"It's about time to head back, can't interfere with your afternoon date."
After finishing their meal and chatting for a while, Iizuka Takeya leaned back in his chair and stretched, then lightly punched Murakami Yuu's shoulder with his fist.
"Good luck, try to win over Kiso Yukina today."
Murakami Yuu smiled and took a sip of water, his thoughts suddenly drifting far away as he came out with an abrupt question.
"Reita, Takeya, what do you think supports people to survive in this society?"
This inexplicable question from Murakami Yuu left his two close friends stunned.
After exchanging glances, Totsuka Reita was the first to react.
"Why did the topic suddenly extend to something so profound?"
"I just suddenly thought of this question and wanted to hear your thoughts."
"I see... I think everyone's reasons are different, but as for me, Yuu, you know."
Totsuka Reita smiled, making a circle with his left hand and extending his right index finger, repeatedly thrusting it in and out.
Murakami Yuu twitched the corner of his mouth and held his forehead with his hand.
"For some reason I feel a bit sad. If it really doesn't work out, let's find someone for Reita in Kabukicho. What do you think, Takeya?"
"I've considered that decision and actually tried to implement it, but when we really got there, a certain someone got scared..."
Iizuka Takeya also glanced at Totsuka Reita and answered calmly.
"All talk, no action... Well, there's nothing we can do about that, just keep enduring..."
Murakami Yuu also looked at Totsuka Reita with considerable speechlessness.
Totsuka Reita used the excuse of going to the restroom to escape his friends' contemptuous gazes.
"Yuu, why ask that kind of question?"
Iizuka Takeya's face showed no particular expression, making him seem somewhat serious.
"Maybe because I lack the motivation to move forward."
Murakami Yuu answered casually.
"There should be plenty of that kind of thing. I can tell you more than ten right now - getting into a good university, having a girlfriend with great conditions, having a job with excellent salary and benefits..."
"It's different."
Murakami Yuu shook his head.
"Sorry, don't pay special attention to this question. I was just saying it casually. Let me go pay the bill first."
Iizuka Takeya frowned as he watched his retreating figure, his thoughts racing for a moment.
...
Smart men are always good at getting clues from subtle details and then deducing the answers they want from them.
Although Murakami Yuu had arrived at the meeting point half an hour early, he still wasn't as early as Kiso Yukina.
From a distance, he saw Kiso Yukina talking with a man in a beige suit. By the time he approached, the suited man had already walked away.
"Talent scout?"
"Eh? How did Murakami-kun know?"
"I just saw him hand you a business card before leaving, then quickly approached another girl to chat her up, so I randomly guessed. Looks like my luck was good - I guessed right."
"You could guess correctly just from that?"
"Mm, you don't need to look at me with such admiring eyes, it'll make me proud."
Looking at the girl in front of him who had obviously dressed up carefully, Murakami Yuu smiled slightly.
"Yukina, you look very beautiful today."
Kiso Yukina was stunned for a moment, then bashfulness spread to her ears, her crystal-clear earlobes turning red in the sunlight like freshly ripened translucent pomegranate seeds.
...
The two walked side by side on the sidewalk, moving between sunlight and tree shadows.
Murakami Yuu walked on the side closer to the road, always maintaining a subtle distance of about a fist's width between them.
Murakami Yuu could smell the fragrance coming from Kiso Yukina - a light, gentle and soothing scent mixed with jasmine and lemon.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered a passage he had read in some book.
Women who like rose fragrance have passionate, fiery hearts that are straightforward, yearning for intimacy with their beloved, focusing on the exhilarating process of union.
Women who like honeysuckle fragrance have tender hearts that haven't lost their romantic poetry, yearning for encounters different from the ordinary, focusing on romantic fairy-tale developments.
Women who like jasmine fragrance have fresh, elegant hearts that are ordinary yet not delicate, yearning for heart-to-heart connections, focusing on abundant spiritual communication.
Murakami Yuu felt these words might have some truth to them, because judging from the current situation, Kiso Yukina, who had the scent of jasmine perfume on her, displayed characteristics and personality in certain aspects that quite matched what he had just thought about jasmine.
"What is Murakami-kun thinking about so intently?"
"Thinking about floral fragrances."
"Floral fragrances?"
Kiso Yukina tilted her head and gently sniffed with her small nose, trying to capture the transparent fragrance floating in the air, but found nothing.
Where was any floral fragrance?
She turned back with a puzzled look, and after seeing Murakami Yuu's teasing expression as he gazed at her, she blushed and belatedly realized what he meant.
She felt that Murakami-kun seemed a bit more proactive today...
Kiso Yukina clasped her hands behind her back and secretly observed the person beside her.
Today he was surprisingly wearing a shirt in warm tones, a light khaki similar to natural wood furniture, which complemented his cool white skin tone perfectly and looked especially good.
Before this, Kiso Yukina had rarely seen Murakami Yuu with this kind of clothing style.
Not to mention the school uniform, even on rest days Murakami Yuu usually just wore minimalist black and white combinations, appearing cool and distant.
Could she be a little presumptuous and think that Murakami-kun dressed this way because he was in a good mood about going out on a date with her?
Kiso Yukina slowly cupped her face with both hands.
Getting her cheeks heated from her own imagined thoughts - how silly of her.
They were going to be alone together in a karaoke room next, she couldn't be like this!
She lightly patted her face with her hands.
"What's wrong?"
Murakami Yuu beside her noticed.
A young girl's feelings are naturally unpredictable with jumping thoughts, so it was normal that he couldn't read her mind.
"No... nothing, I just feel the weather is a bit hot."
Kiso Yukina reacted quickly, hurriedly adjusting her hand movements after hearing the inquiry, changing to fanning herself near her face.
Her slender fingers moved up and down at the joints, as pleasing to the eye as a beautiful butterfly flapping its wings.
"Oh, I see."
Perhaps her reaction and movements made Murakami Yuu aware of something. This response carried laughter in its tone, but he didn't say anything more.
They happened to pass by an ice cream shop.
"As a return gift for Yukina treating me to karaoke, let me treat you to ice cream."
"Okay."
Kiso Yukina showed a sweet smile without refusing, obediently following Murakami Yuu into the shop.
When they walked out of the shop door, each holding an ice cream cone, they encountered unexpected people.
A beautiful girl with long black hair and a quiet, refined boy.
Touma Kazusa, and Kitahara Haruki.
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