After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

Saying that the weather was nice and feeling like going out wasn't a lie.

After being discharged from the hospital, he had rarely stepped out of the house, except for those three times when Kiryu Hina, Ai Cheng Hua Lian, and Suse invited him out, spending the rest of his time at home.

As a hidden homebody, Kagura Hikaru wasn't unable to cope with this lifestyle, but staying in for too long indeed became a bit depressing, especially since recent events had been quite troublesome, making the desire to find an opportunity to relieve his mood quite natural.

However, since it wasn't just him going out, but also bringing Chiyoko along, there was naturally a probing intention.

The conversation by the fountain just now was all a trap.

In his memory, the first date with Chiyoko wasn't here, but in an unremarkable second-hand bookstore where they had spent an afternoon reading.

Moreover, Chiyoko hadn't lied to him about throwing coins into the fountain; that was a made-up story.

Chiyoko didn't directly answer these questions but used the excuse of 'it's been too long, I don't remember clearly,' leaving Kagura Hikaru with nothing much to say.

But that didn't mean that the probe was over.

He needed to know what the true relationship was between him and Chiyoko, whether she was his girlfriend or something else.

The identity and purpose of a person very close to him, with whom he interacted daily, suddenly shrouded in a veil of mystery, was a very unsettling feeling.

It even made Kagura Hikaru doubt his own past life.

If even the memories with his girlfriend, whom he had been with for so long, were fake, what about the other parts?

The things he now thought were real might not be so.

For instance, his suddenly improved gaming skills, his excellent guitar skills, etc.

Or, for another instance, his parents' divorce, was it really just because of irreconcilable differences?

All these became unavoidably uncertain.

Kagura Hikaru initially wanted to consult Ai Cheng Hua Lian about Chiyoko, as she seemed to be an informant and appeared quite straightforward, but he hadn't found the chance since last night.

Chiyoko was always by his side, monitoring everything he did; if he spent too long on his phone, she would peek, leaving no opportunity to make contact, even sending a message was difficult.

Now, he could only probe by himself.

Or rather, this was the most appropriate method.

The things others told him, even if said by his own parents, might not be correct; after all, he needed to figure it out for himself.

If Chiyoko in his memory wasn't Chiyoko, then no matter how much she hid it, she would reveal a flaw.

After much deceit, this behavior itself could become a basis for suspicion, unless she had the thick skin to still interact normally with Kagura Hikaru under such circumstances; otherwise, she would sooner or later start speaking on her own.
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Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko rested for a while before leaving the fountain square and going nearby to shop.

This area was on the way home from school; when he was studying at Bunkyo Middle School, he would walk home from here after getting off the tram, and in Kagura Hikaru's memory, they often walked together after school before splitting up to head home.

Thus, this place held quite a few notable memories.

But no matter if Kagura Hikaru pointed to the small stall selling thick fish pies, the gaming center, the KTV, and talked about their experiences there, Ayakoji Chiyoko dismissed all of them with vague responses.

While some of these stories were fabricated, more of them were real, and Chiyoko's memory couldn't possibly be so bad as to forget all of them.

He racked his brain painfully, frantically recalling material, only to end up with this result.

This reaction... he might not need to test any further.

Kagura Hikaru's expression grew gloomy, and he spoke a bit less.

On the other hand, Ayakoji Chiyoko, from start to finish, hadn't changed her smiling face at all, seemingly oblivious to the emotional changes within Kagura Hikaru, everything as usual.

But this was impossible, she was a very intelligent person, and she couldn't possibly be unaware of the change in atmosphere.

It appears that Kagura Hikaru's initial prediction was completely wrong; she really did have such thick skin...

But as they walked, Kagura Hikaru suddenly noticed that her complexion had changed.

Had she finally realized that she had given herself away, and was feeling ashamed?

It seemed that wasn't it.

He followed the direction Ayakoji Chiyoko was looking and saw Kohinata Motoyo, whom they had seen the day before.

She appeared on the walkway ahead, with Ai Cheng Hua Lian also by her side.

The two girls seemed not to have noticed them, each holding a sunflower painting and a human head-sized revolver sculpture, laughing and talking as they walked toward them.

Ayakoji Chiyoko's eyes were fixed on the objects they were holding.

Both the painting and the gun sculpture looked very familiar, like items that would appear on the lost property list submitted by the Moon Forest Student Council.

——The list had even thoughtfully included a picture of each lost item.

Ayakoji Chiyoko recognized at once that the items in the hands of Kohinata Motoyo and Ai Cheng Hua Lian were exhibits from Tsukinomori Girls' Academy that had been lost by the staff at Yuqiu High School.

The sunflower painting and the revolver sculpture were among the more conspicuous items on the list, unmistakable.

Why were they holding exhibits from Tsukinomori Girls' Academy? Could it be that they took the items?

Sure enough, had they bribed the school staff?

Ayakoji Chiyoko figured out the connection in an instant.

She had certainly considered this possibility.

The school worker responsible for transporting the items had said he stopped for the toilet midway, and when he returned, he found the exhibits had all disappeared.

It now seemed that the stop mid-trip was made to facilitate Kohinata Motoyo and her group moving the exhibits.

The reason for doing this was the same as why they messed up the Girls' Volleyball Club's room, dumped dye in the swimming pool, had the Discipline Committee search for fifty cats, and disrupted her with constant leaks of related matters on the school forum.

——All to make trouble for her, giving them a chance to get close to Kagura Hikaru.

The mastermind behind this no doubt was Kohinata Motoyo, Ai Cheng Hua Lian did not have the guts, and judging by her naive smile, she likely had no idea what was happening and had been tricked into participating.

Regardless, Ayakoji Chiyoko was genuinely furious at the moment.

Causing trouble for her at school was tolerable, she could handle that, but this time they had crossed the line by targeting the property of Tsukinomori Girls' Academy.

Did they not realize this would cause a serious diplomatic issue, damaging the reputation of Yuqiu High School in the process?!

Kohinata Motoyo and Kiryu Hina couldn't possibly have failed to consider this.

Committing the deed despite knowing the consequences, this was undoubtedly the worst kind of offense.

To undermine her authority, these people had resorted to underhanded tactics!

"Sorry, Kagura, wait here for me," Ayakoji Chiyoko said grimly to Kagura Hikaru, then stormed off towards Kohinata Motoyo and her group.

She was determined to make them disclose the whereabouts of those missing exhibits!

But she really didn't want Kagura Hikaru to know about her blunder, so she left him waiting there.

However, Ayakoji Chiyoko clearly wouldn't expect that everything was within someone's anticipation.

As she angrily approached Kohinata Motoyo to confront the two, a long-haired girl quietly appeared from behind Kagura Hikaru and gently tapped his arm.

As a perplexed Kagura Hikaru turned around, his mouth opened in surprise.

There stood Kiryu Hina.

She smiled, put her index finger to her lips as a gesture to be quiet, waved at him, and motioned for him to follow her.

By the time Ayakoji Chiyoko realized and looked back to check, Kagura Hikaru's figure had already disappeared.