Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.
\n
The night of the day I had my first lunch with Kazehaya-kun and his friendsā¦\n
āYes, thatās right. I used to train all the time. I was born into a family like thatā\n
āIs that so? (Š¾Ā“ā`Š¾). But you havenāt participated in any competitions, right? (Ā“ć»Ļć»`) ā\n
āYou sure know a lot, donāt you?ā\n
This is a question that I casually asked in the course of our casual exchange that has become a daily pleasure.\n
But when I saw Kazehaya-Kunās reply, I realized that I had gone too far.\n
It was certainly strange for me to know that information about Kazehaya-kun, as we hardly ever talked at school.\n
ć\n
It would have been fine If it was a normal club activity. But in Kazehaya-Kunās case, it was martial arts, and he rarely talked about it at school.\n
In the first place, not many people even knew that he was a martial arts student.\n
āWhen I was a freshman, Kazehaya-Kun was rather an unapproachable person and didnāt accept invitations to hang out with anyone.\n
No one wanted to be friends with him, and I donāt think anyone wanted to know what he was doing either.\n
Even after he became a sophomore, he didnāt want to talk about his martial arts activities, and I heard him say that he only talked about it to Sasakura-kun and his other friend who he often hung out with.\n
I knew him not as Kaori Saotome, but as Nekoto.\n
That was before Kazehaya-kun became a fan of Nekoto.\n
Heās a self-proclaimed Nekoto fan, so Iām sure he remembers what happened before he became a fan.\n
I was on my way to a singing lesson when I got tangled up with some delinquents, and Kazehaya-kun happened to be there and saved me.\n
Kazehaya-kun was very cool as he drove away those delinquents without any violence, only by threatening them.\n
At that time, I already liked Kazehaya-kun, but he was so cool that I liked him even more.\n
Ā After scaring the delinquents with his unbelievably fast Straight Fist Thrust(?)Ā through the wind, Kazehaya-Kun said as he watched them run away:Ā \n
(TN: ę£ę³ēŖć ā Seikendzuki ā direct translation result was a bit weird. So I have mentioned it as a straight fist thrust. It seems like a martial art move)\n
Ā āUsing power to hurt people is something that weak people do. Power is there to protect someone.ā\n
When I think back on it now, I wondered if Kazehaya-kun was the really same age as me,Ā but it really touched my heart at the time.\n
At that time, I forgot about time and asked Kazehaya-kun many questions, and even though we had never met before, he politely and kindly taught me.\n
Thatās why I knew that he was a martial artist, and I also got to know that he didnāt participate in competitions.\n
But I didnāt know why he wasnāt competing.\n
When we were about to talk about it, Kazehaya-kun gave me a troubled smile and covered it up.\n
But for now, I have to put that behind me.\n
ć\n
It would be strange usually if Kaori Saotome knew that Kazehaya-kun was not participating in the tournament.ć\n
And I think it was a mistake I should have never made if I didnāt want people to know that Nekotoās true identity is me.\n
Maybe heāll connect me to Nekoto from here ā that would be a huge problem, so I start thinking hard about how to deceive him.\n
ć\n
However, before I could send anything, Kazehaya-kun continued to send me a message.ć\n
āEven if I wanted to participate, I couldnāt.ā\n
Even if I wanted to participate, I couldnāt ā As I thought there was a reason.\n
I donāt think itās that Kazehaya-kun did something wrong in the past.\n
Itās just that I and Kazehaya-kun went to different junior high schools. But if he had been involved in something that prevented him from participating in the tournament, such as a violent incident, there would have been rumors about it.ć\n
Several kids in my school went to the same junior high school as Kazehaya-kun, so if he has had involved in any problems, Iām sure one of them would have spread the word.\n
Ā Since there was nothing like that, then surely Kazehaya-kun had never done anything wrong is what I thought.\n
It might be a family problem after all.\n
It seems that the family has been practicing martial arts for generations, so the familyās rules may have prevented him from leaving.\n
But Kazehaya-Kun doesnāt seem to want to talk about it, and I canāt afford to make any more mistakes, so letās move on to another topic.\n
ā¦ā¦Speaking of which, the class rep ā Nikaido-san and Kazehaya-kun used to not get along very well. But before I knew it, theyāve become friends.\n
Rather than that ā The way Nikaido-san looks at Kazehaya-kun may be the same as mine.\n
In the past, I had the image of Nikaido-san taking one-sided jabs at Kazehaya-kun who didnāt want to blend in with the class. But now they seem to be having a lot of fun when theyāre together.\n
āIn the middle of the first year, Nikaido-san stopped saying anything mean to Kazehaya-kun and started to talk to him properly. I wonder what happened between them.\n
If Nikaido-san also likes Kazehaya-kun, she will become my rival.\n
I may not be even close to Nikaido-sanās feet in terms of who I am as Kaori Saotome, but as Nekoto, far as Kazehaya-kun is concerned, Iām sure Iāll be the winner.\n
Because heās supposed to be Nekotoās biggest fan.\n
So itāll be strange if he loses his heart to another girl, right?\n
So Iām never in a hurry.\n
I decided to take my time and close the distance with Kazehaya-kun.\n
Until the day comes when I can graduate from being an idol.\n
However, there is something that I have to do.\n
From the side, itās an act of lending a hand to a rival, but looking at the situation at lunch, I canāt leave it alone.\n
Thinking of Nikaido-sanās and Kazehaya-Kunās faces, I put away the things my manager gave me after work today in my bag.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: last chapter of the day.. it came a bit earlier than usual. Well, itās quite short compared to simple life after all. I think I spent most time deciding on how to word few things and what to write for title. Join our discord server to talk about novels and stuff..š\n\n