During lunch break, Eriri said goodbye to her classmates and walked upstairs by herself.
If she wanted to find Utaha Kasumigaoka during lunchtime, the first place that came to mind was definitely the rooftop.
It was as if Utaha Kasumigaoka treated that place as her kingdom.
Utaha Kasumigaoka, who treated that place as her territory, usually spent her lunch hour there quietly.
Pushing open the rooftop door, she saw Utaha Kasumigaoka sitting there reading a book. Eriri thought to herself, 'Just as expected.' She walked forward and said, "The exam is coming up, but you're not tense at all."
Even though the college entrance exam countdown had begun, a tense atmosphere permeated both the second and third years.
The second year was tense because they only had one year left, and the third year was tense because the entrance exam was truly imminent.
Only Utaha Kasumigaoka, the top student in the third year, was not tense at all right now.
"It's just the Center Exam. Although I will participate, the Waseda University entrance exam and interview are the most important."
Utaha Kasumigaoka replied lightly, making it seem like she didn't care about such things.
Although the recruitment methods for national/public and private Universities are different, most people who intend to go to University will participate in the Center Exam.
That is the most formal exam after the year's mock exams. Based on the final unified exam results, most people will know which Universities they can apply for.
Early applications are made, and then final adjustments are made based on the final results of the unified exam.
Utaha Kasumigaoka would participate in the unified exam.
"You really don't worry about anything, whether it's the exam or Machida-san."
Eriri looked at Utaha Kasumigaoka helplessly.
After the New Year's Day gathering, the memory was still fresh in Eriri's mind.
"Did you talk to Machida-san properly?!"
Eriri asked.
Even she could see how awkward Sonoko Machida's situation was at the time. It was impossible for Utaha Kasumigaoka not to understand, right?
Moreover, they clearly had no private agreement with Akane Hongzaka. As long as it was explained clearly, the misunderstanding would be gone, right?
In Eriri's eyes, Utaha Kasumigaoka had gone a bit too far.
"Are you very concerned about Machida-san? Aren't you more concerned about the girl next to Aki? They call each other by their first names so intimately."
Utaha Kasumigaoka looked up in confusion, looking at Eriri with a slight disdain.
More than caring about Sonoko Machida's situation, Utaha Kasumigaoka felt that Eriri was concerned about Michiru Hyodo's identity.
"Tomoya Aki's cousin, born on the same day in the same hospital, childhood friend! After New Year's Day, I asked him myself. What about it?"
Eriri looked at Utaha Kasumigaoka with a normal expression.
Under her full attention, the fleeting surprise in Utaha Kasumigaoka's eyes was immediately caught by her.
"I am indeed quite envious, and then? Utaha Kasumigaoka, have you seriously thought about our work? The fatal flaw mentioned by Akane Hongzaka, the fatal flaw mentioned by Machida-san, you've ignored them all, haven't you? Especially Machida-san, seeing her like that, without any dignity, can you really bear it! I hate this! She's clearly a good editor, why does she have to accommodate you again and again without any dignity?"
Eriri hated this kind of privilege, even though this privilege was even more severe in her own case.
Precisely because she was born with privilege, after understanding this, Eriri saw the same thing in Akane Hongzaka. She also belonged to those who had privilege.
"What are you saying to me?"
"I hate the current you. There's nothing wrong with being a creator who refuses to be swayed, but you're so extreme now!"
Just like that Akane Hongzaka, wrapping her work layer by layer. Putting the two of them together, Eriri felt as if she was seeing the same person, someone who could overlap.
Is being so extreme really okay?
"Tomoya Aki even said you were much better than me. Now it seems he was thinking too much, it's ridiculous! Goodbye!"
Eriri left this sentence somewhat agitatedly, turned around, and left the rooftop directly.
Utaha Kasumigaoka looked expressionlessly at the closed rooftop door, her eyes as still as if locked.
Eriri, who left the rooftop, became more and more angry the more she thought about it, muttering something constantly, and walked directly to the library.
In the quiet library, the library committee members had become new students. Masumi Sakaguchi, a third-year student, had resigned as a library committee member after the start of the term.
And in the library, there were many more students after the start of the third semester.
Eriri searched in the library and finally targeted Tomoya Aki's location and walked over quickly.
"Do you have time, Tomoya Aki?"
Eriri came in front of Tomoya Aki, with a troubled expression on her face. She needed someone to help guide her or think of a solution for her right now.
After New Year's Day, Eriri was not happy.
"Huh?"
Tomoya Aki was completely bewildered, surprised that Eriri was actively seeking him out and talking to him in front of everyone. At this moment, he was enduring the suspicious and uncertain gaze from his friend Yoshihiko Kamigō.
Megumi Kato was much calmer. She had already noticed the relationship between the school's three celebrities last year.
However, it was still quite surprising that Eriri would actively come to talk to Tomoya Aki at this time and call him by his first name.
"Not free?"
Eriri looked at the Tokyo University Red Book in Tomoya Aki's hand and sighed at this moment.
Around this time next year, the other party would also be taking the exam.
"No, how about we go somewhere else?"
Tomoya Aki packed his things and did not refuse Eriri, but suggested they go somewhere else.
Regardless of how many people were in the library, it was clearly not a place to talk about things.
Her actively seeking him out at school, with such a troubled expression, also made Tomoya Aki quite curious about what she had encountered.
Ignoring Yoshihiko Kamigō's gaze that seemed to say, "Explain it quickly, you idiot!", Tomoya Aki gave a slight apologetic gesture to him and Megumi Kato, and then left the library with Eriri.
The entire library was incredibly quiet. The library, which was originally filled with a tense studying atmosphere, gradually became filled with the scent of gossip.
Seeing such explosive news in the first week of the New Year was a bit too exciting for them.
"When did they hook up, and they're even on a first-name basis! Kato-san, aren't you surprised?!"
Yoshihiko Kamigō held his head and exclaimed loudly, almost shouting out the thoughts of everyone in the library.
He stared in shock at the backs of the two, while in stark contrast was Megumi Kato.
Ignoring everything around her, focused only on her studies!
"Instead of gossiping, Kamigō-san, it's more realistic to think about the mock exam in a few months."
"Ah, I'm dead!"
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