In a very remote private school, he was like a time bomb, willingly lonely and desolate in the corner of the classroom.

He used to think that his classmates were just soulless shells, and he himself believed that there was at least a trace of soulful mourning left.

Because he understood that if something cannot bring us happiness, that person has given it its value.

"It simply has no purpose of existence!"

But, later, the person who said those words also fell into despair.

He too, like the others, became engulfed in a life of repetitive routine.

Studying for exams made him gradually dull.

Friends made him learn how to conform and please.

Life always dealt him the most powerful blows to his beliefs.

Society trampled on the last shred of his struggling soul!

He once said that he wanted to become a child not looked down upon by his father, a child that his mother in heaven could be proud of, because his mother had told him so.

"Darling, do you know what mommy likes the most?"

"What?"

"What mommy likes the most is for you to one day pave your own path instead of repeating someone else's life..."

"Paving my own path, is it difficult?"

At that time, the boy did not understand the meaning behind his mother's words, until many years later... until now, when he became me.

In the dazzling campus, the student council president completely ignored everyone, intentionally wearing a remarkably clear smile and waved at me.

"Goodbye, see you after school, sweetheart!"

Yukari sister also flirted with me, throwing a wink and blowing a kiss.

"..."

I suddenly felt uncomfortable all over, and felt like someone was watching me from behind.

In her two years at school, sister excelled in everything, even winning first place in last year's Christmas Miss contest!

Having any interaction with such a high-caliber flower girl, even if it's just holding hands, would result in...

A group of boys, including the second-year students and the seniors, all stared at me with fiery eyes!

"Hey?"

"Don't run away...!"

"Burn him, he must be burned at the stake!"

Our headmaster happened to pass by and looked at the students chasing after me with tears streaming down his face.

"My students finally understand that vibrant energy embodies the color of youth, but they are ready to put it into action!"

"..."

"Hahaha... hey, why is everyone looking at me?"

No, we were just wondering how chaotic this school would be without the student council!

I just want to know, what should I do in this school right now and how should I deal with this incomprehensible feeling.

After school, I turned on the TV as usual to watch my favorite entertainment program.

Dim white light shone on my face,

Although the two clowns on stage were performing enthusiastically, I just couldn't laugh no matter what.

Actually, I didn't even listen to what they were saying in the first place.

Click!

Suddenly, everything turned pitch black, and Yukari sister made a call in the kitchen.

"Hello, how come we have a power outage on Fukuhai Road... What? How could the transformer explode? Hello... are you there?"

With a "smack," Yukari sister angrily hung up the phone.

"Xi, it looks like we can only eat out this afternoon. What do you feel like eating?"

"Ah, I don't mind anything."

Helplessly sighing, she shivered from the cold.

After all, in the darkness, I had no appetite.

"It's so cold... Should we just go to sleep?"

"Huh! It's only 7:30 pm, it's too early to sleep..."

"Well, there's no heating anyway. Let's just pretend we're warming up under the covers for two hours. Goodnight!"

"Huh?"

She looked confused by my appearance today, as I had been particularly absent-minded, making her feel uncomfortable.

Since the flashlight had not been used in six years, there was naturally no power left.

Yukari and I had to feel our way up the stairs in the darkness.

"Oh, I just remembered that there's something weird stuck in one of the steps here. Be careful as you go in front!"

"You mean the pocket watch?"

After she reminded me, I realized that it might be Yukari's thing.

"A pocket watch? What pocket watch?"

Looking at her eyes shining dimly in the darkness, and her confused expression, I knew... that pocket watch had nothing to do with her.

"Are you serious?"

"Hehe, why would I lie to you?"

So, we quickened our pace and arrived at our respective places.

"Goodnight, uh... sis!"

This was the first time I called her sis so directly. Did this mean that we, who had barely spoken to each other from elementary school to junior high graduation, had made great progress in our relationship?

It seemed like Yukari was also startled by being called sister so suddenly.

However, after a short hesitation, she turned her face and responded to me...

"Hmph, silly little brother, goodnight!"

After saying that, we closed our respective doors, and the heavy atmosphere instantly disappeared.

Looking at the door that had been completely shut, I also turned around and closed my own door, but I didn't lock it.

Since there were no other people in the house except us, slowly, I also got rid of the habit of locking the door when coming in or out.

"It’s all because Dad found me a sister, and even entrusted my livelihood to her... hahaha!"

I don't know why, but when I lay in bed and talked about these things, I would burst into laughter.

It's good this way, it keeps me from feeling the cold that can't be covered by the blanket, even with a thin nightgown on and two layers of blankets on top!

By the way, I wonder if Yukari sis is asleep?

So, I sat up and crawled to the window, looking at Yukari's room right across from mine.

But what happened next dumbfounded me. The window was faintly lit by a pale yellow candlelight, reflecting Yukari's upper body silhouette on the curtains. It clearly looked like she was working tirelessly with a pen!

The Student Council often receives applications and documents from various departments.

It must be very difficult to review and correct them, right?

"Being in the Student Council is not easy, are you still working this late?"

As far as I know, Yukari always finishes her work in the library in the afternoon.

For example, once I get home, I basically don't have much work to do, but Yukari is busy until late at night, which makes me a little worried.

The homework assigned by the teacher, Yukari completes it at least twice as fast as I do!

However, if it's put on the computer...

"Oh, right!"

I slapped my hand and thought to myself.

Yukari has never seemed to touch a computer before, so why not let her try to accommodate electronic products?

Although I thought so in my mind, whether she would accept it or not is another matter!

"I reminded her once before, but she..."

I still remember what I said that day, when I mentioned the popular smartphones and computers recently, she always foolishly took out her old flip phone to defend herself.

"Look, I already have digital products. As for those computers and, uh, intelligent phones you mentioned, I don't need any of them!"

"Intelligent phones, that's what she said... Hahaha!"

Every time I think about it, it always makes me laugh.

Rubbing my cold hands together, I wonder how I can find some warmth under the covers.

I don't know how to care for others, and if I go, Yukari might see me as a hindrance, so I might as well just lie down like this.

"Sleep, and hopefully tomorrow morning..."

"Cough...!!"

Before I could finish, a violent coughing sound came from Yukari's room, making me worried.

In between the warm blankets I finally found and Yukari, I made the resolute choice to go to her!

Bam!

"Xi, what are you doing...?"

I burst into the room, surprising Yukari, and she reacted by scolding me.

"Go to sleep quickly, otherwise you'll catch a cold!"

"Yukari, can I help you with something too?"

"Well, what else can I say? Thank you, Xi."

In the end, Yukari agreed and all I needed to do was review the remaining documents on her left.

Sigh, I blew on my hands, which were almost frozen, and thought to myself.

It's so cold. Has she been correcting manuscripts like this for the past few days?

"Oh... I made a mistake, sis!"

Carelessly, I accidentally wrote today's date instead of yesterday's, so I had to ask Yukari for help.

"Uh, do you have correction fluid?"

"Here!"

Without even looking up, Yukari casually threw the correction fluid over.

Yukari really is meticulous at work. I stared at her serious profile and couldn't help but feel like I was just causing trouble.

Half an hour passed, and I finally finished reviewing my part.

But looking at the pile of papers still stacked in front of Yukari, I wanted to bring some over to help her lighten the load.

Smack!

"Yukari?"

"You can't do these. Only I know the results of the review, right?"

She immediately pressed my hand onto the cold desk, rejecting my help.

"Alright, go to bed early. You have to go to school tomorrow... Oh, by the way, don't be late again!"

"I know, I'm going to sleep now."

"Hey, I'm serious. Late King!"

She nagged at me because, in fact, I always arrived at the school gate just a few minutes before it closed, and Yukari scolded me for it several times.

"I met with the principal this morning and he seemed very happy. Did something happen?"

"Oh, now that you mention it, the school is planning to hold an outdoor winter camp."

"What?!"

I was surprised. When did the school become so generous? It hasn't been long since the autumn study trip, and now they're planning a winter camp!

"Oh, but it's just a two-day trip to the deep mountains nearby, and it's our chairman's relative who owns the place. So don't get your hopes up!"

Yukari gestured with her pen.

This made me a little disappointed, but then I remembered something.

So I asked Yukari, "Could it be that Aunt Kaie's...oops, I mean Aunt Kaori's hot spring bathhouse?"

"Yes, you remember! It's the one Dad took us to before. Is there a problem?"

"No...none at all!"

Instead, I started to look forward to it. It was Dad's friend, after all...