Chapter 280 I totally fell in love with you

"..."

"..."

Sitting opposite each other on two chairs, Shimizu Mi and Ayase Kotone looked at each other, both of them speechless.

Just now, in order to avoid an accident, Shimizu accidentally caused another accident.

Because it happened too suddenly, Shimizu Ken was unable to react in time and grabbed the soft part of Ayase Kotone's body with both hands.

For a moment, Shimizu felt like

More importantly... the size was so great that Shimizu couldn't even grasp it with one hand.

For a moment, time in the entire student union office seemed to freeze, and both of them inexplicably lost the ability to speak.

There was a subtle sense of tension in the air, especially when Qing Shuijian realized that his hand seemed to have lost its way in the softness. He originally wanted to let go, but for some reason he squeezed it.

The subtle awkwardness suddenly reached its peak.

Ayase Kotone's cheeks instantly turned red, and Shimizu Mi hurriedly used all her strength to quickly move her hand away.

"I'm sorry, President. I'm not..."

Qing Shuijian didn't know what to say for a moment, and his heart was filled with a complex emotion of embarrassment and apology.

Ayase Kotone shyly crossed her hands over her chest and sat back in the chair. Shimizu Mi wanted to apologize to her, saying that he did not mean to do that, but Ayase Kotone's eyes told him not to speak first.

At this moment, in addition to the breathing sounds of the two people in the air, one seemed to be able to faintly hear the echo of someone's accelerated heartbeat.

"Shimizu-san."

"Yes!"

Ayase Kotone's gentle voice broke the silence, and Shimizu responded subconsciously.

Ayase Kotone still covered her chest, glanced at Shimizumi, and then turned her face away.

"Why do you do this..."

The feeling of Shimizu Miki holding her chest just now seemed to still linger on it, making it difficult for Ayase Kotone to calm down.

"Shimizu-san, you're a pervert..."

Ayase Kotone murmured softly, but Shimizu still heard it.

How did this conclusion come about?

Shimizu originally wanted to refute, but when he saw Ayase Kotone's eyes that were about to cry, he finally swallowed his words.

I can only blame myself for being so confused. If it were any other girl, I would have been slapped in the face.

Shimizu sighed in his heart, and his eyes accidentally glanced at the floor at Ayase Kotone's feet. Because of the accident just now, the two erasers fell to the ground and rolled at her feet.

Shimizu bent down and wanted to help Ayase Kotone pick it up.

When Ayase Kotone saw Shimizumi leaning towards her, she seemed to have misunderstood something, and she covered her chest and shrank back.

"..."

Seeing that Shimizu Ken was just helping her pick up the eraser from the ground, Ayase Kotone lowered her head with a look of shame.

"Thanks……"

Shimizu said it was okay, sat back in his chair, and handed the eraser back to Ayase Kotone.

Ayase Kotone stared at the hand that Shimizu Miki stretched out to her. When she saw the setting sun outside the window shining on the arm that handed over the eraser, a familiar scene flashed through her mind.

Immediately afterwards, Ayase Kotone's pupils suddenly shrank, and she looked at Shimizumi with disbelief in her eyes.

"President? What's wrong with you?"

Seeing that Ayase Kotone was looking at him strangely, Shimizu asked worriedly.

Ayase Kotone was stunned for a moment before she came to her senses.

"I'm fine... Um, Shimizu-san..."

"what happened?"

Ayase Kotone took the eraser from Shimizumi's hand and seemed to want to ask something, but her confused brain failed to organize the words, and in the end she just moved her lips, but stopped talking.

"No, it's nothing..."

Shimizu Mi still felt that Ayase Kotone looked a little strange, so he casually put his almost used eraser back into his pencil case.

"By the way, if you don't mind, I have another piece here, I'll give it to you."

There was no sign of use on Ayase Kotone's eraser, perhaps because it had a special meaning to her and she was reluctant to use it. So Shimizu Ken took out another new one from the pencil case and handed it to her as an apology for what had just happened.

"But, this is Shimizu-san's..."

Ayase Kotone took the eraser with some hesitation.

"It's okay, President, keep it. I have a lot at home anyway."

It is conservatively estimated that Shimizu will not be able to use up all the erasers and stationery that Hoshino Akiko bought for him even after he graduates from university.

"President."

"what……"

Ayase Kotone seemed to be thinking about something, and was startled when she found out that Shimizu Ken was calling her.

"President, can I ask you one more thing?"

"What……"

"If I'm not mistaken, the reason why the president took on the position of student council president...isn't it because he wanted him to see you?"

Although there is no problem that Ayase Kotone is qualified for the position of student council president in terms of personal ability, given her unsociable personality, it is hard to imagine that she would take the initiative to compete with others for the position of student council president.

If she becomes the student council president, all the students in the school will know Ayase Kotone, and the boys that Ayase Kotone is looking for will naturally know her as well.

Shimizu Mi felt that Ayase Kotone probably became the student council president because she thought that the other party might recognize her.

After a moment's silence, Shimizu heard Ayase Kotone sighing with a hint of helplessness.

"Shimizu-san really knows everything..."

"But President, it was just a dream, right?"

That’s right, after all, it was just a dream that Ichinose Shiki had.

Is a dream really that credible?
Or in other words, is a dream worth Ayase Kotone doing this?

"Shimizu-san is right. I know this is unlikely, but this is the only clue I know, so even if it is really just a dream, I have no other choice."

"But if that was really just an illusory dream, and the person the president was looking for was not in this school at all, wouldn't I have wasted my three years of high school time in vain?" As Ayase Kotone had said before, she had originally planned to follow her family's advice and continue her studies in a local high school in Fukuoka after graduating from junior high school.

The reason why she came to the current Haichuan College was because that boy appeared on the street near the school.

However, it was just a dream. Not to mention how credible a dream from three years ago is, there are actually many similar sayings in reality that dreams and reality are often opposite.

However, Ayase Kotone still came to Tokyo from Fukuoka with a glimmer of hope.

It can be said that this decision completely changed the trajectory of Ayase Kotone's life and pushed her onto another track.

And she herself probably doesn't even know where this new track will lead to.

In other words, Ayase Kotone is completely gambling with her own life and future.

"That's what Shimizu-san said. We're almost graduating, but we still haven't found one..."

Ayase Kotone gently played with the hair beside her ear, and there was a hint of melancholy in the smile on her lips.

"Shimizu-san must think I'm stupid, right? So I'm sure you'll laugh at me for what I just said."

Ayase Kotone smiled as if at self-mockery, but her eyes gradually became moist unconsciously, and tears swirled in her wet eye sockets, as if they would fall at any time.

Ayase Kotone pursed her lips tightly, trying hard to control the emotions that had been accumulating for a long time and not let them turn into a flood. However, every breath seemed to increase the burden on her eyes, making the crystal tears more shaky.

Her fingers gently stroked the eraser given to her by Qingshuijian, repeating the action unconsciously, as if she was looking for a little comfort, or trying to dispel the haze in her heart.

"...Shimizu-san, did I do something wrong?"

Ayase Kotone pursed her lips tightly. Although she tried hard to maintain her outward calm, her slightly trembling lips revealed the turmoil in her heart.

"Why did the president say that?"

It was the first time that Shimizu Mi saw such an expression on Ayase Kotone's face. The last time he saw her cry was in the previous episode, that night in the hotel. However, Ayase Kotone's mood at this moment was completely different from that night.

"It's been almost three years, and I still haven't found one... New Year's Day is coming in a few months, and after New Year's Day I will have to decide on my future career path. I will graduate soon, and by then..."

Ayase Kotone's voice suddenly stopped.

Three years have passed since she came to this school, but until now Ayase Kotone has not found the other party, and there is not even a new clue. This makes Ayase Kotone feel frustrated and her mood is almost depressed to the extreme.

And once she graduates and leaves the school, even this vague clue will no longer exist.

Because of this, Ayase Kotone began to feel confused about her life.

This unknown track that deviated from the original trajectory was covered with fog, and Ayase Kotone could not see through it.

The doubts about her past choices and the fear of the unknown road ahead were like dense vines, tightly entangling Ayase Kotone and causing her to fall into a painful struggle.

Just when Ayase Kotone felt that perhaps she had made the wrong choice, and perhaps she should not have come to Kaikawa College in the first place, a faint ray of light seemed to penetrate the fog.

"But now it can be completely confirmed."

Shimizumi's voice, like the hum of a gentle breeze, brought Ayase Kotone back to reality from her dark thoughts.

Ayase Kotone raised her head and saw Shimizu smiling gently, which was rare for her. He stretched out his hand towards her and gently placed it on her head.

Ayase Kotone seemed a little frightened, but did not show any resistance.

"Are you sure...what?"

"Of course the president has completely fallen in love with that person. When I asked the president just now, didn't he say that he didn't really know and that he just cared a little? But now that this is the case, can't it be confirmed?"

Shimizumi used his thumb to gently wipe away the tears that were sliding down the corners of Ayase Kotone's eyes.

"I like……"

Ayase Kotone slowly closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest again, feeling her own heart.

After a moment, Ayase Kotone opened her eyes again, and her cheeks were visibly redder than before. Even Shimizumi's fingers could feel the skin on her cheeks becoming hot.

"It's exactly as Shimizu-san said... I like him, I like him very much, I like him the most..."

At this moment, Ayase Kotone looked like a young junior high school girl who was confessed to by the boy she had a crush on. A shy smile appeared on her slightly lowered face.

"But just like Shimizu-san said before... after all, love is really hard."

Ayase Kotone said this with a slightly bitter smile on her face.

Although she said it was difficult, Ayase Kotone looked much better than before.

"I'm sorry, Shimizu-kun, I shouldn't have complained to you about this just now."

Ayase Kotone gradually calmed down and wiped her tears while apologizing to Shimizumi.

"Don't worry about it, President. I was the one who asked this question in the beginning."

As time passed, the setting sun gradually set in the west, and the cool evening breeze began to blow gently into the student union room through the half-open window.

Because Qingshuijian was still wearing a short-sleeved summer outfit, he felt a little cold when the wind blew gently.

"Wait a moment, Shimizu-san. I'll go close the window."

"It's okay, I'll go."

Seeing that this side was closer to the window, Shimizu stood up before Ayase Kotone, walked around the long table and came to the window.

The window of the student union room happened to face west. When Shimizu walked to the window, he was able to appreciate the beautiful sight of the setting sun half setting on the distant horizon, and half of the sky was dyed a light orange-red.

Because he rarely calmed down and carefully observed things like he did now, Qing Shuijian was involuntarily attracted for a moment.

The afterglow of the setting sun shines through the orange-red clouds and falls on Qing Shuijian's face, leaving a light golden shadow.

Ayase Kotone behind her caught a glimpse of this scene. The slightly dazzling sunset outside the window and the backlit figure of the boy under the dazzling sunset made Ayase Kotone feel as if something was stabbed deep in her brain.

"what……"

The familiar scene reappeared in Ayase Kotone's mind.

The setting sun in the sky slowly falls and sinks into the embrace of the mountains, until finally only the last faint afterglow can be seen on the other side of the horizon.

Qingshuijian raised his hand and prepared to close the window.

However, at this moment, Qingshuijian felt a soft pressure from behind.

Qing Shuijian knew what was pressing on his back without even turning around because of the extremely soft and familiar touch.

The next second, two equally slender and soft arms wrapped around his waist, and Ayase Kotone hugged Shimizu tightly from behind.

This sudden act of intimacy shocked Shimizu Ken, and it took him a long time before he remembered to ask Ayase Kotone what was wrong.

At this moment, Ayase Kotone's weak plea was heard from behind.

"Don't go..."

(End of this chapter)