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"When you see bullying in school, there's no way you can escape."

"Because, for the victim, the position of the bystander, the so-called third party, is actually the same as that of the perpetrator——"

"Nothing different."

This is a conversation that Kitagawa Ryo once had with Ichinose Honami. The handling of campus bullying incidents has always been one of the issues that the two of them are directly concerned about as student council presidents. Different from Ichinose Honami's more gentle handling method, they have to deal with their own problems. Kitagawa Ryo, who has enough control over the school, will handle things more decisively.

In the incident where Hirata Yosuke's friend was bullied, if Kitagawa Ryo hadn't arrived at the scene to save the bullied person who wanted to jump off the building, regardless of whether the other person was seriously injured or killed, both Hirata Yosuke and Hirata Yosuke would have been basically destroyed. life, this painful memory for both of them, maybe those bystanders and perpetrators can honestly say this naturally at a party, a dinner, or a chat some day in the future. thing, treat it as a conversation piece.

They will forget the person's name, but Kitagawa Ryo hopes they can remember it as deeply as the person remembers them.

Through this incident, Kitagawa Ryo forcibly curbed the campus bullying in his school. It was during this process that he truly understood the nature of campus bullying.

Maybe it was because of too much contact that Kitagawa Ryo noticed each other during the halftime break.

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his eyes and looked at the girl who was stunned by his answer. She had a cute and good-looking appearance, a somewhat submissive personality, and almost her whole body exuded a... strange aura that could easily attract people to abuse. field.

"Hey, isn't it?"

"How could you agree..."

"I just want to find a bitch to play with."

The girls behind started whispering. They could hardly believe that their impromptu prank had ended like this. The words mixed with incomprehensible resentment and even jealousy reached the girl's ears, making her expression suddenly change. A bit paler.

"May I have your name?"

Kitagawa Ryo, who accepted the girl's confession without permission, held the other's slightly cold hand, using strength as if he wanted to transfer the heat from himself. At this moment, the dark pupils seemed to be burning with fire, and it seemed as if there was no future in the sky. The reflection of the setting sun is reflected in the girl's blue eyes.

"Ku...Kuizawa Megumi."

"Okay, then I'll call you Hui, and you can call me Ryo."

Kitagawa Ryo took Karuizawa Megumi's shoulders and brought her towards him. He took two steps forward to protect her behind him. Then he smiled at the group of girls and said:

"You must be Hui's friends, because Hui and I are not in the same school. I may need you to be more considerate in the future."

Before the leading girl on the other side could speak, another girl next to her couldn't wait to rush to Kitagawa Ryo and stammered:

"Yes, I'm Hui's best friend. Well, we all take good care of Hui when we take care of things like this. Can Kitagawa-senpai add her on Instagram?"

The girls behind saw someone in front of them taking the opportunity to talk and sneak away. At this time, they ignored the veins on their captain's forehead and the cannibalistic look in his eyes, and gathered around Kitagawa Ryo. This one said that he was sitting with Karuizawa. My roommate for two years, who was said to be a good friend from the Karuizawa club, was chatting lively but made Megumi Karuizawa behind him look a little dull, and could only hold the bright yellow skirt with his fingers. , gritted his teeth and seemed to want to step forward but didn't have the courage.

"Kitagawa-senpai is really popular."

Standing aside, Hirata Yosuke smacked his lips and sighed, although he was a rare handsome guy, but every time he was with Kitagawa Ryo, he seemed a little ordinary.

"He, is his name Ryo Kitagawa?"

Karuizawa Kei asked Hirata Yosuke cautiously, but her eyes couldn't help but glance at Kitagawa Ryo who was still dealing with girls.

"Um."

Hirata Yosuke spoke carefully. He looked at Karuizawa Megumi for a while, then quietly approached her and whispered:

"Were you bullied by them?"

"..."

Karuizawa Megumi was startled by Hirata Yosuke's words. First he shook his head subconsciously, then nodded imperceptibly, and finally explained with a forced smile:

"Yeah, it doesn't count."

She knew very well that even though the sweaty sunny boy in front of her looked amiable, they had no communication at all, and they were not in the same school. Even if the other party learned about his current situation, he would not be able to change it. In this case , there is no need to say it.

What's more, in the past two years, she has gradually become accustomed to the fact that she is being bullied. She may resist for the first time, but the resistance will not bring about an improvement in the situation, but a heavier blow, so She also became numb. No matter how red and fresh the blood flowed out of her body, it didn't matter, as if it was not her own.

Karuizawa Megumi returned her attention to the boy who was still dealing with her. In her past life, she had compressed herself into a very small existence. At first, she would imagine herself as a dog that smells other people's scent, thinking that as long as she If she wag her tail and stick out her tongue, she won't be beaten, but others still find her unhappy. She has obviously learned to agree and giggle, and talks about apologizing and saying sorry, but the other person still says that she is showing her teeth. Keep your mouth shut.

So she now defines herself as something smaller and more insignificant, something that cannot survive on her own—

Parasites.

She saw Kitagawa Ryo waving to him, and Karuizawa Megumi walked straight there like a puppet. The eyes focused on her were as hot as a spotlight, until a hand scraped the bridge of her nose, bringing up the breeze. Her index finger passed between Karuizawa Megumi's eyebrows. This contact between skin made Karuizawa Megumi subconsciously close her eyes. It took her a while to realize that it was not someone with malicious intentions. slap in the face.

Skin-to-skin contact between people sometimes does not cause burning pain. Karuizawa Megumi could feel her petite palm being wrapped by a more powerful hand, and the noise around her could no longer be heard. All I could see was Kitagawa Ryo's lips moving as if he was saying something.

Deep down in her heart, she told herself that she was just being rescued by a kind-hearted senior from another school whom she didn't know. After all, she was playing a guest role on the stage. There would always be a time to step off the stage to take off her makeup. But now, she unconsciously Greedy for the warmth coming from the seams in the palm of my hand, I am like the little match girl in the fairy tale, lighting one match after another in the ice and snow, imagining the beauty in the faint light.

It wasn't until she was dazedly being pulled out of the stadium by Kitagawa Ryo's hand that Karuizawa Megumi suddenly came back to her senses. She blushed and stammered and pulled her hand out:

"that..."

I was so speechless for a moment that I didn't know what to say. I wanted to thank you so I raised my head slightly and happened to meet the other person's smiling black eyes:

"Are you hungry? Do you want to go eat something nearby? There is a good ramen shop on the next road."

"How's it going? Karuizawa-san."

"Ah...oh oh."

Karuizawa Megumi was a little disappointed by the other party's sudden change of address, but he quickly adjusted his mentality and asked in a low voice with a little nervousness and a little bit of expectation:

"Just the two of us?"

I don't know if it was because the voice was too low, but Kitagawa Ryo didn't seem to hear it. He glanced around and shouted to a girl on the right who seemed to be operating a mobile phone:

"Fanbo, here!"

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"Two portions of Set A, the hard noodles are slightly spicy and vinegar is added instead of the coriander soup."

"One of the cold drinks was replaced with miso soup, with kombu and tofu added."

"You can order whatever you want, Karuizawa-san."

Ichinose Honami folded the menu in his hand and handed it to Karuizawa Megumi with a smile. Karuizawa Megumi, who was shocked by Ichinose's skillful ordering, just casually ordered a recommended set meal, even the specific contents. Didn't even see clearly.

"Um, Ichinose-san."

She spoke hesitantly. In the short exchange just now, Karuizawa Megumi had already understood that the girl sitting next to her, as dazzling and energetic as a rainbow, was Kitagawa Ryo's childhood sweetheart, and looking at the intimate exchange between the two, it was obvious that she had been there for a long time. Reading other people's faces, Megumi Karuizawa could also guess that the relationship between the two might be better.

"You don't have to be so formal. Just call me Fanbo."

Taking a small sip of the cold drink that was served first, Ichinose Honami smiled harmlessly at Karuizawa Megumi.

"Hey, I want a cold drink too."

On the other side of the seat, Kitagawa Ryo sighed grumblingly at the steaming miso soup in front of him.

"You can't drink cold drinks after exercising strenuously just now. What if you feel uncomfortable in your stomach?"

Ichinose Honami's eyes were as bright as stars, and he stretched out his hand to push the bowl of soup forward.

Karuizawa Megumi, who was next to him, looked at the interaction between the two and suddenly felt like an outsider. In order to prevent Ichinose at his side from seeing the clues, he quickly lowered his head and pretended to drink a drink.

The iced sour plum juice seemed to have no taste in her mouth. Without noticing, Karuizawa Megumi drank most of the glass in one go.

"Do you like sour plum juice Hui? The sour plum juice in this store is really delicious."

Ichinose Honami turned his head to look at the cup that was now mostly empty, and asked in surprise.

"It's okay, it's really delicious."

Karuizawa Megumi nodded awkwardly.

"I heard that after the game, Megumi confessed to Ryo?"

The next moment, the question asked from Ichinose's mouth made Karuizawa Megumi clenched the cold wall of the cup.

"Ha, yes."

He lowered his head and used the corner of his eye to observe the changes in Ichinose Honami's expression. Even though he had just drank a drink, Karuizawa Megumi's throat was extremely dry at this moment, and the few words he spoke were like pressure. Hard squeeze.

"Ryo is the type that girls like. He's handsome, studies well, is kind to others, and can play football."

"It always feels weird coming out of Fanbo's mouth."

"Please, I'm really complimenting you."

Karuizawa Megumi knew very well that the other party was still careful not to touch the root of the problem. Just like Ichinose Honami said, it is not uncommon for Kitagawa Ryo to be confessed by others, but today's problem is Kitagawa Ryo accepted his confession.

"Don't think too much. I accepted your confession in the stadium just because I thought it was the best under the circumstances. There is no need for Karuizawa-san to have any psychological burden, let alone the responsibility of a girlfriend. "

Seemingly sensing Karuizawa Megumi's psychological concerns, Kitagawa Ryo looked directly at him again and spoke very sincerely.

"After the limelight has passed in two days, you can just declare that you dumped me."

Generally speaking, in this kind of interaction between junior high school students, whoever dumps him first will occupy a more dominant position in public opinion. Kitagawa Ryo also noticed this before adding.

"In this case, won't this affect the reputation of the senior?"

Karuizawa Megumi raised his head timidly.

"I don't have much reputation, and I'm going abroad after this summer vacation. I won't be able to come back until about a year later."

Kitagawa Ryo nonchalantly denied the other party's worries, and when he saw Ichinose Honami also had a look of astonishment on his face, he quickly explained:

"My family asked me to go to a boarding school in the United States for one year. I only received the news today."

"...Oh, I know, it's a good thing."

For some unknown reason, when Karuizawa Megumi saw Ichinose Honami's somewhat disappointed expression, a strange sense of joy surged from his heart.

It happened that the ramen ordered by the three people was also served at this time, and Kitagawa Ryo had no intention of continuing the topic. After all, he was really exhausted after playing a whole game today, and he quickly started to move after a simple courtesy. .

After devouring a large bowl of ramen, Kitagawa Ryo stopped his chopsticks with satisfaction, glanced at the progress of the two people sitting opposite him, and reluctantly took out his mobile phone from his pocket to kill time.

"Senior, are you and Karuizawa together now?"

"Senior's confession in the stadium just now was intentional, I can see it."

"What's so good about a guy like Karuizawa? Why don't you consider me, senior?"

...

As soon as he opened the social software, the overwhelming amount of messages made Kitagawa Ryo feel dizzy. However, it would be a bit embarrassing to read them back. So Kitagawa Ryo rubbed his chin and came up with a good idea.

"Hui, look up."

Karuizawa Emi, who was quietly sipping ramen, was stunned. Because she didn't read the menu, the ramen in this set meal was so spicy that she couldn't stand it. She had already finished the sour plum juice before, and she was embarrassed to say it. Karuizawa Megumi could only make do with it, so that her lips were a little red and thin beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.

Hearing Kitagawa Ryo's voice, Karuizawa Megumi didn't know what was happening at all. The moment he raised his head, he saw Kitagawa Ryo pushing over an extra-large cup of fruit smoothie, which was enough for two people. , the basis for Karuizawa Megumi to make this judgment is the two straws inserted into them and wrapped in a heart shape.

"Ah, thank you."

The moment Karuizawa Megumi subconsciously sucked the smoothie to relieve the burning sensation in her throat, her eyes widened.

At the other end of the line of sight, Kitagawa Ryo pressed his lips to the straw at the other end.

His right hand holding the phone stretched forward. Under the bright flashlight, Karuizawa Megumi heard Kitagawa Ryo's whisper, which seemed to follow the heart-shaped winding shape of the straw all the way to Karuizawa Megumi's lips. , and then reached her heart from her lips:

"Couple...cheese!"

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"Eating ramen with my girlfriend."

Take photos, edit text, and upload to social software all in one go.

After finishing all this, Kitagawa Ryo took back his phone with a sigh of relief, smiled sheepishly at Karuizawa Megumi, and continued to push the cup of fruit smoothie forward:

"I'm sorry, because it was too sudden to break up on the same day of dating, and your classmates are in trouble, so this should make things a lot cleaner."

Karuizawa Megumi looked dumbfounded as the messages on her phone kept ringing. She swallowed a big mouthful of fruit pulp and choked in her throat, which frightened Honami Ichinose and hurriedly I went over and patted her back to ventilate the air, and it took a while for her to recover.

"Well, I don't mind."

Rather, I am quite satisfied.

Karuizawa Megumi looked timidly at Ichinose Honami who gently handed her a tissue:

"Ichinose-san's words..."

"I told you that you can call me Fanbo."

Ichinose Honami waved his hands openly and complained angrily in the direction of Kitagawa Ryo:

"Anyway, since Liang chose to do this, there is a reason for doing so, and after all, it is just for show."

She lowered her head and wiped the corners of her mouth with a tissue. When she raised her head again, she had the same bright smile as usual:

"Besides, I'm not Ryo's girlfriend..."

Honami Ichinose was obviously stunned, and suddenly looked directly in the direction of Kitagawa Ryo, half teasing and half serious:

"Right?"