Chapter 49: Emerging Talent and the Reunion
[Time passed. You and Shoko lived a peaceful and happy life.]
[Your talent in the medical field grew stronger by the day. Sometimes, even you felt that your talent was somewhat terrifying.]
[In the short time since you started working, you have improved several types of medicine, including common cold medication.]
[However, due to economic considerations, this drug—which was simply too effective—was not promoted. Because your medicine worked too well; if one pill cures the illness, how can they sell more medicine?]
[Even if they took the high-end route, for a mere cold medicine, was it worth it? In an era where even pharmacies hope for more repeat customers, your medicine was destined to be buried.]
[You felt speechless. Once again, you sensed the disgusting nature of the system, even though you once desperately wanted to be one of them.]
[Aside from that drug, you also improved other medications. After verification, two of them have already been sent to the PMDA equivalent for approval, ready to be pushed to the market.]
[You received a phone call and walked out of the laboratory.]
[By now, half a year has passed since you graduated from university and started working.]
Summer.
Haruka rarely ran out of the lab, but today he chose to take a day off.
The reason was naturally that phone call.
It was a call from Yukino.
She invited everyone to a gathering in Tokyo—a reunion after many years apart.
Although everyone had kept in touch over the four years of university, due to various factors, they had never managed to get everyone together at once.
Now, with Yukino taking the lead, perhaps they could finally gather the whole crew?
Haruka returned home.
While waiting for Shoko, he looked around his apartment.
'Tsk. When I have more money, I'll buy a detached house. Garden, pond, courtyard...'
Before long, Shoko, all dressed up, walked out.
The current Shoko was mature and gentle. She was wearing a beautiful pale blue dress, looking elegant, kind, and graceful.
Shoko walked up to Haruka's side and naturally hooked her arm through his. Together, they walked out of the apartment door.
***
The Garden of Words Restaurant.
Haruka and Shoko locked the car and walked into the restaurant.
In a corner of the restaurant, a beauty with a tall, slender figure—albeit with a modest chest—dressed entirely in black, sat there sipping coffee. Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders, and she wore a faint smile on her face.
"That's... Yukino, right?"
"It is. I saw her the last time we video called," Shoko replied.
"She's really changed a lot," Haruka sighed with a touch of emotion.
There was no helping it.
He spent all day soaking in the laboratory, and the rest of his time was devoted to his family and loved ones. Naturally, he hadn't paid attention to other matters.
Haruka and Shoko walked over, hand in hand.
"Kasugano?"
"Yukinoshita?"
Both of them laughed.
However, Haruka felt that Yukino's change was significant.
It seemed like... smoother edges? Hypocrisy? Maturity?
It didn't seem to be exactly that, either.
It was hard to describe, but that persistence of an idealist seemed to have faded significantly.
It hadn't disappeared, it just felt diluted.
It was a pity Haruka had never met Yukino's sister; otherwise, he would know exactly who the current Yukino was beginning to resemble in temperament.
The three of them chatted idly, talking about a little bit of everything. But mostly, they updated each other on their lives over the past few years.
From the conversation, he learned that Yukino was currently helping out at her family's construction company and was preparing to expand operations into Tokyo.
"Shoko is being taken care of very well by you, Kasugano," Yukino said with a sigh.
"It's alright. Actually, Shoko takes care of me a lot. Otherwise, the 'me' you see right now would probably be a sloppy, unkempt research maniac," Haruka said, clinging to Shoko's arm with a pitiful expression, acting weak, helpless, and pathetic.
Shoko didn't expose him. Instead, she embraced Haruka and gently stroked his hair.
???
Sitting opposite them, Yukino felt a strange urge to scream.
'Do you two seriously have to flaunt your couple crap like this in front of everyone?'
Fortunately, someone else arrived.
A woman in pink clothes and dark sunglasses walked in. She had a curvy figure—one could even say it was quite explosive. After a quick glance left and right, she headed straight for their table, every step making those curves shift just a little too perfectly.
"Um... Kasugano, Nishimiya, Yukinoshita?"
A timid voice rang out as the woman with the hot body took off her sunglasses.
"Gotoh?!" x3
Although everyone had stayed in touch, they hadn't really video chatted; most communication was via text.
Hitori Gotoh laughed awkwardly and sat down next to Yukino.
"Um, Ryo and the others couldn't make it. Ryo was dragged back by her uncle to inherit the family hospital business. They're fighting right now. Nijika and Kita have things to do too."
"Ah..."
The atmosphere fell slightly silent.
This was the difficulty of gathering together after entering society.
Haruka and the others expressed their understanding.
"Bocchi-chan has changed a lot," Haruka said with a smile.
Hearing this, Hitori blushed and bent her waist forward.
?
Yukino also looked over.
Haruka froze. "No, what are you thinking? I didn't mean her figure. I meant Bocchi-chan's personality. Her voice is much louder now."
"..."
Hitori looked up, her face red. "It's... it's okay, I guess. If I don't speak loudly, people won't hear me."
"By the way, how is Bocchi-chan's band doing now?"
Hitori paused, a look of disappointment crossing her face.
"We haven't disbanded, but operations aren't going very well. Ryo and the others still come back occasionally to release new songs with me, so I guess our shared hobby hasn't ended yet. I mostly publish songs on websites now; they're still quite popular."
In fact, she mainly relied on this for income now.
Fortunately, her popularity was indeed high, and she earned quite a lot. Coupled with her low expenses, she could be considered a wealthy lady now.
It was just that...
Ryo and the others were busy. The quartet rarely gathered together during this time, which made her feel lost.
As for those thoughts of using the band to get attention back in the day...
Ah... she had kind of forgotten about them...
But things were okay now. At least she had experienced a lot with Ryo and the others over these years... She had changed quite a bit too.
The four of them chatted about other things.
Like exactly what Yukino did at work.
Which company Haruka was at now.
What the names of the drugs he usually developed were...
Which pieces Shoko liked to play on the piano...
Which of Hitori's released songs were the best...
And so on.
Everyone chatted quite happily.
Especially when mentioning interesting events from high school, they would laugh out loud, filled with memories and joy.
However, Haruka more or less felt a strange sense that things were different now; people had changed.
This was normal.
People always change.
They chatted for a while longer.
The restaurant servers began to bring out the food.
This was a Western restaurant, so naturally, the food was Western style.
Steak, salad, fruit, and so on.
But just then.
"Fumino, Rizu, and Kazusa... why haven't they arrived yet?"
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