Chapter Fifteen

The streets were filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, and colorful flags were waving. It was a lively and dazzling event, probably organized by some business.

Yuzuru pulled his coat tighter, his mind still preoccupied with the research report he hadn't finished the night before. He felt completely out of place in this hustle and bustle, and for a moment, he even forgot what year it was.

Her stomach was growling with hunger, and she intended to wait until get out of class ended to find something to eat, but a chocolate stall that suddenly appeared at the school gate caught her attention.

The beautifully packaged chocolates lay in a transparent box, gleaming with an enticing luster. She hurriedly bought a box, stuffed it into her bag, and rushed towards the teaching building.

The morning's classes were so intensive that it was hard to breathe; technical terms and formulas were intertwined and collided in my mind.

Yuzuru only had time to open a bag of chocolates to fill his stomach. By noon, he was starving and staggered into the cafeteria, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

Holding a salmon sushi and a bowl of tonkotsu ramen, she found a seat by the window and immediately immersed herself in the comfort of the food.

The warm soup slid down his throat, and all his fatigue vanished. Da □ ...

"Hanyu, have you been busy lately?"

A gentle male voice sounded beside her. Yu Sheng looked up and was stunned when she saw who it was—it was Li Zhi from the Computer Science Department. She kept running into him lately, she joked privately, perhaps it was her Chinese soul that was playing matchmaker even on a foreign campus.

"Busy," she mumbled, her mouth still full of sushi.

Li Zhi was clearly taken aback by her concise response, and after a moment of surprise, he smiled and said, "Then take care and get some rest."

Yuzuru finished the rest of his food in a few bites, then his mind returned to the logical framework of his research topic. He hurriedly said, "I'm done eating, I'm leaving now," and quickly left with his bag.

A few days later, in the afternoon after class, the library was so quiet that only the sound of turning pages could be heard.

Yuzuru was typing code on her computer when she was suddenly tapped lightly on the shoulder. "Yuzuru." She turned around and saw Li Zhi sitting down beside her with a book in his hand, acting as naturally as if they were close friends.

In the days that followed, their chance encounters became more and more frequent. On the street, beside the shelves of convenience stores, around the corner of coffee shops, Li Zhi would always appear precisely in her sight, and he would invite her several times to visit Tokyo Tower and Senso-ji Temple together on weekends.

Yuzuru gradually sensed something was wrong, especially after being stopped again at the club entrance. She thought to herself: This guy is too leisurely, isn't he? Knowing that I have a mountain of research projects, he still keeps asking me to go out and have fun. Does he think I'm not busy enough? She always made excuses to decline, and in her mind, Li Zhi had already been categorized as someone she "needs to avoid".

That morning, on her way to class, Yuzuru saw a figure crouching by the roadside, hands pressed to her forehead, her face pale. Upon closer inspection, it was Li Zhi. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked instinctively.

"It's nothing... I just have low blood sugar." Li Zhi's voice was weak, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

Yuzuru immediately remembered the remaining chocolates in his bag, quickly took out a bag and handed it to him: "Eat some to replenish your energy." Seeing that Li Zhi was slowly recovering, she was in a hurry, said "Then I'll go first," and quickly ran towards the teaching building.

That evening, my phone suddenly rang; it was an unknown number calling. "Hello?"

"Yuzuru, I am Li Zhi."

"Oh, hello." Yuzuru's heart skipped a beat.

"Thank you for the chocolate last time. I'd like to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude."

"No need, no need, it's nothing, anyone would have done the same," she quickly declined.

"I'm already downstairs at your classroom."

"Oh? No need for that..."

“I made a reservation at the restaurant in advance, and it’s not easy to cancel. If you’re really busy, tomorrow is fine too?” Li Zhi’s tone was somewhat insistent.

Yuzuru looked at the half-finished code on the computer screen and sighed helplessly, "Tomorrow? Okay then, thank you for your help."

She couldn't understand how Li Zhi got her phone number. Then she thought about it again. If Rikkai University's Yanagi Renji could find out even his opponents' schedules and hobbies, it wasn't so strange that her phone number had been obtained.

The thank-you dinner was nothing out of the ordinary, but ever since then, Yuzuru felt like a "chance encounter switch" had been flipped. Whether she went to the library, the cafeteria, or the supermarket, she would always run into Li Zhi.

What bothered her even more was that some classmates started joking, "Yuzuru, are you dating Li Zhi from the Computer Science department?"

Yuzuru's mindset completely changed—from initially thinking "this person is quite friendly," to "too relaxed," and finally directly to "this person has a problem."

She started deliberately avoiding him, pretending not to see him when they met and turning away; when he greeted her, she pretended not to hear and quickened her pace; when she received his Line messages, she ignored them or even turned off her phone.

That morning, when Yuzuru called Yukimura, his tone had returned to calm, as if the entanglement had never happened. "Oichi, have you eaten?"

"Just finished eating, getting ready to go to training." Yukimura's voice came through the receiver, tinged with fatigue but still gentle. "What about you? Exam week is coming up soon, don't overwork yourself."

"Okay, I haven't dared to miss a single class lately," Yuzuru said with a smile. "Good luck at Wimbledon, I'll fly over to be with you during my vacation."

"Has anything happened recently?" Yukimura's voice paused, carrying a hint of probing.

Yuzuru paused for a moment, recalling those days of hiding, but ultimately didn't say it: "No, it's normal."

"I see." Yukimura's tone was emotionless. "Then take care of yourself. I'm going to train now."

After hanging up the phone, Yuzuru rubbed his temples.

But she never expected that two days later, such a scene would unfold at the school gate. Li Zhi suddenly stopped her, grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go, asking with red eyes, "Yusheng, why are you ignoring me? What did I do wrong?"

Yuzuru was both shocked and angry, and tried hard to pull his arm away: "Let go first! I have things to do!" In the struggle, she suddenly looked up and saw a familiar figure standing under a big tree not far away.

Her iris-purple hair danced gently in the wind, and her eyes, usually so gentle and smiling, were now devoid of warmth, as cold as winter frost. It was Yukimura.

Yuzuru's heart sank to the bottom. She struggled to break free from Li Zhi's hand and ran to Yukimura, trying to grab his hand, but he shook her off without hesitation.

The force wasn't great, but it sent a shiver down her spine—she had never seen Yukimura so cold before. When his gaze swept over her, it carried a disappointment and pain she couldn't decipher.

They returned to the entrance of the Momozawa residence in silence. Yuzuru tightly gripped Yukimura's sleeve, his voice trembling with tears, "Oichi, what's wrong?"

Yukimura stopped in his tracks, without turning around, his voice low and menacing: "Are you planning to keep this from me forever? Is someone harassing you, or do you like him too? Do you even trust me?"

"No! I don't like him!" Yuzuru hurriedly denied, tears already falling down his face. "I've been avoiding him all along, I've never had any other feelings for him."

Yukimura slowly turned around, the tenderness in his eyes replaced by bitterness. His questions, one after another, pierced Yuzuru's heart like sharp knives: "Yukimura Yuzuru, why did you marry me? Was it merely because of our parents' arrangement?" "Why are you with me? Is it merely because of marriage?" "Why do you sleep with me? Is it merely because of physical needs?"

Yuzuru was speechless when asked, and could only shake his head repeatedly: "No, Oichi, it's not like that..."

"Yu, I hope you can think about these issues carefully." Yukimura's voice was as soft as a sigh, yet it carried a heavy disappointment. "I have never received chocolates from you on Valentine's Day."

After saying that, he didn't look at her again, turned around and walked away quickly. Yuzuru chased after him, only to see him hail a taxi and speed away—she suddenly remembered that he had a crucial Wimbledon match the next day, and he had rushed back overnight just to see her and ask her those few questions.