Tokyo people don't talk about Wude

Chapter 354 351. Heading towards a new semester without him

January
Today is the first day of the spring semester, and a banner saying "Welcome Back" is hung at the entrance of Xiu Jin College.

The weather is still very cold. Most of the students are wearing winter school uniforms with warm sweaters. The girls who love beauty insist on wearing short skirts, revealing their bare legs, forming a beautiful yet frown-inducing landscape.

Suzuki Yuhito walked into Class 2, Grade 2, hung his schoolbag behind his chair, and sat down.

"Sure enough, Jiuzhou brother didn't come." He turned his head and glanced at Jiuzhou Cheng's seat. Sure enough, it was empty. Usually, he arrived at school earlier than him:

"Really? What was I expecting?"

The students were chattering and talking about the New Year, and it seemed that the festive joy had not yet dissipated.

Suzuki Yuji only felt inexplicably sad.

On New Year's Day, his girlfriend Sawahara Hanami agreed to help him find Kyushu Makoto, which touched him very much.

But while he was moved, he also became more worried.

He was able to get to this point thanks to Big Brother Jiuzhou who guided him like a beacon, and he firmly believed in this.

He admired Jiuzhou Cheng's way of life and tried hard to imitate him, which helped him get rid of confusion and achieve achievements that he had never dared to imagine.

Now that Big Brother Jiuzhou has disappeared, he will become a fishing boat lost in the dark ocean.

He has a lot of things now - friendship, lover, dreams, enlightenment, talent, and future - can he really protect all of this by himself?

After so much time had passed, Suzuki Yujin could no longer believe that Kyushu Makoto was still safe. Kyushu must have encountered some extremely unfortunate disaster or even died.
Suzuki Yuhito didn't dare to think further.

"Hello, good morning, Suzuki." Takasuke Karasawa patted Suzuki's shoulder from behind.

"Good morning." Takatsuki Genji also walked into the classroom and threw his schoolbag on the table.

"Oh, oh! Good morning." Suzuki Yujin responded absentmindedly: "Everyone."

"No progress." Tang Zeguijiang shook his head and answered: "But I have asked everyone around me, I hope we can find him soon."

"The baseball club said they will help me look for it." Takatsuki Genji said, "We'll just take it one step at a time."

"Everyone is working hard," Suzuki Yuhito smiled reluctantly.

"Students, please return to your seats, the morning assembly is about to begin!" Teacher Jiang Niao walked in with a lesson plan.

Everyone immediately stopped discussing and returned to their seats.

"Today is the first day of the spring semester. I believe everyone knows that this semester is less than three months long, but the workload will not be reduced, and there will not be as many entertainment activities as last semester."

"And after this semester, you will all be seniors, and you will have to start thinking about your future. So please stay alert, and if you want to be responsible for yourself, put away all your playful attitudes."

Teacher Jiang Niao's public speaking skills have become more and more proficient. His voice is gentle yet carries unquestionable authority. It neither puts too much psychological pressure on students nor makes them listen to everything he says.

But during the speech, Teacher Jiang Niao would occasionally glance at the only empty seat in the classroom, revealing an imperceptible anxiety.

After the mobilization speech for the new semester, Teacher Jiang Niao suddenly turned to look at the class monitor Okite River in the front row and looked at him.

Then, Squad Leader Okite River stood up and walked quickly to the front desk.

"Students, I believe you have noticed." Teacher Jiang Niao said, "Jiuzhou from our class did not come today."

The students all turned their eyes to the only empty desk and chair in the classroom, and then they realized what was happening.

"According to the information we have, Kyushu is currently missing." Class monitor Okitegawa took over the conversation and said:
"He disappeared in the early hours of Christmas morning and no one, not even the police or detectives, could find him."

The students looked at each other in bewilderment, and many of them were panicked. Of course, there were also those who were indifferent and gloated over the misfortune, after all, many students did not like Jiuzhou Cheng.

Ignoring those students who were indifferent and secretly delighted, Class Leader Okitegawa continued:
"After all, Jiuzhou Cheng is a classmate who has been with us day and night. He has also made many contributions to our class. If possible, please pay more attention to the people around you, and if you hear any relevant news, please inform Mr. Jiang Niao immediately."

"I don't want you to spend too much time and energy on this. Just treat it as a piece of cake." Teacher Jiang Niao put his hands in front of him and bowed slightly: "Please, students!"

"Thank you all." Squad leader Okitegawa also bowed his head slightly to express his gratitude.

"."

After the morning meeting, the first math class began. After class, Tang Zegui took the initiative to find the monitor, Okitegawa, and expressed his gratitude:
"Well, thank you. I didn't expect you would be willing to do this for me."

"Nothing." Squad Leader Okitegawa pushed up his glasses and said calmly:

"Not long after I contacted you, I received a call from Teacher Jiang Niao. Sure enough, she also knew about this matter. We discussed it and finally decided to mobilize everyone to help in the morning meeting. After all, one more person means more strength when it comes to finding someone, and I am just doing a small favor."

"Haha, I thought you hated Kyushu-san." Tang Zeguijiang smiled awkwardly.

"I do hate him, and he makes me very upset." Class monitor Okite River admitted, "But in the end, this is just a small conflict between classmates. I still know what is important and what is not."

"Anyway, thank you very much, thank you very much!" Tang Zeguijiang bowed to him.

The morning classes passed quickly and it was time for lunch break.

"Are we going to the rooftop today?" Suzuki Yujin called out to Karasawa and Takatsuki and asked uncertainly.

The three of them looked at each other in silence for a moment, and said in unison: "Let's go."

The rooftop is very cold in winter, so they would sit on the stairs in front of the rooftop entrance to eat. There are usually few students or teachers passing by here, so it is very quiet.

They brought their lunch to the rooftop entrance and found that Junior Sister Mizuhashi had been waiting there for a long time.

She looked depressed like a widow who had just lost her lover, and her eyes kept looking down the stairs as if she was expecting the boy to come.

In the morning, junior sister Shuiqiao came to the door of Class 2, Grade 2 several times, but returned disappointed every time.

"Good afternoon, you are here as expected." Suzuki Yuhito greeted.

"Good afternoon, senior." Mizuhashi Eiji responded listlessly.

"Well, you seem to be in low spirits." Tang Zeguijiang tried to comfort him.

"It's okay, don't worry about me." Mizuhashi Hideki replied, but her complexion did not improve, and she didn't even have the strength to force a smile.

"Oh, this looks worrying no matter how you look at it," said Suzuki Yuhito worriedly.

"Everyone, you are here after all." Yagawa Sakifumi came over with a lunch box.

"Haha, although Brother Kyushu is not here, we didn't know where to go for dinner for a while, so we just came here." Suzuki Yuhito said helplessly.

Everyone sat down on the stairs to enjoy lunch. No one spoke a word during the lunch. The silence was so heavy that it was a bit torturous.

"Ah, speaking of which, Mizuhashi-san's submission date is in three days." Unable to bear this atmosphere, Tang Zegui was the first to bring up the topic:
"Which volume is this? The eighth volume?"

"Hmm" When it comes to this topic, Mizuhashi Eiji lowered her head, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tang Zeguijiang leaned over and asked, "Are you facing a creative bottleneck?"

"I'm going to stop writing." Mizuhashi Eiji muttered softly, "I can't write anymore."

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, but if I can't hand in the manuscript, I'll be scolded by the editor, haha~" Tang Zegui scratched his head and said with a wry smile: "Maybe I'll have to pay a penalty or something, it will be very troublesome~"

"Okay, Mizuhashi-san must have her own difficulties, so please say something nice." Suzuki Yujin stepped forward and comforted him, "Hey, if you don't mind, how about letting me write for you? Anyway, I've read a lot of light novels, so I'm actually quite confident!"

"It's okay." Mizuhashi Eiji shook her head and hugged her hunched knees with her arms: "I just feel so tired."

Everyone was silent.

"Mizuhashi-san." Suzuki Yujin sighed heavily, "I understand you."

"Is that so? You were always so energetic before! You could persevere no matter how hard it was!" Mizuhashi Eiji said anxiously, as if she had met a soulmate:

"But now I'm really tired and uncomfortable. I feel like all my strength has been drained away."

"Is it because of Kyushu-kun?" Yagawa Sakifumi suddenly spoke.

"." Mizuhashi Eiji took a breath and said in confusion: "I don't know."

"It's because of Kyushu-kun." Yagawa Sakifumi insisted, his tone becoming a little colder: "Admit it, you have always been so energetic because you like Kyushu-kun."

"I" Mizuhashi Eiji hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Maybe so." "So, since you still like him, you should continue to persevere, right?" Yachuan Sakiwen asked: "It's not okay to give up because of such a small difficulty~"

"I, I don't know." Mizuhashi Eiji held her head with both hands, in great pain:

"It gets weirder the more you think about it, doesn't it? When you think about it carefully, all my efforts, whether it's trying to get into the University of Tokyo, serializing light novels, learning swordsmanship, or trying to be cheerful, are all for the purpose of getting closer to my senior and becoming a woman worthy of him."

"But Senior has been missing for so long. Although I really want to believe that he will come back, it has been so long. What if he... What if he..."

Mizuhashi Eiji finally broke down and couldn't help sobbing and crying:

"If the senior really disappears, what's the point of my efforts? Wouldn't all my efforts be in vain?!"

"What have I been working so hard for? I've been working so hard. Why? I have almost nothing left, why do you want to take away the most important treasure from me!!"

Mizuhashi Eiji burst into tears, and the sky became sticky, as if a heavy rain was about to fall.

It was the first time that everyone saw her cry so hard.

"Mizuhashi-san." Suzuki Yuhito and Karasawa Takamasa both felt a lump in their throats and felt sad for her.

Yagawa Sakifumi walked up to her with a cold face and slapped her in the face.

The crying also stopped.

Mizuhashi Eiji covered her burning cheeks and looked up in surprise.

"Enough, stop crying!" Yachuan Sakifumi scolded: "If crying can bring him back, I will cry harder than you."

"Senior Yagawa, why?" Mizuhashi Eiji murmured in confusion.

"You should know that I like Kyushu-kun, too." Yachuan Sakifumi exhaled lightly, his chest rising and falling slightly, and said this fact that should not be exposed as calmly as possible:

"So, you and I are rivals in love. Although I will give in to you occasionally because you are my junior, I am always competing with you!"

"Whether it's working hard to correct myself, secretly learning martial arts, deliberately wearing nice clothes that show off my legs to charm Kyushu-kun when we go out together, or inviting Kyushu-kun to work at Yaze House, I actually planned to let Kyushu-kun live in Yaze House, and then he would definitely be mine~"

"How could this be?" Mizuhashi Eiji shook her head sadly, not wanting to believe it.

"Hey, hey. What are you doing? Everyone, be nice~" Suzuki Yuji noticed that the atmosphere was wrong and wanted to stand between the two of them, but was pushed away by Yagawa Sakifumi.

"So, I really hate you, Mizuhashi Eiki." Yagawa Sakifumi suddenly moved closer, letting his face get close to her without any defense:
"You only call him 'senpai' in a coquettish voice all day long, trying to seduce him by showing your weak side. You also do some [simulated dating], using the excuse of gathering material for your novel, but in fact you probably plan to take the opportunity to get a room. It's really disgusting. It's only thanks to Jiuzhou-kun's pity that you can succeed every time, right?"

"If you ask me, a weak little girl like you should have felt ashamed and gone away after Jiuzhou-kun helped you for the first time, and never appeared in front of him again in your life!"

Mizuhashi Eiji was furious when she heard this. For the first time, a look of rage appeared on her cute face and tears kept flowing from her tears-filled eyes.

"What did you say? That's too much!!" She let out a tender yet piercing scream, just like the battle cry that Kyushu Makoto had taught her:
"You are obviously the one I hate the most! You shameless bad woman!!"

She swung her arm and subconsciously slapped Yagawa Sakifumi on the side of his face where he was unprotected.

"You bad woman! You hurt me so badly, yet you still dare to approach me like that!" Mizuhashi Eiji slapped her again:

"Because he is a very kind and good man, he will let bygones be bygones, but you still dare to have such thoughts about him. I have wanted to ask you for a long time, don't you feel guilty?! Would the senior really be willing to be with a bad woman like you? This is really hilarious, stop disgusting him!"

"Ah~ The same thing happens here. Don't say such excessive things. Senior Yachuan has already reflected on it." Tang Ze Takashi also wanted to persuade them to stop fighting, but was glared at by Mizuhashi Eiji, so he shrank to the side and dared not say a word.

"Bah, are you qualified to say that I'm disgusting to Kyushu-kun?" Yachuan Sakifumi wiped his red face, turned his head and spat, then raised his shoulder and slapped Mizuhashi Eiki in the face, causing her to stagger two steps:

"You know it very well, right? Even if Jiuzhou-kun falls in love with me, he won't fall in love with a weak and spineless coward like you."

"You're lying! How could I not be worthy of him? I will definitely work hard to be worthy of him!" Mizuhashi Eiji slapped him with her backhand: "You shameless bad woman!"

"You are only qualified to talk big!" Yachuan Sakiwen slapped her backhand: "You are a spineless coward!"

"Bad woman!"

"Cowardly girl!"

"Bad woman!"

"Cowardly girl!"

The two girls cursed at each other and slapped each other repeatedly, with crackling sounds of flesh pain coming from all directions.

"Hey, peace, peace~ ahaha~" Suzuki Yuhito and Karasawa Takamasa stood by and were anxious, but they were unable to stop the battle.

"Oh, this damn gravity." Takatsuki Genji also shook his head with a dark face.

The two women didn't know how long they had been beating each other, and their faces were swollen and red, before they stopped, panting.

Both parties held their knees and panted for a long time. Yachuan Sakifumi snorted coldly and spoke again:

"Hiss, it hurts. Don't you still like him very much?"

"Wuwu. Haha. Wuwu." The pressure that had been pent up in her heart for a long time was finally released. Mizuhashi Eiji started crying and laughing at the same time, and her face looked very ugly:

"But. He is no longer here. Why is this happening? This is the first time I have someone I love so much that I want to devote my whole life to. I want to see him ...!"

"I want to see him, too." Yachuan Sakifumi walked forward, gently patted Mizuhashi Eiki's back, and then hugged her gently:
"Sorry. Are you calming down a bit now, Mizuhashi-san?"

"Woo" Mizuhashi Eiji sobbed, "I don't know what to do. Senior Yachuan, please teach me."

"Are you really worthy of everything Kyushu-kun has done for you by giving up on yourself like this?" asked Yagawa Sakifumi.

"I understand all these principles, but..." Mizuhashi Eiji choked.

"If one day, Kyushu-kun miraculously comes back," Yachuan Sakifumi patted her schoolmate's back rhythmically, her tone as gentle as if she was telling a bedtime story:
"Do you think he wants to see us struggling for our lives and future, or to see us fall back to our old ways, or even worse?"

"Do you want him to hold his hands over his forehead and think about how to save you after seeing you fall into depravity?"

"I know." Mizuhashi Eiji kept shaking her head: "I don't want him to see my ugly side again."

"Whether Kyushu-kun can come back or not, we must work hard to live on." Yachuan Sakifumi said gently:

"We will all have our own lives in the future, but we will never forget that boy. The way we are now is the best gift that Jiuzhou-kun has given us."

"So, please work hard to protect everything you have now. If Jiuzhou Jun can come back, he will definitely be very happy; if Jiuzhou Jun can't come back, you must not abandon his last legacy."

"Otherwise, he will really disappear, and even a bad woman like me will be heartbroken."

"No, no, no, we haven't confirmed that he's really in trouble yet! Don't be so pessimistic!" Suzuki Yujin interrupted the topic. He felt relieved after hearing this and figured something out:
"No matter what, we have to cheer up! It is precisely because Brother Jiuzhou is missing that we have to become stronger! We have to prove that no matter where Brother Jiuzhou goes, he will always live here!!"

Yuji Suzuki patted his chest, where his heart is.

Takasaga Karasawa and Genji Takatsuki also stood up and nodded affirmatively to Sakifumi Yagawa.

"Yes, that's it." Yachuan Sakifumi couldn't help but smile with relief: "Mizuhashi sister, I understand that you are in pain, because I am the same, and everyone is the same. But... please be patient."

"Yeah," Mizuhashi Eiji nodded vigorously in her senior's arms.

"."

This is a normal new semester and nothing has changed.

The winter in Tokyo is still cold. The port area is full of tall buildings, trams are rumbling past, and you can vaguely hear the waves of the port hitting the shore.

However, for the boys and girls, this will be a new semester without him.

Who is he?
Hero? Brave? Madman? Devil? Saint? Fool? Hope?

Any single word is too one-sided for him.

For those who have been influenced and touched by him, his disappearance is like losing a guiding light in the darkness of life.

However, even if their lives fell into darkness again, they did not intend to stop.

Keep going forward, keep going forward in the darkness. Not only for yourself, but also to keep the proof of his existence.

So they stumbled forward, towards a new semester without [him].

(End of this chapter)