Chapter 66 Late Autumn
The leisurely weekend passed quietly in the library, and Monday arrived as scheduled.
After the lunch bell rang, the corridor was as busy as a vegetable market, and the cafeteria entrance was packed with people. Fengjian and Yuan had to change their strategy and prepare to go to the rooftop of the teaching building to have lunch.
As soon as I opened the door, the noise came through the crack.
"Who ate my conger eel!" Kikumaru screamed.
"The probability of it being Taocheng is 96.5%."
"Atao—you actually stole my favorite conger eel again," Kikumaru wailed, "There are only two pieces left!"
"Sorry, Eiji-senpai," Momoshiro chuckled, "I'll treat you to a hamburger next time."
"Hamburgers are no match for conger eels! You guys are really going too far!"
"Eiji, I haven't touched the food in my bowl yet, do you want to eat it?"
"I want it, I want it," the gloomy atmosphere immediately became cheerful, "Bu Er is really the best!"
…
Just when Fengjian and Yuan were struggling over whether to go in, Fuji had already spotted them with his sharp eyes and waved at them with a smile.
Everyone else looked over, even Kikumaru and Momoshiro stopped playing. The latter waved his hand hurriedly, "Kazama, Gen, do you want to have lunch together?"
The two looked at each other. Yuan had already sat down in the place closest to Gan, and when Fengjian walked over, there were only two seats left next to A Tao.
"You probably came here because the cafeteria is crowded," Oishi said with a knowing smile. "The cafeteria is very crowded today."
Kazama nodded.
"Kazama-chan, I heard from A-Tao that you won first prize in the preliminary round of the World Something Cup Essay Competition last time," Kikumaru said, puffing out his cheeks as he looked over and gave her a thumbs-up. "That's truly amazing!"
"Kazama," Taocheng muttered, his voice unclear as he mumbled, "At that time, Gan-senpai even predicted your chances of winning. I didn't expect it to be 100%."
Gan adjusted his glasses and smiled confidently, "After all, the data can't be wrong."
"April is my best friend," Yuan said, his hands on his hips, his head held high with pride. "I knew if she participated, she would definitely take first place."
"People who don't know would think you got first place." Tao Cheng said sarcastically.
"Taocheng, are you looking for a fight?" Yuan waved his fist.
Tao Cheng had already dodged behind Oishi before his fists could reach her, and made a face at her, which made her very angry. Oishi stood in the middle helplessly, trying to mediate, while Kikumaru also made trouble on the side.
"Kazama, when is the preliminaries?" Fuji looked towards her, squinting his eyes and smiling, "Maybe we can go there to cheer you on."
"This weekend," Feng Jian quickly shook his head after hearing the latter part of the sentence, "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Fuji, but it's still embarrassing to cheer you on."
"How could that be? You, Kazama, also came to cheer for us during the national competition." Fuji held his chin and looked at her with a smile. Even Momoshiro, who was still arguing over there, nodded and added, "That's right."
Kazama scratched his head sheepishly and just nodded when another voice came from the doorway, "Sorry, I'm late."
She was stunned for a moment, then turned around to see Tezuka walking towards them.
"Tezuka, we were just talking about going to cheer for Kazama this weekend," Fuji looked at Kazama, then at Tezuka, the smile in his eyes getting deeper, "Will Tezuka go with us?"
Tezuka responded softly and sat down naturally in the last empty seat. The fresh scent of soapberry, as if it had been exposed to sunlight, kept drilling into his nostrils.
Fengjian rubbed the tip of his nose, lowered his head a little lower, and slightly shrank his hand holding the lunch box. His drooping black hair covered his slightly red cheeks.
"Tezuka's bento looks delicious," Fuji leaned over with a smile, "Did your girlfriend make it?"
"Hey, girlfriend."
"Ahhhh, Tezuka's girlfriend"
"Tezuka-san's girlfriend!"
"No," Tezuka calmly adjusted his glasses and glanced at him calmly, "My mother did it."
Fuji blinked, "I see."
"What? So you're joking, Fuji," Kikumaru pouted in dissatisfaction. "I was wondering how Tezuka could have a girlfriend. According to Akan, the probability is close to zero."
"Really?" Fuji tilted his head and smiled meaningfully, his eyes suddenly falling on Kazama, "By the way, I seemed to see Kazama and Tezuka walking together on the street eating ice cream cones the day before yesterday, is that true?"
Feng Jian, who was called by name unexpectedly, almost choked on the rice he had just swallowed. The rooftop seemed to be suddenly paused for a few seconds, and then was filled with a louder voice.
"Hey——Kazama (Little Kazama) and Tezuka (Senior)!"
He stared at his notebook, his pen rustling.
A strange look swirled between the two of them. Facing Minamoto's piercing and burning gaze, Kazama forced himself to swallow his food and subconsciously looked at Tezuka.
The young man remained calm and composed. After a few seconds, he calmly met the gossipy gazes of the crowd and said, "I promised to take Kazama to the library to find some reference books."
"Why am I eating an ice cream cone while looking for a reference book?"
Momoshiro lowered his voice and whispered to Senior Kikumaru. As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed Tezuka's gaze. He pushed up his reflective lenses and asked, "Momoshiro, do you have any questions?"
The fear that had once dominated him during the laps surged back into his heart. Tao Cheng stood up with a jerk, a cold sweat pouring down his face. "No, no problem!"
The rest of the people looked at each other and caught a glimpse of the unspoken smiles in each other's eyes.
"Speaking of which, what is your class planning to perform for next week's school festival?" Oishi changed the subject in time.
"Our class is going to play a haunted house."
"Will Fuji pretend to be a ghost?"
Fuji narrowed his eyes and smiled, "That's not necessarily true."
"Our class's drama is so boring. Even during the school festival in our last year of high school, there's nothing new about it."
"A Tao, I heard that your class is in the catering business. If we go there, will it be free?"
"Eiji-senpai, this doesn't count."
"Eh~ You're really stingy, Tao~ You even stole my conger eel just now."
"These are two different things, Eiji-senpai!"
The wind on the rooftop picked up the teenagers' endless arguments and blew them towards the farther and wider clear sky.
At the end of October, Tokyo completely entered the deep autumn with frost and heavy dew. Before the school festival arrived, the final of the Century Cup Essay Competition was held.
On the day of the finals, the weather was foggy, as if it had snowed. A layer of white frost fell on the steps of the competition venue, like thin snowflakes. Fengjian exhaled a puff of white steam and buried half of his face in his scarf. Just as he passed the security check and was about to go in, a cheerful voice pierced the cold air.
"Kazama—"
Fengjian looked up in a daze. Yuan was standing not far away, shouting at her with his hands made into a trumpet shape. She turned around and raised her hands high like a free bird, with other people standing beside her.
"Kazama, keep up the good work," Momoshiro raised his fist and said in a loud voice, "Senior Kikumaru said that if we win, he will treat us to dragon bone ramen."
"A Tao, I never said that. It's obviously you who wants to eat it!"
"What does it matter..."
Kazama passed by the others who were cheering her on, and finally landed on Tezuka, who nodded slightly at her. Even though it was a cold late autumn day, she felt as if she had a small stove in her heart, warm and cozy.
"I will—"
She heard a loud cry shaking her chest, and her hands stretched high as if to touch the sky.
The other side.
"I told you I won't do anything to her," the girl in the black wool coat took off her sunglasses and glanced expressionlessly at the figure leaning against the wall next to her. There was a hint of silence in her voice, "You don't have to be wary of me like a thief, Yukimura."
Yukimura put his hands in his pockets and smiled gently, "I just happened to come to cheer for Kazama, not to guard against you."
Asagiri sneered, "That person has already gone through security, why are you still here?"
Yukimura smiled but said nothing.
She rolled her eyes at him in boredom, and caught a glimpse of the chestnut-haired figure in front of her. Suddenly, she remembered the scene in the supermarket that day, and glanced at him playfully, "Yukimura, you should like Kazama, but it seems she has someone she likes."
It's hard to tell whether there's more gloating in his tone.
Yukimura's expression faltered slightly, but he quickly returned to normal. He glanced at her with a forced smile, "If I remember correctly, Kazama already has another very good friend, and she doesn't care about being friends with you at all."
Asagiri sneered, "Your mouth is still as poisonous as before."
Yukimura replied, "Same here."
They both turned away at the same time.
The atmosphere was stagnant for a moment, and then it was broken by Asagiri's soft voice.
She looked at the slowly closing door of the conference hall, her gaze fixed on the group of people in front of her. "I knew this day would come..."
She paused, her eyes misting over, "How could I believe such nonsense as someone saying they can always be with each other..."
It was like the countless quarrels between her parents in her childhood memories, her mother hugging her and crying as she looked at her father's back as he left, her last sight as her face was covered with a white cloth, and the strange woman and illegitimate child who appeared in the house.
Everyone thinks how lucky she is to be born in a wealthy family, but only she herself knows that if she could choose, she would rather be born in an ordinary family.
Later, she didn't know when, another figure appeared in her memory. When she was bullied by her father's illegitimate son and his little followers, she suddenly appeared in front of her, like a beam of light.
Although he was the same age as her, he would protect her tightly behind him and say in a trembling voice:
"Don't be afraid, I will always be with you."
"We'll always be good friends."
She had said this, but it was countless autumns ago.
Yukimura looked at her without saying a word.
"Actually, you don't want to hurt her, do you?" he suddenly asked.
Asagiri put his hands in his pockets, and his voice was carried away by the wind blowing in his face.
"The answer is no longer important."
The faint sunlight penetrated the clouds and shone onto the earth. The tightly closed gate of the stadium finally opened. Feng Jian was walking at the end, and when he came out, the sunlight just fell at his feet.
"April—" Yuan ran forward and put his arm around her shoulders, "Momoshiro said he'll treat us to hamburgers tonight~"
"OK."
"Hey - Yuan, where did I say such a thing?"
"Momoshiro, as a boy, you can't be so stingy."
Fengjian held her hand tightly, and when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure not far away, he was startled. Yukimura was smiling at her with his hands behind his back, while another black figure turned around and walked into the deeper autumn with a dejected back.
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