In the end, Yukinoshita Yukino had come here to pet cats, not to start a battlefield of romantic tension. Although many unexpected things had happened along the way, she still left fully satisfied in the end.
In the end, humans really were inferior to cats.
A strange thought suddenly crossed Sato's mind. After seeing Yukinoshita Yukino out and closing the door, he turned around and saw Fujimiya Konomi standing behind him with a conflicted expression.
The girl stood in the hallway, lips pressed together, brows slightly furrowed as she stared at him. Her expression carried an indescribable seriousness, and her burning gaze felt strangely oppressive.
"So Chiba really has this many beautiful girls?"
Sato could not help laughing when he heard that. He countered, "What do you think?"
"Hmph!"
Fujimiya Konomi snorted softly, rolled her eyes at him, and complained unhappily, "I don't know about the rest, but I do know you've met a lot of them!"
"Yeah, there really are quite a few."
Sato did not deny it. There was nothing to deny anyway.
After all, Konomi had already met many of the girls he knew. During summer vacation, the Light Music Club had held a training camp in Asahigaoka, so they had already crossed paths before.
"Alright, enough about that!"
Sato shook his head and changed the subject. He asked Fujimiya Konomi, "What do you want for dinner tonight? My treat!"
"Even a high-end restaurant is okay?"
"Anywhere is fine!"
He answered with complete confidence.
After all, he could now be considered fairly wealthy. No matter how expensive dinner was, he could afford it.
Konomi seemed very satisfied with his answer, but then she shook her head and refused.
"Forget it. Eating outside costs too much money. Let's just buy ingredients and cook ourselves instead. I'll show you my skills!"
"Oh?"
Sato was not surprised by her answer at all, because he understood her personality very well.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "That works too. But let me handle dinner tonight. You've been traveling all day, so you should get some rest."
"Hehe! Okay!"
Fujimiya Konomi revealed a sweet smile.
"Don't celebrate too early. Starting tomorrow, focus properly on studying. Don't end up failing the exam and crying your way back home."
"Can't you say something nicer for once?!"
The girl angrily put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
…
The next day.
Although Fujimiya Konomi had basically finished her high school life already, Sato still had to continue his own, so he naturally needed to attend school as usual.
It was already nearing the end of January, and February would arrive in just two days.
Speaking of February, what came to mind?
"Who cuts the fine leaves so neatly? The spring breeze of February is like scissors."
Once February arrived, the weather would gradually start warming up. Then by March, there would be a spring vacation lasting roughly two or three weeks starting in late March.
This was probably the longest vacation Japanese students had.
Besides that, beginning in mid-March, cherry blossoms would start blooming from the southernmost parts of Japan. As time passed and temperatures rose, the blossoms would gradually spread northward across the country.
It would soon be cherry blossom season again.
Resting his chin on his hand at his seat, Sato drifted into thought. Perhaps no one disliked cherry blossoms.
When spring arrived, pink cherry blossoms bloomed everywhere across the land, pink, pale pink, pinkish-white…
Cherry blossoms of every shade bloomed in dazzling beauty. No matter the color, they all looked stunning.
Of course, that did not mean he only liked cherry blossoms. In truth, he also liked pear blossoms, plum blossoms, and peach blossoms. Back home, rows of plum trees had once been planted in front of his house, and when they bloomed, it looked as though snow covered the branches.
But the problem was… only cherry blossoms existed here.
Sato let out a faint sigh. Although he never got tired of viewing cherry blossoms, it still felt a little monotonous.
"How about planting a few plum trees? Pear trees? Peach trees in the courtyard?"
He muttered quietly to himself.
The open space in front of Aoyama Apartments was quite large, and normally it was not used for anything except for a few massive cherry blossom trees growing in the corners.
As for obtaining the trees, that was not an issue. Japan's fruit tree cultivation techniques were world-famous. Even China had introduced many Japanese fruit varieties, the most common example being Fuji apples.
In truth, Japan's agricultural science was extremely advanced. After all, the country's land area was small, and its arable land even smaller. If agriculture were not highly developed, how could they survive?
Once those fruit trees were planted, they could enjoy the flowers in spring and eat the fruit in autumn. What could be better?
At this point, Sato could not help wanting to complain again.
Cherry blossom trees and cherry trees were actually different. The cherry blossoms here did not bear fruit after falling. As someone with the soul of a foodie, Sato complained about this almost every year when cherry blossom season arrived.
They were beautiful to look at, but afterward they felt rather impractical.
"Sato, what have you been muttering about this whole time? It's lunchtime already!"
Kirigaya Kazuto suddenly patted Sato on the shoulder from beside him and asked with a strange expression.
Only then did Sato snap back to reality. Looking around the classroom, he realized it had already become noisy and lively.
Some students had gone to buy food, while most of the others were gathered in small groups eating their lunch boxes together.
"Class is already over?"
There was no doubt that he had zoned out during the previous lesson. Maybe the teacher had not noticed, or maybe they had and simply chosen not to say anything. After all, after consistently ranking first in the grade throughout the entire school year, he had earned the same privileges as Kasumigaoka Utaha.
He once heard her say that even if she slept during class, no one bothered her.
In fact, the teachers in the staff office often complained that every grade had monsters like this. Students who could still take first place without even listening in class put a lot of pressure on them too.
Speaking of Kasumigaoka Utaha, Sato suddenly remembered that she had already graduated.
Still, he did not feel particularly sentimental about it. Kasumigaoka Utaha had promised that after entering university she would continue working as a scriptwriter for the Gensokyo website. The only thing he still did not know was which university she planned to attend.
Though she had mentioned one thing.
She would not go too far from Chiba.
In that case, even if she ended up in Tokyo, taking the Shinkansen over would be easy. Nowadays, riding the Shinkansen felt little different from taking an ordinary train.
Sato suddenly thought about something.
Once she entered university, she should have more free time, right?
Should he ask whether she wanted to work on the script for Yosuga no Sora?
"Sato?"
Seeing him drift off again, Kirigaya Kazuto called out once more with black lines practically appearing across his forehead.
Sato finally snapped back and looked at him.
"Kirito, during spring break, let's go watch the cherry blossoms together."
By spring break, the cherry blossom trees in the courtyard should already be blooming.