Because her friends were too outstanding,

So she was envied by the surrounding people of the same sex,

It was very painful to say it out loud. After encountering one or two bullying incidents between girls,

The girl felt a kind of sadness that was almost painful even if she didn't have any balls.

However, the abnormal lack of same-sex relationships seemed to prove in another way that she had made a group of precious friends of the opposite sex.

Lilo Tsurumi, who grew up among boys, always felt that the division between "same-sex" and "heterosexual" friends was not very clear.

Even after dating Kawase Ryota,

The boundary between the two blurred in her heart.

— — But they were all "friends",

So there was probably no need to worry about its specific definition.

Anyway, it was early in the morning in late winter,

She specially called the other party over to buy a ticket for her,

There was no need to feel apologetic or overly touched by a friend.

At this moment, Lilo Tsurumi saw the back of the young man wearing a dark blue down jacket and dark casual pants from afar.

She raised her voice and called out the other party's name, "Riji!"

The crisp voice seemed to cut through the cold air. It was a kind of penetrating power that only a girl's voice would have. It suddenly sounded in the dull atmosphere of the station, causing a few sleepy or tired pedestrians to turn their heads to look at her.

The young man heard the shout and turned around. She waved at him energetically,

Then jogged in his direction.

When she stopped in front of him, she naturally handed over one of the two bags of pancakes in her hands. "Have you eaten breakfast?"

Jijiro reflexively wanted to take it, but he raised his hand slightly and immediately put it down.

He replied in a deep voice, "I've eaten." He looked up at her outfit, white woolen hat, white long down jacket, and white cotton shoes,

Except for the fact that her pants were washed blue,

She was dressed in white.

"Then eat more." Lilo Tsurumi maintained the posture of holding the pancake,

She asked without hesitation, "Why do you sound like you have a deep grudge?"

His face was expressionless. In the end, he still took the food that she persistently passed to him. He said gloomily, "I woke up late, so I didn't sing."

From the fact that he said "I woke up late" instead of "I just woke up" at the entrance of Tokyo Station, which was far away from the city, she could see how strict his daily routine was. People From Mukugaku once secretly complained to her that Jijiro, who never slept in, missed out on some of the fun in life. Lilo Tsurumi deeply agreed.

She looked at the chestnut-haired youth up and down several times with a look that said 'you poor thing'.

The latter turned her head away uncomfortably. "What nonsense are you imagining?" he said. "Go and buy the tickets."

So they went to buy tickets together. The staff at the ticket office obviously thought the two of them were a couple preparing to travel together. When they heard Jijiro say that he only wanted a round-trip ticket to Kanagawa, they were a little surprised and confirmed it again.

"Yes, yes." Lilo Tsurumi leaned over and answered excitedly, "I want one. Thank you, sister."

After getting the tickets, the two of them walked to the waiting hall together.

Jijiro suddenly chuckled, "You're very happy."

"What?" The girl held the pancake in her hand and ate it attentively. She didn't delay her movements at all.

When she heard him speak, she turned her head to look at him with some confusion. She was still biting a piece of food, so the question she asked was also unclear.

"When you called the woman sister just now, her expression was obviously relaxed."

He seemed to find it very interesting, and the corner of his mouth slightly raised into a smile. "The 'soft heart' unique to older single young women."

"… How can you be sure that they are single?"

"I guessed.

Just seeing a man and a woman and thinking that they are a couple, it's not that they lack experience with the opposite sex, at least they have a deep obsession with it. Thinking about it this way, it's reasonable to understand that they are single. "He answered in an extremely flat and matter-of-fact tone.

Lilo Tsurumi felt a little hurt for the staff member just now.

The two of them casually found a seat in the waiting hall and sat down.

There was still some time before the departure time. Jijiro had been holding the breakfast that she had forced on him. When he saw her eating heartily, he finally opened the packaging and lowered his head to take a bite.

"That's why Jingwu admires you even more." The black-haired girl tilted her head to look at him as he tasted the food and suddenly said this with an unclear meaning.

When the boy heard this, he looked up and met her gaze, but he didn't respond and continued to slowly eat his food.

Two-thirds of the school year had passed, and the atmosphere of the various organizations and clubs in the school had been restless since the last semester because of the inevitable leadership transition process.

The seniors in the upper grades were about to graduate, and regardless of whether it was their position or unfinished work, they had to be properly handed over to the juniors. The successor was a problem that needed to be dealt with carefully.

It was the same for the tennis club. Once the third years, led by Keigo Atobe, were promoted to the high school, only the second years, Fengchang Taro and Jijiro would be left. The next head would naturally have to be chosen from them.

The Ice Emperor's tennis club had never had a tradition of electing a vice head, so there was no room for negotiation. It was a choice between two options.

Although there had been rumors that Keigo Atobe preferred the strong-willed Jijiro, that was only a rumor. Before he and the supervisor officially announced the results, everything was still full of unknowns and variables.

Yuji Ninazhi had once revealed to her that even the gentle, humble, and uncompetitive Fengchang Taro would have a subtle atmosphere when interacting with Jijiro during this critical period.

There seemed to be an inconspicuous fuse between the two of them. It was only because it was still hidden that the smell of gunpowder hadn't wantonly spread.

Why did it have to be when the other clubs had already decided on their next leaders?

Mr. Y-Taro and the current head, Keigo Atobe, still hadn't announced their decision.

— — For Fengchang Tarang and Rijiro, this was too much for them to bear.

After all, if there was a rift between the two future pillars of the tennis club because of this, it would be a very troublesome and troublesome thing.

Under such circumstances, it was perfectly normal for them to be hostile toward each other.

From Lilo Tsurumi's perspective, there was another reason why she felt this was difficult. Her two good friends, Yuji Ninazhi and People From Mukugaku, had different support or support for the two candidates for the head position.

Yuji, of course, stood on the same side as Keigo Atobe and stood on Jijiro's side; Yuji Ninazhi, on the other hand, did not have a good relationship with Yuji, and he was closer to Yuji.

Even though it wasn't a question of who was the best friend …

"Are you saying that Atobe's choice is me?"

When Lilo Tsurumi finished the pancake, stood up to toss the food bag into the trash can, and returned to her seat, the boy asked.

She gave him the answer easily. "He wants to choose you.

But?

Supervisor Y thinks Phoenix is not bad, so he decided to observe for a while longer. "

The boy's face was calm, but his brows were furrowed slightly. His lashes were lowered, forming a beautiful curtain that covered his eyes, but one could still see the darkness in his eyes.

Seeing this, Lilo Tsurumi thought about it and told him, "I think you have a higher chance of winning.

Even though?

Supervisor Y thinks Phoenix is not bad, but before this, he had always favored you. This means that he has always approved of your ability, and it is only recently that Phoenix has received such high expectations. "

"So, the reason he hasn't announced the result is because he wants to use this opportunity to test our mental state?" Jijiro seemed to have figured something out, and his eyes glowed brighter than before.

"Hmm, yes, I suppose so …" the girl answered with uncertainty.

However, it was clear that the young man did not need her firm affirmation.

He was already smiling, and he said in his usual relaxed tone, "I'm not that close to the other members of the tennis club, unlike Phoenix, who gets along well with everyone.

If I can take down the president, it will be one of the achievements of 'the weak conquers the strong'.

But then again, Atobe has told you quite a lot of things. "

"Of course, I used to be his girlfriend," Lilo Tsurumi answered.

But when she said the last sentence, there seemed to be a hint of bitterness in her words. "There were many things that I didn't understand before, but after I started to ask him about it, I understood most of it." Before her thoughts spread along the bitterness, she stopped talking.

… I can't think about that, or else it will ruin my happy mood.

Jijiro did not notice her distraction, and he did not dwell on that topic. Instead, he changed the topic to talk about other things related to the tennis club.

Thankfully, he pulled her attention back.

She chatted with him lightly, and the two changed topics to pass the time waiting for the train. Soon, it was time for the train to leave for Kanagawa.

He saw Lilu waving goodbye to the chestnut-haired youth. Before she was about to leave, she suddenly thought of something and said to him, "Wait until next year, you will have to call me 'senior sister' and use honorifics to speak to me."

She suddenly said this to him because although he was usually polite and considerate in front of his seniors, in private, he completely treated those people as equals.

For example, earlier, he kept referring to Atobe as' Atobe-senpai 'when he should have called him' Atobe-senpai '.

Lilo Tsurumi did not use honorifics because she was the same age as the third-year students, so it did not make any sense for him to be so curt.

Then she thought back to his motto of 'the weak conquers the strong'. This kind of honest and obedient demeanor was like a wolf hiding its claws and teeth to pretend to be a harmless pet dog.

Lilo Tsurumi leaned against the door and waited for his answer with a smile. Jijiro raised his brow, but his smile did not diminish. "What's wrong with that? When the time comes, I will respectfully address you as' sir '."