After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back-Chapter 353 - 352: Cows, there are cows!
Tokyo’s winter was very cold.
The wind was like a knife, and merely breathing gave the sensation of drinking a cold beverage.
Only pitiable office slaves and helpless students would probably brave such weather, that fell short of holiday thresholds yet was enough to drain one’s spirit to the extreme, to venture outside.
"Good morning."
"Good morning... It’s super cold today!"
"Right? Right~"
High school girls from Uka huddled together, rubbing their arms and laughing while they warmed each other. Their breath turned to white mist, slightly blurring their faces.
When they passed by two beauties from the same school walking together, they showed surprise and greeted in unison.
"President Ayakoji, President Kiryu, good morning!"
Kiryu Hina: "..."
Ayakoji Chiyoko: "Morning."
One was cold and unresponsive, the other’s words were brief and left no room for doubt, starkly revealing two distinct styles.
They were none other than the renowned current and former Student Council Presidents of Uka, Bei Rinai and Minami Chiyoda. They were the very two the girls were talking about.
The girls quickly walked a few steps away, their heads coming together to quietly speculate why those two natural enemies would walk side by side, an event more bizarre than a system descending from the skies.
Everyone knew their relationship was far from good, no, it was quite awful. The sight of them walking the same path seemed incredibly strange.
Would a dragon walk alongside a tiger? What a joke.
Yet, there could be another possibility...
The high school girls’ minds simultaneously returned to last year’s school festival and the shocking ’stage performance’ that took place.
In the play "The Phantom of the Opera," the actress playing ’Christine’ Kiryu Hina and ’Raoul’ portrayed by Ayakoji Chiyoko, shared a passionate kiss in front of the entire audience.
The shipper fans at the school erupted at the scene, stirring waves of excitement that had yet to fully subside, as evidenced by the occasional appearance of lesbian fanfiction involving the President and former President, filled with wild love love love, on the school forum!
If that was true... then their walking together now wouldn’t feel out of place at all!
This answer was a departure from reality, but it didn’t stop the high school girls from gleefully fantasizing in private, covering their mouths and giggling secretly, observing the two’s expressions and movements as fuel for their fantasies.
Unaware that they were being compiled into a fictional narrative by others, Kiryu Hina and Ayakoji Chiyoko were, at the moment, engaged in a very serious discussion, very different from what others would imagine.
"Kagura’s illness seems to have gotten worse," Kiryu Hina said with a grave expression. "I asked Aunt Risa yesterday, and after much coaxing, she told me that Kagura apparently hasn’t slept at all."
"Can’t sleep?" Ayakoji Chiyoko frowned upon hearing this. "Do sleeping pills work?"
"It doesn’t seem to help."
"...I asked my father for help and consulted some doctors. They told me that Kagura’s symptoms are a severe case of anxiety and urged me to immediately get her hospitalized for treatment."
"But the problem is, she refuses to go."
Both were silent.
Who could have imagined Kagura Hikaru’s condition deteriorating to such an extent, with no signs preceding it, and calamity striking in an instant, engulfing the beloved of their hearts faster than anyone could have predicted?
Learning about Kagura Hikaru’s situation in such a roundabout way only added to the heartache, yet they felt powerless to do anything.
Kagura Hikaru didn’t want to see them and actively resisted treatment, refusing medication and hospitalization.
Her family and friends, watching her waste away day by day, were anxiously spinning in circles, almost bursting at the seams, ready to forcibly take Kagura Hikaru to the hospital.
That would surely turn into a messy scene.
Kiryu Hina and Ayakoji Chiyoko, unaware of Kagura Hikaru’s thoughts, could only hope that before things reached that point, she would come around, willingly accept treatment, and recover soon.
They never considered what would happen if she couldn’t be cured, nor did they want to.
"Ah, President Kiryu, President Ayakoji, good morning."
Hearing a familiar voice, both turned their heads to see a girl approaching quickly from behind to greet them. The young girl had an adorable, innocent face, with cheeks reddened by the cold, it was none other than Ai Cheng Hua Lian.
Although a senior, she looked as fresh as a new student, exuding youth just by her presence.
However, seeing no one else with her was a notable disappointment for the two women.
Both Kiryu Hina and Ayakoji Chiyoko knew that Kagura Hikaru usually took the same train to school with Ai Cheng Hua Lian, but as Kagura Hikaru’s illness worsened, she also started missing school, no longer leaving her home.
They hadn’t seen Kagura Hikaru in her school uniform for a long time.
Since Ai Cheng Hua Lian had been a great help with several matters involving Kagura Hikaru, she was familiar within this special circle, and having a mutual friend, the three naturally came together and began discussing Kagura Hikaru’s condition.
"A couple of days ago, I did see Kagura," Ai Cheng Hua Lian said with a rare somberness on her face.
"It seems his condition is really not good." Seeing her expression, Kiryu Hina could easily guess the truth, feeling equally downcast.
"Um..." Ai Cheng Hua Lian silently nodded, "That night, I went out to buy some things and ran into him on the street. To tell the truth, I almost didn’t recognize him at first, he looked so different from the Kagura I knew—it was like he wasn’t even alive!"
For the usually pragmatic Ai Cheng Hua Lian to make such a comment, it seemed Kagura Hikaru’s condition must have indeed been dire.
However, why would he be wandering about at night? Don’t his family care?
Kiryu Hina was puzzled by this, but the other two could offer no answers, and they too fell silent.
"Hmph, we really should’ve just taken him to the hospital by force," Ayakoji Chiyoko eventually snorted, arms crossed, her tone commanding, "It’s not too late now. Kiryu, get me a leave of absence. I’ll go to the Kagura family home and take him away."
A vein popped on Kiryu Hina’s forehead: "Listen to you... aren’t you presumptuous! Who do you think you are? I—the ’older sister’—haven’t even spoken yet!"
"Oh, you think you’re up for the job? With that tiny frame of yours?"
"...Heh, muscle woman!"
"Ah? (intimidating)"
The two of them, their foreheads pressed together, their eyes wrought with malice, looked like fierce girls from the underworld, ready for a dragon vs. tiger face-off.
"President Kiriyu, President Ayakoji, no, don’t fight!" Ai Cheng Hua Lian tried to intervene in a fluster.
"My, my, you’re all so lively this early in the morning~"
Another familiar voice chimed in.
Mornings are indeed a time when one is likely to run into acquaintances—after all, it is school time.
The three girls thought as much and turned around, only to be uniformly taken aback.
It was Kohinata Motoyo.
Today, she radiated a pristine aura like a natural diamond, her brilliance understated, her inherent nobility undeniable.
She seemed like a Shrine Maiden serving deities, a treasure that should not exist in this mundane world.
Even passersby couldn’t help but cast their gazes upon this girl, whose grace and beauty were impeccable, turning heads one hundred percent of the time.
Whether it was an illusion or not, her complexion seemed much more radiant than before, like a young matron, every gesture exuding a subtle charm, irresistibly enticing.
Yesterday, Kohinata Motoyo had mentioned in the Line group chat that she was back in the country, so her being here wasn’t too surprising.
What really shocked the girls was the person standing beside her—Kagura Hikaru!
There was a boy next to the perfect girl, with black hair and a fair complexion, handsome in appearance.
Despite looking unwell, he was irresistibly handsome, his moody aura adding a layer of mystery, like an extraordinary raw gemstone that piqued one’s curiosity for the beauty it held within.
To Ai Cheng Hua Lian and the others, he wasn’t just a handsome boy; he was their friend, the subject of their overt or secret affections.
He shouldn’t have been here, but there he was!
Ai Cheng Hua Lian looked at him in shock, then her face lit up with surprise, "Kagura?! You—you’ve recovered enough to come to school?"
She noticed that Kagura Hikaru’s complexion was significantly better than when she had seen him two days ago; it was like a breath of spring to a withered tree. While not completely back to normal, he looked much more natural, without any sense of strain.
"Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better," Kagura Hikaru nodded calmly.
"Really? That’s wonderful!" Ai Cheng Hua Lian genuinely believed him, her delight obvious.
Kiryu Hina and Ayakoji Chiyoko, however, after their initial shock, shifted their focus elsewhere.
They stared intently at Kohinata Motoyo’s hand, which was around Kagura Hikaru’s arm, their eyes filled with disbelief and skepticism.
Kohinata Motoyo was beaming like a sunflower, freely casting her sunny disposition everywhere.
But no matter how brightly she smiled, she shouldn’t be so close to Kagura Hikaru!
It was well known that Kagura Hikaru treated her just as a regular friend—nothing more, nothing less.
Furthermore, Kagura Hikaru was known to dislike physical contact; it made no sense for him to let Kohinata Motoyo hold onto him so freely.
Given this, why hadn’t he rejected her...
An unbelievable speculation arose in the minds of the two girls, but the very next second, they vehemently denied it internally, unwilling to acknowledge its possibility.
Unfortunately, reality doesn’t shift according to their wishful thinking.
It always presents itself in the harshest ways.
"Ah, are you concerned about this?"
Kohinata Motoyo glanced at her hand on her boyfriend’s arm, tightened her grip with a sweet smile, and cheerfully explained, "Actually, we started dating last night."
