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

Ai Cheng Karen finally managed to shoo away her gossip-loving mother.

Kagura Hikaru fell silent for a moment, "....Your mom takes really good care of herself."

He had honestly thought she was Ai Cheng Karen's older sister or something of the sort.

Ai Cheng Karen forced a couple of awkward laughs, "Yeah, I guess so." Continue reading on empire

"....Let's get the guitar out," said Kagura Hikaru. "Let's practice a bit before your friend comes over. Did you practice with the textbook last night?"

"Yes, I did! I just got to climbing grids."

"? Climbing what grids?"

"Ah? Don't I have to practice that?"

"It's a skill that's completely useless, better to start practicing chords."

And so, they started practicing chord shapes.

Chords, simply put, are combinations of multiple strings being pressed at the same time, a technique that is often used during play; it's an inescapable part of practice for beginners.

Starting from the simplest C chord, Ai Cheng Karen quickly got stuck on the F chord, notorious as the nightmare of beginners.

This chord required the use of all fingers, with the index finger spanning the fretboard pressing down on three strings simultaneously, without touching any other strings, otherwise, it wouldn't sound right—it was the most difficult among all chords.

Ai Cheng Karen struggled with this chord for over half an hour, her hand nearly cramping, and didn't manage to play it even once.

However, Kagura Hikaru saw she had long fingers and good flexibility, and he figured she would succeed with a bit more practice.

To his surprise, Ai Cheng Karen's guitar talent seemed to be not too shabby.

Looking at it this way, it didn't seem impossible to train her to be stage-ready before the end of spring break.

After all, what the Red Pepper Band was missing was a rhythm guitarist, and the scores for rhythm guitar were generally not very difficult.

Kagura Hikaru took a sip of orange juice.

"Speaking of which, where's your friend? Why hasn't she arrived yet?" he asked.

"Uh, she should be here soon..." said Ai Cheng Karen with a slightly guilty tone.

She couldn't possibly admit that she had told her friend a meetup time half an hour later than planned.

When the guitarist named Hoshimi Nana finally arrived, Kagura Hikaru's teaching roster increased by one more.

Both of them were very serious about learning.

Afterward, he spent the entire spring break as a free guitar teacher and even supervised one of their band's original songs.

The vacation passed in a blur.

............

The cherry trees in front of the school blossomed.

White petals tinged with pale pink fell with the wind, spun, and landed on the heads of Yuqiu High School students entering the campus.

Kagura Hikaru picked a petal from his hair, rubbing it gently between his fingers.

Today was the day spring break ended, the day Ugao High started the new term, and the day they moved up to the second year.

Moving up to the second year wasn't just a step closer to graduation; it also meant facing new classes and classmates.

For the sake of fairness, high schools in the Island Nation scatter and reassign students every year, and it had become a routine.

The classmates one grew familiar with in the past might only be together for one year in the same class.

With luck, possibly longer.

On the day school resumed, the class assignment results would be posted on the announcement board outside the teaching building.

Early in the morning, the spot was already crowded with people.

Luckily, Kagura Hikaru had good eyesight, and he could see the words even from the back of the crowd.

His name, Kagura Hikaru, wasn't very eye-catching, and he spent half a minute finding it on the list.

Alongside his name, he saw those of Ayakoji Chiyoko and Kiryu Hina.

The three of them, appearing together on the class list for second-year class A.

Kagura Hikaru: "..."

He felt a kind of malice from the world.

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It looks like this year is going to be quite lively.

Walking towards the sophomore hall, the first room to the left after coming out of the stairwell is Class 2-A.

A new class, everyone is eager to recognize old friends or make new ones to avoid awkwardness, creating a bustling atmosphere.

In the class, there are two people who stand out enormously, overshadowing all the others.

These are undoubtedly Ayakoji Chiyoko and Kiryu Hina.

Kagura Hikaru spotted them as soon as he entered, seated by the window, front and back rows, very close to each other, yet each leaning forward or back in their seats, chatting with the people around them separately.

Even those talking with them didn't make eye contact with the person opposite, ignoring each other completely.

It's as if there's a clear dividing line between the two groups, keeping them apart.

Just like two factions of the mafia meeting up in a restaurant.

The atmosphere was so hostile, Kagura really wanted to keep his distance, but Ayakoji Chiyoko wouldn't let him off the hook. Catching a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, she called out, "Kagura Hikaru, come sit here."

She indicated the seat beside her.

Did she want Kagura to sit next to her?

Kiryu Hina also turned her gaze, with a half-smile.

It seemed there was no escape.

Kagura approached expressionlessly, placed his schoolbag on the desk, and looked at Ayakoji Chiyoko and Kiryu Hina.

"What a coincidence," he said.

Ayakoji Chiyoko gave a short laugh, "Isn't it?"

Kiryu Hina smiled subtly in this direction, and the two women made brief eye contact.

A storm was brewing in their gazes.

Both were top castes in this school, not the usual popular crowd, but went even further as they were 'Power Holders' who could easily sway Ugao High's students.

The new year meant the Student Council President elections were on the horizon.

And there would be a fierce battle between the two of them.

Even now, that atmosphere was already faintly present.

Class 2-A, centered around them, was divided into three parts.

Ayakoji Chiyoko's supporters, Kiryu Hina's supporters, and a small neutral faction.

At the moment, Kiryu Hina's popularity was clearly dominant.

For Ayakoji Chiyoko to turn the tides, her only method was to attract the remaining neutrals.

Not just those in the class but throughout the whole school, and even to snatch votes from other election candidates.

Whoever got the highest number of votes would win the final victory in the war.

Yes, Kagura was willing to describe it as a 'war'.

The disastrous state of last year's Student Council elections was still vividly in mind, he didn't think this year would be any better; in fact, it was sure to escalate.

After all, the situation had become even more complicated.

And this year, he would join in, too.

Kagura looked towards Kiryu Hina, who was facing away from him, her long hair and slender back all he could see.

She probably didn't know yet that Kagura would stand truly by Ayakoji Chiyoko's side in this election.

It couldn't be helped.

This was the one thing Kagura had to accomplish, no matter what.

The first, and most crucial, step to curing Kiryu Hina.

An act of betrayal in the name of goodwill, if seen from an outsider's perspective, even Kagura himself would call it hypocrisy.

But even if others branded him selfish, self-righteous, self-centered, and even if Hina could not understand and distanced herself from him, he wouldn't give up.

A perfect Student Council President should not exist.

He wanted that sincere, sharp-tongued, aloof Kiryu Hina to come back.

```