Chapter 66 My School Life
As a result, the last day of the Golden Week ended with Hasebe sighing, Kasen persuading me, and Kashu Kiyomitsu and the Five Tigers surrounding me and asking me questions.
There weren't any major changes in the school after the holiday, and to be honest, I was more worried about the four people at home exaggerating and talking nonsense about my relationship with Toushirou to others when they returned to Honmaru to change shifts than the unfamiliar classmates.
"Good morning, Kirihara-kun."
"Morning...Wow?!"
He looked sleepy just now, but now he is noisy again. I, a classmate in the back row, am really full of energy.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean 'what happened'?!" He took a half step back, glanced down at my legs, and then looked away again. "Your legs, your legs! Are you injured?"
"Ah, this."
Although the wound has almost healed and scabs have formed where they should, the bruising hasn't gone away. I originally wanted to wear my tracksuit to school, but after thinking about it, I felt that any outfit would be too conspicuous, so I just went with it.
"I went out to play during the holidays and accidentally fell while running."
I said as we walked side by side to the classroom: "It looks serious because it's swollen, but it's actually not that bad."
Kirihara Akaya curled his lips and narrowed his green eyes. "Uh-but it still looks painful. How did you run and fall like this?"
Actually, he was dragged along for a few steps, but he'd definitely be scared if I told him that. "Just... playing with the neighborhood kids? He tripped while running."
Then I saw Kirihara scratching his black, frizzy, seaweed-like hair with a puzzled look on his face. "Jiu Jing, you really... don't look like a young lady at all." He said, resting his tennis racket on his shoulder.
"I didn't say that about myself, did I?"
"No, but it's that feeling. You know what I feel? It's a different feeling from the girls in my class."
...What kind of strange description is this, the intuition of a wild beast?
"That's true, after all, you have such good motor skills that you can even dodge my tennis ball."
"Do you still remember that incident?"
Speaking of which, I have to mention how I became acquainted with the boy sitting behind me. Back then, I was completely clueless, new to school, and I joined my classmates to watch the tennis club practice. As luck would have it, I happened upon their internal practice session. While playing, Kirihara suddenly lost himself in the moment, and one of his shots went awry and flew straight at me.
Then I subconsciously used the book in my hand to knock the high-speed ball away.
"Of course, because the deputy minister kept nagging me about that matter for a long time."
Yeah, and then you came up to me and started talking to me, and asked me if I wanted to be a manager in the tennis club because I had good dynamic vision. I remember all of this clearly.
But it was also thanks to this incident that Kirihara had spoken up for me during the previous rumor storm, telling others that I wasn't that kind of person. Although he was usually drowsy, overslept and was late every day, and was severely reprimanded by the vice-captain of the tennis club who was also the disciplinary committee, he was still a very open-minded person who didn't hold grudges.
How should I put it? He's a bit like a puppy. There are a few people like him in Honmaru's Sword Men, and I quite like hanging out with people like him.
"Wow! It's over, it's the Vice Minister!"
I was just daydreaming when I heard Kirihara scream as he entered the teaching building. He quickly picked up his schoolbag, pulled out a rectangular object, and thrust it into my hand.
"Help me, hide it for me! If the deputy minister finds out, I'm doomed. He just gave it back to me!"
It's a game console.
"Please, please! I will never fight in class. Please hide it for me. The deputy minister will not be too rough with girls."
...This brat, I was the first one to betray him when he was caught.
"Don't do it again. Also, I will supervise you."
"Thanks! I'll treat you to barbecue someday!"
The vice-captain of the tennis club, Genichirō Sanada, is a senior to me and Kirihara. Although he is only one year older, he looks very mature. According to Kirihara, he is sometimes mistaken by people from other schools as the teacher or coach of the tennis club.
I have to admit, the way he patrols the corridors with a stern face does look like a teacher. But that hat... well, never mind. There's a discipline committee member with a crew cut over at Namimori Town, so it seems Sanada-senpai is quite a stickler for school rules.
"Good morning, Deputy Minister!"
"Good morning. Akaye, you did a good job of not being late today."
Kirihara straightened his back and subconsciously glanced at my bag. "Of course, I can't possibly sit at the wrong station every day just because I overslept."
"Good morning, Sanada-senpai."
I put the backpack containing someone's game console in front of me and let the other person look at it openly.
"Good morning, Kujo-san. I'm glad you took care of Aka...Kirihara."
"Huh? Why am I the one being taken care of by her?!"
Well... maybe because you don't seem very reassuring? But there's also the possibility that it's just a polite remark.
Senior Sanada pressed his hat and glared at Kirihara: "You are too lax, Akaya, you still lack experience!"
“Eh—?!”
In order to prevent Qiyuan from being scolded by his deputy director early in the morning for his low emotional intelligence, I decided to lend him a hand: "Actually, I have received a lot of help from Qiyuan. It's mutual."
Sanada-senpai is good in every way, except that he seems a little too serious.
I've heard he's a very skilled kendo player. If he'd been in the kendo club instead of the tennis club, he'd have been able to compete and win national championships. I'd really like to see him in person if I get the chance.
After successfully avoiding Sanada-senpai's discipline inspection, I returned the game console to Kirihara on the way to the classroom while chatting with him. "I heard that your deputy director is very good at kendo. Is that true?"
"Hmm? Of course it's true."
He subconsciously turned his head and looked back, as if he wanted to confirm whether the deputy minister was following behind him, then turned his head and talked to me in a low voice.
"Let me tell you, the deputy commander gets up at four every morning to practice kendo. I think his grandfather was a kendo instructor, so he's been practicing since he was a kid."
"Then why does he play tennis? Wouldn't it be better for him to join the Kendo Club?"
"Ah? How would I know that? Besides, what's wrong with tennis? I just like tennis."
"Hmph—like this…" What a pity! I'd really like to see Sanada-senpai's heroic appearance in the kendo field.
"Jiu Jing, you're really weird. Shouldn't girls like more lively sports? I see a lot of girls watching during practice."
That's just because almost all the members of your tennis club are handsome guys!
While I was complaining about this slow-witted Kelp Head in my heart, I opened the door of the classroom. When I looked up, I met the eyes of a group of girls who were talking and laughing.
The other person was still talking and laughing, but when he saw me, the smile on his face immediately faded and the lively classroom became quiet.
"Hey Kirihara, good morning. Did you get to the right station today?"
"Come on, it's not like I oversleep every day!"
"Hahaha, it's Sanada-senpai who's on patrol today, you didn't get scolded, did you?"
The boys' laughter dispelled the momentary awkwardness. I nodded to my classmates in the classroom and walked straight to my seat.
Today is the first day after the Golden Week, so the right thing to do is to cheer up and study hard.
——That’s how it should be.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Jiu Jingyan?"
As a result, as soon as I got out of school in the afternoon, I was blocked by two strange young men on the road near the school.
"I am. What can I do for you?"
I took a half step back calmly while looking at the two people in front of me.
Both men looked young and tall. The one holding my photo wore glasses and had blond hair with a small braid at the back of his head. He was wearing a light-colored vest suit and a dark shirt. He looked a little serious and unsmiling.
"Well, don't be afraid, we are not bad people."
The other, at least a head shorter, looked younger, with silver hair and golden eyes. While he looked familiar, his hairstyle was truly peculiar. Not only was there a tuft of hair on one side, but his bangs were neatly cut, high on one side and low on the other, as if he'd just had a scissors cut at home.
"Miss Jiujing Renzi asked us to come find you."
Aunt?
"We are members of a detective agency. Miss Jiu Jing Renzi asked us to investigate Hongo Tatsuya and the previous kidnapping incident."
The tall blond young man with glasses said this and put the piece of paper in his hand into the notebook he had been holding.
"There are too many people here, Dun, let's go somewhere else."
"Oh, okay." The white-haired boy, who looked like a high school student and had a good attitude, nodded, then looked at me and smiled friendly. "Well, if you don't mind, could you please come and talk with us?"
Hmm, I don’t know why, but the cute little tigers from the Five Tigers Retreat suddenly popped up in my mind.
What a strange association.
The author has something to say:
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Well, I recently rewatched Prince of Tennis. Although Konomi Takeshi was very free in the later part, the character is still very cute.
The detective agency is here, hahahaha! Dun Dun, you've been treated like a little tiger.
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