This was a greeting thoroughly reserved for friends.

"Ichiki, good morning," Kunii Shuichi rubbed his buzz cut as his gaze shifted towards Dubian Che, who was taking out his textbooks and stationery from his backpack.

"Are you going? Let's make it to the Koshien finals together!" he gestured grandly, as if introducing his own empire.

"Didn't I ask you? What's in it for me?" Dubian Che pulled out a textbook without a cover.

Because of the "Xiaoquan Aonai" incident, he hadn't had time to buy new covers, and Jiutiao Mei probably wouldn't allow him to use female anime characters as covers anymore.

'Goodbye, Ying Lili. I'm sorry you've become a loser again; I will always love you in my heart.'

"Are you even listening to me? Train under the scorching sun with me, throw hundreds of balls every day, and then make a splash at Koshien!"

Dubian Che responded with an uninterested "Ah."

Speaking of which, could Ying Lili's twin-tails knock a baseball out of the park?

"This year, they might invite a popular female voice actress to throw the first pitch! You could get up close!"

Dubian Che responded with a disinterested "Hmm."

"Just making it to the regional finals would make you popular. Have you ever thought about how much more amazing it would be at Koshien?"

Dubian Che looked at the classroom ceiling for two seconds, then asked Kunii Shuichi:

"Can I get even more popular?"

"...Why don't you get it! It's not about being popular, it's about youth! Passion! Dreams!"

"You just want someone to practice with you, don't you?" Dubian Che exposed the lie of youth, passion, and dreams.

Kunii Shuichi feigned anger:

"Dubian, your grades are already top in the country! You've also won gold at the Island Country Wind Music Competition! Don't you want to find something to do? Wake up, don't waste time; you're only in the second year of high school once!"

Ichiki Aoi, who was eavesdropping, snickered.

Kiyono Lin, sitting behind her, kept her focus on her book despite the noise.

She liked quiet, but wouldn't criticize those who were noisy for no reason—this was a public space, the classroom, and her Human Observation Department was a separate matter.

And if the noisy one had been Dubian Che, she definitely would have said with her crispest and most pleasant yet scathing tone, "Don't talk so loudly if it's just nonsense. What's wrong with you? Do you think everyone is as hard of hearing as you?"

Let's not talk about her too much; there's too much to say.

Dubian Che glanced away from Kiyono Lin.

"I remember," he pointed to his temple with the index finger of his right hand, "didn't your baseball team swear that if you didn't make it to the Koshien finals by August, you would kneel at the school gate and apologize to the whole school?"

"Right! Burn the boats! Are you fired up now?"

"That's enough," said Dubian Che.

"You agree?"

"How could that possibly sound like I agree?" Ichiki Aoi answered for Dubian Che.

Then, she said to Dubian Che:

"But I would really like to see Mr. Dubian play baseball. At that time, we from the Wind Instrument Club could go and cheer on-site, right, Kiyono?"

"If we can make it through the national wind music competition," Kiyono Lin said, placing a rose petal between the pages of her book.

Class was about to begin.

Reading her signal, Dubian Che stopped the idle chat and gave a clear refusal.

Kunii Shuichi, simply looking for someone to train with, had to leave without success.

It was supposed to be an ordinary Friday morning, everyone passing the time with meaningless chatter, but it became extraordinary the moment Xiaoquan Aonai walked into the classroom.

It seemed to have nothing to do with Xiaoquan Aonai... but that wasn't quite right either.

In any case, Jiutiao Mei was back and walked into the classroom with Xiaoquan Aonai.

She was dressed in the same Western-style school uniform, the same pleated skirt, besides the especially high-quality black tights and the ring, she looked no different from an ordinary high school girl.

But she appeared different.

The queenly aura, the disdainful smile, the overwhelming presence—everyone in the classroom looked at her as if commanded.

'Little Koizumi, looks like you failed,' Dubian Che thought regretfully.

"Starting today, Jiutiao Mei will officially join our class. Let's all get along," Xiaoquan Aonai said with clasped hands.

'Sixteen-year-old me, looks like I failed,' she thought with regret.

Jiutiao Mei, with light steps, made her way towards the corner surrounded by Dubian Che and Kiyono Lin.

She reached Dubian Che, pulled his tie, and almost nose to nose, she asked, "Did you miss me?"

Her voice was so beautiful that, even after she finished speaking, it lingered in everyone's minds.

"Of course I missed you," Dubian Che replied.

"How much did you miss me?"

"It was almost maddening. In Shengong Outer Garden, you could hear my continuous weeping; the moat around the Imperial Palace echoed with my cries for my lover all night long."

"That's all?" Jiutiao Mei was not yet satisfied.

"Class is starting," Dubian Che spoke in a low voice.

Everyone was watching the two of them.

Jiutiao Mei straightened Dubian Che's tie and before returning to her seat, she greeted Kiyono Lin with a smirking smile:

"Let's get along well in the future, Kiyono."

"No need for that; I have no intention of getting along with you."

Jiutiao Mei laughed off the response without a care, taking her seat.

Most people in the classroom, like Ichiki Aoi who was all ears, were looking forward to some excitement.

Dubian Che didn't mind the situation.

Although it was a bit torturous, being with Jiutiao Mei and Kiyono Lin, and getting the chance to reconcile the two, held far more benefits than drawbacks.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.