The leaves of the elm in the courtyard had parted ways with their tender buds, with the streets and alleys of the Shinjuku District welcoming the feast of early summer, Dubian Che began preparations for their anniversary.

"Go on a trip?"

"No time."

"If you don't have time, nothing can be done. It's your one-year anniversary, Meiji, can't you take a day off for love?"

Jiutiao Meijie's lips curled into a scornful smile, her seductive eyes idly gazing at Dubian Che.

Because of a novel submission, she too sat by the elmwood table, facing Kiyono Lin.

"From the evening of the 28th to noon on the 30th," she said.

"One day's time, it's only enough for domestic travel," Dubian Che's mind conjured up the map of the Island Country.

The farthest south are Kyushu and Okinawa, a little north is Shikoku, and farther north you'll find Wakayama, Nara, Osaka, Kyoto...

"Is it just to travel?" Jiutiao Meijie asked with a smiling grin.

"Of course not, look forward to the follow-up, I won't disappoint you." In truth, he hadn't planned anything.

Jiutiao Meijie saw through him but didn't say it out loud.

If she ended up dissatisfied...'Leaving the planning to the last minute, it's clear you don't have this young lady in your heart at all. Say 'I love you' to me a thousand times'—that line was already prepared.

Dubian returned to his senses.

He hadn't actually been to places like Shikoku or Wakayama and didn't know what was worth visiting, so he was simply reviewing geography there.

"Kiyono, do you know any fun places?" he looked toward the Literary Girl by the window.

Kiyono Lin stopped writing, propped her chin with her hand, gazed out the window, and picked up a strand of long hair that fell to her chest, playing with the tip.

The melancholy of the Literary Girl enveloped the room.

"What's this?" Dubian Che asked curiously.

"Ah," a sorrowful and graceful sigh from Kiyono Lin, and the roses by the window seemed to lose their color.

Her every move was heart-stirring.

Unfortunately, her beauty was only for the flowers to admire; in this activity classroom, the three people were already too accustomed to each other.

Last year today, if Kiyono Lin got too close, Dubian Che's heart would race; as for Jiutiao Meijie, he'd become so obsessed he forgot about Ochazuke.

The hero's inability to surmount the beauty pass—it's his fault for being a hero.

And the two beautiful young women equally ignored Dubian Che, the handsome young man at the top of Goda's pyramid.

"Can't write your novel?" Dubian Che asked again.

Kiyono Lin twirled her neatly groomed hair ends, "Mr. Dubian..."

"Wait, what are you up to?" A chill went through Dubian Che's heart.

"Don't you think you're too cruel?"

"Cruel?"

"You and Jiutiao are going on a trip, and you ask me where's fun, that's just heartless, hurting my young girl's heart." Kiyono Lin's words were like those of someone left in tatters.

"What are you going on about?" Jiutiao Meijie frowned at the Literary Girl.

Kiyono Lin smiled, brushing away her previous sorrow, returning to her usual confidence and pride.

"My method to make Mr. Dubian love me more." Her tone was graceful, her voice clear and coldly delightful, "Even if I can't, I at least want him to think of me from time to time during your trip."

"Dubian Che has a girlfriend, acting like this will only make you disliked," Jiutiao Meijie said with a cold laugh.

"Don't impose ordinary morals on me. In this school, I only care about Mr. Dubian's opinion of me."

Then, Kiyono Lin smiled again, looking at Dubian Che, "Mr. Dubian, do you dislike what I do?"

"North of Kyoto is Fushan County. I've heard it often snows there, so women's skin is as white as snow. No, no, that's not right. Between Kyoto and Fushan County, there's another prefecture, what is it called again?"

"Fukui Prefecture," Kiyono Lin reminded.

"That's the one." Dubian Che nodded, "Kiyono, you are better at geography than me. But there's nothing interesting in Fukui Prefecture, Meiji, shall we cross that place off?"

Jiutiao Meijie narrowed her alluring, sharp eyes, giving him a scrutinizing glance.

By avoiding answering, she effectively admitted not disliking it.

If he merely avoided answering, she would be angry, but because Dubian Che diverted to planning their trip instead of responding, she would have an excuse to reprimand him, and he could argue his way out.

Avoiding offense on both sides, while slightly leaning towards herself.

Did this man think she didn't know what he was up to?

The conversation stopped there and the three continued to ponder over the novel with a prize of 200,000 yen.

The prize money didn't catch their attention.

It was unclear how Kiyono Lin handled her expenses, but shopping with Jiutiao Meijie, Dubian Che would buy jewelry worth several million yen as casually as buying ice cream.

The key to this matter was, the two people who didn't win the grand prize would dress up as maids for a week, serving tea to the victor.

Even Dubian Che, who didn't care about losing face, didn't want to fall to that level—it would certainly become a black mark in his history, to be ridiculed by both in later years.

He felt this way, let alone the two proud young ladies who thought the world of themselves.

"Thinking no one else matters" wasn't an exaggeration, they truly were like that, not good people by any means.

After school, having dinner at a female teacher's house.

"Mr. Xiaoquan, as you travel a lot, any good places you recommend?" Dubian Che asked while eating.

"What? You're planning to go out with Aonai?" Miyazaki Mieko inquired.

"Going on a date isn't possible. What if someone sees us?" Xiaoquan Aonai stated.

"Then we'll go with you two, as cover," Akiko suggested with an idea, "If someone discovers us, we'll just say we took pity on Dubian being all alone in Tokyo, and the teachers decided to take him out."

Silent but hopeful, Xiaoquan Aonai awaited Dubian Che's response.

At the dinner table, the air was filled with anticipation, the three female teachers like high schoolers excited for tomorrow's school trip.

"...," in the end, Dubian Che decided to be honest, "I'm going with Meiji, the 29th is our one-year anniversary."

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