Together with Ichinose

A gentle spring breeze brushed across the campus, pink cherry blossom petals drifting down like snowflakes.

Light footsteps slowly echoed through the hallway.

Creak—

The door to the infirmary where Yi Chen was opened again.

Yi Chen was still a bit dazed from the conversation with the two girls earlier.

The door opened, and the visitor was none other than the pink-haired girl, Ichinose.

A warm smile bloomed on Ichinose's face.

The moment Yi Chen saw Ichinose, a flicker of surprise lit up his eyes.

Yi Chen couldn't bear to tear his gaze away from Ichinose for even a second.

"Why are you here?"

Yi Chen's voice came out a little hoarse.

Ichinose quickly set down the things in her hands, walked over to Yi Chen, and reached out to feel his forehead.

"How could I not come when you're sick?"

Ayako's tone was full of concern.

Hearing this, Yi Chen's face flushed bright red.

Then, Ichinose took out some cookies she had made herself and held them out to Yi Chen.

"Try these. I made them myself."

Yi Chen's heart pounded as he watched Ichinose feed him the cookie.

He took a slightly nervous bite. The sweet, crisp taste spread across his tongue, and a warmth surged in his heart.

They sat by the window, gazing at the cherry blossoms outside, and the atmosphere gradually grew tender.

Ichinose began telling him about the funny things that had happened at school lately. Yi Chen listened quietly, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Their laughter echoed through the infirmary, as if time itself had stopped in that moment.

"Yi Chen, look how beautiful the cherry blossoms are outside. I really wish someone would walk with me over there."

A glimmer of anticipation sparkled in Ichinose's eyes.

Yi Chen looked at Ichinose, his heart surging with emotion, and said softly:

"Okay, I can go with you."

Ichinose's cheeks flushed slightly as she gazed tenderly at Yi Chen:

"What? What can you do?"

Yi Chen, feeling a bit embarrassed, met her eyes, then seemed to make up his mind.

Yi Chen said calmly:

"I think I can go with you."

"Ichinose."

"To walk under the cherry blossom trees."

Hearing this, Ichinose's face lit up with joy as she held out her pinky.

"Pinky swear."

That day, the two talked about a lot of things—all kinds of fun stories, how they saw the world around them.

They only reluctantly parted when something came up in Ichinose's class.

That evening, Yi Chen had mostly recovered and returned to his dorm.

Sudo Ken brought Yamamura Naiki and Yukimura Teruhiko to check on Yi Chen. Seeing that he was almost better, they all relaxed.

The group stayed in Yi Chen's room playing until late, then went back to their own dorms.

Yi Chen looked at his phone's inbox.

Ichinose:

"Yi Chen, are you free tomorrow? I'll be done with club activities in the afternoon."

"What about you? We did pinky swear, you know."

"😊"

Yi Chen smiled and replied:

"Got it. I'm free tomorrow."

The next day, Yi Chen woke up feeling much better. He got himself ready.

Yi Chen looked at himself in the mirror. Still pretty handsome.

Sudo Ken came by to call Yi Chen to go to school together.

Entering the classroom, Yi Chen watched Kushida chatting warmly with her classmates as usual.

He looked at her and greeted her.

Kushida ignored him. Yi Chen sensed something was off. He forced a smile and thanked Kushida for helping him over the past two days.

The female classmate beside Kushida stared intently at Yi Chen.

Kushida said curtly:

"No need to thank me. It's what any classmate would do. Even if I didn't take notes for you, someone else would have."

Yi Chen smiled awkwardly, expressed his thanks, and returned to his seat.

Ayanokoji and Horikita glanced coldly at Angela. Yi Chen.

Yi Chen felt a strange sensation:

"This feeling? Could it be Kushida? But she seems the same with everyone."

Sudo Ken, watching Yi Chen get shut down, couldn't help laughing as he came over to mock him.

Sudo Ken leaned close to Yi Chen and said at a moderate volume:

"Hey man, that's not how you chase a girl. You like Kushida, don't you? Haha."

Sudo Ken laughed while patting Yi Chen on the shoulder.

Yi Chen looked at Sudo Ken with disdain:

"No, keep your voice down. You've got it wrong, bro. Don't say that."

"Go do your thing. I'm going to read my manga."

Sudo Ken gave Yi Chen a knowing, amused smile and patted his shoulder:

"We're bros, I get it. Kushida is pretty cute."

After class in the afternoon, Yi Chen checked his email.

As expected, the person he'd been thinking about had messaged him.

Ichizen:

"No club activities this afternoon."

"Want to check out the new café on campus together?"

Yi Chen quickly replied in agreement:

"Okay, see you in a bit?"

Sudo Ken came over to invite Yi Chen to play basketball, but he declined.

Yi Chen said he had something important to do. The two parted ways.

Yi Chen packed up briefly and left.

Ayanokoji and Horikita also packed up and left.

Airi and Kushida both watched Yi Chen with peculiar looks.

Before long, Yi Chen found the newly opened café.

Ichizen slowly appeared in his line of sight.

Ichizen was still in her school uniform, with a pair of fair legs showing beneath the short skirt.

Her pink hair swayed gently in the breeze, like cherry blossoms blooming on a branch.

"Yi Chen, sorry to keep you waiting!"

Ichizen ran over to him.

Yi Chen shook his head, and the two walked side by side into the café.

The café was bustling, filled with many students, mostly pairs of one boy and one girl chatting together.

Yi Chen and Ichizen found an empty spot and sat down.

Just then, a girl's voice came:

"Ichizen?"

Ichizen looked curiously toward the voice.

It was a classmate from Ichizen's Class B.

Ichizen smiled and greeted her.

The girl gave a knowing, amused smile:

"Ichizen, is this the boyfriend you mentioned last time? He's pretty handsome."

Hearing this, Ichizen looked at Yi Chen beside her with anticipation.

Yi Chen noticed her gaze, smiled at the girl, and said:

"Yes, I'm Ichizen's boyfriend."

Ichinosuke looked at Yi Chen with a cheerful smile.

And so, the two groups each went about their own business.

Yi Chen and Ichinosuke chatted idly in the café.

After a while, the two left the café.

Ichinosuke took Yi Chen for a stroll around the school.

Soon, they came to a cherry blossom tree and chatted beneath it.

Cherry blossom petals fell like snow, landing on their shoulders.

Yi Chen and the girl casually sat down by a flower bed nearby.

As their eyes met, everything around them seemed to vanish.

At that moment, Ichinosuke suddenly gazed at Yi Chen with tender affection:

"Yi Chen-kun, can you sing?"

Yi Chen looked at the cute Ichinosuke in front of him and answered with confidence:

"What do you want to hear? I can sing anything."

Ichinosuke casually named a few Japanese songs. Fortunately, Yi Chen had heard them before and had studied music in the past.

Yi Chen sang casually, while Ichinosuke looked up at him with admiration.

Yi Chen noticed that he was singing even better than before.

Yi Chen thought:

"So this is the power of the Five-Tone Singing King card."

And so, the sky gradually darkened.

Yi Chen's throat was getting a bit dry from all the singing.

Ichinosuke led Yi Chen to a vending machine and bought him a canned green tea.

Ichinosuke held the drink with both hands, gazing at Yi Chen with deep affection.

Yi Chen sipped his drink on the side, thinking to himself:

"Damn, I'm really good at singing. This card is amazing—I've never had this much fun singing before."

Ichinosuke looked at the ground, shuffling her feet as she spoke:

"Yi Chen-kun, your singing is really beautiful."

Yi Chen snapped back to reality at her words:

"Ah, just lucky, that's all."

Ichinosuke blushed:

"Yi Chen-kun, you must have a lot of girls who like you, right?"

Yi Chen looked at Ichinosuke with some confusion, thinking it over:

"Not really. How could someone like me be liked?"

Ichinosuke felt a secret thrill inside:

"How could that be? Yi Chen-kun is so outstanding—there must be plenty of girls who like you."

Yi Chen glanced at Ichinosuke calmly:

"Outstanding? Haha, I guess only you think so."

Ichinosuke blushed again:

"Yi Chen-kun, are you this nice to every girl?"

Yi Chen looked at Ichinosuke, who had lowered her head:

"Am I nice? I don't know. What's this about being the same to every girl?"

Ichinosuke let out a soft laugh, then lifted her head to meet Yi Chen's eyes with tender affection:

"I mean, do you sing for other girls too?"

Yi Chen replied calmly:

"No, this is the first time I've sung for anyone. Now that I think about it, I don't know why, but with you, I was able to let go and sing."

"Before, I only ever sang quietly to myself, alone with my phone."

Ichinosuke glanced at Yi Chen, then lowered her head again.

Seeing Ichinosuke's hesitant expression, Yi Chen asked:

"What's wrong?"

Ichinosuke tightened her grip on the drink in her hands, as if she had made up her mind.

Suddenly, she lifted her head and leaned in close to Yi Chen.

Ichinose's heaving chest was practically pressed against Yi Chen's, with no distance between them.

Yi Chen's heart pounded wildly.

Ichinose:

"Yi Chen-kun..."

Just then, a sudden voice cut through.

Angel:

"Mission issued:

'Counter the Bullying'

Mission details:

'Ryuen of Class C suspects the host after Class D suffered no dropouts in this exam and has sent someone to test the host.'

'Please deliver an appropriate counterattack.'

Mission reward:

One Gold Card."

Yi Chen couldn't help but laugh:

"What the hell? Test? Counterattack?"

Ichinose's eyes brimmed with tears as she choked out:

"It's no good, is it? I knew it—someone like me, Yi Chen-kun would never like."

Yi Chen looked at the crying Ichinose and was taken aback:

"What! Sorry, Ichinose, I was spacing out just now and didn't hear what you said."

"I'm sorry, why are you crying?"

Yi Chen pulled a tissue from his pocket and gently wiped away Ichinose's tears.

Ichinose spoke slowly through her tears:

"It's okay, Yi Chen-kun, just pretend I never said anything. Someone as outstanding as Yi Chen-kun must like outstanding people too."

"And besides, Yi Chen-kun and I haven't known each other for long. It's all my fault for being too rash."

"It's all my fault for being too headstrong. I'm just too impulsive."

"Someone like me definitely doesn't deserve to be with Yi Chen-kun."

Hearing this, Yi Chen roughly understood the situation.

His heart raced wildly, his face instantly flushed, and it felt like his heart was about to explode.

Looking at Ichinose before him, Yi Chen stiffly pulled her into his arms.

Yi Chen said nervously:

"No, Ichinose, I really just zoned out completely just now and didn't hear you."

"So, um, can you be my girlfriend?"

Hearing this, Ichinose stopped crying, her face reddening as she looked at Yi Chen in disbelief:

"Really? Yi Chen-kun, can someone like me really be your girlfriend?"

Yi Chen looked at Ichinose in his arms, his heart already blooming with joy.

Yi Chen:

"I like you, Ichinose."

Ichinose:

"I like you too, Yi Chen."

A night breeze gently stirred as the two embraced.

Yi Chen:

"So we're really a couple now, haha."

Ichinose smiled softly and pinched Yi Chen's side.

In that joyful atmosphere, they shyly let go of each other.

The sky gradually darkened.

Yi Chen walked Ichinose back to the girls' dormitory, and they reluctantly said goodbye.

Yi Chen's mind was full of Ichinose as he stumbled back to his own room and lay down.

It all felt too unreal. Yi Chen simply fell asleep.