Chapter 117: Unexpectedly Gathering Together…

“Alright–! Everyone, gather up!”

At the school gate, Yui Hori raised her hand and shouted, not caring about losing face.

“Today’s goal is–sing until our throats are hoarse! Let’s go!”

“Oh -~”

Even the airheaded Yuzuki Yasuda raised her hand in response.

Mio Sato pushed her glasses up helplessly, watching these two troublemakers.

As for Xiao Chun Miura.

She followed at the end of the group, forcing a slight smile.

–Even though she agreed to come to relax, the moment she let her guard down, the scene she witnessed yesterday in the empty classroom would replay in her mind.

If possible, she really wanted to zone out for a while.

“Xiao Chun, hurry up, hurry up! If you walk too slow, the big private rooms will be gone!”

Yui Hori’s urging voice came from the front.

“I’m coming.”

Xiao Chun Miura took a deep breath.

Forget it.

Since she was already here, she might as well go with the flow.

Since she couldn’t think of a solution for now, she might as well throw herself into the noisy music, even if it was just to escape reality for a short while.

Twenty minutes later.

Shopping Street in front of the station, at the karaoke lobby of a chain store.

The lively atmosphere felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over it.

“Eh–?! It’s full?!”

Yui Hori collapsed over the front desk in disbelief.

“Is there really nothing? Even a small private room is fine! We can squeeze in!”

“S-Sorry….”

The young staff member shrank back, intimidated by Yui Hori’s momentum, looking troubled at the computer screen.

“It seems several schools nearby just finished exams and events today, so…..”

“There are still a lot of customers waiting ahead. The estimated wait time is about two and a half hours.”

“T-Two and a half hours?!”

Yui Hori let out a wail, deflating like a balloon.

“No way…

If I wait two and a half hours, all my excitement will freeze over!”

“It can’t be helped.”

Mio Sato helped her up.

“After all, we didn’t make a reservation in advance.”

“But….but we finally managed to find time…”

Yui Hori’s voice grew weaker.

Standing at the back, Xiao Chun Miura watched the chaotic scene and oddly felt a sense of calm.

Yeah, this is life.

When you want to escape something, you often can’t even find a place to escape to.

Just smile.

“Then… should we try another place?”

Yuzuki Yasuda checked her phone.

“But the other places nearby seem the same. If you don’t mind, we could go to one a bit farther?”

“No…. I want to sing…”

Hearing Yui Hori’s voice, Xiao Chun Miura sighed.

“How about… we go to the arcade nearby to kill some time? Maybe we’ll get lucky and a spot will open up.”

Before she could finish.

“Ding–“

A door on the other side of the corridor opened.

It was the passage leading to the private room area and restroom.

A figure stepped out from within.

Because Xiao Chun Miura was facing that direction, she noticed them immediately.

It was a girl in casual clothes.

Though she only saw her back and profile, the tall figure and unique aura in her stride were unmistakably familiar.

But most striking was the thick bandage wrapped around her right ankle.

Because of her injury, she walked with a slight limp.

That was—

Xiao Chun Miura’s eyes narrowed.

“.Kondo-san?”

She mouthed the name in her heart.

No mistake.

That stubbornness that made her stand tall despite being injured—there wasn’t a second person like that in the whole school.

But… what was she doing here?

Didn’t Kanzaki Sou say a few days ago that her foot still hadn’t healed?

Why was she at such a noisy KTV today?

And by the look of it… alone?

While Xiao Chun Miura was still stunned, Yuzuki Yasuda seemed to have noticed her gaze as well.

“Hmm?”

Yuzuki Yasuda followed Xiao Chun Miura’s line of sight, then pushed up her glasses, eyes narrowing.

–At the front desk, Yui Hori was still stubbornly negotiating with the staff.

“Are you sure you can’t make an exception? Like, if someone goes overtime or something…”

“Yui, stop it.”

Yuzuki Yasuda suddenly spoke, reaching out to grab Yui Hori by the back of the collar.

“Eh? Yuzuki, what are you doing…”

“Look over there.”

Yuzuki Yasuda raised her chin, pointing down the corridor.

Yui Hori and Mio Sato turned their heads together.

“That is…”

Yui Hori blinked, then her eyes widened in shock.

“Kondo Haruka?!”

The exclamation wasn’t loud, but it was jarring enough.

The figure struggling toward the vending machine froze.

Then, she slowly turned around.

Sure enough, it was Kondo Haruka.

When she saw the group standing at the front desk—especially Xiao Chun Miura, who wore a complicated expression in the center—her face cycled through a range of emotions.

Surprise, awkwardness, and a touch of indignant embarrassment at being caught, all played across her beautiful features.

“Why is it you guys?”

Kondo Haruka frowned, instinctively hiding her injured right foot behind her, trying to maintain her “ojou-sama” dignity.

“Ah, it really is Kondo-san!”

Yui Hori hopped over as if discovering a new continent, completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere.

“What a coincidence! Did you come to sing too?”

Kondo Haruka looked at this overly familiar girl, the corner of her eye twitching.

“Obviously.”

She replied, exasperated.

“Why else would someone come to KTV? To do laundry?”

Though her tone was still sharp, compared to her icy attitude before the sports festival, there was now a hint of… humanity?

Xiao Chun Miura watched this, feeling a quiet sense of relief.

It seemed that the conversation in the infirmary that day, as well as Kanzaki Sou’s cold treatment these past few days, had indeed worked.

This once untouchable ojou-sama was slowly learning how to interact with others—albeit in an awkward way.

“Kondo-san… is your foot okay?”

Xiao Chun Miura stepped forward and asked politely.

“Kanzaki-san said you were resting at home…”

At the mention of “Kanzaki-san,” Kondo Haruka’s expression softened briefly, but quickly hardened again.

“Hmph, Sou is just exaggerating.”

She turned her face away, looking proud.

“It’s just a sprain, not a fracture. No need to be so delicate.”

“And besides…”

She seemed to remember something, her gaze turning evasive.

“Staying home was too suffocating. My parents wouldn’t let me play tennis or go out, so I had to sneak out to vent a bit.”

She glanced suspiciously at Xiao Chun Miura’s group.

“But you guys, why are you standing at the front desk looking all gloomy? Forgot your money?”

“Of course not!”

Yui Hori protested immediately, then slumped again.

“There weren’t any rooms left! It’s full! The wait is two and a half hours!”

“Huh? Full?”

Kondo Haruka raised an eyebrow.

“That’s extreme.”

“Yeah…”

Mio Sato sighed.

“Because it’s Friday.”

“So we were just about to head back.”

Xiao Chun Miura added.

“Since there are no spots, we can’t help it.”

“Head back?”

Kondo Haruka looked at them, then at the electronic sign beside her flashing “full” repeatedly.

She seemed to be deep in thought.

Her brows knitted, and her fingers unconsciously twisted a lock of hair.

Xiao Chun Miura saw the gesture and felt a strange premonition.

No way…

“Um…”

After a few seconds, Kondo Haruka suddenly spoke.

She didn’t look at anyone, her gaze fixed stubbornly on the vending machine, as if she might burn a hole through it.

“Since we’re all here……going back just like this feels pretty lame, doesn’t it?”