Back at the cabin, the two young ladies had something to do, so Toru Watanabe also returned to his assigned room.
The boys have returned, their sweaty and dirty clothes are scattered all over the floor, and four of them are gathered there playing mahjong.
"Watanabe, where have you been?" Saito Keisuke asked while sorting the cards.
"While you were away, I took a bath in the hot spring by myself for a while." Toru Watanabe replied.
"You are really smart." The squad leader adjusted his glasses with his index finger, "When we went to take a bath, we opened our eyes and saw someone's butt on our face."
"Watanabe, are you coming? I can let you." Another boy who was a little more distant asked in a room of five people.
"No, you go play, I just want to read a book."
"See? Who would dare to be jealous of Watanabe's No. 1 in the country? He relies on hard work!" Kunii Osamu held a long chip in his mouth, "Wait, don't move the cards, eat!"
Saito Keisuke complained: "Can you please not hold it in your mouth? When you win later, your saliva will be all over it."
"Wait until you win!"
"Excuse me, touching myself."
“Is it fake?!”
The noise these guys make playing cards is about to blow the roof off.
Toru Watanabe took out "Remembrance of Things Past" from his bag, left the room and prepared to find a quiet place.
I tucked the book under my arm, put my hands in my pockets, and walked aimlessly for a while.
Just as he was about to go to the cafe to read a book and enjoy the snow scenery, he ran into Koizumi Aona and Akiko.
It was snowing lightly and they held an umbrella together. The hot air they exhaled spread outside the umbrella.
"Watanabe?" Koizumi Aona looked over.
"Hello, teachers." Watanabe Toru still had his hands in his pockets. "Where have you been?"
"I underestimated you, Watanabe-san." Akiko said with admiration.
“…”
Koizumi Aona gently nudged Akiko's side with her elbow and said to Watanabe Toru:
"We just came back from dinner. Are you going somewhere? It's going to snow heavily later. The school forbids students from going out. They must stay in the dormitory. Didn't the people in your dormitory tell you?"
“They are playing mahjong.”
"These children..." Koizumi Aona sighed helplessly, "If you have something to do, the teacher can go with you."
"It's okay. They are too noisy. I just want to find a quiet place to read." Toru Watanabe gestured to the "Remembrance of Things Past" in his arms.
"You are very hardworking, young man." Akiko's tone sounded very frivolous. "Let's go to our teacher's dormitory. It's just Qingna and I. We won't disturb you."
Koizumi Aona thought about it and looked at Watanabe Toru with an inquiring look.
"No need, I'll go back and watch them play mahjong." Watanabe Toru turned around and prepared to leave.
"Come back!" Akiko stepped out of the umbrella and grabbed his shoulders with both hands. "I'm curious about your romantic history. Come to our room and tell us about it."
Toru Watanabe looked at Aona Koizumi with a look of help.
"Akira has been talking to me since just now." Koizumi Aona said with a wry smile.
"Don't even think about running away, follow me!"
"Teacher Akiko, stop pushing, my book is going to fall!"
After walking a few steps, the book really fell on the snow, but Huangzi still pushed him hard as if he was afraid that he would run away.
Koizumi Aona looked at the two of them with a helpless smile on her face.
She bent down, picked up the book, and followed.
Teachers' rooms are more luxurious than students'.
There is a TV, a small refrigerator, a tea room, a kotatsu, and two large beds.
Akiko pushed Watanabe Toru into the kotatsu, and a basket of oranges was placed on the kotatsu table.
Koizumi Aona took off her coat, made some tea, and sat down in the kotatsu.
Akiko put her cold hands between her legs to warm them up, and said to Watanabe Toru impatiently:
"Speak now!"
"say what?"
"The matter between you and the two young ladies, Kiyono Rin and Kujo Miki!"
"Meiji is my girlfriend, Kiyono is my friend," Toru Watanabe held the tea in both hands, "It's over."
"Stop pretending to be confused!" Huangzi raised his hand, slapped the table in a bluffing manner, and immediately put it back between his legs.
"I'm not pretending, I'm really confused, Mr. Akiko, what do you want to say?"
"Still pretending! Then tell me first, why did you run out of the women's bathroom?"
"I'm curious."
"Curious? Do you think normal people would believe this?"
"I'm really curious, so I'll go in and take a look when no one is around."
Koizumi Aona peeled two oranges, gave one to each of them, and while peeling her own, she watched the two people quarreling with a smile.
Just as Akiko continued to ask questions and Watanabe Toru was distracted from the topic, from commenting on orange juice to "criticizing" the luxury of the teacher's room, and finally reminiscing about the winter in Iwate Prefecture, there was a knock on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock." A very polite way to knock on the door.
"Who is this?" Koizumi Aona stood up from the kotatsu and walked towards the door.
Watanabe Toru didn't hear the door open, but he felt a gust of cold wind coming from the other side and knew that the door was opened.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Koizumi."
"Kiyono-san? Good afternoon, what can I do for you?"
"I want to apply for permission to go out, right here in the cafe, and I'll be there reading a book the whole time."
"Are the other people in your dormitory also playing mahjong?"
"Hmm?" Toru Watanabe imagined the cute look of Kiyono Rin tilting her head in confusion.
Then, I heard Kiyono Rin explain:
"They were playing, but I was too embarrassed to make any noise because I was reading a book. I didn't want to accept other people's kindness because I would cause trouble for them."
"Is that so? All right then."
"What's good about that?" Akiko came over and grabbed Kiyono Rin's wrist, which was thin even with her winter coat. "You came at the right time. To interrogate someone, you need two criminals."
"Teacher Akiko..."
"Akira..."
Before Kiyono Rin and Koizumi Aona could finish their conversation, Akiko had already pulled Kiyono Rin, whose "combat power was 3, which dropped to 1 in winter," into the room.
Pulling Kiyono Rin near the kotatsu, she hurried to the bathroom again.
"Hello, we meet again." Toru Watanabe stuffed a slice of orange into his mouth.
Qing Ye Lin looked down at him and asked, "Why are you here?"
"If nothing goes wrong, we were going to meet at the coffee shop."
Kiyono Rin noticed the "Remembrance of Things Past" on the kotatsu table, recalled what Akiko said, and roughly understood what happened.
"It seems you are very unlucky."
“Same here.”
"Why are you still standing!" Akira came out of the toilet, "Hurry and sit down!"
Kiyono Rin, who was not much stronger than a puppet at the mercy of others, was forced into the kotatsu again.
"Teacher Akiko." She called out with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Come, eat an orange." Huangzi stuffed a bright yellow, round orange into her hand.
Qingye Rin glanced at Orange and sighed softly: "Thank you."
She began to peel the orange with graceful movements.
Those hands were as slender and delicate as glass, giving people the feeling that they would break if bent.
I don’t know if it feels as cold as glass to the touch.
Koizumi Aona poured her a cup of hot tea.
"Thank you." Qingye Rin thanked softly.
"Kiyono-san," Teacher Akiko leaned forward, "When did you and Watanabe-san start dating?"
Qingye Rin looked at Watanabe Toru and said, "You are talking nonsense again."
"No, have you already determined that I'm talking nonsense?" Watanabe Toru had no place to argue.
"Isn't it natural that Toru Watanabe is talking nonsense?"
"It makes sense... Although it makes sense!" Watanabe Toru's tone became heavier, and then it became lighter, "But this time it really didn't happen."
Qingye Rin nodded and looked at Akiko: "Teacher, what do you want to ask?"
Akiko's cheeks had already flushed with excitement when she heard the conversation between the two:
"When did you start dating? Does Kujo Miki know about this? What are your plans for the future? Are you going to drive Kujo away, or live in harmony with him? Are there any political considerations from the big families involved?"
Kiyono Rin calmly ate a slice of orange, and her eyes like the galaxy in Kasuga looked at Watanabe Toru again.
"Crazy." Toru Watanabe concluded lightly.
"Watanabe, how can you talk about the teacher like that!" Akiko scolded.
"I roughly understand the situation." Qing Ye Lin stuffed another orange slice into the mouth, "Teacher Akiko, you misunderstood, Watanabe and I are just friends."
"I understand, teacher, I understand. I won't tell Kujo Miki-san. Go ahead."
Akiko must have misunderstood something.
Qing Ye Lin sighed helplessly: "I really don't have any relationship with him."
"You're so stubborn." Akiko lay weakly on the table.
"Akira, it's almost done," said Koizumi Aona.
She heard that Qingye Rin was a straightforward child who never lied, but that didn't seem to be the case.
The room fell into silence. The hum of the heater could be heard and snow was falling outside the window.
"Right!" Akiko suddenly sat up, "Let's play a game!"
"Teacher Akiko, I'm here to read a book." Qingno Rin rejected it without hesitation.
"Three votes in favor and one vote against. What about you?" Akiko looked at Koizumi Aona and Watanabe Toru.
"Where did the three votes in favor come from?" Watanabe Toru asked curiously.
"I'm a teacher, an adult, and the initiator, so I get exactly three votes." Akiko said as if it was a matter of course.
"...I'm going to read a book too." Watanabe Toru decided to ignore her.
There is only one person left.
Without waiting for Koizumi Aonai to speak, Akiko begged, "Aonai, if you don't agree, I will tell everyone about what happened in Kyoto."
"I told you it was a misunderstanding!" Koizumi Aona retorted with a blushing face.
"I don't care, just vote."
“…playing games.”
Looking at the surrendered Koizumi Aona, Watanabe Toru suddenly became curious about what was happening in Kyoto.
If he begged, Koizumi Aona would probably tell him, but considering personal privacy, Watanabe Toru decided to stifle his curiosity.
"Five votes in favor and two votes against. The next activity will definitely be playing games!"
After the announcement, Akiko moved her butt, stood up from the kotatsu, ran to the table, took out something from her bag and started writing and drawing.
After a while, he came back running and got into the kotatsu nimbly.
"Homemade Sugoroku." Akiko looked very proud.
Draw Double Six, the number of points on the dice determines the number of steps forward, and the player who moves the chess piece into the opponent's position first wins.
The rules are simple, but for playability, penalties are written on the grid.
For example, honestly answering a question from other players or telling a story about a high school romance - Toru Watanabe feels that he can add "student only" to it.
There are also penalties for making up the numbers:
Tell a joke; before the game ends, call everyone by name; play rock-paper-scissors with the next player, and the loser peels an orange for the other player and feeds it to the other player...
"Dice can be replaced by erasers, but how can we play without chess pieces?" asked Aonai Koizumi.
"Let's use oranges instead. The grid is big enough anyway," said Toru Watanabe.
"As expected of Watanabe, whoever wins first can eat everyone's oranges!" Akiko loudly announced the winner's prize.
There were still six oranges in the basket that no one wanted to eat.
Besides, isn’t eating four oranges in one go a punishment?
"Let's start the game, Kiyono-san, you'll be the first player."
Qingye Rin, who had been reading a book, closed the hardcover book with exquisite patterns and took the rubber dice reluctantly.
After rolling the dice, her orange landed on the box that said " Ten sit-ups."
At that moment, Toru Watanabe saw for the first time a look of regret flash across Kiyono Rin's face.
Are you thinking, 'I should have just given up playing games in the beginning'?
Kiyono Rin lay down obediently, her black hair spread out like a waterfall, and Koizumi Aona helped hold her feet.
Qingye Rin took a deep breath, hummed pleasantly, and straightened up suddenly.
“…”
The three men fell silent as they watched her rise to a 40-degree angle, then fall again without the ability to rise again.
Lying flat on her back, Qingno Rin took two breaths and challenged again.
…
"…How about forgetting it?" Watanabe Toru asked tentatively.
Qingye Rin sat up, tidied her hair and clothes, and put her lower body back into the kotatsu.
"I can exchange punishment with you, any punishment." She said casually.
"Mr. Kiyono, when you're studying, you should also pay attention to exercising." Koizumi Aona reminded gently.
"There's just one thing I can't do." As expected of Mr. R.
"Alright, alright, let's continue." Akiko urged, "Such an interesting thing happened at the beginning, I'm really looking forward to the rest! Watanabe, come on!"
Toru Watanabe picked up the dice.
So, everyone, can "Master-Level Free Fighting" control the rolling of a piece of rubber?
"Ah, 'Answer the other players' questions honestly', this is such a headache, Kiyono-san, let's switch." Watanabe Toru said regretfully.
"Watanabe-san, your tone is so fake." said Kiyono Rin.
"I did it on purpose." Watanabe Toru frowned and tried to suppress his smile.
Qing Ye Lin gave him a cold look, held his forehead and sighed, and said helplessly: "Ask."
"Hahaha!" Akiko rubbed her hands excitedly, "Kiyono-san, how's Watanabe's figure?"
"Akira!" Koizumi Aina hurriedly stopped him, "How can you ask students such questions!"
"What's the matter? We are both teacher and students, and friends." Akiko said disapprovingly.
Koizumi Aonai said to Kiyono Rin, "Kiyono-san, if you don't want to answer, it's okay to ask another question."
"Thank you, teacher. No thanks." Qing Ye Lin put her hand on her chin and thought for a while. "Watanabe-san has a great figure."
After that, she added:
"But I don't care about body shape or appearance. External factors don't count for me."
"Then what do you value about Watanabe?" Akiko asked again.
"You've already asked, Mr. Akiko," replied Kiyono Rin.
"I'm curious about this question too." Koizumi Aona looked over.
Qingye Rin's headache seemed to be getting worse and worse. Isn't this the same as the girls in the dormitory taking turns to answer which boy they like?
She thought for a moment and said:
"He likes to lie, but I also have a feeling that he won't hide anything from me as long as I want to know - I don't know whether this feeling is true or false."
"Is it true or false?" Koizumi Aona asked Watanabe Toru.
"Of course it's true." This is what Toru Watanabe thought at that moment.
Qingye Rin picked up the teacup and took a sip as if nothing had happened. In the hot mist, there was a faint smile on the corner of her mouth.
Koizumi Aona nodded , and her eyes looked at Watanabe Toru more softly, but she was still vaguely worried about him.
"Ugh - this is definitely a lie!" Akiko touched her arm and felt the stench of love.
At this moment, Toru Watanabe suddenly remembered the system.
It seems that this matter cannot be discussed?
Forget it, Qingye Rin doesn’t know about the system anyway.
"It's my turn to ask next." Watanabe Toru finally laughed and stared at Kiyono Rin with ill intent.
"Wait a minute." Akiko stopped him, "I think ten sit-ups can only exchange for two questions at most. Watanabe must answer the last one himself."
"..." Watanabe Toru put away his smile, "Teacher, you don't want to play games at all, you just want to gossip, right?"
Akiko nodded with a smile, not hiding anything.
"I agree with Akiko's proposal." Koizumi Aona raised her hand with a smile.
"No problem." Qingye Rin also chuckled and voted in favor.
"Okay, go ahead and ask." Watanabe Toru said helplessly.
"What do you value about Kiyono Rin?" Akiko immediately asked the question she had prepared.
Toru Watanabe originally wanted to talk about appearance, but that came later, and then he thought of legs, but that was just icing on the cake.
"If you want to avoid being disliked in this world, anyone can do it as long as they try hard. They can lie, compromise, and give up."
Watanabe Toru thought about Kiyono Rin's annoying yet lovable personality and continued:
"She knew she was hated, but she still insisted on her own life path and never made up lies. I probably couldn't live like this for a day. I admire her persistence, envy her character, and yearn for her courage."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"Is that too serious?" Watanabe Toru looked at the three of them. "Then let me change it. Didn't Qingye say, 'As long as she wants to know, I won't hide anything from her'? I also have a feeling that Qingye won't insist on asking me if it's something I don't want to say."
Qingye Rin stared at him blankly, then finally lowered her eyes.
She stroked the teacup gently with her fingers, and the warm breath spread all the way to her heart.
"Should I also be in a relationship?" Akiko said, "But how can I have the same relationship as you guys?"
"Okay," Koizumi Aona interrupted the topic, "Watanabe, it's your turn to do sit-ups."
"Give me five seconds." Watanabe Toru supported himself with his hands, sat up and left the kotatsu.
As he lay on the ground with his hands on the back of his head, there was another knock on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock", a very forceful way of knocking on the door.
"Who is this?" Koizumi Aona stood up again to open the door.
"Teacher, please call Watanabe for me."
Watanabe Toru turned over, using his hands and feet to crawl into the kotatsu.
After a second, he reached out and took in his teacup, the leftover orange peel, and "Remembrance of Things Past".
Akiko stared at the bottom of the kotatsu with admiration.
As expected of the "Tokyo Handsome Guy", he looks very experienced.
"Watanabe?" Koizumi Aona asked in confusion.
"Well, his phone was dropped here. Could you please help me go to the boys' dormitory and call him out?"
"Kujo-kun, why don't you go by yourself? They live in the fourth row, second building."
"It's too dirty. Please, teacher." Kujo Miki said almost in an imperative tone.
Koizumi Aona didn't care about her tone. She was only thinking about how to help Watanabe hide the past.
"I'm sorry, Kujo-san, the teacher is busy right now and can't leave. Are you looking for Watanabe to return his phone to him? Or is there something urgent?"
"Forget it, it's not a big deal. It's just that someone named Huang Qian Kumiko sent him a message. Teacher, do you know this person?"
"Kumiko? I know her." Koizumi Aona blinked her beautiful eyes, "She's a student I asked Watanabe to help tutor."
"No wonder." Kujo Miki nodded, "Teacher, please don't introduce female students to him in the future. No, forget about tutoring. Studying is his own business."
"I'll ask Watanabe for his opinion."
"I'll make him agree."
Just as Kujo Miki was about to leave, she suddenly caught a glimpse of Kiyono Rin in the room.
She turned around and asked:
"Can I come in?"