Why does the Ruined King still fall in love?

"Well... what does this have to do with me?"

I adjusted the backpack and changed its position.Its original location made me very uncomfortable.

"I kind of...can't get in...unless I'm invited."

Baoben seems to understand. "So what? Do you want to come with me?"

"Being with you is kinda...can't we just be friends?"

The thought of rejection reappeared.Those distant memories are a grainy old shot of two people alone in the classroom.

"That—that," I said. "It's the only way I can get in."

"why?"

"What does it mean?"

Orimoto crossed his arms. "I want to know why, Hikigu."

"I--"

why should i go

"I want to see her."

Before I could figure it out, the words came out of my mouth.

"she?"

"Yes."

"why?"

She approached him.

"What is your relationship with her?"

She took another small step forward.

"She is your friend?"

No, it's another...

"Just an acquaintance?"

is another...

"No, no, is she your lover?"

No one would have thought that the interrogation of Kaiben would be like this.

"I do not know why."

I blurted it out again without thinking.

"I just want to see her."

Booken froze for a moment.

"Ah-ah... she didn't come to school," I explained, "Yuhihama was worried...they kept texting but she didn't tell her anything..... .didn't tell her anything." Pride and shame wouldn't allow me to look Orimoto in the eye. "Then I......"

"I understand."

…Ok?

"you understood?"

"Yes, yes." Orimoto yawned. "Don't show too much emotion, Hikigu." She rolled her eyes at me. "Has anyone ever told you that they look weird on you?"

"......sorry."

Suddenly, my chest seemed to relax.

Orimoto stretched his body and looked at the setting sun.

"Man, what a nuisance. Invite me on a date with you for another man?"

"I guess that's really too much for one person," I agreed.

Maybe for a moment, my heart throbbed at that moment.It happened in my younger, more innocent days - when I believed in - a rosy world of possibility and eternity.

"So I have some conditions, Hikigu." Orimoto said. "First of all, you'd better look bright. If I bring in random weirdos, my parents will never forget them. Can you imagine every New Year's dinner my mom would say to my aunts, 'You guys I will never believe that Jia Ribbon came to see us!' You have to dress better!"

"That is for sure."

"Secondly...you better buy me a cup of coffee sometime."

"Of course," I said, "though it has to be cheap and quiet. Better not have so many sweet couples in the corner...they really crowd a place."

Orimoto giggled. "What's that about?" she said, putting her hands over her mouth, "Son, Hikigaya. You have a really weird sense of humor, you know?"

"It's not humor, it's the truth," I replied, "but—uh—"What the hell are you trying to say?" Thank you." I looked away.The result was embarrassing enough.

Surprise flashed across Orimoto's face, and then the smile disappeared behind a hand.

Although she covered it, I knew she was smiling.

We took out our phones and exchanged contact information.

hey i remember i was having a hard time using the share number feature...

But now, it feels natural to me.

"I'll text you where to meet." Orimoto said, bumping my shoulder. "Until then, Hiki Valley!"

She is ready to leave.I silently bowed to her.

For that, I am grateful.

The sound of retreating footsteps stopped.

"You also know that you have changed a lot." Orimoto didn't look back.The sun was setting and a breeze was blowing through her hair.For a moment, Kaori Orimoto looked like the heroine of a game in which I would never be the protagonist.

Then, almost in a whisper, she said slightly:

"Who knows, if you had asked me on a date then (as it was) I might have said yes."

And then, maybe, just for a split second, I think I remembered why I used to like Kaori Orimoto.

bathe.perfume.Suit.tie.

Looking at myself in the mirror, who is this? Some kind of monkey? I tap my shoulder, worried that the mousse will fall.Come to think of it, I haven't worn it like this since the wedding sponsored by the Yukinoshita family.

"Very good, Oni-chan!" Komachi said, walking around me.Truth be told, all this spectacle lacked was a camera and a red carpet.

"Do you know what gentleness means?"

"Hmm..." Komachi stopped, turned around, and put his hand on his chin. "You dribble in the air?"

"It's close." I sighed.

Today is the day of the party.

"Oni-chan, you're such a good player! Playing with so many girls... Hehe! I'd be so jealous if Komachi was your younger brother! I'd probably say, 'Share some with Komachi, Oni-chan!' "

"You've stolen enough of my chips," I growled.

"But you didn't eat it!" Komachi pouted.

What kind of logic is this!

"Anyway, Oni-chan, don't you plan to go to the station to pick up Miss Ben right now?"

"Do not--"

I checked the time.

"Ah! Gonna go! Love you! Goodbye!"

I ran out the door, realizing that this adventure was almost going to end in disaster.I know that punctuality is very important to the book.She's the kind of girl who wants another guy to wait for her, not the kind of girl who makes her wait for another guy.

I think when a girl has the ability to make a guy suffer for her, it helps her self-image.

The same logic applies to tourists or children.Once they find something new, they play with it until it breaks.Whether it's people throwing things into volcanoes or seeing how far you can bend a tree branch before it snaps, people lack self-control.

Humans are monsters who know no boundaries.

The way to the station is not bad.

I passed Chuan... Chuan... I passed "Black Lace" who was taking her younger siblings for a walk.I said to her, "Hi bye", but I said it so fast that I thought "Black Lace" would think I had been hit by a passing car.As I continued to run, I heard a scream behind me and her siblings started yelling their "new brother ran away!"

I haven't worked my body this hard since running a marathon with Hayato Hayama.

When I arrived at the meeting place, a clock overlooking the town square - I knew from then on that I was late.It's really late.

"Hey, You!"

I felt someone pat me on the head.

"I'm sorry." I bowed.

"You're making us late." Orimoto said with his hands on his hips. "You are very lucky, I am very kind, and I am willing to let you accompany me!" She waved, and the car opened. "Be a punctual man, Biqigu."

I didn't say a word, and followed the notebook.

Getting into someone else's car is a rite of passage.

Sitting in someone else's limousine is a privilege.

"So...you are my daughter's escort?"

Her parents seem very kind.

"Just an acquaintance," I said.

Her dad nodded and said, "I'll take your word for it, but I'll keep an eye on you."

"So, I heard that the girl wrote a love letter." Orimoto said softly.

"Um?"

"That friend of yours. Remember Yukinoshita Yukino?" She continued to look at the trees, buildings and pedestrians outside the window, "I heard that she wrote a love letter to Ha Shan-kun."

"Yeah...that's what she does."

"That's what she does," Orimoto repeated softly. "I don't know her very well. Even though we're about the same age, and I've been to more of these stupid parties than I can remember—we've never really talked. .Heck, she hardly ever talks to anyone, and if she's introduced to someone, she usually disappears after being introduced."

"I don't know that."

Chapter 120 Eight Short Stories A Date Full of Contradictions

Orimoto turned to me and gave me a bored look.

"You don't know her very well, do you?"

No, I don't understand, I admit to myself.Getting to know people is a big problem.The more you get to know a person, the more you will invest in him.Their story slowly becomes yours, and once it happens, the inevitable betrayal is all the more inevitable.

There is such a saying: "The closer the relationship between people, the more they control each other's behavior and the more they hurt each other's hearts. This is something that can't be helped anyway."

Yukinoshita doesn't like this.I dont like it either.

"Does it matter?"

Orimoto sighed.

"I heard she sent the letter to a HH. I just had a little nostalgic feeling when I heard that."

I frowned.Memories flooded in.

"I wonder if we can just buy a neuroanalyzer and forget what happened?" I asked.

Orimoto snorted. "What's that? Hikigaya, you're such a weirdo!"

"Ah... yeah."

Shadows from my past seem to haunt me forever...just put a fedora on me and a wrinkled suit and it's all back to the 50's...wait, I'm not actually Not strong, not silent.I'm just laughing at myself and being antisocial in vain.

Oh.It's close enough.

"This is a very old history." Orimoto said with a smile. "Bikigu, be lucky, because today you are the only one who can accompany me."

"Y-yeah."

Orimoto grabbed my arm as we entered together.

Socializing is annoying.People stand together chatting and socializing like beasts in a tribe.They are all doing whatever it takes to gain more prestige or authority in a world that has less and less respect for controversy and more and more worship of vulgar controversy.In such a stable age, what is the character of a person?