Who Is This Beside You?

Ding-ling-ling—

The dismissal bell echoed across the campus, announcing the end of the day's classes.

Saionji Nanase turned to look at Natsume Chikage beside her, her face blooming with a radiant smile. "Natsume-kun, let's go check out the clubs now!"

Natsume Chikage remembered the several love letters in his schoolbag that still needed replies.

He planned to deal with them all today. After rejecting so many girls, surely no more girls would give him love letters after this.

"Sure, but I still have a few things to take care of." He suggested, "It'll probably take a little while. How about you wait for me at the club recruitment area?"

Saionji Nanase's eyes curved into crescents as she readily agreed. "Mm."

After getting her answer, Natsume Chikage picked up his schoolbag and left the classroom.

Soon after.

Having gently turned down the feelings of several more girls, he arrived at Cherry Blossom Avenue.

This main road running through the campus was not only the route students took to and from school; at this moment, it had also transformed into a bustling marketplace for club recruitment.

Although booths were not allowed in the morning, every lunch break and after school, this place became a battlefield where every club competed to recruit new members.

Club membership directly affected how much funding they received, so every student in charge of recruitment pulled out all the stops—beautiful posters, tempting little gifts, enthusiastic calls, fun mini-games, even inventive welcome ceremonies. There was everything one could imagine.

Moreover, the school required students to choose a club by the end of the week. As today was the first day of recruitment, nearly half the student body had not gone straight home, instead pouring onto this avenue beneath drifting cherry blossoms in search of a place where they belonged.

Looking at the bustling crowd, Natsume Chikage recalled that the first-year students alone had more than a dozen classes.

With so many new students gathered here, the grand scene before him was hardly surprising.

Natsume Chikage was naturally eye-catching. Even amid a sea of people, he seemed to come with his own spotlight.

The instant he appeared, Saionji Nanase spotted him and happily waved. "Natsume-kun, over here!"

Natsume Chikage quickly walked over. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's fine, I just got here too." Saionji Nanase smiled, then suggested, "Let's take a quick look around the booths first, see whether anything interests us, and then decide which clubs to visit in depth. That should save us quite a bit of time. What do you think?"

"That's a good plan." Natsume Chikage nodded, then added, "But there's one club I definitely need to visit later to find someone."

"Which club is it?" Saionji Nanase tilted her head curiously.

"The shogi club."

He remembered Kondo Miyuki mentioning that Yasui Ryoto, the upperclassman who possessed his father's keepsake, was in the shogi club.

If he wanted to retrieve the keepsake, he had to find him.

Saionji Nanase readily agreed. "Of course, no problem! Shall we set off now?"

"Sure."

After receiving his affirmative answer, Saionji Nanase skipped ahead excitedly and arrived at a booth on the first floor of the teaching building, surrounded by layers of onlookers—this was the orchestra club's booth.

She had no idea what club it was. She merely saw the crowd and wanted to see what the excitement was about.

"Let's look around this one first!"

"Mm."

The orchestra club's booth was especially grand, practically resembling a small stage.

Quite a few club members were tuning their instruments, apparently about to begin a performance.

This had drawn a large number of new students to stop and wait.

Natsume Chikage was not particularly interested in orchestral music itself, but since he was already here, there was no harm in taking a look.

Today was a good opportunity to observe everyone. Perhaps he might discover some new special equipment.

Besides, there was never any harm in seeing more and walking more!

Thus, without giving it much thought, he followed Saionji Nanase to the club's reception area.

However, the moment they approached, an awkward scene unfolded.

Among the girls handling reception for the orchestra was Tsukishima Rin, whom he had rejected just that afternoon.

Tsukishima Rin was still breathtakingly beautiful. The tear mole positioned just right beneath her eye added a distinctive charm to her refined and elegant temperament.

Among this group of girls, perhaps only someone as beautiful as Saionji Nanase could compare with her.

But what alarmed Natsume Chikage even more was—the violin in Tsukishima Rin's hands was emitting a strange glow that only he could see.

[Equipment: Heart-Stirring Violin]

[Quality: Blue]

[Effect: Once equipped, you can instantly learn the violin techniques mastered by its previous user.]

[Description: A genius girl's performance can stir countless hearts, yet she sorrowfully cannot stir her own.]

Cold sweat broke out on Natsume Chikage's forehead.

No, why do you have another piece of special equipment?!

Embarrassingly, whether before or after responding to her confession, Natsume Chikage had known very little about Tsukishima Rin.

He neither knew her identity nor what club she belonged to at school, which had led to this awkward situation.

But right now, he really needed that violin...

Because his body had developed an imbalance in its attributes, he needed to collect special equipment as soon as possible and gain attribute points to improve his physique.

Yet considering the awkward relationship between them now, how to approach Tsukishima Rin naturally and obtain that violin without causing her to misunderstand became a new problem...

At the same time, Tsukishima Rin spotted Natsume Chikage as well.

Her quiet heart began to pound fiercely once more.

Feeling the genuine flutter in her chest, a complex expression of both joy and sorrow surfaced on her intelligent face.

Sure enough, a heartbeat could not lie—liking someone meant liking them. No matter how many times she saw him, she could not hide it at all!

But at that moment, the person who concerned her even more than Natsume Chikage was Saionji Nanase beside him.

The two walked shoulder to shoulder, clearly visiting the clubs together.

This sent waves of sourness rippling through Tsukishima Rin's heart.

Not long ago, she had asked someone who had attended school with Natsume Chikage and confirmed that his family truly was in financial difficulty. His reason for rejecting her had not been an excuse.

That had rekindled her hope—perhaps the timing had simply been wrong. Perhaps it was not entirely impossible.

She did not care in the slightest whether Natsume Chikage came from a poor family. Even if he did not work in the future, she could work and support him herself.

But now, seeing him together with Saionji Nanase, her heart was thrown into complete turmoil.

Saionji Nanase was no less beautiful than she was, and standing beside Natsume Chikage, the two looked so perfectly matched that no one would find it strange to call them a couple.

What was more, it was after school. A boy and a girl arranging to visit clubs together was bound to invite speculation...

Could Saionji Nanase really be Natsume Chikage's girlfriend?

And while his family had indeed fallen on hard times, had he merely used that as a pretext to gently reject her?

At that thought, it felt as though something had clenched Tsukishima Rin's heart tightly, making it so painful she could barely breathe.

At last, unable to restrain herself any longer, she stepped forward.

"Good afternoon, Natsume-kun." She greeted him softly, her voice carrying a faint, barely perceptible tremor.

Natsume Chikage paused slightly, not expecting her to greet him first, but it would have been inappropriate not to respond.

"Good afternoon, Tsukishima-senpai."

Tsukishima Rin shifted her gaze to the girl beside him, trying to keep her voice steady. "And this person beside you is?"