Because she was too surprised, Yui opened her mouth wide.
Even the donut she was biting almost fell out, but she swallowed it back into her stomach in time.
Yui breathed a sigh of relief and a faint smile appeared on her face. Fortunately, it didn't fall off.
"…"
Looking at Yui's reaction, Hotaru didn't know what to say.
"So you're so rich, Hotaru!"
Yui looked at Hotaru and exclaimed in surprise, but she quickly changed the subject and said:
"No, Hotaru, why do you have so much money?"
"Did you do something bad?"
Thinking of those illegal and criminal things, Yui's little face became nervous again.
She would be very sad if her friend went to jail because of this.
"My money comes from a very honest source."
"Don't worry."
Hotaru waved his hand nonchalantly, appearing very calm.
"Oh, I see... We're all the same age."
"Why am I not the rich one?"
Yui spoke with some surprise and sadness.
But Hotaru blocked her mouth with food.
...
The morning passed quickly and school was over.
Today, Hotaru is not considered to be from either the light music club or the astronomy club.
After saying goodbye to the two favorites in the class, he put on his guitar bag and prepared to call Hitori and go to Starry together.
Come to think of it, it seems like he's been neglecting little Pochi a bit lately.
He was clearly her only friend in school, yet they had only rarely met.
Arrived at the back door of Hitori's class.
Although Hotaru was carrying a guitar bag, it did not attract much attention in this campus with a strong musical atmosphere. It was considered a very normal thing.
At least that's what Hotaru thought.
She had just packed her things, and her face, which was obviously very beautiful but always a little gloomy, finally showed a rare smile.
She finally has a band activity today.
"Pochi, let's go to Starry together!"
Suddenly, a clear voice reached Hitori's ears.
Eh?
Hitori was stunned. Was someone calling her?
There are actually people in this school who know my name?!
Hitori turned her head in disbelief and looked towards the back door of the classroom.
It's Hotaru.
In order to get Hitori's attention, Hotaru smiled and waved at her.
However...
The smile on Hitori's face froze.
Due to her social anxiety-induced terrifying perception, Hitori instantly noticed the enthusiastic and curious gazes from her classmates around her.
Pochi?
Who is this?
Some students in the class looked curiously at the back of the classroom and started communicating with each other.
"It seems to be Go... Goto-san?"
Finally, a classmate brought it up.
"Kato? Who's that?"
"It's Goto!"
"Um, that's about right, but is there anyone with this last name in our class?"
"Yes, yes. It's that cool rock girl wearing a pink tracksuit and carrying a guitar!"
"Oh, it's her! I didn't know her."
"Forehead..."
"Hey, keep your voice down... Goto-san looks angry."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm."
"But I didn't expect Goto-san to know students from the next class. That's a bit surprising."
...
Listening to the sounds around her, at this moment, Hitori felt that the whole world had become quiet.
But the intermittent whispers continued to reach her ears.
Hitori felt unwell.
Escape!
Hitori grabbed her guitar bag and then, with her legs like pink Hot Wheels, rushed out the door.
"Hitori, wait a minute..."
Hotaru stretched out a hand in the direction where Hitori left, with a look of surprise on his face.
Amid everyone's surprised gaze, Hitori disappeared from everyone's sight.
Hotaru lowered his hands helplessly and sighed softly.
Why do people like running so much these days?!
Can't we all sit down and have a good talk?
But unexpectedly, the socially anxious Pochi-chan ran away quite quickly.
Faster than Tomori.
He thought it was just an exaggeration in the anime, but he didn't expect her to be serious about it.
Hotaru also roughly understood that Hitori was probably not used to the attention of her classmates, so she ran away when she got nervous.
And she also knew she had to go to Starry.
Hotaru temporarily lost the idea of chasing.
But just as he was about to take a step forward,
"Ding Dong!"
The phone in his trouser pocket vibrated.
He took out his cell phone and looked at it.
Slightly unexpectedly, Hitori sent a message.
Hitori: I'll wait for you in the park.
Replied with a good one.
Hotaru walked out of the teaching building with confidence.
…
Not long after Hotaru left, some time later.
Soyo suddenly appeared near Sakuragaoka Academy.
She was wearing a light-colored dress and a white beret on her head.
Standing in the corner, it seemed that she had little presence.
Soyo had a blank expression on her face, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
She watched carefully the students coming and going at the school gate.
Her mind was full of thoughts.
She wouldn't be so foolish as to wear the Tsukinomori school uniform and stand in front of the gate here.
Doing this will easily attract attention.
Because of Tsukinomori's dark green sailor jumpsuit, compared to these ordinary school uniforms,
It's especially conspicuous.
Many students from other schools also know it.
She heard that this was originally a girls' school, but it merged with two nearby schools this year.
Soyo has already done the investigation.
There are more students this year, no wonder Hotaru is here.
The probability is still quite high.
Since Hotaru is here.
So, Sakiko, which school did you go to?
Will you be here?
Sakiko...
Soyo was looking forward to it.
No, probably not.
The probability of two people happening to be in the same school is too low.
Besides,
If Sakiko was here too, Hotaru would know it.
Now that he had news about Sakiko, Hotaru would not remain silent.
Another thing is that, deep down, Soyo believed that Sakiko would not come to such a co-educational school.
Due to family reasons, Sakiko and Mutsumi both attended girls' schools since childhood.
But, would Sakiko deliberately avoid me?
Then go to a regular school?
No!
Sakiko would never do such a thing.
Sakiko didn't hide from me either!
Soyo's pupils gradually became dim.
Mutsumi, even if you don't tell me.
Sakiko, no matter where you are.
I will try my best to find you.
Let's start by searching for all the girls' schools in Tokyo!
Soyo's eyes gradually became firm.
She made up her mind and made plans.
Soyo turned around and left.
She had no intention of meeting Hotaru today.
She just learned about the information about Tomori from Hotaru yesterday.
Then, Hotaru might start a conversation with Tomori at any time.
She came to look for Tomori today, which would seem very deliberate.
In this way, considering Tomori's personality, it is easy to scare her.
Of course, if it was news about Sakiko, it might be a different story.
...
Shortly after Soyo left.
A graceful figure appeared.
Two playful and lively side ponytails were draped over her shoulders, and her hair swayed gently with her steps.
But she looked a little sad.
Sakiko walked to the school gate, paused, and sighed.
She doesn't care about the economic downturn and the depreciation of the yen.
However, due to these factors, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find part-time jobs.
Just working part-time at the "10GIA" musical instrument store and a customer service company.
It has gradually been unable to meet her daily needs.
And, if possible, she hopes to quit her job at the customer service company.
Because of that job, she meets all kinds of strange and unreasonable customers every day.
The salary was not high, which was very draining on her emotions.
Conversations between people,
So tiring!
Why!
Sakiko walked towards Shimokitazawa.
Let's take it one step at a time!