayanagi Arisu's mood inevitably plummeted. What's more, she already felt that she and Shiina Hiyori didn't get along very well. The two had already clashed once during the "brain teaser" question in the Uninhabited Island Special Exam.

Actually, this can be considered a coincidence of Fate.

To put it bluntly, that Uninhabited Island Special Exam was the peak of Sakayanagi Arisu's self-awareness and feelings for Kitagawa Ryo after she had just finished her last simulation. But for Shiina Hiyori and even Amasawa Ichika, it was also an important period when her relationship with Kitagawa Ryo took a crucial step. Perhaps all the changes that Sakayanagi Arisu after that Special Exam were partly due to this.

What left Kitagawa Ryo somewhat speechless about the whole affair was that Sakayanagi Arisu also failed to realize that Shiina Hiyori was also yearning for those changes in her. It was just like the saying, "Those outside the city want to get in, and those inside want to get out." Everyone has something that others can't have and a Karuizawa Kei wouldn't care much about the so-called ring, but instead cleanly and decisively took his first time in this life.

Of course, divergent thinking cannot actually stop time.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, what first pulled Kitagawa Ryo out of his chaotic thoughts was the huge uproar and exclamations that erupted around him.

If Shiina Hiyori's act of giving a ring at the last Cultural Festival wasn't witnessed by most of the students at ANHS due to time, place, and other reasons, then Sakayanagi Arisu's speech this time undoubtedly achieved the same effect as Ichinose Honami's, instantly attracting everyone's attention. Even the students eating on the second floor curiously leaned out from upstairs.

In an instant, Miyabi Nagumo once again missed the headlines, as if possessed by Wang Feng. Kitagawa Ryo successfully dominated all the topics and discussion time. The students who witnessed this scene were excitedly explaining to their classmates or friends who hadn't seen or heard it. They didn't even need to embellish it, after all, it hadn't been more than a few months since Shiina Hiyori gave him the ring. Now that they had encountered similar terms again, many students were already preparing to give Kitagawa Ryo the nickname "Lord of the Rings."

To be honest, at that moment, Kitagawa Ryo felt a little nostalgic for Hotaru, who had jumped out to help him out at the Cultural Festival. It was a case of whoever's older brother it was, they would feel sorry for him.

But having just said those words, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't bring himself to refuse Sakayanagi Arisu, who simply wanted to follow Shiina Hiyori and no longer want to use that sports ring to cover up her true intentions and deceive herself.