"Welcome, Sawamura-san, come in quickly, I'll help you make tea~"
At nine o'clock in the morning the next day, Erili came to Hasumi Kanoko's appointment with an uneasy mood.
In the living room of the apartment, Shi Yu was sitting on the sofa with her arms folded, exuding an aura of indifference that would repel people thousands of miles away.
'Wow... this person is in a really bad mood...'
While she was thinking this, she walked up reluctantly and sat down at a distance between the two of them.
"...Yo, good morning."
"morning."
Shiyu replied simply with one word, then raised his wrist to look at the time and nodded lightly.
"You're not late, Sawamura, and you're thirty minutes ahead of the scheduled time. That's amazing."
"Huh? Didn't you tell me to come here on time? What are you talking about now..."
"Anyway, there's still some time before we start. Please explain what happened with Yu-chan first. Let me see... just start from where we last chatted?"
"Hey! Why do I have to tell you this? And what's with your condescending attitude!"
Yinglili couldn't help but choked, while Shiyu continued unmoved.
"Now that we have accepted our alliance, it is natural to share information. As for my attitude, I have always been like this. It is not the first day you have met me."
"Well……"
"Sorry to disturb you~ Black tea, please."
At this time, Hasumi Kanoko came over with a tray, placed two cups of black tea in front of them, and then sat down on the single sofa.
Yinglili glanced at the two of them separately, knowing that she could not escape this disaster no matter what, so she couldn't help but droop her shoulders.
"...I understand, can I just tell you?"
She sighed helplessly and told the story between herself and Kato Yusuke, but she concealed the details that she was too embarrassed to tell.
But after all, she was not good at hiding, and the two people present were both smart, so she understood everything just from her unnatural reaction.
Hasumi Kanoko didn't express anything about this, she just smiled and listened.
In contrast, Shiyu's mood seemed very anxious, and her legs crossed together were shaking like a beat.
"...I see, it seems like you've had a very good life these past two days. You must have had a great time being coquettish to Yu-chan, right?" She said in a tone without any emotion.
Ying Lili curled her lips, not wanting to respond.
So Shiyu said again: "Well, now that this matter is over, it is the trial's turn next."
"What--??"
Ying Lili was startled, "Wait a minute! What does the trial mean? Haven't I already explained everything clearly? What else do you want?"
"How is it? Didn't I tell you yesterday that there is something important to discuss? That is the trial." Shiyu said calmly.
"No, I'm not a prisoner, don't go too far!" Ying Lili said as she backed away warily, huddled in the corner of the sofa, waiting for an opportunity to escape from here.
She was sitting just close to the door, so she should have been able to escape before the two of them reacted. It was a blessing in misfortune, and it made her feel a little more secure.
Thinking like this, her body was ready to go. If Shiyu had any evil intentions, she would run away.
Hasumi Kanoko on the side sighed.
"Oh, Xiaoshi is really mean-spirited in this regard. Sawamura-san, the trial she mentioned about Xiaoshi is not aimed at you, right?"
"Huh——? It's not me...?"
"Yeah, so you don't have to worry, and the word "trial meeting" is not appropriate enough. I personally think it is better to use "tea party" to describe it."
As soon as the words fell——
Ding Dong~
Suddenly, a melodious doorbell sounded from the entrance.
"Ah! It seems that the real owner is here too. I'll open the door." Kanoko Hasumi said as she got up and went to the entrance to open the door.
Ying Lili looked around, but Shi Yu next to her suddenly said something.
"Listen, Sawamura, it doesn't matter if you don't say anything later, just remember your position."
"Eh?"
The tone was inexplicably serious, making Ying Lili stunned.
Before she could think more, this conversation came from behind——
"Good morning, Kato-san, welcome. Thank you for your hard work on the road."
"Well, good morning, Hasumi-sensei, I'm sorry I'm late, the train was a little delayed."
"Don't say that, please come in~"
"Okay, excuse me. In addition, I bought a cake roll. If you don't mind, please accept it."
"Ah! I've asked you to worry about it. You go sit down and I'll pour you some tea~
Then, Hasumi Kanoko and the visitor entered the living room one after another.
"benefit--?"
After seeing the person clearly, Yinglili said subconsciously, and the other party nodded slightly in response.
"Ah~ Long time no see, Ying Lili. I've seen your original painting. It's really amazing. Congratulations on your successful breakthrough."
"Huh? Ah, um, thank you..."
"You're welcome~"
Hui smiled and glanced around the coffee table. In the end, he did not choose the sofa. Instead, he sat down on the carpet opposite the coffee table and greeted the other person at the same time.
"Um...good morning, Kasumigaoka-senpai, thank you for inviting me to the tea party."
Shiyu raised his eyelids and said indifferently: "No need. Rather, I want to thank you for your honor."
"Well~~ It's the winter vacation anyway, and I don't have any plans. It would be nice to get together with everyone in private like this."
"Oh? I thought you wouldn't care about invitations from unknown people like us except Yu-chan."
"Um... why do Kasumigaoka-senpai think so? I have no intention of being rude at all. Besides, compared to everyone else, I am the most inconspicuous one in the studio, right?"
Hui said in her usual indifferent tone, took off her casual jacket, folded it and put it aside.
Shiyu raised the corners of her lips sarcastically, "Really? Then can I ask, Kato-san what did you do last weekend?"
"last weekend?"
Hui raised her hand to straighten her medium-long hair, pushed it behind her shoulders, and replied calmly:
"Well...it's nothing special, I just went out to play."
Shiyu chased her fiercely, "Then where did you go? How long have you been there? And who did you go with?"
Faced with this aggressive attitude, Hui frowned slightly and asked back in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.
"About this, I don't seem to have any obligation to reveal my private life to Kasumigaoka-senpai, right?"
"What? Are you feeling guilty? Don't you dare to say anything?"
"To be precise, I'm just exercising my right to privacy and don't want to talk about it."
"Oh, do you think no one will know if you don't tell me? Kato-san."
"To be honest, I don't quite understand what Kasumigaoka-senpai wants to say. You might as well explain it more clearly."
The two of them were tit for tat, and the original relaxed atmosphere was gone.
At the same time, Hasumi Kanoko also came from the kitchen.
"Okay, okay, let's eat some cake first. Also, Kato-san, this is your black tea."
As she spoke, she placed the cut cake in front of the three of them, then returned to the single sofa and reminded:
"Anyway, don't quarrel. If you have anything to say, just talk it over. This is the purpose of today's tea party."
So Shiyu and Hui didn't want to continue arguing, so they both picked up black tea and drank it.
Yinglili watched their interaction in confusion and couldn't help but interrupt the conversation.
"No, your conversation is so confusing. I want someone to explain it to me! What is this tea party going to discuss? Why is Hui also here? Have you already discussed this kind of thing??"
"Ah, so we haven't said anything to Sawamura-san yet."
Hasashi saw Kanoko clasping her hands apologetically.
"Sorry, Sawamura-san, I actually thought about explaining it to you yesterday, but then I thought about it and I should let you have a good rest."
"Just like you said, this tea party was indeed arranged by me, Xiaoshi, and Kato. The purpose can be said to be to let everyone seek common ground while reserving differences, right?"
"You were in retreat at the Nasu Plateau, and we couldn't disturb you, so we have postponed it until now."
Shiyu nodded slightly to express his approval, then put down the teacup and added something.
"Sawamura, do you still remember what Yu-chan told you on March 13th that he was going out on the weekend?"
"Huh……?"
Yinglili was stunned for a moment when asked, but she still tried to remember.
"Well, that seems to be the case... I talked to Yusuke on the phone that morning, and he said he couldn't contact me for two days."
"Then did he tell you the specific reason?"
"That's not the case."
"Even if the next day is White Day, you don't care?"
"I caused him so much trouble at the time, so why did I have the nerve to ask so many questions? Besides, he also gave me the gift later... Is there any problem?"
"Yes~ Then let me ask you again, do you think there is anything wrong with Kato-san?"
"Eh? You mean Hui?"
Ying Lili subconsciously turned her eyes to the opposite side, and saw Hui Zheng eating cake with his head down, looking uninterested in their conversation.
She thought hard for a while and tentatively said:
"Hmm... It seems like Megumi's hair is longer than before? So it seems that she finally has a sense of presence now. You look good like this, Megumi~!"
Hui's movements on her hands paused slightly, she glanced at her guiltily, and said thank you with a smile.
Shiyu weakly held his forehead and said with great disappointment: "Oh, I am an idiot for having expectations for you, an idiot."
"unacceptable!?"
"Can't you see other problems besides hair length?"
"How could I possibly see such a thing?"
"That's right...after all, unlike us novel writers who rely on words to explore the delicate thoughts between men and women, you only rely on erotic fan fiction to explore the mysterious pleasures between adults."
"Hey, what does this mean? Stop being so mysterious!"
Seeing her looking so innocent, even Hasumi Kanoko couldn't help but feel love and affection in her heart and smiled.
Shiyu pressed his temples and continued:
"As I said just now, Kato-san went out for two days last weekend, and Yu-chan also coincidentally lost contact for two days. What do you think this means?"
Yinglili was stunned for a moment and was about to speak——
"alright."
Hui put down the spoon with a "pop~" sound and raised her head.
"Senior Kasumigaoka, you don't need to say any more, Yusuke was with me for those two days, and we went to Mount Fuji together. Are you satisfied now?"
As soon as these words came out, the other three people all showed expressions of surprise, but they each had different meanings.
Shiyu narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "Are you finally willing to admit it? You sneaky cat."
"No, I only admit to what happened with Yusuke. I cannot accept that kind of rude name."
"What? Is what I said wrong? As a girl, you seduced someone else's boyfriend to spend the night outside. Do you think this behavior is not considered cheating? This is already a very restrained statement."
"That was... something decided between Yusuke and I, and we were just going to climb the mountain, and we didn't go out of our way."
"Are you kidding-!?"
Shiyu's face darkened, and his chest heaved with anger.
"Do you think this kind of thing is allowed? That's my boyfriend! If it weren't for Yu-chan, I would have thrown this cup of tea in your face!"
A strong smell of gunpowder suddenly filled the air.
No matter who you are, you can see the overwhelming anger in Shiyu's eyes at this moment, which makes people feel terrified.
Hasumi Kanoko's eyelids twitched slightly.
Ying Lili's heart tightened, she unconsciously held her breath and did not dare to speak.
Hui did not choose to escape, and uncharacteristically faced Shiyu directly, looking at her without giving an inch.
"...Senior Kasumigaoka, what you want to do is your right, but you are not qualified to judge whether my love is sincere based on your values."
"love?"
Shi Yu smiled sweetly, but there was no smile in her eyes, which only made people feel creepy.
"What you call love is kidnapping someone else's boyfriend on White Valentine's Day and running away as a shameless third party?"
"Besides, I have asked you similar questions more than once, but you have never admitted once that you have that kind of view towards Yu-chan. Don't you think it's ridiculous to use this as an excuse now?"
Shiyu asked questions one after another, and the too sharp words made Huizha's heart hurt and her lips tightened.
"That's just Kasumigaoka-senpai's idea..."
Hui silently picked up the cup and took a sip of tea, then retorted a little stubbornly.
"No matter what kind of feelings I have for Yusuke, or whether I invite him to go mountain climbing, that is my personal privacy. Who have you to criticize me?"
"After all, aren't you yourselves the same?
The last time Ms. Sayu went to Yusuke's apartment, I didn't receive any notification from you either.
If that's the case, why should I make my affairs public?"
When she said the last word, there was a hint of anger in her voice. It seemed calm, but she would not be suppressed by Shiyu.
It was not only the discomfort of being ostracized, but also the self-loathing of one's despicable behavior, as well as other indescribable complex emotions.
All kinds of emotions were entangled in her heart, causing Hui to gradually lose her usual calmness, and slowly revealed a side that was different from before, exuding a feeling that was somewhat similar to Shiyu's but subtly different.