Whoa, NTR! / On This Day, That Year

Private Points are something that is sometimes money and sometimes not.

For a long time, Ichinose Honami undoubtedly preferred the former.

The root of her biggest failure to date undoubtedly stemmed from the disparity in their family backgrounds, and the resulting subtle sense of inferiority and self-consciousness she felt as a result.

In this respect, the class transfer that occurred during winter break should be considered Ichinose Honami's first and last act of revenge spending on the past.

After painstakingly collecting and effortlessly spending the equivalent of 20 million yen in Twenty Million Personal Points, Ichinose Honami, who had chosen to steal for a hairpin worth five figures, finally disappeared.

Suddenly remembering something, Ichinose Honami stopped and gestured for Kitagawa Ryo to come closer to her. Then, seemingly oblivious to everyone else, she kissed his cheek.

She no longer has nightmares about the past.

Because she is recognizing a fact with absolute clarity:

If the Ichinose Honami were to come looking for the current Ichinose Honami, she would surely be treated very well, and then she would look forward to every moment of the rest of her life.

Chapter 466: I'm Super, I Have a Cow

Generally speaking, holidays are often the times when people are most likely to realize that they are ultimately social beings, especially those holidays that involve family reunions and couples. This is true for the New Year, and Valentine's Day is in a similar sense.

For most students at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, being alone is usually easy enough to get through, but Valentine's Day is a different story. It can be even more agonizing than New Year's Day, when everyone could happily wish each other a Happy New Year.

Thinking about this, many students who didn't have any plans for the day, or weren't assigned any by others, would try their best to make an effort, or perhaps they would stick together to avoid being left behind. After all, this year's Valentine's Day also includes a special celebration organized by the Student Council. Even if they could close the doors and windows of their single dorm rooms and hide away during the day, the fireworks in the night sky and the love stories unfolding beneath them would still act like a mirror, making the whole night lively and bustling. At that point, they would truly become lonely ghosts in a certain sense.

Of course, the extraordinarily lively Valentine's Day at ANHS this year is also closely related to the current time of year. After all, the three grades just finished their Special Exam for Mixed Training Camp training not long ago, so they don't have to prepare for or worry about new Special Exam for a while.

The graduating third-year students are preparing to leave no regrets, while the second-year students, who have just replaced their old ones with new ones, are looking forward to the future. As for the First Year, this is their first Valentine's Day at ANHS School, and while they are full of excitement, many of them are already planning to take the first step on the road to romance.

Besides the students, the faculty and staff of ANHS also participated in the event because of the school's matchmaking event. What Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami saw was a bustling and lively scene, which made the two of them pause for a moment and step aside to avoid the surging crowd.

"This is so crowded! I wish we had this much enthusiasm during class. Hey, watch out, slow down and don't run!"

Just as Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami had managed to avoid the crowd, they heard a familiar voice coming from behind them. Turning around, they saw Mashima Tomoya, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, helping a boy who almost fell down. He loudly began to act as a temporary staff member maintaining order while slowly moving forward himself.

"Ms. Mashima-- "

Good morning, Ms. Mashima.

When the other person passed by, Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami greeted him in unison. Although they had transferred out of Class A, it did not change their respect for their former homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomoya.

"It's Kitagawa and Ichinose."

Mashima Tomoya didn't seem surprised to see Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami there. It was just that Ichinose Honami had 'inadvertently' leaked the information after the last Special Exam. Otherwise, the forum would have been buzzing with discussions about who Kitagawa Ryo would ask out on Valentine's Day, and they might have even started betting on it.

"Mashima is dressed very formally today."

Unlike his usual image, Mashima Tomoya, and his hair, sideburns, and beard also seemed to have been carefully groomed, so Kitagawa Ryo teased him mischievously.

After all, his relationship with Mashima Tomoya was one where they trusted each other quite a bit. Moreover, he had helped Majima Tomoya get together with him last year, and he was well aware of his former homeroom teacher's crush. Therefore, he spoke quite freely.

"Ahem, well, there's a matchmaking event organized by the school today, so I have to dress up a bit more formally."

Mashima Tomoya cleared his throat, and although he said that, his eyes seemed to be wandering a little.

"Actually, I think if Ms. Mashima really has feelings for someone, it would be better to just ask her out directly. That way, she wouldn't have to waste time at this matchmaking event. Oh, and I also have Ms. Akio's contact information. Would you like me to make a call for her?"

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo pretended to take out his phone from his pocket.

"... Wait, I haven't decided yet."

Compared to the action-oriented Kitagawa Ryo, Mashima Tomoya undoubtedly more hesitant in this regard. Otherwise, it wouldn't have dragged on from last summer until now, with more than half a year passing without any progress. Therefore, just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to make a phone call, Majima Tomoya subconsciously showed a somewhat flustered expression.

"There's no such thing as 'thought-out' or 'not thought-out.' Since you already have someone you like, just go ask them out. After all, matchmaking events are basically just a bunch of guys who are worst at pursuing girls chasing after the hardest-to-get girls... Hmm, I feel like I'm using the words 'guys' and 'girls' a bit too naive, but you get what I mean."

Kitagawa Ryo enthusiastically patted Mashima Tomoya on the shoulder and gave him a word of encouragement:

"Actually, she has a pretty good impression of you, teacher. You're handsome and well-built, a good homeroom teacher for Class A, and capable—you were Class A homeroom teacher before, and you're still Class A homeroom teacher after taking Class D. I'm not kidding, but if you had kept your distance from homeroom teachers Hoshinomiya and Chabashira on a regular basis, she probably would have confessed to you long ago."

Is that so?

Mashima Tomoya scratched the back of his head, a little confused, but he didn't doubt Kitagawa Ryo's intentions. After all, Kitagawa was truly the master of love in ANHS; in this respect, Kitagawa was the teacher and he was the student.

"Yes, although I know that Ms. Mashima knew Chabashira and Hoshinomiya, her homeroom teachers, back in high school, and that she never had any romantic feelings for them, others don't know that. Besides, you know what kind of reputation they have among the female faculty members, especially Hoshinomiya. So, naturally, that's how it turned out."

Actually, Kitagawa Ryo wasn't lying when he said that. After all, the reputation of the people you're always with does affect you in your daily life. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka started to stand out last year on the Uninhabited Island, but it wasn't until this year that a girl confessed to him. This was mainly because he was always associated with Totsuka Yahiko in the past. Things only got better after Totsuka Yahiko dropped out of school at the end of last year.

"That makes sense... Alright, since you've put it that way, Kitagawa, I'll give it a try."

After listening to Kitagawa Ryo's analysis and encouragement, Mashima Tomoya gritted his teeth, seemingly ready to charge into the tower.

"Well then—I wish you all the best, teacher."

"Yes, you guys had fun too."

After saying that, Mashima Tomoya added with a serious expression:

"Safety measures must be in place."

Seemingly feeling a bit awkward giving such instructions to his students, Mashima Tomoya quickly left with a suddenly brisk and energetic gait after saying those words.

However, Ichinose Honami didn't show any particular expression. Instead, she naturally tilted her head towards Kitagawa Ryo, maintaining her usual poised and graceful demeanor.

"Then let's go too."

"Um."

The school probably noticed the crowding, because soon Kitagawa Ryo spotted staff in uniform security guard uniforms coming out to adjust the lines and maintain order. Thanks to their efforts, the initially chaotic crowd began to line up in two orderly queues, and the entry speed increased considerably.

The entrance to this year's Valentine's Day celebration was, of course, in the Gymnasium, and it was open to all teachers and students free of charge. After all, the event didn't cost much, with most of the expenses covered by the merchants at the Keyaki Mall. It's clear that directly coordinating with the Student Council through the student council made a difference; they even saved a significant amount on venue rental fees.

Although it was still morning, many couples who planned to spend the whole day there had already entered the Gymnasium. Vendors at their various stalls were also turning on their loudspeakers to attract customers.

To be honest, even though I had already come here with Kitagawa Ryo yesterday, most of the stalls were still not set up. So when we first walked in, Ichinose Honami was inevitably startled by the colorful neon lights and noisy music, and subconsciously tightened her grip on Kitagawa Ryo's arm.

The shop right next to the door is a flower shop that, as always, only makes money on a few fixed holidays. Every couple who walks in is involuntarily attracted by the carefully arranged bouquets of flowers near the entrance. Then, the well-trained staff will take the initiative to promote their flowers. This smooth little combo is basically enough to get the other party to obediently hand over their Private Points.

However, no staff members came up to promote their products to Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami. Everyone had been specifically instructed by the boss to greet them beforehand, and they all walked past the two of them as if they didn't see them.

"Hmm... does it mean you think Ryo and I don't look like a couple?"

Ichinose Honami looked around with a bit of confusion. The people passing by who hadn't been actively solicited by the shop assistants were mostly groups of boys who had come in pairs, or couples who didn't seem like a couple at all.

"Honami would say it's because they think we're a couple who've already passed the stage of needing to send each other flowers."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo glanced again at the expression on Ichinose Honami's face.

In his past simulations, various bouquets had appeared, especially the red Paper Rose used to represent Karuizawa Kei herself, which gave him a wonderful talent called 'Florist'.

The similarities and connections between flowers and people have been a timeless topic. However, compared to this, Kitagawa Ryo actually prefers to glean insights into a person's underlying character from their attitude towards flowers, just like the story of the three Valentine's Day roses that he once told several people.

If we go back to Karuizawa Kei's first simulation, Horikita Suzune would probably be the one who disdains the roses she receives and casually throws them in the trash, while Karuizawa Kei would carefully collect them, place them in a vase, and take good care of them to extend their blooming period by a few more days, allowing the petals to bloom more beautifully for a few more days.

Sakayanagi Arisu might casually throw it away, but she's more likely to preserve it as a specimen for display, letting its time remain forever frozen in its most vibrant moment.

But no matter how many times, Kitagawa Ryo was willing to believe that Ichinose Honami was the one who painstakingly made a sachet from the precious flowers she received from him, so that it could stay with her forever and retain its fragrance, because that's exactly what she did in that simulation.

It was a bunch of Iris that had once been planted near Ichinose Honami's residence, given to him by someone with mixed feelings, even though he had completed the first chapter but had never met the heroine of that chapter. Their first meeting was actually in Megumi's chapter.

In literary works, the language of flowers is always an image that is unknown at the time, and only after a long time has passed and one feels a sense of loss. The best effect is that only one of the parties involved and the reader with an omniscient perspective know about it.

But sometimes it's not necessary. Just as everyone knows that roses represent "I love you," it's perfectly fine to simply use them as a prop to express one's passionate feelings.

If Kitagawa Ryo's idea in Karuizawa Kei's first simulation belonged to the former category, then at present, the latter is the most appropriate approach.

His relationship with Ichinose Honami had long since transcended the words of their first simulation. She was no longer the person he could only painstakingly piece together from fragments of information, a being he had to construct through imagination.

The A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold they made back then only briefly established their childhood friendship, but in this real-world timeline, from the moment he was found by Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami from among the vast sea of people until now, they have essentially become true childhood friends, and then lovers.

"That's true, Ryo and I have indeed moved on..."

Just as Ichinose Honami was saying those words, she heard a faint sound of something falling from above.

In the next instant, as if by magic, amidst the instinctive gasps of the surrounding students, a large bunch of iris petals appeared in Kitagawa Ryo's hand, like purple butterflies fluttering in the air.

It was originally suspended behind the gate using a simple silk thread mechanism, concealed by the celebratory banner above the gate.

As the Student Council president and the chief planner of this Valentine's Day celebration, Kitagawa Ryo had already meticulously rehearsed every aspect of the event multiple times.

"The messenger of love has arrived uninvited."

Hiding her presence and quietly following behind the two of them, Sakayanagi Arisu heard Kitagawa Ryo say the meaning of the iris with a smile.

She subconsciously took a step back, deliberately averting her gaze, as if she didn't want to see the rest of the drama unfold, and silently clenched something in her hand.

The meaning of the Iris flower comes from its scientific name, Iris tectorum. In Greek mythology, Iris is the name of the rainbow goddess and the messenger between the gods and humans.

Iris can be transliterated as Elise.

Of course, it can also be translated as Alice.

Chapter 467: On This Day in History

As it turns out, what girls say is often like their "whatever" answer when asked where to go or what to eat—it's something you can believe but not entirely. This is also true of Ichinose Honami right now.

The other person may not really care about Valentine's Day gifts like bouquets, but she hadn't worn hairbands or hair clips for over ten years, yet she still wears the phoenix-shaped hair clip he gave her in middle school every day. It just goes to show that Honami Kitagawa Ryo's attitude and strategy towards a girl like Honami, Arisu's, are also completely different.

"Oh--"

Ichinose Honami was clearly also somewhat surprised by Kitagawa Ryo. It wasn't until the purple bouquet was handed to her and the other students around her started to cheer that she belatedly took it and hugged it tightly to her chest, her nostrils filled with the fragrance of flowers.

"Yes, thank you, Ryo, I like it very much."

Because standing at the main gate would block the way for others to enter, and the incident had already caused a large crowd to gather nearby, school staff members hurriedly came over and politely gestured for the two to move inside a bit to prevent overcrowding or even a stampede.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami followed the staff's directions a little further into the venue, somewhat apologetically. There were quite a few girls holding bouquets of flowers inside, but thanks to the generous Private Points they received and the fact that they had made reservations in advance, Honami's bouquet was undoubtedly the focus of the entire event in terms of size and stunningness.

"There are storage lockers here. When we go to browse other stalls, we can leave the flowers here and pick them up when we get back."

Of course, precisely because it was such a large gift that it required two hands to hold and lift, Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami couldn't carry it around all the way. After admiring the beauty of the irises swaying in the wind for a while, Ichinose Honami reluctantly handed it over to the staff in charge of the temporary storage area, as Kitagawa Ryo had requested. Then, she took Kitagawa Ryo's arm again and, with a smile in her eyes, agreed:

"Okay, let's go."

Perhaps it was because of the bouquet of irises she had just sniffed and smelled repeatedly, or perhaps it was simply because she had dressed up specially for today's itinerary, but when Ichinose Honami leaned closer again in a more intimate manner, Kitagawa Ryo could clearly feel a faint, subtle fragrance emanating from her, as well as a deeper, still familiar, refreshing scent of green citrus.

There has long been a claim on the internet that a girl's natural body scent is actually a mixture of shampoo, shower gel, laundry detergent, and perfume, which Kitagawa Ryo neither confirmed nor denied. However, the scent of green citrus shampoo was indeed one of the most memorable scents that Ichinose Honami left on him, both in the initial textual simulation and after they actually met in person.

Of course, people cannot and should not remain unchanged in a certain period of the past.

Therefore, just as he personally taught Sakayanagi Arisu, who had never been exposed to makeup before, how to learn those skills little by little, Kitagawa Ryo did not dislike, and could even be said to be happy to see these changes made by the girls out of their own volition.

What he had to do was accompany and witness all the changes they went through along the way. This process could not be simply defined as growth, until the final destination was reached.

Perhaps because Ichinose Honami was indeed the first person he came into contact with, Kitagawa Ryo's thoughts inevitably drifted far away when he was alone with her at this time.

"What's wrong? It's cold."

Noticing that Kitagawa Ryo's expression was somewhat dazed, Ichinose Honami immediately looked at him with concern.

"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought about what happened between Honami and me before."

"I see. So, what did Liang think of?"

"Of course, it's that unfinished date with Honami."

As soon as Kitagawa Ryo said those words, Ichinose Honami knew which time he was referring to, since it was also an experience that left a deep impression on her.

Thinking of this, Ichinose Honami turned around and scanned her surroundings again:

"Hui probably didn't come along, right?"

"Why are you bringing up Hui again?"

"After all, it was Hui who suddenly appeared out of nowhere back then."

"I think even if Hui hadn't been there, the final outcome wouldn't have been much better."

"... It seems so."

At this point, Ichinose Honami sighed with some regret. After all, if she could travel back in time and personally control her past self, she really couldn't find any possibility of losing. It's just that even if she did nothing back then, her chances of winning would probably be quite high. In the end, she was heading in the opposite direction.

"What Liang said makes me want to fold some more origami cranes for you."

Will you still write anything inside the pages?

"Just say it directly; there's no need to hide anything."

"Should we tell you now?"

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo pointed to a nearby stall:

"There are related activities over there."

"What?"

Following Kitagawa Ryo's pointing finger, Ichinose Honami also cast a curious glance, and immediately saw a couple gathered there, reciting some rather impressive lines to each other like game players who were cosplaying in a fast food restaurant shouting "Encounter in another world, enjoy the delicious food!" before blushing and taking paper bags that looked like souvenirs from the staff.