The Union of Body and Soul

"... Damn, you've got a really sharp tongue."

"So compared to these upperclassmen, if you really want to find a partner, it's more reliable to date someone in your own year. There are quite a few pretty ones there, although theoretically, our upperclassmen are also eyeing their underclassmen."

"No problem, being close to the source makes it easier to get the moon, buddy. You're so well-informed, do you have any rankings? I heard on the forum that the upperclassmen from the previous year quickly made some kind of rankings for boys and girls after they enrolled."

"It's only the second day of school, it can't be that fast, but I did catch a glimpse of quite a few pretty girls, like Nanase from Class A, Tsubaki from Class B, and that Tsubaki from Class D, those two seem to be sisters."

"Hey Chao, I'm from Class D myself. You'd better not mention that she-devil in our class. You didn't see how he beat up a two-meter-tall strong man yesterday, and he's even dating her. I'm afraid she'll tear me apart."

A few guys who weren't really interested in the clubs and were just there to watch the fun were chatting away, while the Club Orientation on the other side was already coming to its last session.

Perhaps because they felt that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had been too passive and uncooperative lately, he was thrown out today to give a speech as the Student Council representative.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who wasn't a pretty girl, naturally didn't receive much attention, but he didn't seem to care. After finishing explaining the Student Council's recruitment information, he announced that the explanations of all the clubs were over, and that it was time for the students to go to the various club booths to explore and learn about them on their own.

And so, most of the freshmen flocked to the booths of various clubs. From the teachers who were acting as supervisors to the club representatives, no one showed any annoyance at the noisy First Year students. They all hoped to snag some good recruits in this recruitment drive.

However, as time went on, a noticeable difference in popularity emerged between the various club booths.

Unlike previous years when sports-related clubs were very popular, this year's club recruitment was quite unusual.

The Student Council booth, which was usually deserted, was unusually crowded with First Year students, though seven or eight out of ten of them were boys, while the First Year girls swarmed to another club's booth.

Drama Club.

"Hello, I'm Ichinose Honami, the vice president of the Drama Club, and one of the people in charge of this club recruitment."

"Has Minister Kitagawa not come yet? Will he come today? How long until he arrives?"

"Liang isn't here right now. She might come over today, but we don't know exactly when."

"Um, does joining the Drama Club mean I can see Kitagawa-senpai every day? Can I act in Romeo and... what? What other love plays did Shakespeare write?"

"Um, please calm down a bit. If you want to join the Drama Club, please fill out the application form here with your information. We will use it for initial screening..."

"Call me! Call me! I've been watching Kitagawa-senpai's plays for years! If the timing hadn't been off, that spot in Karuizawa should be mine!"

"Teacher Sima, could you please see this guest out? No, it would be better to just call the infirmary directly."

Looking at the chaotic scene of the Drama Club's recruitment drive not far away, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, from the Student Council, nodded silently.

Sure enough, his decision not to recruit First Year girls into his camp was absolutely correct.

Look at this scene before us; perhaps on the very first day of school, the other party could readily defect and become a spy for Kitagawa Ryo's side.

It now seems that Kitagawa Ryo's charm with his female juniors is even more astonishing.

After secretly adding this entry to the overview of this encyclopedia of love, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's gaze quickly fell on another familiar figure.

The Fourth Generation eliminated from the White Room --

Snow.

The other person was also in the long queue in front of the Drama Club's booth.

And it looks like it'll be her turn soon.

"You've come."

"I am coming."

After a brief exchange reminiscent of Gu Long's style, Ichinose Honami stood up from her seat, beckoned Karuizawa Kei to come and watch over the room, and then left.

"Let's talk outside."

As she spoke, she took her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it.

It's like checking the current time, or checking if someone has sent a text message.

It was as if she was merely looking at the photo of the two of them, which she had specially set as her lock screen wallpaper and which was etched beneath the Valentine's Day fireworks.

Chapter Eight: Fusion of Spirit and Flesh

"We didn't even know each other before, so why are you targeting me like this from the start? Or do you treat everyone else this way?"

The two had just left Matoba Gymnasium and entered a nearby grove when Xue, with a slight frown, asked Ichinose Honami directly.

Compared to the annoyance of being given a hard time, she actually felt more doubtful. After all, there is never love or hate without a reason in this world, and ultimately, even just to consider Kitagawa Ryo's feelings, Yuki didn't want to make things too tense.

"You don't need to misunderstand this. It's definitely just my behavior directed at you. I don't care what others think of you or how they treat you, but as far as I'm concerned, I just hope that you can change some of your bad habits when you're with Liang."

Taking advantage of the class transfer opportunity, Ichinose Honami also subtly changed her persona. She no longer tried hard to maintain good relationships with everyone like she did when she first entered the school, just like Kushida Kikyo. Therefore, she is now quite good at playing the bad cop, staring intently at Yuki in front of her.

Although Ichinose Honami was well aware that any quirk that seemed strange to others had deep psychological reasons and a long formation process behind it, she didn't want to hear the story at all, because she wasn't Shiina Hiyori, and no story could change her mind.

After all, this was Ichinose Honami could not tolerate, an act that crossed her bottom line.

"Okay, but you need to explain to me exactly what you mean by my bad habits, right?"

When asked by Yuki, Ichinose Honami simply gave a very brief answer:

"Blood."

As a girl who had already had physical intimacy with Kitagawa Ryo, Ichinose Honami was well aware that there were all sorts of ways to play in this world that could make people exclaim, "Bro, your sexual preferences are really weird!" But she still couldn't accept this type of game that actually involved blood, no matter how many layers of eroticism it was disguised as.

Moreover, Ichinose Honami could also vaguely sense that the way the two were playing had definitely gone beyond the normal range, because a normal person would never have made Kitagawa Ryo's room so messy that even the bedding was torn and dirty, making it impossible to sleep properly that night. The marks she saw on Kitagawa Ryo's body afterward only strengthened Ichinose Honami's belief in this.

"Blood?"

Miyuki herself seemed completely unaware of the problem, and Ichinose Honami added:

"After the Cultural Festival last year, I went to Ryo's room and saw that there were bloodstains all over Ryo's body."

"My blood is still in there."

Somewhat to Ichinose Honami's surprise, Yuki herself was completely unmoved by the fact she pointed out, and even smiled naturally with the corners of her mouth raised:

"The sheets, the blankets, his body, mine—our blood was all mixed together, intertwined. How wonderful."

"... You really do have some psychological problems."

"Aren't you alright? You know nothing and yet you spout nonsense. You only have yourself on your mind, arbitrarily imposing your own ideas on others. You're no better than me at doing something like this."

Having said that, Yuki got up and left, but as she passed Ichinose Honami and brushed past her shoulder, she added coldly:

"Don't concern yourself with my business with Liang, and I can't be bothered with yours either."

Without giving Ichinose Honami another chance to speak, Yuki quickly ran into the adjacent Gymnasium, leaving Ichinose Honami standing there in silence.

Not long after, another person emerged from the woods beside her; it was Kitagawa Ryo, who had not shown up at the club recruitment event.

Ultimately, without his own intention, Ichinose Honami wouldn't have hung that security chain on his room door last night. The series of events from last night to today, including their conversation, were all planned in advance by him.

Since gaining a lot of inspiration from Amasawa Ichika, Kitagawa Ryo has increasingly felt that sometimes it is indeed possible to have the illusion that those involved are confused Bystander things clearly. Therefore, he chose to let Ichinose Honami test the waters first.

Of course, this was also at Honami's own request, since she did have some issues with Xue.

How are you feeling?

"A little... I can't quite put my finger on it."

Faced with Kitagawa Ryo's question, Ichinose Honami herself pressed her temples with some confusion and bewilderment, recalling every detail of her contact and conversation with Yuki just now, while carefully hiding some of her emotions.

"I don't know the specifics of what happened between Ryo and her, but from my perspective as someone who doesn't know the details, it seems a bit extreme."

Although it felt like a cruel joke for Ichinose Honami herself to say something like, "You seem to be going a bit too far," Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement, and then followed up with:

"Which aspect specifically?"

If I had to summarize it, it would probably be a contradiction.

"There are contradictions in all aspects."

Ichinose Honami carefully chose her tone:

"After I mentioned the keyword 'bleeding,' I could sense that she was wavering, which meant that she wasn't completely unaware of the fact that she had hurt Liang, and that she was feeling guilty as a result. But she quickly convinced herself otherwise."

"After experiencing a bad event or a terrible tragedy, survivors often see the loss of their companions as their own responsibility. This is actually a very common psychological phenomenon, but I feel that her problem is infinitely more complex than that."

"Or perhaps, she simply overcomplicated the issue a thousand times over."

Faced with Ichinose Honami's idea, Kitagawa Ryo simply shook his head and explained:

"But it's also possible that the accidents we encountered were many times more complex. After all, they didn't happen in an instant or within a day or two, but during our childhood, when we could remember things."

"That sounds complicated."

"With Honami's help, there's still a chance to resolve this. Besides, isn't Honami himself the best role model? There's no need for a person to spend their entire life healing from their childhood, because compared to childhood, the rest of one's life is undoubtedly a much longer period."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo smiled again:

"Let's go back too. Today is the club recruitment day, and as the head of the Drama Club, I need to be there to check it out. Otherwise, it wouldn't be good for both of you to be busy."

"Um."

Ichinose Honami nodded in agreement.

For some reason, she didn't reveal all her thoughts to Kitagawa Ryo.

For a moment, Mingming actually felt a sense of empathy when Xue said those strange things.

After all, in the many days and nights before Kitagawa Ryo enlightened her, Ichinose Honami herself had imagined such Matoba.

Perhaps, in the instant she accidentally killed Kitagawa Ryo, she should have simultaneously plunged the blood-soaked knife into her own chest.

The blood that just flowed from the wound was still warm and seemed to carry life as it splashed on the palms and backs of the hands. But after it congealed, all that remained were unsightly marks that darkened and turned black, lingering in the memory for a long time, impossible to pick up or wipe clean.

Perhaps for some, the fusion of blood is the fusion of spirit and flesh, the meeting of lives.

Ichinose Honami looked up towards the Gymnasium.

It also refers to the interaction and union between people.

"... Wait, are there really this many people in front of our stall?"

Although he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, seeing the row of First Year female students in front of the Drama Club made Kitagawa Ryo unconsciously have second thoughts. After all, what happened on the First Year floor yesterday was still fresh in his mind.

"I also suggest that Liang shouldn't go there yet. After all, if Liang goes there now, she probably won't even be able to maintain the little order we have right now."

Ichinose Honami also sighed:

"Speaking of which, why is Ryo suddenly so popular among the freshmen? If you didn't know better, you'd think that Ryo switched from being a drama Actor to becoming a popular idol this year, and even made it onto some list of the most huggable men."

"How would I know? But this trend should cool down after a while, right? After all, they'll know how great my girlfriend is by then, right, Honami?"

"Yes, yes, and not just one or two. Several of us can surround Liang, but we can't even fit one junior girl in. How about that?"

"Then forget it. There are some First Year students I still need to get to know."

"Just don't sell your body."

"I'm not Hashimoto, I don't need to use that trick at all."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo also put on the hoodie, slightly concealing his face:

"Alright, Honami, go back and help Hui first. I'll stand here and keep an eye on things, especially the Student Council area."

"Okay, I'll head back now."

After waving goodbye to Ichinose Honami, Kitagawa Ryo subconsciously turned his gaze toward the Student Council.

Today, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Katsuragi Kohei, a pair from Class 1-D, are in charge of the recruitment. However, what we are doing now is just the registration process. There will be a rigorous initial screening and interviews later. After all, the Student Council is never an easy club to join.

Looking into the queue, all four of Kitagawa Ryo's most suspected subordinates, Ayanokoji's "Big Four," were present, lined up at the Student Council to register.

Looking slightly towards the back of the line, Xue, who had just returned, was also idly waiting in line, seemingly playing on her phone to pass the time.

The next second, Kitagawa Ryo's own phone, which was in his pocket, vibrated. It was a text message from the other party:

"What are you doing? I haven't seen you come to the Gymnasium today."

Even though they were only a few steps apart, Kitagawa Ryo simply took out his phone and started chatting with Yuki on social media simultaneously:

"It's nothing, just dealing with some class matters."

"Oh, speaking of which, the Student Council recruitment event was so boring. Arisu herself didn't even come. There were just two guys sitting there, one with a poker face and the other with a bald head."

"You've met Ayanokoji before, haven't you?"

"That's facial paralysis too. It was like that back in the White Room, I didn't expect it to still be like that after all this time."

"Actually, there have been some changes, especially in terms of relationships."

As Kitagawa Ryo typed this, his mind suddenly started wandering, and he considered a worldline where Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had feelings from the beginning.

No, does that mean that in the last simulation, it wasn't Yuki who was assigned to his side, but Ayanokoji, and the two of them were sleeping in bunk beds together?