Nagumo Miyabi didn't seem to be joking; it appeared he truly liked Asahina Nazuna.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent soone to follow her specifically while she was eating. According to Asahina, Nagumo had confessed via phone or text so many tis she had lost count.
After finishing the Oden with Asahina, Akira couldn't help but ask, "Senpai, if one day President Nagumo seriously confessed to you—you know, buying flowers, booking a Western restaurant, that sort of thing—what would you do?"
"Hmm... that scene is actually a bit hard to imagine."
Asahina's eyes crinkled as she smiled.
"I don't think Miyabi would ever do sothing like that. But then again, even if he did, I wouldn't say yes. He'd definitely just be ssing with ! In elentary school, he always put caterpillars in my desk to prank . He thought I never knew it was him, but I figured it out long ago; I just pretended not to know."
Akira shook his head.
It seed that even if Nagumo made a serious confession, the likely result would still be rejection. A confession is supposed to be a serious matter, but because Nagumo had repeated it so many tis, Asahina naturally stopped taking it to heart, subconsciously assuming he was just joking.
Based on her description, Nagumo had been pranking her since they were children.
While so boys tease the girls they like, doing so well into adulthood was a bit too childish.
It looked like it would be very difficult for these two to ever actually date. Despite being childhood friends with a "first-mover advantage," Nagumo had played a winning hand quite poorly.
-
-
-
Sunday, 10:00 AM. Akira arrived at the Boxing Club on ti. The manager and the second and third-year seniors who had been out sick with colds were all present; not a single person was missing. Today was the day the President would step down.
President Sato of the Boxing Club walked to the front of the group, speaking with a touch of sentintality.
"When I first joined the club, I was a rookie who couldn't even hold a basic stance..."
"Over these three years, we've had exhilarating victories, and people have been injured during training..."
"Now we third-years are graduating. I hope you all continue to love boxing. Whether in training or competition, don't forget the original intention we had when we joined..."
"Finally, thank you all again for your companionship and trust over such a long ti. The future of the Boxing Club is in your hands."
President Sato bowed deeply to everyone.
"Sato-senpai, please leave it to us!"
"President Sato! Thank you for everything you've done for the club over these three years!"
"I'll definitely keep studying boxing hard!"
As the crowd gradually dispersed, a bit of quiet returned to the clubroom. Karuizawa Kei quietly leaned toward Akira, tugging at his sleeve.
"President Sato is leaving the school soon... Akira-kun, the second sester is only just ending, right? There's still another sester left. Isn't this stepping down a bit too early?"
Akira thought for a mont and said, "Actually, this is considered late. Other clubs started their handovers around early December. President Sato specifically held on for an extra half-month because he wanted to spend more ti with everyone."
"But it still feels lonely." Karuizawa rubbed her reddened eyes.
"I wanted to spend more ti with the senpais, learn more things, and watch them lead training."
"It can't be helped." Akira comforted her.
"The seniors have to prepare for graduation. They need to research universities, finalize successors, and hand over third-year duties to the second-years bit by bit. They're going to be very busy."
The girl before him had red eyes and a low voice.
Who would have thought that Karuizawa Kei, who had bluntly skipped her manager duties in the second month, would now show such a reluctant expression over the seniors' graduation? Sotis, humans really are creatures that grow at lightning speed.
Just then, a third-year girl stepped out of the activity room and lightly patted Karuizawa's shoulder.
"Karuizawa, don't be so sad to see us go. We are students, after all; graduation is inevitable. Bear with us a little. Besides, I personally need to systematically review high school knowledge to prepare for entrance exams at other universities."
"Ah... you're right! Uh—I didn't realize that just now. Sorry, sorry!" Karuizawa lowered her head in embarrassnt.
Only students graduating from Class A can skip entrance exams and choose any university they want. Seniors graduating from other classes must achieve a high deviation score to get into a good university. Thinking about it that way, it was no wonder the graduating seniors would set aside the final sester to prepare for higher education.
"Right! I won't have ti in the third sester, but I'll still have ti this winter break! You can still co find !" the senior added as if suddenly rembering.
"Ah! That's wonderful! Senpai, thank you so much!" Karuizawa looked up imdiately, pleasantly surprised.
"Haha, it's nothing! You're our Boxing Club manager, and you've been working hard lately. Plus, you treated to a al last ti—I haven't forgotten!"
The senior patted her head with a smile and walked away.
Noticing Akira's curious gaze, Karuizawa cleared her throat and explained with feigned composure, "Ahem... I just wanted to ask her for so life experience! She is, after all, one of the few female mbers in the Boxing Club."
"That's good." Given Karuizawa's past with bullying, interacting with such independent female seniors was indeed a good thing.
"Right, Akira-kun! Are you free this winter break? I want to invite you out for a day, and I have sothing I want to tell you! Please, you have to say yes!" Karuizawa leaned in again, hugging his arm and giving it a few tugs.
Akira smiled helplessly. Over these past few months, he found that Karuizawa had grown in many ways, and her skill at acting spoiled was becoming more and more proficient.
"Sure, just let know in advance." There was plenty of ti during winter break; squeezing out one day to accompany her was no problem.
"Great! Then I'm going to find Senpai now. See you tomorrow!"
Having received a definite answer, Karuizawa let out a sigh of relief and left the club with a light step.
Watching her hurried back, Akira thought for a mont and sent a ssage to Matsushita Chiaki telling her not to worry.
Matsushita had specifically asked him a few days ago, saying Karuizawa hadn't been hanging out with them on weekends lately, and asked him to keep an eye on her movents. It seed Karuizawa had been spending her ti with that third-year senior.
Since it was a reliable senior from the Boxing Club, there was really nothing to worry about.
"Shimizu! Co in for a second!"
While he was lost in thought, President Sato's voice ca from the office. Akira entered and found Sato alone. He was standing with his back to the door, looking at the rows of honorary certificates hanging on the wall.
"President, congratulations on graduating successfully!" Akira said sincerely.
"Having been in this school for nearly three years without being able to leave freely, you must have been looking forward to reuniting with family and friends and going out for a walk. And since you're graduating from Class A, you'll be able to choose a prestigious university freely."
"Hahaha! Always the smooth talker, Shimizu!" Sato turned around and laughed heartily.
"The other kouhais were all crying, reluctant to see go. Only you would stand in my shoes and talk about the benefits of graduating."
He sat down on the sofa but let out a rare sigh.
"After our group graduates, the Boxing Club probably won't have as much weight as before. By then, there will only be one third-year senpai left to back you guys up."
There were currently about ten mbers in the club; more than half were third-years, only one was a second-year, and the rest were first-years.
The core mbers—those with strong builds who had won various awards—were almost all third-years. Once they graduated, the club would indeed only have one third-year senior remaining.
"Sato-senpai, speaking of which, why is there only one second-year senior in the club?" Akira asked the question he had held for a while.
Sato snorted coldly.
"Hmph! Initially, there were quite a few second-years. But later, Nagumo Miyabi took complete control of the second year. I was afraid those people would be used by him and bring trouble to the club, so I gradually persuaded most of them to quit, leaving only the one reliable guy."
Akira's mouth twitched.
'Great, the culprit is Nagumo Miyabi again.'
That guy really brings trouble wherever he goes; a total disaster.
"I called you in because I wanted you to help decide whether to hand the President position to that second-year kid," Sato said bluntly, his tone surprisingly hesitant for a 1.9-ter tall man.
Akira imdiately asked, "How is his personality? Is his boxing technique solid? Do the other mbers accept him as President? Are there any other candidates?"
"That's the headache." Sato rubbed his brow.
"He's a bit soft, not assertive enough, but he's steady and hardworking. After all, he's been my Vice President, and the mbers accept him. As for other candidates... it's just you freshn, and your seniority isn't enough. Sigh, looking at it that way, I don't really have a choice but to pick him. Thanks, Shimizu. Talking to you made things a bit clearer."
"You're welco, Senpai." Akira smiled. "I'm just helping you sort through the situation; the final decision is yours."
There was truly no one else available; no matter how much Sato struggled, he had to accept reality.
"Seriously, is that Nagumo Miyabi guy brain-dead?! What kind of bullshit rule is lowering Class D's rank!"
He slamd the armrest of the sofa.
"If I weren't in Class A and about to graduate, I wouldn't bother with this crap; I'd have gone and settled it with him long ago! And those other people in Class D are all cowards! They just blindly agreed to his bullshit graduation agreent. Even when they're wronged or catch a cold from the chill, they don't say a word. Not a single 'real man' dared to stand up and face him head-on!"
Akira stood to the side, silently listening to the President's tirade.
Clearly, in the eyes of these third-year seniors, Nagumo Miyabi was an incomprehensible person. Such a person is "far from humanity and close to godhood"—in short, a freak.
After venting for a bit, Sato seed to calm down, his eyes turning serious as he looked at Akira.
"Anyway, Shimizu, you'd better be careful. While our group of third-years is still here, Nagumo has so reservations and won't go too far. Once we graduate, the third year will be his domain where he covers the sky with one hand. Since he hates you so much, you need to be extra cautious."
"Understood. Thank you for your concern, President Sato." Akira nodded.
"Right, one more thing." Sato added as if rembering sothing.
"I'm graduating soon, so I won't be coming to the club frequently. If you need anything, just call directly. Also, I'm technically not the President anymore, so you don't have to call 'President'—just call Sato-senpai."
"Understood, President Sato." Akira said it almost reflexively, realizing only after the words left his mouth. He laughed awkwardly.
Well, the habit of the title isn't sothing that can be changed easily. Just like how he sotis still calls Horikita "President Horikita Manabu" even though he knew he had stepped down.
Ti flew, and by afternoon, Akira arrived on ti at the cinema entrance. Since there were no major new releases and it was the dead of winter, the area outside the cinema was sowhat deserted. He waited for two or three minutes before Kamuro Masumi appeared, strolling leisurely.
Today she wore a coffee-colored cashre coat; Akira had specifically reminded her to dress warmly before heading out.
"Let's go." Akira naturally took her hand. Kamuro remained as cold as ever but didn't say anything.
This ti they chose a re-release of the Hollywood animation Zootopia. After buying tickets and so warm popcorn, they entered the theater; as expected, it was nearly empty. They sat side-by-side in the middle.
"Hey, dummy, do you rember the three requirents I told you last ti? Specifically?" Since the movie hadn't started and the theater was empty, Kamuro ignored "small talk" etiquette and turned to ask.
"I rember," Akira nodded.
"Then tell , what's the first one?"
"The date ti must be fixed and decided by you. If I need to change the ti for an ergency, I must apply 24 hours in advance, and whether it's approved depends on your mood."
"Oh? And the second one?"
"In front of you, I'm not allowed to bring up other girls unless you ask first, and I must answer truthfully without hiding anything."
"I'll let you pass." Kamuro nodded slightly, a faint smile touching her lips. This date was actually her last-minute suggestion this afternoon. Akira arriving on ti was a perfect realization of the first requirent.
"Hmph, I have good news. I did very well on my finals—I made it into the top ten of the class for the first ti!" She imdiately put on a triumphant look.
"Oh? As expected of Masumi. Impressive."
"It's all thanks to you! If you hadn't gotten the answers from Class B, how could I have scored so well?" Kamuro would never forget the stupid, dumbfounded look on Nishimura Ryoko's face when the results ca out at the beginning of the month and saw Masumi's score was higher than hers.
She felt incredibly satisfied then! All of it was thanks to her amazing boyfriend.
Akira joked, "It all cos down to your hard work morizing the questions, doesn't it?"
This made Kamuro's cheeks redden slightly as she turned away unnaturally. Actually, she hadn't studied at all for a while, just playing around until a few days before the exam when she cramd the "answers." Then again, who says morizing answers doesn't count as morizing questions!
"But seriously, Masumi, I won't be able to get those kinds of answers next ti." Akira put away his joking expression and spoke seriously.
"That kind of special exam will likely only happen once. For future midterms and finals, you still need to study seriously. The 20 million points I have... while I can use them to save you, I'd rather save them for an unavoidable expulsion crisis. Don't forget, you have a 'calamity' in the second year; I want to save as many points as possible for next year."
"I know, I know!" Kamuro pouted, but she took the words to heart. If she really got expelled for failing grades and had to rely on Akira spending 20 million points to save her, she'd die of embarrassnt.
Then again, her boyfriend really was still rembering that divination from last ti. Akira was so steady, holding onto 20 million points—could he really be waiting specifically for that so-called "calamity" next year?
"I've been wearing the charm that old lady gave ."
Kamuro suddenly rembered sothing and showed her phone to Akira. He leaned in and saw a familiar safety charm tied to her phone strap.
'Wait? Why does this charm look familiar?'
It seed to be from the sa series as Asahina's.
Could that Senpai have also bought hers from that old lady? What a coincidence.
"Then keep wearing it; it should be useful," he said.
"I know that. Her divination level was actually okay." Kamuro put away her phone. She suddenly rembered a line the old lady had said to Akira: "There are quite a few girls whose fates are deeply entangled with yours."
For so reason, she felt a bit petty again! Thinking of this, she reached out and lightly pinched Akira's cheek. She didn't use much force; if she hurt him, she'd be unhappy too.
"Alright, the movie is starting. The the song is very good." Akira laughed and took her hand down.
"Hardly anyone ca to watch anyway..." Kamuro muttered before slowly turning to look at the screen.
.
.
.
'Hey! Who said no one ca to watch? Am I not a person?!'
Two rows behind them, Ibuki Mio had just found her seat when she saw those two familiar figures in front of her. If it weren't for theater etiquette, she would have shouted out.
Ibuki loved movies; since there was no academic pressure this sester, she planned to watch every movie released on campus. That was her goal today.
As a result, she accidentally ran into these two. Having participated in the VIP exam for the Earth group, she recognized the purple-haired girl as Kamuro Masumi at a glance. And the other person was obviously Shimizu Akira!
'What are these two... doing?! How can Akira be at a movie with a woman like Kamuro Masumi?!'
Just yesterday, hadn't he finished a date with Shiina Hiyori? How could the girl beside him change after just one day? This was exactly what the divination lady said!
Is Akira really destined to have a harem?!
'Wait! Didn't he clearly agree with my view on monogamy before?
What does this even an?!'
In an instant, Ibuki lost interest in the movie. Her gaze drifted uncontrollably toward the two backs sitting side-by-side. But she was too far away to see what they were doing exactly.
Since the theater was empty, she quietly stood up and moved to the row directly behind them.
Akira and Kamuro in front seed focused on the movie, completely unaware of her movent. But after watching for a while, Ibuki realized Kamuro wasn't focused on the movie at all.
Every few seconds, she turned her head to look at Akira.
'Hey, hey, hey! Judy just started acting out the predator and prey bit! Put your eyes back on the movie! Such a cute bunny, aren't you going to watch?!'
Ibuki, who had seen the movie many tis, was going crazy internally. Then, Kamuro finally moved. But she didn't turn to the movie; she didn't even pull her gaze away from Akira. Instead, she reached into the popcorn bucket between them.
She pinched a piece of popcorn, raised her hand, and brought it to Akira's mouth.
'Fee—feeding?! Such shaless feeding!'
A piece of trivia she'd heard from Hiyori flashed through Ibuki's mind—it's said that when a person is focused on sothing, they will subconsciously accept sothing handed to them; it's almost an instinctual reaction.
The next second, she watched as Akira tilted his head slightly, his eyes not yet fully off the screen as if imrsed in the plot, and naturally opened his mouth to take the popcorn.
'Fine, fine, fine! So that theory... even works for food brought to the mouth?! Just what is the relationship between these two!'
Given Ibuki's straightforward personality, she couldn't help but pull out her phone and ssage Shiina Hiyori.
Ibuki Mio: I saw Shimizu Akira and Kamuro Masumi watching a movie together. That Kamuro woman even fed him popcorn.
Shiina Hiyori: Oh.
Ibuki Mio: Why is your reaction so flat?
Shiina Hiyori: Because I already knew this would happen. Didn't that old lady say there are many girls close to Shimizu-kun?
Shiina Hiyori: It's not just Kamuro-san. He's also close with Kushida Kikyo, Horikita Suzune, and Ichinose Honami.
Shiina Hiyori: Kushida-san is probably the one with the most progress.
'She even knows this?!'
But then again, this was Shiina Hiyori—her thinking was much sharper.
Kushida Kikyo was the one with the most progress... she had been kept in the dark about that! Was this also a conclusion Hiyori reached through deduction?
Ibuki Mio: Aren't you even a little angry?
Shiina Hiyori: It's impossible to say I don't care at all. But nothing particularly intimate has happened between Shimizu-kun and ; we haven't even held hands. From a rational perspective, I don't seem to have the right to be angry. If anyone should be angry, it's Kushida-san or Horikita-san, right? However, while I was investigating "X" and "Anonymous" a few days ago, I accidentally found that both of them witnessed Akira talking intimately with Kamuro-san, yet neither of them said anything. Perhaps they've already tacitly accepted the possibility of Shimizu-kun building a harem. So, don't bla him too much. The girls close to him might have already accepted this scenario in their hearts.
'Accepted it long ago?!'
That prideful Horikita? And that innocent-looking Kushida? Just what kind of magic did Akira use on them?! To even accept sothing so outrageous?!
'Is this guy a genius?'
Shiina Hiyori: And matters of the heart are sotis truly hard to control rationally. Regardless, yesterday's date made very happy!
'There she goes again! Talking about how happy she was yesterday!'
During their call yesterday, eight out of ten sentences were praising Akira. What was wrong with her best friend? Usually calm and rational, her brain turned to mush as soon as it involved Shimizu Akira.
Ibuki Mio: I'll talk to you more when I'm free.
She thought about it and put her phone down.
Typing on a phone in a cinema was indeed inappropriate.
Since she was here, she'd focus on finishing the movie. She noticed that Kamuro in the front row had finally settled down, no longer making small moves, and turned her attention to the screen.
-
-
-
Over an hour later, the movie ended. Ibuki sat in her seat, still savoring it. It really was a good movie!
"Huh? Why are you here? I thought the back rows were empty!"
Kamuro noticed Ibuki behind her as she stood up and couldn't help but ask.
Akira quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Masumi, Ibuki is a friend. She probably sat in the back for a better viewing experience, since there really are few people here today."
'Friend? Who's your friend!'
For so reason, the word "friend" made Ibuki even angrier. She rembered the old divination lady bluntly telling her "you are just a friend," and she felt a surge of rage.
But she opened her mouth and eventually turned her head away.
The fact that Akira was building a harem had already been tacitly approved by those girls. Even Shiina Hiyori knew she had no standing to be angry.
Then, as just a friend, what right did she have to say anything?
Did it an that from the very beginning, she didn't even have the qualification to intervene in this relationship? That old divination lady was far too cruel.
Read ahead (160 chapters) by supporting on buyacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting
User Comments
0 comments from readers