"Waiting at the school gate, huh?"
"The gears of fate are quietly turning, huh?"
"I'll be the one to personally sever your bond!"
"..."
Although she couldn't figure out what 4K and 8K meant, Anna had one good trait: she didn't dwell on things she couldn't figure out, and instead focused on the goal right in front of her—
"Protect Sora, absolutely do not let my base be stolen by the 'fated rival'!"
Precisely because of this, Anna had waited early at the train station entrance. Her goal was to guard Sora's side the entire time, preventing him from crossing paths with the fated rival.
"Let's go, off to school."
Sora put the souvenirs in his schoolbag and began walking towards the school. Angel-sama and 'Inmate Eight' followed him, one on his left, one on his right.
Both girls were very cute. As they walked along, quite a few people cast secret, admiring glances.
The difference was that Angel-sama was quiet and gentle, demure like a delicate flower reflected in water, while Anna chattered incessantly.
"Sora, Sora~ Guess what the gift is?"
Anna put her hands behind her back, tilting her head to look over, her voice sweet and pleasant:
"If you guess right, there's an extra reward."
Sora replied casually:
"It should be a specialty snack, right?"
"Ehhhh?" Anna covered her pink lips with her hand, widening her beautiful eyes, a super shocked expression appearing on her face.
"You actually guessed it right on the first try! Sora really is a genius."
Your expression is too exaggerated. Go back and brush up on your acting skills!
As everyone knows.
Anna's hobby was tasting local specialty foods. Fish mint, century eggs, cow dung hotpot... Things others wouldn't dare to eat, Anna genuinely dared to eat.
In the past when she went traveling, 'Inmate Eight' almost always brought back specialty snacks as souvenirs, without exception.
"Here, here~" Anna reached out to Sora and opened her right hand. A few pieces of konpeitō (sugar candy) lay in her palm. Her smile was bright and radiant.
"Since Sora answered correctly on the first try, I'll give you an extra piece of konpeitō."
Sora took two pieces of candy: "Thank you for the gift, Lord Anna. I am incredibly grateful."
"Ehehe~"
Anna smiled smugly, then turned to look at the quiet Angel-sama beside her:
"Mahiru-chan, have you ever had konpeitō?"
Mahiru gently pursed her pink lips, her tone slightly hesitant:
"Umm..."
"Looks like you haven't had it." Anna's smile was bright as she offered her right hand. "This is a traditional Japanese candy with a history of several hundred years. It tastes quite good. Want to try a piece, Mahiru-chan?"
"Thank you, Anna."
After softly expressing her thanks, Mahiru reached out, took a piece of konpeitō, and put it in her mouth.
The three chatted along the way and soon arrived at the school gate.
The disciplinary committee and student council members were standing at the entrance, responsible for checking whether students' attire and accessories violated the rules.
For example, a girl with a blonde side ponytail, wearing her school uniform tied around her waist like a standard gyaru, was stopped by the disciplinary committee.
"Aihara Yuzu-san, please wear your school uniform properly, do not tie it around your waist."
"Ah, what a pain..."
"And your skirt, did you intentionally shorten it?"
"I did not. It's clearly because my legs are long."
"..."
Sora looked over curiously. He felt the blonde gyaru's name was somewhat familiar, but unfortunately, the impression in his mind was blurry, and he couldn't recall it for the moment.
"Yawn..."
In the corner, a girl with long, straight black hair who was yawning caught Sora's attention.
It was Gokou Ruri.
Looking closely, he saw that Ruri had dark circles under her eyes and looked listless, a picture of sleepy exhaustion.
"Good morning, Ruri-san."
Sora walked over to the black-haired girl and greeted her softly.
"Good morning, Sora..."
Ruri subconsciously responded. After speaking, she snapped back to reality and hurriedly looked around. Seeing no one paying attention to her, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
In school, only close friends address each other by their first names. If someone heard me call him just 'Sora', it would definitely lead to misunderstandings, right?
"Good morning, Ruri-chan." Anna waved hello, her voice full of energy.
"Did you not rest well last night? How come you have dark circles?"
"Last night I..."
Ruri gently bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, unable to resist looking up at Sora, her eyes asking if she could speak about it.
A bad premonition surged in his heart, and Sora frowned slightly:
"Did Ruri have another nightmare last night?"
"That's right. In my dream, I was pulled into the spacetime singularity again..." Ruri bit her lower lip, her voice tense.
"Did Sora dream about it too?"
Sora was silent for two seconds: "I didn't have a nightmare last night."
"O-Only I dreamed about it?"
Ruri instantly panicked.
"Sora, what are you guys talking about?" Anna's curiosity exploded, and she couldn't help but squeeze between the two.
"What nightmare? And what is a spacetime singularity?"
Sora looked at the gluttonous girl. He didn't hide anything and quietly recounted the experience of escorting Kuroneko home two nights ago.
Angel-sama and Elf both knew about the nightmare. Neither of them had had similar dreams, proving that the dream wasn't a "memetic infection" that spread by knowing about it.
Furthermore.
Sora also hadn't had any dreams about the subway station last night; only Ruri had. It was hard to say whether it was truly a supernatural event or just a case of "what you think about during the day, you dream about at night."
"Ehhhhh?"
"Elf turned invisible to gather material and accidentally got locked on the school roof?"
"Ruri-chan went to help, Sora escorted Ruri-chan home late at night, and ended up staying over at Ruri-chan's house..."
Hearing what had happened over the past few days, Anna felt completely unwell.
I only went on a trip with my parents for a few days, and I actually missed so many important events...
No wonder in the Losing Heroine Diary updates over the past couple of days, the future was either Sora and Ruri-chan getting married after college, or him marrying into Elf's family. I was absent for all the key events!
"Sora-kun didn't have a nightmare last night." Angel-sama also walked over, her voice gentle and concerned.
"Did Ruri stay at home all day yesterday?"
Ruri nodded: "I was at home taking care of my sisters."
"When people are idle, it's easy for their imaginations to run wild." Mahiru pondered. "Sora-kun didn't have a nightmare yesterday. Perhaps it's related to going to the zoo to play yesterday... Ruri could go out and play to change her mood, and then see how it goes tonight."
"Going out to play will stop the nightmares?"
With Sora as an 'example' right beside her, Ruri was naturally very tempted upon hearing this.
"I can't guarantee it." Sora said softly. "But at least I didn't dream about that subway station last night."
"Are you guys going out to play?" Anna quickly raised her right hand, her eyes sparkling. "I suggest Ruri-chan go to the amusement park. Ride a roller coaster, and when you get off, you'll forget all your worries!"
With that expectant look in your eyes, it's clearly you who wants to go to the amusement park!