Chapter 69 The Troubles of Little Seaweed: Boys with their own worries...
With the national tournament approaching, Kirihara Akaya has been frequently leaving club activities early and even getting distracted during training, which has caused the three giants a lot of worry.
At the tennis court, Yukimura Seiichi frowned slightly.
"Liu, Akaya's been acting strange lately."
Without looking up, Liu Lianji flipped through his notebook rapidly: "Akaya's training error rate in the past week has been 13.6% higher than usual, and his attention span has decreased by 8.9%. Anomaly alert: he has been frequently seen in jewelry stores in Kanagawa recently."
"A jewelry store?" Yukimura raised an eyebrow; this information was indeed unexpected.
Sanada crossed his arms, his face grim: "Too lax! You're distracted on the eve of the national tournament!"
The next day, the three of them summoned Kirihara Akaya to the clubroom.
Faced with the serious expressions of the three giants, Kirihara nervously swallowed.
“Akaya,” Yukimura said gently, “can you tell us what’s been happening lately?”
Kirihara lowered his head, his fingers nervously twisting the hem of his clothes: "Um...actually..."
"A real man doesn't stutter when he speaks!" Sanada shouted sternly.
"I want to buy Risa-nee a present!" Kirihara suddenly exclaimed, then deflated like a punctured balloon, "But I don't know what to buy..."
The room was completely silent.
Liu Lian'er: "Buying a gift?"
Kirihara nodded: "Risa-nee has always taken good care of me. It's almost the end of summer, and I'd like to give her a gift to express my gratitude."
A look of understanding flashed in Yukimura's eyes: "I see."
"Too lax!" Sanada's roar suddenly rang out. "This kind of thing can wait until after the National Tournament..."
“Sanada,” Yukimura said, pressing Sanada’s shoulder, “a sense of gratitude is also very important.”
He turned to Kirihara, his voice softening: "But you really should focus on training first. How about this, we'll help you think of a gift together, and you can concentrate on training, okay?"
Kirihara's eyes lit up: "Really? Captain!"
After the club activities ended that day, the tennis club members gathered in the club office and started discussing among themselves.
Renji Yanagi: "According to the data, Risa Matsuno's favorite thing is money, followed by food."
"Puri~" Niou Masaharu played with his braid. "Giving money is too tacky, isn't it? How about giving a prank box that suddenly pops out a snake?"
“Niou!” Yagyu pushed up his glasses. “Please don’t set a bad example for your juniors.”
"Practical items are most suitable," Sanada decided. "A thermos or a towel set would be perfect."
Kirihara looked conflicted: "But Risa-nee-san has everything..."
"Then how about a gold bracelet? It can be exchanged for money anyway, and it's practical and not so tacky." Marui Bunta blew a bubble and gave himself a thumbs up for his good idea.
Renji Yanagi: "The gold price of Tanaka Precious Metals Jewelry is 16,000 to 20,000 yen per gram (including processing fees), and the bracelet must weigh at least 30 grams to avoid deformation."
An eerie silence fell over the office.
"Wait a minute!" Akaya Kirihara suddenly jumped up. "30 grams of gold? That's almost 500,000 yen?! My monthly allowance is only 8,000 yen!"
Yukimura, who had been silent all along, spoke up: "Then let's give her a silver bracelet."
The crowd quieted down and looked at their minister.
Yukimura: "Silver ornaments are thoughtful without being too expensive, and silver is regarded as the 'metal of the gods' in Shinto, which can ward off evil and impurity."
"That's a great idea!" Jackal Kuwahara agreed.
Renji Yanagi: "For silver jewelry, including basic processing fees, the total cost should not exceed 10,000 yen."
"If it's just 10,000 yen, I've saved just enough." Kirihara made up his mind, clenching his fist. "It's settled then! We'll go to the silver jewelry store tomorrow!"
"Us?" Marui Bunta blew a bubble.
“Of course we’ll go together!” Kiri said matter-of-factly. “The minister said he’d help me!”
Yukimura chuckled: "Okay, let's go together after training tomorrow."
The following evening, the Rikkai University tennis team arrived in a large group at a long-established silver jewelry shop in Kanagawa.
After the shop owner enthusiastically explained the customization process, we began to choose a style.
Kirihara flipped through the entire manual but still couldn't find what he was looking for.
"Too ordinary, not stunning or grand enough. She's not worthy of Risa at all."
Seeing the impetuous young man, the shop owner could only smile apologetically and say, "These are all the most fashionable styles right now."
"Boss, do you think this can be made?" Yukimura took out a picture from his phone and handed it to the boss.
The boss took the phone and his eyes lit up immediately: "This is... China's 'Two Lives'?"
Kirihara turned to his seniors with a blank expression: "What is 'Two Lifetimes of Love'?"
Liu Lian'er: "The traditional Chinese silver bracelet style features a single, smooth band with a lotus flower and lotus seedpod pendant, symbolizing—"
"A destiny of reincarnation and reunion," Yukimura added softly, "It suits Matsuno-kun very well."
Kirihara came over and looked at the picture. It was simple, elegant and beautiful, and he immediately said that he wanted to make this one.
"I can do it," the shopkeeper adjusted his reading glasses, "but the process isn't simple; it requires..."
"Money is no problem!" Kirihara exclaimed, patting his chest, then immediately shrank back, "Uh... but of course, not too expensive..."
"It's not too expensive, but the construction period will be a little longer. It will take about a week," the boss explained.
Kirihara: "No problem."
Anyway, Risa is filming out of town and won't be back until the end of the month at the earliest.
"Then please tell me the circle number..." The boss took out the design drawing.
Kirihara suddenly froze on the spot: "Wait, doesn't this require measuring your wrist size?"
Boss: "...Yes, that's right."
Kirihara: "But Risa-nee isn't home."
Niou Masaharu: "Just call or text her and have her take my measurements on the spot. Piyo~"
Kirihara: "Risa-nee has been so busy lately, she only replies to LINE messages every two or three days."
Bunta Marui: "Is this what a big star's daily life is like?"
Renji Yanagi: "Matsuno's wrist circumference is estimated to be between 14 and 16, so a size 53-55 is fine."
Yukimura: "Based on her dominant hand and some minor habits, a 54mm ring is the best."
Kirihara's eyes widened suddenly: "How do you know so much, seniors?!"
Strange images uncontrollably surfaced in Xiao Haidai's mind.
"Hey! Akaya!" Sanada's baritone voice pulled him back to reality. "What are you spacing out for?"
Kirihara jolted, his ears instantly turning red: "N-nothing!" He hurriedly gestured to the shopkeeper: "Just, just make a 54mm caliber one!"
After noting down the data, the boss gave Kirihara a form: "Come back in a week to pick up the goods."
"Yes!" Kirihara took the receipt with both hands, folded it carefully as if it were a confidential document, and stuffed it into his pocket, even patting it unconsciously.
On the train back, Niou leaned out from behind his seat: "Puri~ Minister Yukimura—" He waved his phone, "How often does Risa-chan reply to your messages?"
The carriage fell silent.
Yukimura slowly turned his head, a gentle smile curving his lips: "Hmm? Niou, what did you just say? ~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~"
"Whoa!" Niou leaned back and bumped into Yagyu. "Hiroshi, help! There's a black lily blooming behind the captain!"
Yagyu pushed up his reflective glasses: "According to the data, your survival rate is 7%."
Data maniac Liu Lian'er: "?"
After parting ways at the crossroads, only Yukimura and Sanada remained, walking side by side on the cherry blossom path.
As dusk fell, their shadows stretched long. Sanada had lost count of how many times he had caught glimpses of his best friend staring blankly at his phone.
"Yukimura."
"Huh?" Yukimura reflexively turned off the screen. "Sorry, what did you just say?"
Sanada: "...I didn't say anything."
For a moment, the two fell into an eerie silence.
"What happened?" Sanada asked.
What do you mean?
"You and Matsuno-kun."
Yukimura paused almost imperceptibly.
The morning after the summer festival ended, when he was checking out at the front desk, Yuzuki said that Risa had left in the early hours of the morning.
Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
The screen lights up, displaying a message indicating that a scheduled email has been received:
From: Matsuno Risa
[Subject: None]
"Yukimura-kun:
The film crew had to adjust their schedule at the last minute, so I left first.
Thank you for the invitation to the training camp. Everyone in the doujin circle had a very enjoyable week.
What happened last night... I was the one who offended you.
Please treat it as magic on the night of the festival and forget about it.
—Risa
When I called her back, a mechanical female voice answered, indicating the phone was switched off. She must have prepared the email beforehand and scheduled it for sending.
He read the email over and over again, and suddenly chuckled softly.
No wonder.
No wonder she said "tonight only" last night, no wonder she repeatedly emphasized "don't forget our promise" when we parted.
It turns out that she had planned everything from that time on.
"They escaped more thoroughly than I imagined..."
I gripped the edge of the phone tightly, my fingertips turning slightly white.
Dumped?
He got dumped less than 8 hours after confessing his feelings?!
After returning home, he locked himself in his room. Lying on the bed with his eyes closed, he kept replaying scenes from the previous night in his mind.
Every detail tells the same story: those intimate moments and confessions were not just for show.
Yukimura opened his eyes, looked at the clear sky outside the window, and suddenly understood something.
Her rejection wasn't because she disliked him, but because—
She is an older person with memories of another world.
He was only seventeen years old.
She was using this method to draw a safe boundary for each other.
It took Yukimura a whole day to calm down. He revised his conclusion from "being dumped after confessing" to "she was afraid of crossing the line."
Since it's not a matter of personal feelings, then all that's left is a battle of time and distance.
......
Even if he was slow to notice, Sanada did.
After returning from the training camp, his close friend was absent-minded.
They were alone together that night at the festival, but now it seems like they're deliberately avoiding something.
Could it be that my confession was rejected...?
No, that's impossible. Even Kirihara could see something amiss in the atmosphere between the two of them.
Sanada clenched his fist inwardly.
If Liu were here right now, he could probably analyze 98.7% of the truth through micro-expressions; if it were Niou, he would probably have already used his illusory rhetoric to extract information.
But it was precisely him, the person who was least eloquent.
"If you need help," he forced out, "anytime."
Yukimura chuckled and patted him on the shoulder: "Genichiro is still the same as ever."
As dusk fell, Sanada didn't see the Line interface displayed on his best friend's phone screen as he gripped it tightly:
[Akaya seems to be preparing a surprise for you] has been sent.
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Author's Note: Village: I'm my own CPU.
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