171

It's dusk now, about five o'clock before day ends and night falls.

Looking up, the red clouds that burned through half of the sky were emitting an eerie halo, shrouding the entire station in an illusory luster. Karuizawa Megumi leaned on a pillar in the hall and moved his gaze towards the bustling moon. Looking at the platform and the crowded crowd, with the ringing of the platform bell ringing in my ears, and the ancient melody echoing around, I somewhat understood why people call this moment "the time of encountering the devil."

"Huh, it's been a long time since I've been back."

The familiar landmark buildings and scenery gave people a sense of peace of mind. Karuizawa Megumi looked at the flow of people in front of him with interest, and his mind gradually became empty. After staring for a long time, these old people, young people, and children all became childhood. Before the TV show started, those black and white garbled characters on the screen were boring.

No matter how many times I checked the time, the time hand on the clock would not jump from five o'clock to the further future. Although I had called Liang in advance, it would still take some time to arrive.

Unlike Shiina Hiyori, who was sent to study abroad by his family, and Kitagawa Ryo, who gave up drama after making enough money, Karuizawa Megumi is still firmly on the path of drama until now.

She knew very well that sticking to Kitagawa Ryo would not win her more favor. Karuizawa Megumi knew very well that Kitagawa Ryo was not a boy who would be easily pursued, so she had to spend more time on self-improvement. is the most correct choice.

Of course, this does not mean that she has completely cut off contact with Kitagawa Ryo. Karuizawa Megumi skillfully controlled the relationship between the two within the scope of friends, subtly leaving her mark on Kitagawa Ryo's life.

Until the day it comes true.

Karuizawa Megumi placed the suitcase neatly on his chest within sight, and took out a group photo from a pocket lining the jacket. By the way, there were four hidden in this lightweight jacket. Pockets store wallets, bank cards, ID cards and other items respectively. This is a trick I learned from Kitagawa Ryo before.

"Although I haven't seen you for a month, I still miss you very much."

Slender fingers gently brushed over this group photo, which was taken when she and Kitagawa Ryo were rehearsing two years ago.

Even though there were more photos taken with Kitagawa Ryo later on, this one was always the most important one that the girl kept as a treasure.

"You're back? You probably have no plans to perform any more in the past few months."

A familiar voice came from behind, and Karuizawa Megumi hurriedly put away the group photo:

"I just came."

Although he said this, he had no intention of complaining at all. When Karuizawa Megumi turned around, Kitagawa Ryo was already standing there.

After quitting the drama circle, Kitagawa Ryo looked much more cheerful than before. Seeing Karuizawa Megumi looking at him, he raised his eyebrows and said with a smile:

"It came quickly enough. School matters delayed some time."

After Kitagawa Ryo said that, he took the initiative to take over Karuizawa Megumi's luggage. At first, he thought that Karuizawa Megumi was only interested in drama for three minutes, but in fact, among the three people at that time, the only one who persisted until now was But she was left alone.

Karuizawa Megumi is not a particularly outstanding talent, but with the help of Kitagawa Ryo's fame and his own efforts, he has gained a firm foothold in the troupe. After Kitagawa Ryo decided to quit last month, Karuizawa also became a member of the troupe. Hui was the first to agree and even helped him convince other members of the troupe.

Compared with the initial impression of timidity and bullying in the simulation, the real impression of Karuizawa Megumi on Kitagawa Ryo was very good, and even made him wonder whether his butterfly wings were fanned too hard, causing him to be blown away. Megumi Karuizawa eschewed the school bullying that shaped her character.

Karuizawa Megumi, who has gone through two years of stage training, is very decent in every move, and her body and posture are also elegant. She walked up to Kitagawa Ryo with her hands behind her back and leaned forward slightly:

"How is it? Has it changed a lot?"

"We haven't seen each other for just a month, so that's not it."

"For girls of this age, there are new changes every day."

Feeling the gaze of Karuizawa Kei on the side, Kitagawa Ryo could only move his eyes to the other person and looked at him carefully for a while:

"Has grown tall."

But in the end, these simple words were all that came out of his mouth.

Although she and Karuizawa Megumi were only separated for a month, what came back to her mind was the impression from two years ago.

Compared with that time, Karuizawa Megumi has indeed changed in all aspects. Compared with the child in his memory, who had a slim figure and nothing to look at except his face, he was undoubtedly more like... a girl.

The smooth and glossy honey-colored hair is simply draped behind her back, hanging down to her waist. Under the breeze, a few hair strands are scattered and floating in front of her eyes. Kitagawa Ryo was a little dissatisfied with what he said just now, and his blue pupils were revealing some emotions unique to girls.

Unknowingly, Karuizawa Megumi is growing in a completely different direction than in memory.

But Kitagawa Ryo doesn't think this is a bad thing. Just like in the past two years, he learned that Ichinose Honami is trying to improve his family situation through his own efforts. Kitagawa Ryo also found some theater troupes for her. Chores like logistics.

Now Ichinose Honami will no longer be so embarrassed that he needs to choose to steal again, and Karuizawa Megumi will no longer be bullied on campus. It is better to say that if Karuizawa Megumi comes back to school at this time, maybe the class will be better. Maybe some of her fans will come over and ask for autographs.

"Actually, I plan to devote myself to my studies this time when I come back."

Megumi Karuizawa just raised this topic:

"The last few performances were all in this city, so my family wanted me to resume my studies first. After all, they still expected me to go to a good high school and university."

Speaking of this, Karuizawa Megumi also sighed softly. In fact, the reason for the family's opposition this time was also because of Kitagawa Ryo's actions, but she did not say it out loud.

"Because it's a little later, I can't go to the same middle school as Ryo, but maybe we can go to high school together."

After being slightly discouraged, Karuizawa Megumi cheered up again:

"Have you ever heard of Tokyo Advanced Education High School? I heard that it is a high school that claims to meet 99.9% of the expectations for future education and even employment. It only enrolls 160 students every year, but the annual expenditure is quite huge. You can always see reports on TV accusing it of taking up too many social resources."

Karuizawa Megumi still hopes that Kitagawa Ryo can enter Tokyo Advanced Education Middle School with him. After all, in a campus management model that is completely closed and pursues 'strength first', the relationship between the two should be closer.

To this day, Megumi Karuizawa still dreams about the night sky full of stars on the uninhabited island.

"Tokyo Advanced Education High School? I heard that the admissions process is quite strict. It would be great if you can get in."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded. If two years ago he only considered Tokyo Advanced Education High School as an option, now he has a reason to enter.

"Well, then we will enter this high school together."

Nodding excitedly, Karuizawa Megumi's steps jumped a little.

Helping Karuizawa Mei carry her luggage to the taxi that came to pick her up, Kitagawa Ryo also told her:

"Be careful on the road. When you go home, spend more time with your parents. After all, I haven't been back for a year."

"I got it."

Watching the taxi drive away from his sight, Kitagawa Ryo also put his hands in his sleeves again and slowly turned back towards his home.

Although he had just told Megumi Karuizawa to spend more time with his parents, in fact, he was probably the least qualified person to say this.

After leaving the Kitagawa family, he had almost no contact with his family. If he traveled around the country and even the world with the theater troupe in the past two years, it was not lonely, but after saving enough money to send Yingying abroad for treatment, , Kitagawa Ryo does have some experience of loneliness.

Obviously he considered himself to be a person who was good at living alone. At that time, he lived alone in the basement and didn't care much.

After finding a bus stop and leaning casually on the pillar next to it, Kitagawa Ryo turned his gaze to the bustling city in front of him.

When he first traveled through time, he set two goals for himself:

1. Leave the Beichuan family.

2. Save enough money to cure Ying.

It seems that the reason why I feel a little confused now is because I have accomplished both goals.

Obviously he should be happy, after all, he has solved the knot in his heart.

Moreover, none of the tragedies I have witnessed have happened so far, and everyone is happy.

Kitagawa Ryo stretched out and looked at the glass wall on the surface of the building next to him. The face reflected in it did not look happy at all.

"It's really weird."

Kitagawa Ryo muttered, took out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed someone's number.

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"It seems that my chess skills have improved. Ryo's moves today are much slower than before."

On the other side of the chessboard, the silver-haired girl was speaking with a smile. She seemed really happy, with smiles on her face.

"Well, maybe."

Kitagawa Ryo held the chess piece in his hand. He tried hard to recall his thoughts when he first came into contact with chess in his previous life. At that time, he was just a beginner and very immature. Faced with such a situation, he should be...

But another perfect solution emerged in my brain.

It was like a sophisticated machine, telling Kitagawa Ryo that he only needed to get down here to find the flaw in five steps, and completely defeat Sakayanagi Arisu in thirteen steps.

[Grand Master]

The title representing the highest professional level in the chess world gave Ryo Kitagawa unparalleled skills as a golden talent.

Not only Sakayanagi Yusu, but also Ayanokouji Kiyotaka whom he met a few days ago was no match for him.

but...

"What's wrong? Are you feeling a little uncomfortable?"

Sakayanagi Yusu seemed to notice something strange about Kitagawa Ryo, and took the initiative to come over and ask.

Ever since Kitagawa Ryo defeated White Room, Sakayanagi Yusu admitted that the other party was a genius who stood higher than her.

Drama, chess, can achieve success in both areas at the same time.

It seems natural that the title of genius should be given to Kitagawa Ryo.

Sakayanagi Arisu has even thought about asking his father, who is the chairman of Tokyo Advanced Education High School, to directly recruit Kitagawa Ryo two years later, and his father also expressed his agreement. Both father and daughter are looking forward to each other's performance in 'Strength First' Performance in school.

At the same time, Sakayanagi Yusu also knew that she was also looking forward to defeating the opponent there.

"I just have a little headache, so let's stop here today."

"I only played half a game after calling you out. I'm sorry."

Kitagawa Ryo said while covering his forehead.

But Sakayanagi Yusu didn't care, she just nodded and said:

"No, there are a lot of things I need to learn in just this half of the game."

Taking the initiative to clean up the chess pieces and the chessboard, Sakayanagi Yusu asked with concern:

"Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"It doesn't matter, I just want to take a rest. You can go first."

"...All right."

Sakayanagi Yusu took his cane and slowly turned around and left. During this period, he looked back twice, but finally left.

After taking a short rest and hearing the phone vibrating in his pocket, Kitagawa Ryo reached out and took out the phone and held it up in front of his eyes.

"Hello, Minister Beichuan, this is the list of freshmen who have applied for the drama department this year. There are 165 people in total, and 37 people have passed the preliminary review."

After reading it for a while, I remembered that this was a message from the person in charge of the drama department that I was named in the school. Although I was nominally a director, I seemed to have never been there a few times, let alone Not to mention dealing with matters in the drama department.

If you scroll up, it seems that the other party has been reporting to you some activities in the drama club, but Kitagawa Ryo always just replies with formulaic "I know" and "You can figure it out" every time, and he is completely a hands-off boss. posture.

It happened that he also needed other things to distract his attention, so Kitagawa Ryo, who had the rare intention of taking charge, simply opened the list sent by the other party out of boredom.

As a result, I saw the name [Horikita Suzune] on the first line, and the note at the end was [Passed the preliminary review].

"..."

Can Ling Yin pass the preliminary examination? Does the drama department also care about appearance?

According to my understanding, Horikita Suzune's resume should not show any compatibility with the drama department.

After all, he has been carrying out the lone wolf style since elementary school, making any teamwork a mess.

With a little confusion, Kitagawa Ryo also replied with a message:

"What is the basis for judging that Horikita Suzune passed the preliminary review?"

It seemed that the other party did not expect Ryo Kitagawa to reply suddenly. It took a long time after the status of the message changed from [Unread] to [Read] before resending the message:

"Because I judge that the other party is relatively outstanding in appearance, and it can be seen in her resume that she is very capable, so I passed the preliminary review."

At first glance, you can tell that you have never seen me for an interview.

However, considering that a full 165 new students have signed up, the Drama Department does not have time to verify them one by one.

Kitagawa Ryo remembered that the final review of the drama department seemed to be for the freshmen to choose a classic passage from a play to perform, so he typed and asked:

"Which character from which drama did Suzune Horikita draw?"

"Shakespeare's Macbeth, the character played is Lady Macbeth."

The corners of Kushida Kikyo's mouth rose. Of course, this was not the result of random selection.

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Karuizawa Megumi's father discovered that his daughter would often sit in front of his TV and giggle after returning home after a long absence. He curiously looked at the screen and saw that it was indeed a drama starring his daughter.

He was not interested in this aspect. The reason why he agreed to his daughter's development in this area was because Kitagawa Ryo's myth made many parents see another shortcut to raise their children, but in the end, only Kitagawa Ryo was successful.

"Go to bed early. The new school has contacted you. It's time to calm down."

"alright, I got it."

Karuizawa Megumi replied without raising his head, causing his father to shake his head helplessly and return to his room.

The girl refocused her attention on the video on the screen. It was her most proud performance.