Chapter 114, The Twilight of Youth
Next up is Tuesday.

sunny.

Sunny days are not always good things. For example, there is a physical education class today. At least for Zhuo, it is not a good thing.

The two classes in the morning passed quickly. The class was noisy. The boys were discussing recent national affairs, such as the upcoming launch of the iPhone... while the girls were discussing milk tea, which they loved very much.

Utsunomiya Shuo finally got up from his desk, rubbing his eyes, looking like he had not yet woken up.

"What time is it?" asked Utsunomiya Shuo.

Kanda Tomokazu sat in his seat, glanced at his watch and replied, "There is one minute and thirty seconds left until the next class. You have slept for a total of one hundred and twenty-three minutes since the Chinese class."

Then Kanda took out his cell phone and fiddled with something with great interest.

Zhuo is not surprised.

Although we didn't meet during the spring break, can twenty days really change a person? That damn love.

"How was your spring break?"

Utsunomiya Shuo asked politely, holding his chin with one hand.

“…Yeah, sort of.”

Kanda just glanced up quickly and continued playing with his phone.

It seems like an online romance.

But at this point in time, LINE has not yet been listed.

"Why do you seem to be hesitant to talk? Is there any progress, secret crush?" Zhuo asked.

"What do you mean by secret crush? I said...it's not like that. Nothing happened."

Before the spring break, it was Kanda himself who admitted to him that he had a crush on a girl.

"...Oh?" Zhuo didn't comment.

"Nothing happened."

"If you say so, then take it as it is."

Zhuo did not continue to ask.

Although Kanda is obviously in the stage of declining intelligence in love now, since it is his own business, just let him be.

Utsunomiya Shuo looked around aimlessly.

As always, the girls gathered not far from Kanda, watching for opportunities and ready to interrupt the conversation at any time. Whether it was Kanda's warm smile or the jealous expressions of the boys around him, nothing changed.

The only thing that has changed...is probably that Kanda has become much more enthusiastic.

Zhuo sat on a chair and waited until everyone had left before he slowly went to change into sports clothes with Kiritani Jin and then gathered at the playground.

I bought a cup of iced Coke on the way.

Drink while walking.

"Yo!"

The boy who suddenly blocked his way was wearing glasses. He was Kanda's best friend, and his name was Moritani Kyoka.

Everyone has their own circle of friends.

"Yo!" Ren also raised his hand and greeted in the same way.

Zhuo didn't say anything, but raised his hand to express his opinion.

We are all classmates. Except for Utsunomiya Shuo, all classmates have more or less interactions with each other, so they are not strangers.

Sengu stood beside Kiritani very consciously and pointed towards the edge of the playground.

"Look over there."

Zhuo Heren looked in that direction.

It was at the edge of the playground, on a patch of grass. Kanda Tomokazu, who had changed into his sportswear, was sitting cross-legged, lying on the ground doing something.

very focused.

But it's nothing like him.

"What is he doing?" Ren asked.

"It seems like he is copying the lyrics, and he has copied them many times." Sen Gu pushed his glasses.

"Is he going to memorize the lyrics?" Utsunomiya asked while drinking Coke.

"Yes, and those are all in Chinese." Morigu shrugged and said, "I heard that he signed up for a Chinese class after school, and now he doesn't participate in any club activities." "Chinese class?" Utsunomiya Shuo repeated.

Sengu glanced at him.

"Yes." Sen Gu nodded. "It is said that they are some ancient poems about flower planting and some lyrics of operas. He has been studying these things so hard that he has forgotten to eat and sleep."

"That's good." Utsunomiya Zhuo nodded silently and stopped talking.

Kiritani Jin and Moritani Kyoka also remained silent.

The three of them stood on the playground spectator stand, in a daze.

Then Kiritani Jin looked at Utsunomiya Shuo.

Utsunomiya Shuo was looking at the track on the playground.

The sun was blinding, baking the red plastic surface on the playground, giving off a peculiar smell of roasted plastic.

Hot and stuffy.

There was a circle of students on the playground doing a physical fitness test by running laps, with many girls cheering them on.

Kiritani Jin keenly caught Utsunomiya Shuo's gaze, followed his gaze, and as expected, saw Zero Razumovskaya Romanov running laps on the playground.

Her long golden hair was twisted up behind her head, but some of it was still hanging down, swaying with the inertia of her body. Her white arms swung regularly, and her slender legs contained powerful energy, leaving the second place half a lap behind.

The small figure ran in front.

All the girls passing by were cheering her on.

Among them were two pretty girls, holding two yellow balls of fur. The fur balls were waving with their wheat-colored arms, making jingling sounds like silver bells.

"Romanov! Come on!"

"The Queen is so handsome! Super handsome! I like it!"

"Romanov! Romanov! Aaaaaaaa——"

"Abba, Ababa, Abba..."

Zero has always been so popular.

I heard that there are many girls who want to give birth to a baby for her, but I don’t know if they will succeed.

Kiritani wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the girls sweating on the playground below, and said with emotion: "Youth is great, releasing energy to the fullest."

“You are young now too.”

Utsunomiya Shuo said absentmindedly.

"It is the twilight of youth."

Kiritani Jin revealed the truth in one sentence, and then looked in the direction of Kanda Tomokazu: "That is youth."

Utsunomiya Shuo remained silent.

indeed.

It is now April of my second year of high school. The Golden Week is coming soon, and then it will be summer vacation. After another half a year, I will be in the third year.

The third year of high school is no longer considered youth.

Everyone is preparing for the exam. (Of course, only students who are preparing to enter higher education are included.)
So, enjoy your youth and enjoy love, now is probably the last time.

By the way, Valentine's Day has passed. Japan's White Day is February 2th, and Black Day is April 14th (this day is spring break, and I seriously suspect that the school deliberately arranged it this way).

If you seize the time and find a girlfriend now, you can still enjoy the last Christmas before senior year of high school - for students.

The girls on the playground reached the last lap, and the leading student Ling even had some energy left to sprint.

She doesn't fit in with the other delicate girls.

Zero did not make any unnecessary movements, but just silently quickened his pace and rushed to the finish line. After arriving, he promptly made way for the road and went to the rest area nearby to easily unscrew the water bottle and drink water.

The girl next to her quickly came forward and diligently wiped her sweat... although she was not sweating... someone even patted her on the back.

But Zero dodged them all.

Then someone immediately said that it was too crowded and the Queen didn't like it, so she evacuated the girls.

　Thanks to brother 1750334853648490496 for the monthly ticket.

　　Thanks to brother 20221231130814050 for the monthly ticket.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)