After deciding to give up, I became popular

Neon signs twinkled, their colorful lights shimmering in the rain and mist, creating a hazy, dazzling beauty. Countless umbrellas formed a vibrant, colorful river on the damp streets.

The world is vast, and life is quite small. Every person you pass by might be the only encounter you'll ever have with them, then they disappear into the crowd, never to be seen again.

"I can't find her..."

Fujiwara Chika bit her lip tightly, her expression growing increasingly anxious. "Where did Moeha go? I can't find her anywhere... If only I had followed her sooner, I would have found her for sure..."

"If that were the case, you'd be lying in the hospital emergency room right now," Summer River Concerto sighed, then gently comforted her. "Calm down a bit and think of another way."

"Ugh..."

"What about your phone? Do you have it with you? If you're worried, you can send your sister a message and ask," Summer River Concerto suggested, but Fujiwara Chika quickly rejected it.

"No, how can we reveal that we're following her? It would be bad if she misunderstood us as overly worried sisters."

"..." Summer River Concerto didn't say anything, thinking, 'Aren't you already?'

"Let's look around some more. After all, the person with Moeha might not be a boy, maybe it's a girl..." Fujiwara Chika bit her lip, her expression still a bit worried, clearly unable to fully convince herself.

"I checked my phone just now. There are no parking lots nearby, and the train station is right next to us. Moeha not going there means her purpose definitely isn't transportation," Summer River Concerto analyzed. "Now is also dinner time, and there are many restaurants nearby, so it's most likely that your sister came here to have dinner with a friend."

"Ah, is that so?" Fujiwara Chika wanted to believe it, after all, Toyomi-nee doesn't come home today, and she herself was originally planning to come out for food.

"Yes, but it's just the most likely guess," Summer River Concerto nodded, then added, "But it's also possible she's working part-time, like being a server at a hidden little bookstore or something..."

Although, with her family's financial situation, she shouldn't need to work for pocket money, but what if? There are all sorts of reasons, like Yukino, although he hasn't asked her about it yet. These are all relatively normal and friendly developments, unlike those slightly darker things like 'being tricked into attending a KTV party full of delinquents' or 'seeking excitement and engaging in so-called 'sugar daddy dating' after school'..."

For Neon society, it's actually quite common, but Chika definitely can't accept it, so he naturally wouldn't say such outrageous guesses out loud.

"Hmm... then she should be eating somewhere," Fujiwara Chika nodded, finally calming down. "It's unlikely she's working part-time, Moeha has the most pocket money among us sisters, and it's unlikely for a middle school student to be working part-time, right?"

"..." Summer River Concerto didn't refute, but tilted his head slightly, using the corner of his eye to size up Fujiwara Chika.

How should he put it... others might be exposed immediately, but for the three Fujiwara sisters, Moeha could indeed be considered a middle school student, after all...

In short, it's not impossible, so it's good to check appropriately while searching.

"In any case, let's check each store one by one. If there are no accidents, she must be somewhere on this street."

Summer River Concerto suggested, and Fujiwara Chika nodded in agreement, so the two began to take action.

This city is very expensive, and many restaurants are basically underground, requiring you to walk down the stairs to see them, so it's really hard to see people on the street. If you want to determine Moeha's location, you definitely have to go in and search each one yourself.

Fortunately, the two were quite lucky. After spending a little effort, they found Moeha in a family restaurant with a good atmosphere.

"I found Moeha!" Fujiwara Chika's eyes lit up.

Summer River Concerto's expression was calm, his gaze passing over Fujiwara Moeha and landing on the girl next to her, as well as a boy sitting across from them.

No wonder Chika seemed a little anxious. They actually found a boy among her companions. It's normal to be a little worried, after all, boys at this age... are hard to say.

In short, finding someone is a good thing. Fujiwara Chika doesn't seem so worried anymore, but standing at the door is definitely a bit inconvenient and conspicuous, so the two simply found a corner seat and sat down, using the menu as a cover while observing the situation over there.

"Although we found her, I'm still really concerned about their conversation. I can't hear anything at all," Fujiwara Chika hunched over, lying on the table, holding up the menu to cover her face while observing her sister's situation.

"It's just a classmate gathering, there's no need to eavesdrop, is there? That's a bit too much," Summer River Concerto reminded, because she looked too suspicious. The waiter who came to take the order looked at a loss, so Summer River Concerto had to take on the task of ordering.

He was naturally interested in eating, but considering the situation, he ordered some small snacks and desserts. If they really had to move immediately, it would be more convenient.

"That's not how it is, okay?! President doesn't understand at all!" Fujiwara Chika glared at him, then explained, "Moeha has never gone out with a boy before, this is her first time! How could I not care!"

"..." Summer River Concerto didn't know what to say. Perhaps that's how you feel when you're worried your own cabbage will be snatched up by a pig?

To be honest, he really wanted to remind her that you're only two years apart, and you're even going out alone with a boy right now, and it's not a big deal, is it?

But Fujiwara Chika wanted to "mess around" like this, and since he came along, he could only accompany her.

However, reality doesn't seem to be like novels and manga. None of the developments they expected unfolded. In their observation, Fujiwara Moeha and the others simply had a meal and chatted, and even until the end, they didn't notice anything unusual.

Even, in Summer River Concerto's observation, the boy's interest in the girl next to Moeha was far greater than in Fujiwara Moeha herself. It was obvious that it should be another situation.

But he doesn't understand such things and isn't very interested either. Watching other people's romantic comedies isn't as good as eating a few more crispy fried fries.

"Oh oh! They seem to be moving! Quick, President, let's hide." Fujiwara Chika's reaction was quite fast, but the action she took was just lowering her head, pretending to be eating seriously at home. If someone really saw it, they would definitely find out immediately, right?

And the fact was indeed as he expected. The trio, who were walking well, when they reached the intersection, for some reason, Fujiwara Moeha casually glanced over and saw them here.

Perhaps it was because their student uniforms were too conspicuous, or perhaps it was because Summer River Concerto had no intention of hiding at all. The familiar face was therefore exposed in her field of vision.

Then he saw with his own eyes, Fujiwara Moeha was stunned for a moment, then scanned his surroundings, and when she discovered a certain pink-haired person with a "I'm eating" look on her face, Fujiwara Chika, a look of interest suddenly appeared on her face.

Summer River Concerto had seen this expression many times, it was the kind of—should he say it has a little devilish feeling, in short, it doesn't seem like she has good intentions.

"..."

So he looked with a little pity at Fujiwara Chika in front of him, who didn't know what had happened at all, and began to pray in his heart for what would happen to her later.

256. Stop, he doesn't want to be taken as a pervert!

Considering the fact that their whereabouts had been exposed, when Fujiwara Chika proposed to quickly follow them again, Summer River Concerto kindly dissuaded her, but of course she didn't listen, so Summer River Concerto sighed and had no choice but to follow her and start taking action.

Their movements weren't slow. They only came out after a little time, but when they walked out of the restaurant, they didn't see Moeha and her group. Just when Fujiwara Chika was wondering where they had gone, Summer River Concerto saw Fujiwara Moeha and the girl next to her slowly coming out of the small goods store across the street, and even started waving and greeting him from afar.

"..."

"Ah, could it be that we lost them again? Otherwise, let's split up and look again this time?" Fujiwara Chika turned to look at him, looking a little troubled, but Summer River Concerto just stretched out his fingers and pointed behind her.

"No need, they've already appeared..."

Looking at this, they were obviously already ambushed, just waiting for you to come out.

"Ah, it's Sister! What a coincidence~ I didn't expect to meet you here - and Senior is here too!" Fujiwara Moeha and the girl next to her came over together and quickly stood in front of the two.

Now Summer River Concerto was finally able to take a good look at them.

There's no need to say much about Fujiwara Moeha, she's almost completely a smaller version of Fujiwara Chika, but compared to her sister, she has more spirituality and less silliness. The girl next to her is a little more "ordinary", and not one of his acquaintances. Although she looks a bit pure and cute, after seeing so many beautiful girls, he can tell at a glance that she has "background character attributes", so there's not much worth his attention.

However, compared to his calmness, Fujiwara Chika was obviously very caught off guard. After being spoken to, she almost froze, her mouth opening and closing for a long time, but in the end, she just touched her little head and showed a little expression of "Oh, what a coincidence."

"Eh... why are Sister and Senior here? Could it be..."

"..." Summer River Concerto didn't know how to respond, because in his opinion, this was clearly "reading from a script". Although her acting was pretty good, because he knew they had been exposed before, this was obviously a fake reaction.

However, Fujiwara Chika next to him didn't have this thought. Now she was in a state of panic - of course, not panicking about being discovered going out alone with a boy, but afraid of being discovered tracking her sister.

"Ah! That! We came out to..."

"It's a date, right? Eh - so envious!" Fujiwara Moeha made an expression of "I'm very envious."

"Eh? A date? ...Ah, yes! It's a date, that's right." Fujiwara Chika was stunned for a moment, then suddenly nodded repeatedly and catered to her. "Oh dear, you found out... President invited me, insisting that he wanted to go out and play together no matter what..."

Summer River Concerto: "...?"

Okay, okay, you're putting all the blame on him now, are you? You were the one who insisted on following, right! Really... then don't blame him for watching the show!

It was obvious that Fujiwara Chika was being led by the nose now, but Summer River Concerto wasn't going to remind her. Who told her to say that just now? It would be quite relieving to see her being teased.

After a few polite words, they quickly figured out each other's purpose for going out.

Summer River Concerto's side naturally used the excuse of "on a date", while the other side was because of Sakura Aino - that is, the girl next to Fujiwara Moeha.

Just like he guessed before, the boy who was still there until they walked out of the restaurant was actually pursuing Sakura Aino, but she wasn't happy to accept this relationship, but was troubled because she couldn't find a suitable reason to refuse, so in the end, she thought of asking Moeha for help - pretending that she was dating Moeha, so that the other party, after seeing this "sincere affection between girls", should retreat in the face of difficulty...

Putting aside everything else, Summer River Concerto was a bit speechless listening to it. After all, normally, you would at most find someone of the opposite gender to help, but finding someone of the same gender was really the first time he'd seen it, but after all, it was someone else's business, so he couldn't say much.

The only thing he cared about was that this girl named Sakura Aino, after meeting them, would occasionally cast her gaze on him. Although he was just a "sidekick" and hadn't even participated much in the topic, she did so, and even when he accidentally met her gaze, he could clearly feel a hint of dodge in her eyes and a slightly obvious little hostility, which was very puzzling.

By the way, the group had returned to the restaurant from before, found a seat, and sat down again. As for the reason - it seemed that they weren't very happy with the meal just now, so now they wanted to regroup, and it had become dessert time.

The girls had many topics to talk about, but Summer River Concerto basically couldn't get a word in, but he still pretended to listen attentively to show politeness, and occasionally expressed a word or two of his own opinion, but the overall atmosphere was quite tiring, so after sitting for a while, he made an excuse to go to the bathroom to slack off.

Just after washing his hands and stepping out of the bathroom, he ran into the girl named Sakura Aino. Summer River Concerto was stunned for a moment, but still nodded friendly to say hello. He didn't expect the other party to suddenly lean in and tug at his sleeve, saying, "Come with me."

"..." Summer River Concerto was completely confused, not knowing what was suddenly going on. He subconsciously wanted to refuse, but suddenly heard the other party add.

"It's about Moeha."

"Uh..." Xia Chuanzou became interested. He thought there might be some hidden story, so he nodded and followed her to a secluded corner.

"What's wrong with Mengye?" Xia Chuanzou asked curiously, speaking his mind directly.

"..." The girl didn't answer him. Instead, she reached out and unbuttoned a few buttons on her collar.

"...???" Xia Chuanzou's eyes widened subconsciously, and then he staggered back a few steps. He almost growled, "What are you doing? Are you suddenly going crazy?"

He couldn't help but overthink. This inexplicable development was a first for him. Even the enthusiastic maids in Akihabara who were recruiting people wouldn't be so bold, inexplicably coming up to a strange man they had just met and unbuttoning their collar. What was she trying to do? Was she trying to defy the heavens?!

Xia Chuanzou was a little worried that he was going to be slandered, so he slowly retreated with a solemn expression, slightly raising his hands in a harmless gesture of surrender.

"Calm down, we can talk things over. Just tell me slowly, I'm all ears... But button up your clothes first."

But after he said that, not only did it not stop her, but it also made her mutter to herself, "As expected, I'm too small... It has to be someone like Mengye..."

"..."

What is all this?! It's not a matter of size, girl! Do you even know what you're doing?!

Perhaps his shouting had some effect. Although the girl was a little disappointed, she still obediently buttoned up her clothes, finally relieving him.

But Xia Chuanzou still didn't dare to relax completely. Who knew what outrageous things this person could do, so he kept a vigilant posture.

"Okay, now you can tell me what you want to do, and I will listen carefully..."

So, under Xia Chuanzou's gaze, the girl slowly uttered a sentence that shocked everyone: "I hope you won't make a move on Mengye anymore. As a substitute, I can be your X..."

"Wait! Wait! Don't talk yet!" Xia Chuanzou quickly signaled her to stop, otherwise this part would have to be cut off.

"No, ignore the last sentence... To be honest, I didn't quite understand the first part... What do you mean by 'don't make a move on Mengye'?"

"Isn't that the case?" The girl suddenly asked him back, and then began to explain on her own, "In just a short period of time, Mengye has either peeked at you or looked at you openly almost 20 times! She's clearly very concerned, right?!"

"???" Xia Chuanzou looked blank, thinking that they were sitting face to face, so what was the problem with looking at them? And Mengye clearly looked at her sister, Fujiwara Chika, a lot too?! Why didn't you mention that!

"But she looks at her sister much more often, right?!"

"So what? There's nothing wrong with looking at her own sister."

"..."

Huh?

"Hmph, boys are all the same. They're all big pigs. Even if they're already dating someone else, they'll happily accept any girl who's willing to throw themselves at them, right?" The girl snorted coldly, and then began to criticize, "Not to mention a sister combination like that, ha, men..."

Especially that last cold snort, it was really quite sarcastic. The key was that Xia Chuanzou really couldn't refute her, so he could only explain through another way: "No, no, you've really misunderstood. I never thought of making a move on Mengye. After all, she's just a middle school student..."

"You mean it's okay now, but it'll be okay when she becomes a high school student, right? Ha, men."

Xia Chuanzou: "..."

Damn it! Can this conversation even continue?!

There was no other way. Xia Chuanzou had no choice but to tell her the real purpose of his and Fujiwara Chika's trip. Her mood wasn't important at this time. His character was what needed attention!

"Eh, so that's how it is... I thought you were really..."

"No, no, you can't really tell, right? After all, we're not close at all..." Xia Chuanzou waved his hand, but he received a very subtle look in response.

"Well, I'm a little relieved..." The girl nodded, looking much happier. "Then I'll leave you to it. Enjoy your meal."

"..." Really, Xia Chuanzou was too lazy to complain. Whatever.

But just when he thought things were over, she suddenly turned back and looked at him with a serious expression, "Although I really want to believe you... let's exchange contact information first, just in case. If you really make a move on a middle school student... come at me, don't bully Mengye!"

This time, Xia Chuanzou finally couldn't help it: "It's impossible to make a move on a middle school student!"

The girl looked disgusted, but didn't say anything more. Instead, she forced him to take out his phone and exchange contact information.

"Sigh..." Xia Chuanzou sighed, feeling like he had just participated in a high-pressure sport. He was completely exhausted, so he went back and rinsed his face with cold water to recover a little.

When he returned to his seat, he found that the girls were still chatting and laughing about girl topics. This Sakura Aino was also like that, completely unable to tell that she had just had that strange conversation with him.

It had to be said that girls were really talented in this aspect. They could be said to be natural actors, making it impossible for people to see any flaws.

When he returned to his seat, Fujiwara Chika looked at him curiously and casually said, "President, you're so slow. We're almost done eating."

"I had a bit of a stomach ache." Xia Chuanzou replied with a calm expression, then focused his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, trying to clear his mind.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we be leaving soon?" Fujiwara Mengye turned her eyes and suddenly suggested, "But we haven't completely finished eating yet. What should we do...?"

"..." Xia Chuanzou's eyebrows twitched, and he suddenly felt a bad feeling in his heart.

Sure enough, the next second he heard her say again.