Chapter 47: This is Youth (Revised)

Social death refers to those excruciating, mortifying moments of sheer embarrassment.

Inside a dimly lit room with the curtains drawn tightly shut, a small, mound-like lump lay on the bed.

Utada Kyoko wrapped herself tightly in the duvet, her mind drifting and her spirits utterly crushed.

Having neglected to check her phone, she had no idea what time it was, nor did she care anymore.

Her body, her soul, and her very heart were completely consumed by regret.

"Why on earth did I ever think of hitting on Sugawara Ryuichi..."

The mere thought of yesterday's events filled Utada Kyoko with boundless remorse.

Truth be told, she had anticipated the possibility of failure, yet she had still mustered the courage to go through with it.

It was because she had once read a phrase online: "When you meet someone you like, you must be brave at least once... because if you miss your chance, they belong to someone else."

Perhaps the original quote was meant to encourage boys, but she felt it made a lot of sense and adopted it as her own personal romantic creed.

Because of this, despite having harbored countless crushes and failed many times when approaching boys, she would still summon the courage to make a move whenever she met someone she fancied.

She had figured that failure was just failure, which was still infinitely better than missing out due to cowardice.

That was what she had believed, yet when Sugawara Ryuichi politely turned her down, she was hit with an unprecedented, overwhelming wave of defeat.

She had felt heartbroken and furious upon being rejected, hating herself for not being pretty enough.

In that exact moment, an absurd and ridiculous thought had even crossed her mind... if only she were as pretty as Yuki, the answer she received would have definitely been different.

She had originally intended to brush it off as if nothing had happened, acting carefree as she returned to her close friends.

Yet the speechless silence that greeted her when she tried to play it off with a joke was deafening, making her wish she could crawl into a hole and hide.

Clearly, her attempt this time had been utterly foolish—completely unlike her past antics of approaching handsome strangers on the street with a starry-eyed crush, entirely lacking the kind of casualness that others could simply laugh off.

She kept torturing herself by guessing what everyone must have been thinking at that moment.

No matter how she imagined it, however, there was never a good outcome.

"Ding-dong—!"

Right at that moment, the sound of the doorbell rang out.

"Are they here..."

Hearing the chime, Utada Kyoko instinctively woke up her phone to check the time, only to discover it was already 4:42 PM.

Given what had transpired yesterday, coupled with her truancy today—skipping school entirely without even bothering to ask for leave—this was an inevitable consequence.

"What should I do?"

Even though she recognized the situation, Utada Kyoko was completely flustered, having no idea how to handle it.

To be frank, she was not yet psychologically prepared to face them.

"Ding-dong—!"

Before she could sort out her thoughts, a mere moment later, the doorbell rang once more.

It was still quite early, meaning her parents had not yet returned from work, leaving her all alone in the house.

"To hell with it, the worst they can do is laugh at me. Everyone's already here; if I hide and refuse to see them, I'll end up losing three good friends."

Realizing that everyone was waiting for her to open the door, Utada Kyoko gritted her teeth and made up her mind.

Since they were just her close friends anyway, she couldn't be bothered to brush her hair or change her clothes. She got up, stepped out of bed, and walked straight out of the room.

Walking barefoot out of her bedroom, Utada Kyoko quickly reached the entryway to slip into her house slippers.

"Sorry to keep you..."

Her opening gambit was an apology. She had intended to start with this, expressing both her apologies and gratitude, but the scene that greeted her eyes instantly caught in her throat.

For the person standing at the door was not one of her three expected girlfriends, but rather someone completely beyond her imagination and anticipation.

Jet-black short hair, a high bridge of the nose, sharp and vibrant eyes, well-defined facial contours, a refined and scholarly demeanor, and extraordinary height.

"Hi there, Utada-san."

Sugawara Ryuichi met her gaze and took the initiative to greet her.

"..."

This completely unannounced guest left Utada Kyoko utterly paralyzed.

She couldn't utter a single syllable, struck dumb by profound shock.

"What is going on? What is happening? What on earth is this situation?!"

She tried to comprehend the unfolding reality, but failed entirely, her little heart nearly leaping straight out of her chest in sheer terror.

According to the normal course of events, shouldn't the person at the door have been one of her girlfriends?

With that thought, she took a step forward and glanced left and right down the hallway, desperately hoping to find her friends to help her navigate this crisis.

Yet, scanning the corridor of this floor yielded not a single familiar face.

"I'm sorry, please come in."

Utterly isolated and helpless, though completely baffled by the circumstances, Utada Kyoko decided she had better invite him inside first and figure things out later.

"Thank you."

Accepting the invitation graciously, Sugawara Ryuichi stepped inside her home.

The Utada residence was not a standalone house, but rather an apartment unit. However, it was far from being an old, shabby building; both its exterior and interior renovations were exquisite, and the space was remarkably spacious. Combined with its prime location, while perhaps not a luxury suite, it easily qualified as a high-end apartment.

"Please take a seat... What would you like to drink? I have iced barley tea, ice water, coffee, and matcha."

Guiding him into the living room in front of the sofa, Utada Kyoko tried her best to play the host despite her awkwardness, not daring to show the slightest discourtesy.

"Iced barley tea will be fine."

With that reply from Sugawara Ryuichi, he settled onto the sofa.

The moment he sat down, his gaze drifted toward Utada Kyoko, looking her up and down with a particular focus on her chest.

When people are extremely tense, they become hyper-aware of every single movement around them.

Following his line of sight, Utada Kyoko looked down and took in her disheveled, flowing long hair, her messy and loose pajamas, and the plunging neckline of her sleepwear that exposed her cleavage.

Since she hadn't planned on going out today, she hadn't even bothered to change out of the clothes she put on after taking a shower last night, let alone put on proper loungewear... Right now, she was bare-faced, uncombed, and practically indecently dressed!

"Excuse me, please wait a moment, I need to go change."

Realizing the predicament, Utada Kyoko stammered out the words in a panic before turning on her heel and fleeing.

As she dashed out of the living room, Sugawara Ryuichi took his phone out of his pocket, checked to confirm that the voice chat connection was functioning properly, and slipped it back into his pocket.

Because Ishiguro Aine was intensely curious about how he would handle things, he had specifically started a voice call to satisfy everyone's curiosity.

————

"Kyoko is so bold, she actually brought Sugawara straight into her house."

Peeking out from the corner of the hallway on the same floor outside the apartment, Sakai Kano whispered in utter astonishment.

"Bringing a strange guy directly into her home? Even if Sugawara-kun is ridiculously handsome, that's crossing a line. This isn't even about being bold anymore; she has zero self-preservation instincts."

Takanashi Yuki expressed her complete agreement with that assessment.

"That's not what I meant at all! Didn't you notice that Kyoko was wearing pajamas just now? She probably just rolled out of bed—she was practically half-naked and looked insanely seductive. Why else do you think she'd panic and run off to change clothes?"

Realizing that her friend had missed the main point, Sakai Kano hastened to point it out.

"There's that, too..."

Takanashi Yuki froze at the reminder. Realizing that Kyoko was currently in a state of disarray, a strange, tight sensation gripped her heart.

"Can things really play out the way we anticipated?"

Ishiguro Aine chose not to partake in the playful banter, feeling a lingering sense of worry instead.