After that, Chongzong spent the whole weekend doing all kinds of physical training.
Now that their next goal was clear, the dark cloud hanging over the Uesugi household thinned a lot.
Even the meals they ate, the soup they drank, somehow tasted better.
In daily life, at home, everyone was smiling more.
Watching these changes, Chongzong thought to himself that this, in turn, proved the path they’d chosen was the right one.
This was the kind of easy mindset people should have in a normal life.
The weekend ended, Monday came, and everyone went to class or work like usual.
During lunch break, Chongzong remembered he had two books due that day—Detective Galileo and The Devotion of Suspect X—so after eating, he headed to the library.
As he stepped inside, for some reason, the familiar atmosphere of the library made him think of a junior girl: Kurashige Yui.
Back when Chongzong was in junior high, the school’s librarian had been Kurashige Yui, a very obedient and quiet underclassman.
Now that he’d moved up to the high school division, he no longer saw that gentle junior around.
Instead, the high school library was run by an upperclassman, a second-year student, with glasses as thick as beer-bottle bottoms, oozing bookish vibes—a guy who always had a book in his hands wherever he went, though he was easy enough to get along with.
After returning the books according to procedure, Chongzong turned to leave. Just then, he suddenly felt someone poke him from behind.
The touch was a soft fingertip.
Who could move around in such a quiet library without making a sound like that?
But he didn’t sense any hostility.
He turned his head, and the person he saw made him think he was hallucinating. He rubbed his temples, closed his eyes, then opened them again…
Because this person was not supposed to be here.
Yet the figure standing in front of him did not change.
Long black hair fell like a waterfall, deep eyes, rosy cheeks and snow-white skin, and that trademark calm, gentle expression.
A girl stood there in front of Chongzong, very much alive and real.
“Kurashige…-san? What are you doing here?” Chongzong blurted.
Unable to believe what he was seeing, he couldn’t hold the words back.
Seeing this, Kurashige Yui hurriedly lifted a finger to press over Chongzong’s lips, terrified he’d raise his voice again. But the moment her fingertip touched his mouth, she flushed scarlet, yanked her hand back, and stood there, rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do.
Seeing her like that, Chongzong also felt awkward.
“Uh—sorry, sorry. I forgot I’m in the library,” he whispered.
He lowered his voice, and at the same time felt the librarian’s gaze stabbing into his back like pins.
“Let’s talk in the corner, okay?” he whispered.
He pointed toward a corner lined with potted plants and flowers. Kurashige Yui gave a small nod and followed behind him into the corner, as if escaping from the librarian’s grudging stare.
“…Kurashige-san, what brings you to the high school library?” he asked softly.
“Um… the junior high and high school divisions regularly exchange books. I came today to discuss that with the high school librarian,” Kurashige Yui whispered.
As she spoke, she didn’t dare look at Chongzong. Her gaze stayed glued to her feet. She looked so embarrassed it seemed like she wanted to cover her face with a cloth.
“Oh, I see. I came to return some books today. What a coincidence, running into you,” Chongzong murmured.
“Did you finish talking things through? Am I getting in the way?” he asked in a low voice.
“N-no, not at all. We’re done talking. I was… just about to go back,” Kurashige Yui said.
Her voice grew softer and softer, until it was almost inaudible.
To hear her clearly, Chongzong stepped a little closer.
The moment she saw him move in, Kurashige Yui instantly panicked and scooted a step back.
The air between them grew painfully awkward.
“Then… I’ll walk you out?” Chongzong suggested.
Only after a long pause did he finally speak up.
“…Mm,” Kurashige Yui hummed.
But she seemed to have something on her mind.
“What’s wrong?” Chongzong asked.
“A girl asked me… to give you this note,” Kurashige Yui said.
She hesitated for a moment, then took a folded slip of paper from her shoulder bag.
—That’s why I worked up the courage to poke your back.
The line she was thinking in her heart never made it to her lips.
Normally, she would have watched Chongzong from far away and never approached.
But today, she’d been entrusted with a note. She had no choice but to muster her courage.
She herself didn’t know why she got so nervous whenever she was near Chongzong.
—But… getting up the courage to talk to Uesugi-senpai like this is really amazing.
Chongzong didn’t notice any of Kurashige Yui’s inner turmoil. Right then, curiosity was winning out.
He unfolded the note, and his relaxed expression suddenly tightened, his brows knitting together.
“Sorry, Kurashige-san. You should head back first. I need to find someone in the library,” Chongzong said.
“We’ll talk next time if we get the chance~”
Leaving those words behind, Chongzong hurried off, striding away and disappearing around the corner.
Kurashige Yui was left alone, standing there in thought.
