"Alright?" Akiko repeated the word, "Does 'alright' mean comfortable or just okay? Isn't he supposed to be awesome?"

"How do you know if the boy is awesome or not?" Miyazaki Mieko asked, puzzled.

Xiaoquan Aonai also looked up quizzically, her eyes on Akiko.

"Jiutiao Meijie said so." Akiko looked at the two of them with a 'how could you not remember' expression.

"When?" Miyazaki Mieko asked curiously.

"Was it the school trip or the winter camp? I think it was the winter camp because I remember it was mentioned under the kotatsu." Akiko said.

"Now that you mention it, I think there was something like that," Xiaoquan Aonai said with a reminiscent look on her face.

"How did you guys end up talking about this with a student?" Miyazaki Mieko was even more curious.

"At the time, Dubian was hiding... I'll tell you more tonight!" Akiko then stared directly at Xiaoquan Aonai, "So, is it comfortable or not?"

"Why do you have to ask that?" Xiaoquan Aonai was both shy and helpless.

"I just want to know!" Akiko tugged at Xiaoquan Aonai's sleeve, imitating Dubian Che, "Miss Aonai, please tell me."

Xiaoquan Aonai poured the onions Miyazaki Mieko had stir-fried into the minced meat, ready to continue mixing, but Akiko kept tugging at her sleeve, making it hard for her to put any strength into it.

"Aonai~ Nana~"

"Alright, alright," Xiaoquan Aonai gave in.

"Come on, tell me."

Xiaoquan Aonai sighed, took a deep breath, but the sound she finally let out was very soft: "Com... comfortable."

"How comfortable?"

"Do I really have to say that too?"

"Come on, I'm curious!"

"If you're curious, why not get yourself a boyfriend?" Miyazaki Mieko said casually, "Or try a showerhead or an electric toothbrush when bathing at night."

"Showerhead? Electric toothbrush?" Akiko realized and stuttered again, "You, you, you pervert!"

"As a doctor, understanding what's stimulating to the human body is quite normal, isn't it?" Miyazaki Mieko said matter-of-factly.

"Is that... normal?" Xiaoquan Aonai asked hesitantly.

"Of course, it's normal," Miyazaki Mieko answered, "What's next?"

"Grill some asparagus and wash a few tomatoes."

"Aonai," Akiko lowered her voice again, "Does it hurt?"

"Do I have to say that too?" Xiaoquan Aonai's voice was filled with despair.

Just as the hamburger steak was about to be done, Mayi Asuka finished her evening oboe practice and came downstairs, and Dubian Che had just returned.

"Why did you get back so late?" Xiaoquan Aonai took Dubian Che's backpack.

"Got on the wrong train," Dubian Che changed into slippers, "I was trying to go to Ikebukuro, but ended up at Oiwake Station."

"Oiwake Station? What were you doing there?"

"I also want to know what I was doing there," Dubian Che laughed.

Xiaoquan Aonai laughed along and didn't ask more: "We're having hamburger steak today, it's almost ready."

"I'll have two pieces."

"There's only one piece per person, should I give you mine?"

"We can share two pieces together."

"Isn't that still one piece each?"

"No, it's different."

Entering the living room, Dubian Che didn't get to look at Mayi Asuka before noticing Akiko giving him a thumbs up.

'Hmm?' Dubian Che was puzzled, and he also gave her a thumbs up in return.

"You two," Xiaoquan Aonai lightly patted Dubian Che's back.

"Why only hit me?" Dubian Che protested.

"It's because we're close that I hit you," Xiaoquan Aonai said with a smile, "This is my first time being an adult, you know."

"...Miss Aonai, are you also a sadist?"

"What sadist?"

"Nothing."

That night, Dubian Che slept alone for the first time in ages.

Lying on a bed big enough for six people, he kept thinking about the scene on the train with Kiyono Lin.

"Because you remember the past, I've decided to take a step towards the future."

What on earth did that sentence mean?

Was she planning to compete more intensely alongside Jiutiao Meijie and the others? Or was it...

Various possibilities swirled in his mind, growing murkier the more he pondered.

Dubian Che closed his eyes, clearing his mind, and drifted back to his memories on the train heading toward the "Shinbashi District."

Kiyono Lin rested her forehead on his chest again, as he held her through his uniform and shirt, her ethereal voice, her faint fragrance, and her slender waistline.

How should I convey my feelings?

Will she accept them if I say it out loud?

Will that distant dream ever come true?

No, it must come true.

Dubian Che remembers every word Kiyono Lin ever said: "The world doesn't compromise for gentle people."

No matter what others say, no matter how the world sees it, he must make them be together.

He will never show weakness to anyone, never compromise with any worldly rules.

He must become a demon, become a real man, only then can he embrace Kiyono Lin without restraint and love her with all his might.

Cast aside all doubts and anxieties to say to her: "Please be with me."

Running along the green-lined streets of Shibuya, on a rainy afternoon in Karuizawa, shouting to everyone in the narrow alleys of Shimokitazawa:

"She is my lover! No one can stop us!"

'Lin, what are you doing now?'

◇

At one in the morning, still unable to sleep.

Entering autumn, the clouds at night are fewer, and the moonlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows is brighter than usual.

Kiyono Lin sits on the single sofa in the bedroom, with her legs curled up, gazing out the window.

In a spot so dark that even moonlight can't penetrate, is where Dubian Che used to live.

Ever since she got a DSLR camera, before Dubian Che moved out, she once accidentally saw his blurred figure studying by the window through her camera.

'R-san.'

'Dora A Lin.'

'God Kiyono.'

Sweet yet lonely nicknames.

She would scold him, and he would retort without reservation, like lovers bickering.

When she threatens him, he would dramatically plead, "Miss Kiyono? Classmate Kiyono? Kiyono? Lin? Lin-chan?"

She liked his arrogant retorts;

Liked how he would be at a loss when caught, needing her favor;

Liked how he smugly explained the cause of the rainy season as if he knew it all;

Loved how he would deliberately make her angry and then find a way to make her laugh—just to see her smile;

Loved how every word he spoke was never the honest truth.

The time spent together felt like sunlight filtering through leaves, the clumsy practice sounds of the Wind Instrument Club intermittently coming through the window.

Hugging her knees, closing her eyes, it seemed like she was back in the train car.

The Marunouchi Line swaying gently, heading away from Ikebukuro Station, her body swaying along, in Dubian Che's embrace, the distance between them fluctuating close and far.

Even though she was already in his arms, why did the distance still vary?

If either of them tried harder, if Dubian Che held her tighter, or if she proactively embraced his waist, the train's sway wouldn't matter.

Was it because the direction was reversed?

If it were a train bound for Ikebukuro Station, would they always be able to maintain the closest distance?

If they went to Ikebukuro Station, wouldn't he not go to Ochazuke?

Wouldn't he not pretend to date Jiutiao Meijie to appease his parents, and wouldn't a series of subsequent events not occur?

'I hate sharing you with others.'

'But I need you.'

'If not for you, if not for you, the world has no meaning for me.'

Is there any way for us to be together, Mr. Dubian?

You made Jiutiao Meijie fall in love with you, made her allow Mayi Asuka and Xiaoquan Aonai to be your lovers, made peace between Jiutiao Meijie and me. Surely, you can find a way for us too, right?

Among the three of us, you are the smartest, the most cunning.

I still remember when you tricked me in Karuizawa, convincing me to willingly perform in the Cultural Festival drama.

So, hurry and think of a way.

Even if it's a deception, I can pretend I didn't notice.

Soft, silky hair slipped from behind Kiyono Lin's ear.

End this game of hide and seek that's so close yet out of reach, catch me quickly.

When that day comes, will you call me Lin?

If you take the initiative to say it, I will allow it.

And when that day comes, I will call you Che.

... I want to be with you.

"Mr. Dubian, what are you thinking about now?"