Standing in place, Hakuto was thinking about where the art club was. After all, this was an unexpected windfall!
"Why are so many people rushing to give me money these past two days..." Nino, Yotsuba, Sayuri... though he hadn't accepted Yotsuba's money.
"Could it be... I'm about to get rich?!" Hakuto said excitedly. "I'll buy a lottery ticket after school today!"
With that, he hugged the box of cookies Nino had given him and began searching for the art club's location.
At the art club, Eriri was sitting in a corner, sketching according to a customer's request.
Originally, she hadn't come to this event for this purpose, but she simply didn't have the courage to look for Hakuto.
She didn't even have the courage to check out the other venues. After all, the space was only so big—what if she ran into him? Eriri knew she wasn't ready to face Hakuto yet.
So sitting here and sketching wasn't a bad idea.
Although Eriri hadn't been in the best mental state these past two days, to the point where she even had slight dark circles under her eyes, her talent was undeniable.
Even if she wasn't at her best, her sketches were still top-tier.
But just as Eriri was focused on her drawing, a girl from the art club suddenly patted her shoulder.
"I thought you wouldn't come, Sawamura. You were on leave all last week, after all..."
"Mm..." Eriri didn't know how to respond and could only give a vague reply.
"Are you feeling unwell, Sawamura?" another girl sitting beside her asked.
"Something happened at home recently. Sorry for making everyone worry..."
"It's okay, it's okay. Are you feeling better now? Do you want to go for a walk? We can watch the booth for you."
"Thanks, but it's fine." Eriri wouldn't dare wander around, at least not right now.
At that moment, someone at the booth suddenly blurted out:
"Hey, did you hear? Shiratori Hakuto came back for this event."
Hearing those three words, Eriri's hand froze mid-stroke—she nearly dropped her pencil.
But the people around her didn't notice her reaction, as they were all focused on the conversation.
"Huh? Wasn't Shiratori studying abroad as an exchange student?"
"Yeah, I heard the school specially invited him back to be the highlight of the event."
"Well, only he could pull that off..."
"Yeah, and the school even set up a dedicated venue for students from his exchange school."
"I actually passed by that area earlier. It looked like the student council president from that school was managing the booth, selling merchandise of Nishimori Yuzaki."
Listening to all this talk about Hakuto, Eriri's heart was in turmoil. But no one could see just how unsettled she felt—except for her trembling hand gripping the pencil.
"By the way, Sawamura, you must know about Shiratori's situation, right?"
"Even though you two had a little disagreement before, it should be resolved by now, right?"
Hearing this, Eriri's heartbeat suddenly skipped, and a trace of sorrow appeared in her eyes.
To the others in the art club, what had happened between her and Hakuto was just a minor dispute.
"I don't know much... just that the school he went to is called Hoshino Umi..."
Her response surprised everyone. They couldn't believe she didn't know more.
"Huh? No way... Shiratori didn't tell you?"
Eriri shook her head.
She wished Hakuto would talk to her about these things, but that was all in the past—long gone and never coming back.
"Maybe he had his reasons?"
"He had no reason to tell me, nor any obligation to..."
Everyone fell silent at her words.
They exchanged glances, realizing something was definitely off. What they thought was just a minor quarrel seemed to be much more than that...
But just then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the art club's booth.
The booth attendant quickly stepped forward and greeted him.
"Welcome! This is the art club's booth, where we fulfill all your artistic requests."
She recited the usual NPC-like lines, but in the next second, she recognized the person standing before her.
"Shiratori?"
Hakuto nodded, swallowed the cookie he had been chewing, and said,
"Long time no see. I'm here for Sawamura."
Because of past contractual agreements, Hakuto was familiar with everyone in the art club, so there was no need for formalities.
At that moment, sitting in the corner, Eriri's heartbeat suddenly sped up. Blood rushed to her legs.
That voice—there was no way she could forget it. It was the voice of the person she had been thinking about all this time!
Instinctively, she turned her head and saw Hakuto standing at the booth, holding a bag of cookies.
That signature hairstyle, that signature smile—though only a dozen days had passed, it felt like she hadn't seen him in forever.
"Sawamura! Shiratori is here for you!"
The booth attendant shouted toward the booth's interior, and the other art club members turned their gazes toward the corner where Eriri was sitting.
But by then, the corner was already empty—she was gone.
"Huh? Where is she? She was just here..."
"She put down her pencil and ran off. Maybe she had something urgent to do?"
The booth attendant scratched her head and turned back to Shiratori.
"Sorry, Shiratori, maybe she went to the restroom..."
Hakuto nodded. He had seen Eriri run off. He didn't know why she fled, but he had a job to do...
"Thanks. Here, have some cookies." With that, he took out a handful of cookies and placed them in the attendant's hands.
"Shiratori, this is too much..."
"It's fine. Just enjoy them."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hakuto left the art club's booth, following the direction Eriri had fled.
Meanwhile, Eriri was running as fast as she could. The cold morning air rushed into her lungs like a flood, making her chest ache.
She didn't know why she was running—only that as soon as she heard Hakuto's voice, blood surged to her legs.
By the time she realized what she was doing, she had already left the art club booth.
She had no idea how far she had run, only that her lungs felt like they were about to burst!
But as soon as she stopped, regret flooded in.
"Why... Why did I run? Didn't I want to see him...?"
Hiding in a narrow alley, Eriri knelt on the ground. Her tears blurred her vision, making everything in front of her indistinct.
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