I have a life simulator.

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"Hey, Sudo, when I went to get the broom just now, I heard those bastards saying they were going to mess with you."

Kitagawa Ryo rushed back empty-handed. Sudo had just finished eating Kitagawa Ryo's instant noodles and looked at him with some confusion.

“I overheard three people mentioning your name on the way, and I pretended that I didn’t get along with you, and secretly recorded them.”

"Can you call that Sudo out? You'll get a good share of the points after this is done. I don't need to explain how important he is here."

"I would never do such a harmful thing. I'm only here to stop the violence from happening."

"Tsk, fine, but you better not tell anyone about the plan."

Kitagawa Ryo quickly played the recording on his phone and said with some concern:

"They said they'd call someone to teach you a lesson, tonight."

"Damn it! You bastards are asking for it!"

Sudo was enraged. He was already furious with these three people, but before he could even make a move, they wanted to beat him up first.

"Where are they now?"

"It's to the left of that grove of trees not far ahead, but we should be getting close to the teaching building by now."

Kitagawa Ryomi: The time is almost right.

"Sudo, don't be impulsive. I'll go find the other classmates, and we'll all think of a solution together..."

After saying that, Kitagawa Ryo left, leaving Sudo alone, sulking.

Sure enough, just thirty seconds later, Sudo angrily kicked the table leg and ran straight in the direction Kitagawa Ryo had pointed.

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"The show is about to begin—"

Kitagawa Ryo waited until Sudo left before leisurely walking out of the convenience store, casually tossing the instant noodles Sudo had finished into the trash can.

"Huh? Is this what Liang ate for lunch?"

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to ask Ishizaki Daichi about the situation, Shiina Hiyori, who looked like she had just come out of a convenience store, frowned and asked.

"Ah... it doesn't really matter."

Kitagawa Ryo could only silently put away his phone and naturally stepped forward to help Shiina Hiyori carry her shopping bags.

"Didn't Hiyori go to the cafeteria?"

"...because I don't really want to go alone."

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at Shiina Hiyori's shopping bag and saw bread and fast food bento boxes, even though he himself had just bought some random things to eat at the supermarket.

"Alright, it's on me."

After a moment's thought, Kitagawa Ryo spoke up.

"Are you going to the cafeteria together?"

Hiyori Shiina's tone carried a hint of anticipation.

"No."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head, suddenly recalling a scene described by Shiina Hiyori during their last simulation, and declared on a whim:

"I cook for myself."

His eyebrows and the corners of his mouth were turned up, and Kitagawa Ryo stared intently at Shiina Hiyori's purple pupils:

"How about it?"

Chapter 5: The Blueberry Pie Wars and Some Memories

Tokyo Advanced Educational High School has three dormitory buildings, which are separated by grade. Each grade lives separately, but boys and girls live together. However, the boys' rooms are concentrated on the lower floors, while the girls' rooms are concentrated on the upper floors.

Although it sounds a bit like the tenement buildings where workers lived during the Industrial Revolution, the students here can enjoy a private apartment-style room for each person. Combined with the luxurious decorations that look incredibly luxurious from the outside, it is quite a good treatment for high school students.

After buying the ingredients they wanted, Kitagawa Ryo returned to the dormitory with Shiina Hiyori. Since the student dormitories would not be changed for the next three years, the assigned room would be the freshmen's home for the next three years.

After showing his student ID, Kitagawa Ryo received a room key with room number 408 written on it from the first-floor receptionist, as well as a handbook with dormitory rules for each person. Shiina Hiyori's room was 1204. After the two entered the elevator together, because Shiina Hiyori wanted to go back to her room to put her things away first, Kitagawa Ryo, who was on a lower floor, opened the door to room 408 by himself.

I casually flipped through the handbook on the way. The content was very simple. After noting down the key points such as the days and times for taking out the trash, the rest were just reminders not to make noise, avoid excessive water use, and avoid wasting electricity. However, although I remembered not to waste electricity, it seems that the school also covered the electricity, water and gas bills, and did not make students pay the relevant points themselves. The treatment was quite generous.

[Relationships incompatible with the status of a high school student are prohibited.]

Kitagawa Ryo pondered for a while but still couldn't figure out this inconsistent definition. Maybe it refers to excessive intimacy in public places?

Open the door with the key. The room is about four square meters in size. Although it is small, it is fully equipped. In addition to the bedroom and living room, there is also a separate kitchen, toilet and bathroom. Some common home appliances such as refrigerator and air conditioner are also provided. Freshmen don't even need to make a bed. They can move in with just their bags.

Kitagawa Ryo put the purchased household items into the bathroom, toilet, and kitchen according to their categories. What reassured him was that some basic seasonings were already prepared in the kitchen. Although it couldn't be said that the variety was complete, it was enough to complete basic cooking.

While selecting ingredients, Kitagawa Ryo inadvertently spotted blueberries. Although the main ripening season for blueberries is July and August, with the development of greenhouse cultivation technology, they can now be bought occasionally in April. Although they are a bit expensive, Kitagawa Ryo was fulfilling a wish today, so he bought quite a few.

However, Kitagawa Ryo didn't buy blueberries just to eat them. He planned to make a blueberry pie for Shiina Hiyori. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that the girls he knew all had a special passion for sweets. Kitagawa Ryo washed the ingredients while thinking about the steps to make the pie.

Mix the low-gluten flour, granulated sugar, and melted butter, then add water and knead. Kitagawa Ryo had only been doing this for a few minutes when he heard someone push open his door. He assumed it was Shiina Hiyori coming downstairs to put something away and didn't pay much attention. He just casually told her to watch TV to pass the time.

Hearing the television broadcast coming from the living room behind him, Kitagawa Ryo snapped out of his thoughts and set the kneaded dough aside to rest. He tasted the blueberries he had bought, and wondered if it was because they were in season too early, as they were more sour than sweet. Kitagawa Ryo thought for a moment and decided to make a sweet cheese filling for the blueberry pie to balance it out.

After adding sugar to the cream and cheese, beat quickly until the liquid is smooth and free of lumps. Kitagawa Ryo then adds the eggs and continues beating, before pouring in the heavy cream and milk in that order.

Add the purchased blueberries and crush them. Kitagawa Ryo calculated the dough's resting time, rolled it out with a rolling pin, cut it into thin slices, placed them in the mold on the baking tray, pressed them flat, poured in the filling, and put it in the oven. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes. Kitagawa Ryo walked out of the kitchen satisfied.

"hello?"

When Kitagawa Ryo walked into the living room, the girl, who sat naturally on the sofa and watched TV like the owner of the place, smiled and spoke.

Even indoors, she still wore a small gray-brown beret, with her unusual silver shoulder-length hair peeking out from the brim. Her elfin face was radiating a lovely smile, making her look less like a high school student and more like an innocent little girl befitting her height.

If her name wasn't Sakayanagi Arisu.

If there's anything more troublesome than dealing with Sakayanagi...

Kitagawa Ryo seemed to have anticipated what was about to happen, his eyes, devoid of light, turned listlessly toward his room door.

"Some things took a little longer than expected."

Having changed into her loungewear, Shiina Hiyori, still looking completely unaware of what was going on, was about to enter Kitagawa Ryo's room.

Actually, thinking about it carefully, I did make enough blueberry pie for two people, and it seems like it would be enough if I didn't eat any.

Having given up on thinking, Kitagawa Ryo was already pondering strange questions, while Sakayanagi Arisu looked up and met Shiina Hiyori's gaze as she entered the living room.

Actually, both of them have silver-white hair, so they might have a lot in common.

"I believe my life has value until the blueberry pie is baked."

Kitagawa Ryo made this struggling declaration.

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Blueberry pie tastes wonderful, especially when eaten fresh out of the oven and warm. The soft, sweet cheese and tart blueberries as filling, paired with the rich and delicious pie crust, offer a delightful sweet treat without being too cloying, with a smooth and delicate texture.

Unfortunately, all of the above comes from Kitagawa Ryo's imagination.

While elegantly cutting a slice of blueberry pie with a knife and fork, Sakayanagi Arisu quietly slapped away Kitagawa Ryo's restless hand, smiling as he indicated that the bread he had bought from the convenience store in the bag next to him was his lunch.

"Do you really want some cold food?"

Compared to a certain silver-haired little devil, Shiina Hiyori is undoubtedly much more concerned, and she took the initiative to move her plate over as if she wanted to cut a slice for Kitagawa Ryo.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to say something with tears in his eyes, Shiina Hiyori took the plate back and said sullenly with her cheeks puffed out:

"If she's not here, then we can have some cold food, right?"

"So it's Liang's problem, Liang can solve it himself."

So the situation at the dinner table returned to an awkward silence. However, compared to the girls enjoying their sweets, Kitagawa Ryo, who was starving, had begun to miss the bowl of instant noodles he had given to Sudo. Thinking back on it now, Sudo had actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

"Ahem, let me introduce myself."

"This is Hiyori Shiina, who is in Class C of the first year and is in the same class as me."

"This is Sakayanagi Arisu from Class 1-A."

Why add the modifier "in my class"?

Sakayanagi Arisu wiped her mouth with a napkin, propped her chin on her left hand, and turned her head to ask.

Is it redundant?

Kitagawa Ryo asked, puzzled.

"It's just that she has things I don't, which makes me a little sad."

A smile appeared on Sakayanagi Arisu's face. Like Kitagawa Ryo, she was also good at this kind of smile with the corners of her mouth turned up but no smile in her eyes.

Kitagawa Ryo usually refers to this as a "forced smile".

"This is Sakayanagi Arisu, who I know from Class 1-A, okay?"

"Huh? We're just acquaintances?"

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to enjoy Kitagawa Ryo's predicament; she even forked a piece of blueberry pie like a preschool teacher soothing a child.

"If you speak a little nicer, I'll treat you to a meal."

"Hey, this should have been my share all along."

Kitagawa Ryo was trying to gloss over the topic, but unexpectedly, Shiina Hiyori on the other side also put down her cutlery and said very seriously:

"Actually, I'm also very curious about Ryo's relationship with this... Sakayanagi-san."

"Did Liang disappear without a trace for a year during junior high school? Was it related to her?"

Faced with Shiina Hiyori's question, Kitagawa Ryo could only give an ambiguous answer:

"It is indeed related to Arisu, but it's hard to explain in a short time."

He shook his head at Shiina Hiyori and said:

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, and I hope Hiyori can understand."

"Well, it's okay."

Although she said that, Shiina Hiyori couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. After all, it was really a difficult task to understand that the person she liked had a secret with another girl.

Kitagawa Ryo was also upset to see Shiina Hiyori like this, but there were some things he definitely couldn't say in front of Sakayanagi Arisu, so he could only suppress his emotions and ask Sakayanagi Arisu:

"And you? Why did you come here, especially within minutes of me finding my dorm room?"

"I'm just curious why you weren't assigned to Class A."

Sakayanagi Arisu answered the question with a question of doubt.

"Huh? Isn't class assignment random?"

Before Kitagawa Ryo could answer, Shiina Hiyori asked in confusion. After all, for her, who loved reading, it was almost like a preordained arrangement that Kitagawa Ryo was in the same class as her. Such a romantic thing was described by Sakayanagi Arisu as something that had been manipulated.

"Not really."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head, answering Shiina Hiyori's question:

"Actually, I had wondered before if there really was any difference between the four classes, A, B, C, and D. I only found out after overhearing an older student casually mentioning it at the convenience store. If I'm not mistaken, this school probably uses some kind of set of rules to evaluate students and divide them into classes according to their merits."

"That's why I heard the senior students call the freshmen in Class D of the first year 'defective products'."

In just one morning and noon, Kitagawa Ryo had already figured out some of the school's rules. The questions from Sakayanagi Arisu made him even more certain of his thoughts. After all, she was the biological daughter of the school's chairman, Sakayanagi, and she should know far more than the average freshman.

"That's right."

Sakayanagi Arisu first responded to Kitagawa Ryo's guess, but still asked with some frustration:

"So why wasn't Liang assigned to Class A?"

"Maybe I'm only at the C-class level..."

Kitagawa Ryo casually replied that he himself wasn't quite sure why he had been assigned to Class C, but since he was already there, he might as well make the best of it. At least it was better than running into Sakayanagi Arisu, Ichinose Honami, Horikita Suzune, and Karuizawa Megumi head-on. Compared to them, Shiina Hiyori was simply the healthiest girl, both physically and mentally.

Although she seemed to have a slight communication disorder before, Kitagawa Ryo was confident that he could help her correct this minor problem.

"Don't say that."

Despite Kitagawa Ryo's casual joke, Sakayanagi Arisu responded with a serious rebuttal:

"I admit that Kitagawa Ryo is not only at the level of Class C."