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

They played wildly until 7:30 pm before everyone realized the time and hurried back to the hostel to retrieve their luggage.

Due to the haste, many were careless, leaving behind phone chargers, playing cards, headphones, and other trifling items that could occasionally be found around the room—it was a complete mess.

Yui Hosaka and Kagura Hikaru had to remind them frequently until they quickly gathered their belongings and left.

After checking out and returning the rented car, they rushed to catch the train at Shinkansen Station.

This frantic rush to catch the train also carried a travel vibe—far from being tense, everyone found it quite amusing.

Only Chiyoko Ayakoji and Kagura Hikaru, the two seriously deadpan ones, were speechless because they had repeatedly reminded everyone to watch the time earlier, to no avail.

As a result, everyone was now dragging their suitcases and sprinting to catch the train after getting off the bus at a nearby station.

"This is pretty good too, Mr. Kagura. Consider it a workout," Yui Hosaka said with a laugh while jogging.

Kagura Hikaru rolled his eyes.

Speaking of a workout, the days of intensive training and competition had been workout enough.

They had walked around for several hours in the afternoon and evening; fortunately, everyone was from sports clubs and physically fit. Ordinary students would've been exhausted halfway through.

They barely made it to Kyoto Station. Looking at the time, it was 8:45 pm—they had just managed to catch the train.

While Teacher Yamazaki went to get the tickets, everyone took out their cell phones to message their families that they were departing.

Kagura Hikaru also intended to check if there were any messages from home but found his pocket empty upon reaching inside.

"Hmm?"

He quickly checked his other pocket and not finding it there either, he had no choice but to search through his luggage bag.

Yui Hosaka noticed Kagura Hikaru's odd behavior and asked, "What's wrong, Mr. Kagura?"

Everyone looked over.

After a few seconds of silence, Kagura Hikaru reluctantly admitted, "I've lost my phone."

"What?"

Everyone was surprised.

"Could it have fallen out along the way?"

"It might also have been stolen on the bus, I've heard that Kyoto has many pickpockets due to the high number of tourists."

"What's going on? What are you all talking about?" Teacher Yamazaki, holding the tickets and jogging over, joined the perplexed and boisterous discussion upon hearing them.

Hearing that Kagura Hikaru's phone was missing, he frowned in distress, "What should we do now? The train is about to leave, and we won't make it if we go back to look for it now...."

Kagura Hikaru frowned as well.

He could afford the cost of a new phone, but what bothered him more was having to deal with getting a new SIM card.

By now, he was inclined to just head home, as the phone could have been lost anywhere, and looking for it now would be too inefficient and would hold everyone up.

But then, Yui Hosaka suggested, "Could it be possible that you left it at the hostel? Maybe we should call and ask?"

Her suggestion reminded them, and Teacher Yamazaki immediately dialed the hostel's contact number.

A while later, the matriarch who had attended to them answered the phone.

When asked if there were any phones left behind, she said, "Yes, actually we were just about to contact the guests. After you checked out, we found two unclaimed cell phones at the hostel."

"Two?"

The call was on speakerphone, and everyone could hear it.

At that, everyone exchanged glances.

The only one who hadn't taken out a phone was Chiyoko Ayakoji, right?

Chiyoko Ayakoji reached into her pocket.

Indeed, it was not there.

Seeing her expression, Teacher Yamazaki quickly understood and promptly told the warrior matriarch on the phone, "I'm very sorry; those two phones must belong to our group. Could you please hold on to them for us for now?"

"Of course, awaiting your retrieval at any time."

"Thank you very much."

Teacher Yamazaki hung up the phone, hesitating before asking Kagura Hikaru and Chiyoko Ayakoji, "What do you two plan to do?"

There was no way they could leave the phones behind; a single phone was much more valuable than the train ticket.

But the train was about to leave, and Teacher Yamazaki couldn't possibly delay everyone's schedule for just the two of them, as it would be difficult to explain to the students' parents.

As for letting the others take the train back to Tokyo by themselves while he followed Kagura Hikaru and the others back to the hotel, that was even less likely.

Teacher Yamazaki's expression was torn.

Kagura Hikaru understood tacitly, "You all go ahead, President Ayakoji and I will retrieve the phones, and we'll change our tickets to tomorrow."

"You mean you guys are staying in the Capital City another night?" Teacher Yamazaki raised an eyebrow.

It wasn't that he didn't trust them; among the students, Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko were the least of his worries, capable of independent action without needing an adult present.

It was already 8:50 p.m., and the station's loudspeaker began announcing boarding calls.

Scratching his head apologetically, Teacher Yamazaki said, "Then Kagura Hikaru, Ayakoji Chiyoko, you both head back to the hotel and stay another night, take the tickets to change them yourselves. By the way, do you have money for the hotel, or do you need me to lend you some?"

Ayakoji Chiyoko took the tickets and said, "We still have enough for one night's lodging, do not worry."

Kagura Hikaru nodded too.

When traveling far from home, how could they not bring money?

Seeing that time was running short, Teacher Yamazaki called everyone to get on the train.

Hosaka Yui and the others waved goodbye to Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko, dragging their luggage onto the train.

As Kagura Hikaru and the other watched the train doors close and the train slowly accelerate along the tracks toward the distance, they turned to change their tickets for the next morning and left the station together.

Standing at the entrance of the station, a cold wind swept over them.

A strange feeling surged through their minds.

Suddenly, Kagura Hikaru realized that tonight he would be spending the night with Ayakoji Chiyoko alone, a man and a woman together in a strange city.

This person was not only his classmate but had also been giving him the cold shoulder recently.

He had never expected that such a coincidence would lead to this situation.

It was almost as though someone had arranged it.

He hesitated, looking over at Ayakoji Chiyoko next to him, only to find her spacing out too, staring blankly at the traffic in the middle of the road with a cold expression, unaware of what she was thinking.

"... let's head back," Kagura Hikaru said.

Ayakoji Chiyoko nodded, clutching her luggage and quickly walking toward the direction of the bus station.

Kagura Hikaru followed her.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

For some reason, he felt she might be slightly angry.

Was it embarrassing to be left behind by everyone?

In this tense atmosphere, Kagura Hikaru chose not to strike up a conversation and simply enjoyed the Capital City's night scenery as they returned to Ryusongan.

Ryusongan was located in the suburbs, where one could hardly see anyone around at night, making it eerily quiet.

Fortunately, the lights within the inn were still on, their warm glow like the flame of a candle on a winter's night, drawing Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko towards it.

"Welcome, guests," the Warrior Matriarch greeted them at the entrance as before, dressed in a dark blue kimono.

"Here are your phones, please take good care of them." The innkeeper stood behind the counter, handing over two mobile phones with both hands.

They were reportedly found in the room and on the teahouse table.

After retrieving their phones, they heard the innkeeper ask, "It's already quite late outside; would you like to stay another night?"

"Yes, we plan to stay one more night," Kagura Hikaru nodded and said, opening his wallet, "Please book us two rooms...."

He suddenly paused mid-sentence.

The amount of cash in the wallet was not right.

Had there been a theft?

This amount was not enough to afford even one room. Out of necessity, Kagura Hikaru turned to Ayakoji Chiyoko, "Sorry, it seems I don't have enough money; could you...?"

Ayakoji Chiyoko gave him a glance, pulling out her wallet and opening it too, then pausing just like Kagura Hikaru had, she extracted all her cash, "My money is gone, this is all I have now."

Something felt off to Kagura Hikaru as he combined all his cash with Ayakoji Chiyoko's and asked the innkeeper, "Excuse me, is this enough for two rooms?"

The innkeeper quickly counted the bills, smiled, and looked up, "Sorry, guests, but the money here is just enough for one room."

The two fell into a deathly silence.