Go to Emma's house

Asanuma Nono actually doesn't like going to school.

She doesn't skip classes, takes notes, and submits her assignments on time. Her grades are average, which is understandable, since her childhood friend Keisuke's grades are really bad; he almost had to repeat a year last year.

Back then, she and Mikey thoughtfully told Changdi that even if he became a junior, he didn't need to use honorifics with them. This almost made Changdi furious, and with Changdi's mother crying at home every day, Changdi had no choice but to study hard.

Although Ye Ye had a sharp tongue, she couldn't just stand by and watch, so she stayed up late with him to study. The two of them were practically sick of reading, but thankfully they barely passed the final exam and avoided having to repeat a year.

Later, Nono's mother rarely came back, and she pulled a series of stunts by secretly enrolling Nono in a tutoring class. Nono really didn't want to see the word "study" anymore, so she only showed up a few times. Meeting Yuko was actually an accident, no, looking back now it should be called a pleasant surprise.

Nono's grades improved significantly thanks to Yuko's encouragement, but the facilities became unusable, and he reverted to his old habits. Out of only 157 students in the entire grade, he came back with a 149th place ranking in the midterm exam. Meanwhile, Mikey, a classmate who slept in class every day, didn't do his homework, and scored 0 on tests, yet managed to get decent grades on crucial exams – a true mystery. As for Draken, there's no need to worry; his grades are surprisingly good.

The only worry is the study space; if things continue like this, he'll definitely have to repeat a grade again. That's why Nono is just going through the motions with her studies, and thankfully, she comes to his rescue like a goddess when he's anxious and frustrated. It has to be said, it feels pretty good to see someone who's so arrogant and cool in public being so respectful in front of her, saying, "Nono-sama, please teach me!"

Nono was sitting by the window in her classroom, and she could see the playground below. As she looked down, she saw her childhood friend, Matsuno Chifuyu, swaggering off to skip class.

She gripped her pen tightly, thinking to herself, "Keisuke, you're definitely going to be called Nono-sama next year too."

When she got home from school, Machi was sitting at the bottom of the stairs with Matsuno Chifuyu. When they saw her, Machi greeted her, "Yo."

"Kei, aren't you afraid that Yumiya will find out if you hang out with Matsuno every day?" Nono asked.

"Why should I be afraid of Yi Hu finding out?" Changdi didn't quite understand. "Qian Dong is my vice-captain." He put his arm around Qian Dong's shoulder, acting like they were best buddies.

Chifuyu blushed slightly, looking like a young married woman.

Ye Ye: ...Xiao Gui, you're such an idiot. Don't blame me if things get messy back home later.

Just then, the cell phone on the ground rang, and the caller ID showed "Hu".

Ye Ye got really excited and said sarcastically, "Come check up on me."

The person on the other end of the line was speechless: "Yihu isn't my girlfriend, why are you checking up on me?" Then they answered the phone.

"City, are you and Mikey together?" Yi Hu asked as soon as he answered the phone.

"No. School's out now, he's probably hanging out somewhere with Draken, or maybe he's at home," the venue guessed.

Then, puzzled, I asked him, "What do you want with Mikey?"

"It's not me, it's Yuko," Ichigo said on the other end of the phone.

"Huh?" A question mark appeared above the venue's head.

"I'm not too sure either, I'll hang up now." Yi Hu hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Nono asked.

Still confused about what was going on, the person said, "I don't know. It seems like Yuko is looking for Mikey."

Upon hearing this, Ye Ye also had the same question mark appear above her head.

She thought for a moment and said, "It must have been something that happened last night when Mikey was taking Yuko away. I told you that I should have asked you to take her then. It's all your fault."

The field gaped, shocked by Ye Ye's unreasonable behavior. How could this be my fault?

Let's rewind to the break between the first and second classes in the afternoon.

Yuko, a second-grader, went to a third-grader's classroom for the first time, but thankfully no one gave her a hard time. Perhaps because Kazutaka was quite famous at school, he was easy to find; anyone could tell her which class he was in.

Hagiya Kazutora was also a little surprised that Yuko came to see him.

"I won't ask what it is." After hearing Yuko's request, Ichigo could roughly guess what it was about. He put one hand in his pocket. "But don't you have Mikey's phone number?"

Yuko hesitated, "I don't want Emma to overthink it."

"That's a bit tricky." Yi Hu thought to himself. Not only Emma, ​​but Draken couldn't know either, otherwise Mikey would definitely get a lecture. Don't let Yi Hu's usual carefree and cheerful demeanor fool you; he really respected Mikey. "Then come find me after school, and I'll help you think of a solution."

Yuko was very grateful to him. After returning to the classroom, she found the class very difficult to endure, perhaps because she had something on her mind. She finally made it to the end of the school day, packed up her things and went to change her shoes. Just as she was about to go find Ichigo, she was stopped by a stranger.

Judging from the uniform, he was a third-year student. I told him to go to the back of the teaching building and that I had something to tell him.

Yuko was quite experienced in this area; usually, when she was asked to meet the boys behind the school building, they were there to confess their feelings. She would typically accept the invitation and then politely decline to avoid embarrassing them. But now she didn't have time, so she said, "Excuse me, senpai, I have something to do. Could we reschedule?"

"So it's true that you and Yihu are dating? You even went to see him in the third grade today." This person suddenly started talking nonsense.

"What? If you have a boyfriend, don't act all innocent. By the way, does Yihu know you're being kept? Does he have a thing for worn-out shoes?"

There were still several students in the shoe-changing area, and the crowd was gradually increasing. He deliberately spoke loudly, as if to attract attention, or perhaps he intended to say it to others. Actually, this kind of thing is quite common; some scumbags, because they don't get the attention of women, become enraged and resort to sexual harassment and humiliation.

For example: being good-looking means being promiscuous, and dressing provocatively means trying to seduce someone.

Yuko's expression changed immediately. She took half a step forward, looking like she wouldn't back down: "Take back what you said. You can talk about me, but please don't insult Ichigo-kun."

The other party didn't seem afraid of Yuko's attitude, and continued to verbally pester her: "You're still defending her, huh? Well, it seems I was telling the truth."

"You'll find out soon enough whether it's true or not." A cheerful voice came from behind the man, accompanied by the sound of bells. Yi Hu grabbed his hair from behind and pulled it down hard, looking at his face. "You've got some nerve. I didn't know we had such a great person as you at our school."

"Yi-Yi-Hu! I'm sorry, I was wrong!" The man, whose back was about to break from being pulled by the hair, apologized with a look of terror on his face.

Ichiko ignored him and looked at Yuko instead: "Yuko, wait a moment, I'm going to throw out the trash."

Yuko nodded and instructed, "Don't stay away for too long."

"Relax." Yi Hu, as if he were really going to throw away the trash, grabbed the other person's hair and left.

The onlookers scattered like birds and beasts.

Yuko went downstairs and waited on the side of the teaching building, seemingly oblivious to the screams of the person being beaten. She had witnessed how Ichiko attacked people before; he would specifically target the weakest points in the body, and it was a miracle if the opponent was left with even a breath of life.

But so what?

Yuko doesn't pity those kinds of people at all.

No, strictly speaking, it's not a person; it just happens to look like one.

Ten minutes later, Yi Hu returned looking refreshed. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Yuko took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to him: "Your hands are dirty."

Yi Hu took it and said with a smile, "Isn't Xiao Youzi afraid?"

Yuko thought he was asking about the blood on his hands, and explained, "I don't have hemophobia."

Yi Hu looked at her for a while: "Xiao Youzi, sometimes you focus on things that are very different from other people. But that's also what makes you so cute."

Yuko didn't quite understand what he was saying, but it seemed like she'd been praised? She politely thanked him, then asked hesitantly, "Did I cause any trouble for Kazutora-kun?"

Yi Hu paused in wiping his hands, then smiled helplessly: "You seem to really like to blame yourself for everything. It must be hard to live like that."

More than one person has said this to her; even the most oblivious person should realize that something is wrong.

Yuko was a little confused: "Then, what should I do?"

Yi Hu thought for a moment and replied, "Probably... a bit more justified."

The answer was straightforward but also vague, but Yuko listened carefully.

After thinking it over, Yihu decided to call the venue first to ask about Mikey's whereabouts, but the venue didn't know where Mikey was either. So Yihu suggested, "Why don't you go to Mikey's house to find him? Anyway, if Emma asks, just say you came to visit her. But you have to go by yourself, otherwise it will be too conspicuous."

Yuko said she understood; the other party had provided her with a lot of help without asking why, and there was no reason to bother him any further.

"Then I'll be going now," Yi Hu said goodbye to her.

After watching Yuko leave, Yuko dialed Emma's number. Emma was initially surprised to learn that Yuko was coming to her house. However, after Yuko said, "I've never been to Emma's house before," Emma's attention was successfully diverted, and she was happy that Yuko was coming to visit.

Emma's house is different from the Nonoya housing complex (affordable housing). It is a traditional detached house (villa) with its own entrance and a dojo. The whole house is shaped like the character "冂".

The road was wide enough that Yuko could park her car in front of her house, where Emma had been waiting for her for a while. On the way there, Yuko remembered that she should bring a gift for her visit, so she bought tea and sweets, which delayed her a little.

"Yu~" Emma, ​​still wearing her school uniform, greeted her. Tokyo summers are very hot, and Emma's forehead was already sweating after waiting outside for only a few minutes.

"Just wait for me inside," Yuko said to her with concern.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to find it.” Emma took her hand, and the two went inside together. After entering the outer gate and crossing the yard, they changed their shoes in the entryway and went inside first. Emma called out to the inside, “Grandpa, Emma’s friend is here to play.”

Surprisingly, the house looked traditional Japanese from the outside, but inside it was very modern, filled with furniture and appliances. Yuko followed behind Emma, ​​and at the four-legged table in the living room sat an elderly man with white hair, looking at her through his reading glasses.

Yuko immediately bowed and greeted them: "Nice to meet you. I am Emma's friend, Yuko Takiya. I apologize for disturbing you by visiting your residence."

Grandpa had initially thought his granddaughter's friend would be a trendy girl like his granddaughter, obsessed with the latest fads. But to his surprise, she turned out to be a girl with a classic air about her, so well-mannered that she seemed unlike any child from the "relaxed generation." Grandpa was very pleased with himself.

"Emma, ​​take good care of the guests."

Emma answered yes and then pulled Yuko upstairs.