No More Abbreviations / What Color Should Love Be?

However, Chabashira Sae herself didn't seem particularly interested in this matchmaking event. Her brows were slightly furrowed as if she was worried about something, and she kept glancing at the phone she was tightly holding in her right hand, looking somewhat anxious.

"What's wrong, Chabashira-sensei?"

After noticing this unusual situation, a male teacher who had come over immediately spoke up with concern, patting his chest and adopting a posture of sharing the burden:

"If you have any problems, just tell me. I'll definitely help if I can."

With him taking the lead, the others nearby followed suit, chattering and promising their own solutions Chabashira Sae shook her head in slight distress and sighed, saying:

"Um, when I went out this morning, I found that my cat, which I keep in my dorm, had disappeared. I asked the dorm manager to check the security footage, but they couldn't find it. It seems to have jumped over the wall from the balcony and run into the campus from our area."

As she spoke, Chabashira Sae showed her phone screen to the other faculty and staff nearby. The screen displayed a picture of a pure white kitten with fluorescent eyes and a very lively expression.

"Look, this is it."

"So, Chabashira-sensei likes cats too. Actually, I used to have cats for a while, so I feel like we could easily exchange ideas on this..."

"Go away, didn't you hear someone say the cat went missing this morning? It's alright, Chabashira-sensei, don't worry. Our ANHS campus is a completely enclosed structure, and the campus is so big, the cat is definitely still wandering around here. I happen to be in the security department, I'll ask the people in my group to help look for it later."

"Don't push! Let me see what it looks like. I think I saw a cat when I left this morning. If you ask me, it might be the one that Chabashira-sensei lost."

"Bullshit, didn't you come with me this morning? There's no cat here. You can't just try to get close like this."

Perhaps because the aloof image that Chabashira Sae had cultivated in the past was so deeply ingrained in people's minds, many male faculty members were already incredibly excited when the other party only slightly showed an attitude of wanting to communicate or even seek help. One or two of them were bursting with a desire to perform, and in no time, the news that Chabashira Sae had lost her kitten had spread.

"That kitten, doesn't it look like Ying?"

Upon hearing familiar adjectives such as "firefly-colored eyes," even without seeing the photo shown by Chabashira Sae, Amasawa Ichika quickly associated it with Hotaru and then understood Kitagawa Ryo's intention.

After all, when Kitagawa Ryo transferred to Class B and led Class B to a great victory in the Mixed Training Camp Special Exam, with the Class Points catching up with Class A, his relationship with Chabashira Sae became somewhat delicate.

On one hand, Kitagawa Ryo's actions, frankly speaking, resembled those of a scumbag who takes advantage of others and then denies it. He had spoken sweet words to Chabashira Sae before, but then turned around and transferred directly to Hoshinomiya Chie's class, and even performed exceptionally well.

On the other hand, Chabashira Sae couldn't deny that the other party had indeed stole her heart. After all, the more outstanding Kitagawa Ryo was, the more it proved his ability and value, making her increasingly convinced that he was actually the only one who could help her realize her long-cherished wish.

Most people might find Chabashira Sae's attitude strange. After all, on the surface, Class C, under the leadership of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, has swept away the gloom and is showing signs of returning to its former glory. There is absolutely no need for them to be so enthusiastic about pursuing a student from another class.

But that's actually where the problem lies.

Even setting aside the fact that Chabashira Sae's thought process is incomprehensible to ordinary people and her logic chain that has gone into a dead end and reached a closed loop, given that she has become a traitor to her class and recently leaked information to students from other classes, Chabashira Sae's situation is, in a sense, more like a mysterious character in a classic scene who says 'there is no way to go back, there is no going back.' Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already marked her on his list, and Totsuka Yahiko's self-destruction at the end of last year was the first clear shot.

But this doesn't mean that Kitagawa Ryo can still easily use empty promises to fool Chabashira Sae as before. After all, trust is always two-way, and relationships need to be maintained. Chabashira Sae felt that she had paid a considerable price in the past, but the expected return she saw was still as distant as a castle in the air.

And coincidentally, Kitagawa Ryo, who was serving as the temporary Student Council President at that time, also needed to expose the weakness that could be used against him before others discovered it—that was Hotaru's existence.

Asahina Nazuna's idea was excellent from the start, and choosing Chabashira Sae as the target would kill two birds with one stone by rebuilding the trust between the two.

Even more conveniently, by taking advantage of this matchmaking event, Chabashira Sae could easily implant this preconceived impression into the vast faculty and staff population.

The security department patrolling the campus, the disciplinary inspection department in charge of campus surveillance cameras, and the logistics departments, including the cafeteria...

Teachers, or school staff, are often perceived by students as having an air of authority and mystery due to their profession.

But in fact...

We are all just ordinary people with emotions and desires, worrying about daily necessities.

Thinking of this, Amasawa Ichika casually tucked her hands into her long sleeves, as if she suddenly felt that the matchmaking event in front of her was not interesting, and turned to leave.

Then, she heard the deafening roar from inside the Gymnasium again, a sound that could be heard even from outside.

To be honest, Shiina Hiyori this period has not been very stable.

This wasn't because anything new had happened in the class or grade. The atmosphere in Class 1-D remained unchanged after the Mixed Training Camp Special Exam. The Student Council election, which was the hottest topic in the grade recently, was also handled by Ryuen Kakeru. The students in Class D were already used to this lifestyle.

On a optimist note, not only did they not lose any points in the last Special Exam, but they actually gained dozens of points. In addition, the students from Class B helped cover part of the debt. The students in Class D are currently experiencing the best period of their lives recently, so naturally they have no intention of causing trouble.

Of course, even if there were another wave of discontent against Shiina Hiyori Ryuen Kakeru in her class, just like during last year's Sports Festival, she would absolutely not get involved, because she has more important things to do right now.

Shiina Hiyori has never denied the fact that she is a literary girl. As one of the students who frequents the library most often in the entire Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, she has continued to enjoy the pleasure and spiritual satisfaction that reading brings, just as she did before high school, for the past year.

But just like the proverb that a scholar's rebellion will never succeed in three years, when it comes to actually putting a literary girl into action, she becomes nothing more than a theorist, especially when she is eager to devise a perfect plan.

It's no exaggeration to say that if Sakayanagi Arisu hadn't dealt Shiina Hiyori her behavior during the Mixed Training Camp, she probably could have kept that ring close to her heart for another year or two, spending her nights back in the dorm, showering, and rolling around in bed in her pajamas, lost in thought about the ring, and she could have been content for a long time.

If Sakayanagi Arisu gave her the courage to take another step forward, then the real help came from Karuizawa Kei.

After opening up to each other at that Cultural Festival, the estrangement between Shiina Hiyori and Karuizawa Kei disappeared without a trace, and their friendship became even deeper and closer than before.

After a full two weeks of meticulous preparation.

Shiina Hiyori finally decided to move forward again.

Chapter 470: No More Abbreviations

For Kitagawa Ryo, even though he already knew Shiina Hiyori's thoughts and possible actions beforehand, spending the day with Ichinose Honami was all he could do until she actually appeared.

After all, they had already experienced the chaotic situation of last year's Cultural Festival, where they had to deal with Special Exam content, secretly negotiate and cooperate with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and even have other girls, including Yuki, who suddenly appeared from outside the school, while Amasawa Ichika was also causing trouble. Compared to that time, at least this time there was no pressure related to Special Exam and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was probably still strolling around the venue with his classmate Motodoi Chikako.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Ryo looked around with interest. However, due to the large size of the venue and the large number of people around, even though his eyesight was excellent, he could not find Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Instead, he immediately spotted a silver-haired girl who was no longer sending Matsushita Chiaki to fight, but was personally leading the charge.

However, Kitagawa Ryo didn't say anything to expose him, and instead continued to visit each stall of Ichinose Honami's family according to the original plan.

Since it was originally a Valentine's Day event, most of the stalls here tacitly targeted couples as their main consumer group. The various small activities also followed this approach. For example, the balloon popping stall in front of them, which would have fit perfectly into a summer festival, attracted many customers to line up to experience it simply because the first-place perfect completion reward was a pair of gold-inlaid jade bracelets.

"Does Honami want that?"

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at it again. Apart from the tempting first prize, the remaining prizes were basically all items in pairs, practically screaming "for couples only."

"There are too many people in line, let's forget about it."

However, Ichinose Honami didn't seem to want to waste a single precious second of the day waiting in line. After hesitating for a moment, she shook her head, her sky-blue eyes sparkling, and then pointed to another stall next to her:

"It seems like they offer free photo opportunities for couples over there, let's go check it out."

"Hmm, that works too."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement, and soon walked over with Ichinose Honami.

As the chief planner of this event, he only glanced at the location and number of the stall before recalling the information in his mind: the business that had been contracted was a photo studio in the Keyaki Mall.

Compared to the other stalls around, this place does look much quieter. After all, in this era where everyone uses and is used to taking photos with smartphones, photo studios seem to be the only place students remember when they need to use their blue-background one-inch or three-inch photos in various situations.

"Hello, are you two interested in participating in our stamp collection event?"

As soon as Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami approached, the seemingly bored staff member immediately perked up and introduced them to the two in a practiced tone.

As for the stamp collection activity he mentioned, it was actually a small game created by Kitagawa Ryo himself to increase customer loyalty. Students entering the venue could receive a blank stamp card at the front desk, and most of the booths had games related to the products they were selling. After completing these games, they could collect stamps. The stamps they collected could be exchanged for small gifts after the festival. Students who collected all the stamps on the card would receive an extra gift.

Having worked in numerous simulations for a considerable period, Kitagawa Ryo was quite familiar with the details and selling points of such events. This ability allowed him to subtly become the true leader of this event; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to insert his own agenda everywhere.

"Hmm, but I see on your banner that it says two people can take a free photo together. What does that have to do with collecting stamps?"

"Yes, our stamp collection event is actually what the banner over here says: a free two-person photo shoot, all done with a 5-inch Polaroid camera. Of course, you have to pass a challenge first, otherwise you'll still need to pay the cost."

"As for the specific rules, they're actually quite simple. I'll randomly draw four cards from here, and they'll have some common poses for taking group photos written on them. You two just need to successfully perform one of those poses to complete the challenge."

"Of course, since some poses might be a bit difficult, or if you two find them challenging, you can choose to skip them. As long as you achieve just one of the four poses, you'll complete the event and not only receive the stamps, but the process and the final product will also be given to you for free."

"However, if you complete all four challenges, we'll also give you an extra gift."

The staff member spoke fairly clearly, and since the game rules weren't difficult to understand to begin with, Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami quickly nodded to indicate that they understood, and were then led to a slightly more open area.

"So, who would you two like to draw the cards?"

How about one person, one time?

Kitagawa Ryo quietly asked Ichinose Honami for her opinion.

"Good."

"Then I'll go first."

After receiving Ichinose Honami's reply, Kitagawa Ryo stepped forward, took a card from the thick stack of cards in the staff's hands, glanced at its contents, and then returned it to Honami.

It has to be said that as the most watched couple in the entire venue, Ichinose Honami and Kitagawa Ryo were somewhat like big-name live streamers doing a live sales event. They had only stayed there for a short while when people started to gather around, giving off a feeling of déjà vu as if I were in a relationship myself while watching others being so sweet and loving.

[Let me introduce you]

The card simply contains four words describing the action, which are not easy to understand just by looking at the words. However, the shop thoughtfully drew the specific pose in the form of a cartoon below.

"How is it? Is it okay?"

The cameraman standing in front of the two raised his Polaroid camera, smiled, and asked them a question, seemingly ready to take a picture.

"No problem--"

"I'm fine with it too."

Because it was a fairly simple action, Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami nodded in agreement without much hesitation, then casually placed the card aside and made the pose they had just seen in front of the camera.

The so-called "introduction" actually involves the two people bringing their faces close together, and then one of them extending both hands diagonally upwards towards the other, placing them slightly below the chin, making a gesture as if introducing the person next to them to others.

Although theoretically either the man or the woman could do it, due to the height difference, Kitagawa Ryo chose to have Ichinose Honami do the gesture, while he himself raised his right hand and pointed in his own direction with one index finger, as if saying to the camera, "That's me."

"One, two, three -- Alright!"

The middle-aged man, a professional photographer at the photo studio, naturally wouldn't miss this perfect moment. He quickly used his Polaroid camera to capture the instant photo of the two of them, and the five-inch photo was immediately ejected from the camera.

After exposing the photos briefly and confirming that the image quality was fine, the photographer proactively handed them to the two, even offering a few enthusiastic suggestions to Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami:

"We've prepared markers of various colors here. After you two finish taking the photos, you can use the markers to scribble or write something on them. For example, for this pose where you're introducing your boyfriend, the girl could write something like 'This is my boyfriend--' next to the guy."

Undoubtedly, this is another personal creation of Kitagawa Ryo, inspired by his time in the underground idol scene before entering university. However, it was Ichinose Honami's first time experiencing this new way of playing. If it weren't for the fact that she could draw three more cards, she probably would have rushed over right now to write or draw something on this Polaroid photo of the two of them.

"Honami, go draw the next one."

"Good."

Seemingly completely aroused, Ichinose Honami's tone became more lively without any attempt to hide it, and she quickly pulled out their second pose card for the day from the staff.

However, this time, the content above has been changed to five words:

[Princess carry with back to back]

In terms of difficulty alone, this is probably the type that the staff just mentioned can be skipped. After all, while a princess carry is a common element in various artistic works, it's not something everyone can do in reality, especially when it's for a good photo opportunity.

However, Kitagawa Ryo is clearly not among those who need to consider this kind of issue.

Let alone Ichinose Honami, he could probably carry one in his arms and another on his back without any problem.

"Over here, pay attention to the lighting."

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami had no intention of skipping the shoot, the photographer began directing his colleagues. After all, this round of shooting involved photos taken from behind, so extra attention needed to be paid to the lighting and background.

Because the venue was already air-conditioned, both Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami chose to temporarily remove their bulky coats and prepare for the shoot in light clothing.

Then, at the photographer's instruction and under the gaze of the surrounding students, Kitagawa Ryo put one arm around Ichinose Honami's back and lifted her legs with the other, easily pulling her into his arms. However, instead of posing immediately, he mischievously spun her around twice before finally stopping and regaining his footing amidst the gasps and exclamations of the crowd.

However, Ichinose Honami has never been the kind of girl who would be shy about such intimate interactions in public. Otherwise, she wouldn't have confessed her feelings to Kitagawa Ryo in front of the entire school during the Sports Festival. So after a couple of laps, the smile in her eyes grew even brighter, and she didn't seem to want to close her eyes. Her eyes were wide open, watching and remembering.

After effortlessly passing the second card, "[Princess Carry Back to Back]", Kitagawa Ryo drew the third card, "[Forehead Embrace]", and completed it smoothly without any pause. The biggest obstacle in the whole process was the cheering of "Give me a kiss" that started from someone around them after they pressed their foreheads together, their noses touched, and their breaths mingled so close to each other.

Of course, Kitagawa Ryo didn't want the impatient audience to wait too long. Just like the stack of cards in the staff's hands seemed to want to respond to their wishes, Ichinose Honami casually drew out the fourth card, which was completely undisguised and revealed the truth: a [sweet kiss].

"Congratulations! You've drawn the only kissing-related card here. Would you two like to skip it? But this is the last of the four cards; there's a special prize for successfully completing all four!"

The photo studio staff were quite dedicated, or rather, they were very enthusiastic, speaking so loudly that everyone nearby could hear them clearly. This instantly reignited the excitement of the crowd, who had just quieted down in disappointment.

In reality, their clamor and instigation were completely unnecessary.

Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami are not your average high school couple.

This may have reduced much of the awkwardness and impulsiveness that is unique to men and women of this age in their relationship and atmosphere, but the noise around them at this moment just happens to add a youthful background sound to their relationship.

A young girl's blush can sometimes be more powerful than any sweet words in the world.

Human thought and memory will eventually be overwhelmed by the torrent of time, which is why we need to solidify the most precious memories into reefs and then build them into a castle for the two of us. And this moment is a landmark that belongs only to him and Ichinose Honami.

Through the photographer's lens, the silhouettes of the two, thus cast into the most radiant moment, were finally captured in this instant.

Finally, Ichinose Honami wrote her neat and elegant handwriting on the Polaroid photos with a pink marker, while next to her was Kitagawa Ryo, who left his mark with a black marker.

The words are placed close together, just like two people in a photograph who are in close proximity.

They no longer talk about liking and loving casually.

They are earnestly putting their liking and love into practice.

Say goodbye to Romanized abbreviations; they are now as formal as if they were written on a marriage registration form.

Kitagawa Ryo & Ichinose Honami.

February 14th, Valentine's Day.

Chapter 471: What color should I use?