Chapter 290 Why is it so big?
In the following days, Amamiya Iori had been preparing his campaign speech for the student council president very seriously.

Seeing Amemiya Iori working so hard, Shimizu Mi was naturally happy.

And just like that, the weekend arrived.

On Saturday, Qingshui Jian returned to Xia Lin's bar again.

As night falls, the outline of the city gradually softens in the night, as if gently covered by a layer of veil.

Since Xia Lin took a flight abroad to handle business two days ago, Qingshui Jian was entrusted to help her manage the bar for a period of time.

However, because there is a considerable salary to be earned, Shimizu Mi doesn't mind it.

After arriving at the bar, Shimizu went to the locker room at the innermost end of the bar, ready to change into his work uniform, and the door of the staff locker room was just gently pushed open from the inside.

"Ah, thank you for your hard work!"

As soon as she saw Shimizu, the person who greeted him with a cheerful voice was another waitress senior in the bar, Utsunomiya-senpai.

The ponytail that swings like a dog's tail and the healthy smile show her good character.

"Utsunomiya-senpai, you're here so early again."

"Yeah, but it's nothing, I'm just doing what I should do~"

Senior Utsunomiya is a freshman this year and is two years older than Shimizu. However, her time working at this bar is several times longer than his, making her an absolute senior clerk.

Afterwards, Shimizu Mi learned from senior Utsunomiya that Ichinose Shiki had taken a leave of absence today, but she didn't know the reason.

To be honest, Ichinose Shiki is a high school student like Shimizu Ken. Even though she might be busy with school on weekdays, she should still be able to find time on Saturdays, so Shimizu Ken is also puzzled by this.

But no matter what, it looks like they are the only two people on duty at the bar tonight.

Shimizu thought that today would be boring like usual, but in fact, at the same time, some interesting things were happening not far downstairs in the bar.

Today is a relatively cool day, but Ayase Kotone never likes to go out on weekends, especially at night.

But because of the phone call a few days ago, Ayase Kotone made an appointment with someone to meet at a shopping mall near the city center today.

Although she was just going to meet a girl of her own age, Ayase Kotone was so nervous that she put on some light makeup and dressed up before going out.

Because I rarely wear makeup at school, I start to worry if I look a little weird when I go out.

Full of worries and anxieties, Ayase Kotone got off the station and walked a short distance, then saw the entrance to the mall where they had agreed to meet today on the left side of the pedestrian street.

This shopping mall is a place where crowds of people gather on weekend nights. For many years, this area has been a place for leisure and entertainment. I heard that this place used to be a large maze, and later it was converted into an indoor ski resort for a period of time.

But now the ski resort has disappeared, and these things happened before Ayase Kotone came to Tokyo.

Ayase Kotone took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

After adjusting her mood, Ayase Kotone walked into the mall.

Because we agreed to meet at a restaurant on the first floor, and that restaurant happened to be right next to the first store at the entrance of the pedestrian street, so after entering the mall, we just needed to turn right and the restaurant for the meeting would come into view.

When I opened the store door, the wind chimes at the door rang, and the waitress at the front desk said "Welcome".

Ayase Kotone nodded slightly to the other party, then glanced around the store and continued walking inside.

The restaurant was elegant in style and relatively small in size. Ayase Kotone reached the end after just two steps.

However, looking around the store, there were only a few office workers typing on their laptops and two or three couples out on dates sitting everywhere, but there was no sign of the familiar figure.

Ayase Kotone searched the store several times, and finally felt a hint of imperceptible disappointment.

Is it that the other party hasn’t arrived yet?
However, on the way here, the train I took was unexpectedly delayed by ten minutes, and now it has been several minutes since the agreed time.

Could it be that I came to the wrong place?

Ayase Kotone took out her cell phone from her pocket, but the photo that the other party sent her showed this store.

Just when Ayase Kotone was wondering if she had made a mistake in the date, another photo appeared on the text message screen on her mobile phone.

The scene in the photo seems familiar. It is in an elegant restaurant. There is a girl with her back to the camera, checking her mobile phone.

The girl had the same red shoulder bag as Ayase Kotone slung over her shoulder and was wearing the same clothes as her.

This is understandable because the girl in the photo is Ayase Kotone herself.

Ayase Kotone, filled with surprise and certainty, slowly turned her head to look.

She was standing about three steps behind him.

He smiled as if he had succeeded in a prank.

"Hey, long time no see, Xiao Qinyin."

The girl who appeared in front of her and waved her hand gently made Ayase Kotone feel uneasy for a moment.

The girl is about the same age as Ayase Kotone. She is wearing a white dress with lace and a white sleeveless vest on the outside. The overall look gives her a cool and fashionable impression.

In terms of height, the other party is slightly shorter than Ayase Kotone, but has a very outstanding appearance. That delicate and small face like a princess has lost a lot of childishness compared to the impression Ayase Kotone had at first.

However, that beautiful sky-blue hair like glass is still as dazzling as before.

That's right, there is only one person in the world who would call her Kotone-chan in such a light voice with a smile on her face - Ichinose Shiki.

"…Okay, long time no see."

She thought she had adjusted her mood outside the mall, but after seeing the other person in person after a long time, Ayase Kotone stood there in a daze for several seconds before she could barely squeeze out a sound from her throat.

"What? Your expression is so stiff. Are you so disappointed to see me?"

"No, no..."

Ayase Kotone hurriedly waved her hands in front of her to explain, which made Ichinose Shiki laugh.

"But it's been so long since we last met, and Qinyin has grown up. It seems a little inappropriate to call you that now."

"Eh?"

Ayase Kotone didn't quite understand what she meant, but she could feel that the other person's eyes were staring at a certain part in front of her very blatantly.

"It's only been a few years since we last met, but I didn't expect that little Qinyin has grown so big."

Ichinose Shiki was surprised and while reciting the English alphabet "A, B, C, D...", she couldn't help but exclaimed "It's so big..."

"You, what are you talking about?!"

Ayase Kotone quickly covered her chest.

"But I'm really curious, what have you been eating recently, Xiao Qinyin? You know, we used to be of similar levels, but I didn't expect you to sneak away so much by yourself."

Ichinose Shiki couldn't help but take another look at Ayase Kotone's lush mountains, which had more than doubled in size compared to when she was in junior high school.

"Just... just normal food, same as before."

"It's the same as before, it's still caramel crepe, is that okay? I heard that this shop's food is pretty good." Ichinose Shiki took Ayase Kotone to sit near the glass window and picked up the menu on the table.

Ayase Kotone pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her, nodding: "I'm fine with anything."

After both of them had made their decision, Ichinose Shiki called the waiter over to take their order.

Seeing Ichinose Shiki openly asking the waiter to come over and place the order, Ayase Kotone couldn't help but feel a little envious of this attitude.

Afterwards, Ichinose Shiki ordered a few more dishes. Although they were dishes, most of them were desserts, so within a few minutes, the waiter brought all the ordered food to the table.

"I'm sorry to ask you out at this time."

"No, I just don't have time."

Although they could have arranged to meet after school, due to her work in the student union, Ayase Kotone only had enough time on weekends.

"It doesn't matter. After all, Kotone-chan is now the student council president."

"Huh? How do you know?"

"Who knows."

Ichinose Shiki picked up a small piece of cake on the table and ate it, smiling.

Ayase Kotone frowned slightly and asked in confusion: "Have you ever been to our school?"

If Ichinose Shiki had been to their school, it would not be surprising that she knew that Ayase Kotone was the student council president, but Ichinose Shiki shook her head.

"No, if I had been to Kotone's school, wouldn't I have come to find you a long time ago?"

Ichinose Shiki still kept a smile on her face: "By the way, Kotone's hair has become shorter."

Looking at Ayase Kotone's medium-length black hair that almost reached her shoulders, although it was not very obvious, it was indeed cut shorter than before.

"Actually, I prefer the way you used to have pigtails."

Ichinose Shiki brushed the azure hair away from her ears and reached across the table to gently touch Ayase Kotone's hair.

"Um...Shiki."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

There was a hint of curiosity in Ichinose Shiki's eyes.

Ayase Kotone hesitated for a moment, her lips moved slightly, but she seemed unable to speak: "That's right, didn't you say you already knew..."

Hearing this, Ichinose Shiki paused unconsciously and slowly withdrew his hand from Ayase Kotone's hair.

"After not seeing you for so long, Qinyin-chan is still thinking about 'him' first, right?"

"No, it's not like that."

"Isn't it?"

Facing Ichinose Shiki's question, Ayase Kotone hesitated for a moment, and finally lowered her head: "I'm sorry..."

"Didn't I tell you that you don't need to apologize to me, Xiao Qinyin? You just made the decision you wanted at that time."

"but I……"

Ayase Kotone was about to speak, but was interrupted by Ichinose Shiki's gentle voice.

"Xiao Qinyin, do you remember? We promised each other that after graduating from junior high school, we would go to high school together in Fukuoka. But after I told you about the dream that day, Xiao Qinyin changed her mind and chose to go to Tokyo."

At the beginning, after learning that Ichinose Shiki had a dream about a car accident, Ayase Kotone chose to come to Tokyo because of a tiny possibility.

"Sorry……"

"So didn't I tell you that you don't have to apologize to me, Xiao Qinyin? After all, I didn't keep my promise myself."

"Eh?!"

Ayase Kotone couldn't help but look up in surprise.

"Actually, after that, I attended high school in Fukuoka for a short time, and then returned to Kyoto with my parents to live and go to school there. So if Kotone had kept her promise and gone to school with me in Fukuoka, wouldn't that mean I'd have abandoned you there?"

Although Ichinose Shiki spoke in a relaxed tone and smiled nonchalantly, Ayase Kotone still found it hard to let it go in her heart and her guilt did not diminish in the slightest.

"So after all this time, have you found Xiao Qinyin now? The boy you've been looking for."

Ayase Kotone pursed her lips lightly, looking a little weak.

"It's just as I thought. Qinyin is really too slow in this regard."

"..."

Ayase Kotone did not respond, but just lowered her head silently.

"But it doesn't matter, because I already know it."

"Really, really?"

"Of course it's true, and it's exactly as you guessed, right in your school."

Hearing what Ichinose Shiki said, Ayase Kotone's voice couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"Yes, who is it..."

Staring into Ichinose Shiki's eyes, Ayase Kotone quietly waited for the answer.

"Although I can tell you directly, but before that, I think Xiao Qinyin should have her own answer in her heart, right?"

"In my heart?"

"Has it been so long, Xiao Qinyin really not noticed anything at all?"

"..."

Although Ayase Kotone had indeed gained nothing before, just recently, the figure of a certain person did appear in her heart as Ichinose Shiki said.

Although I'm not sure, whenever I think of that person, my heart starts beating faster than ever before... just like it is right now.

Ayase Kotone could hardly bear such a pounding heart, and turned her head slightly to look at the pedestrian street outside the window.

Unlike the sunlight during the day, the moonlight is not dazzling at all. The neon lights on the street are dreamy and hazy, interweaving in front of the eyes.

Looking at the colorful neon lights reflected on the glass windows, for some reason, the vague outline of Shimizu seemed to appear in front of Ayase Kotone.

As incredible as a dream, the sudden appearance of Shimizu Miki made Ayase Kotone's heartbeat accelerate involuntarily again.

It was several seconds later that Ayase Kotone realized that what she saw was not an illusion.

Qing Shuijian's figure definitely appeared on the other side of the glass window...

(End of this chapter)