Chapter 24
Finally freed from the intense pressure, the president specially ordered a barbecue bento box to be delivered when the event ended on the evening of the second day. Several senior members pushed the cart to the activity room, and our group sat on the steps outside to eat.
Having stood all day, Liu Sheng finally had a chance to sit down, and he showed a tired and somewhat bewildered expression.
I unscrewed a bottle of oolong tea and handed it to him. Sanada glanced at it but didn't say anything. He just opened the lid of the bento box. So I smiled and took out another bottle of mineral water from the cardboard box.
"Please enjoy your meal, young masters," I joked.
Sanada paused awkwardly for a few seconds, then thanked him and accepted the water.
"Aren't you eating, Okada-senpai?" A first-year student who was helping to distribute lunch boxes asked when he saw that I had nothing in my hands.
"Control your weight." I sighed softly and drank half of my water bottle in one gulp to relieve my hunger.
"Sigh—but you're already so thin, senior—" the junior exclaimed.
I gave her a polite smile and turned to drink water again, just in time to meet Sanada's eyes as he devoured meat. Although he was indeed innocent, I couldn't bear to see someone eating so heartily, so I simply snatched the water I had just given him back.
He straightened up in confusion, blinked, and I could only purse my lips at him, "Let me be, don't hold it against me, I can't eat at this hour."
"Are you going to participate in the competition?" Sanada's reaction was quick.
As soon as I finished speaking, Yagyu and I both nodded at the same time. Yagyu even answered the question for me: "Kanagawa preliminaries."
However, a lot of the content was omitted, which cannot answer Sanada's question. After all, I have never deliberately controlled my weight in the past. As long as I am under 57 kilograms, I can participate in lightweight competitions.
I sighed softly and began to explain: "I lost the Summer Tournament, and I talked to my master. He suggested that I change weight classes, because my strength and technique aren't my advantage in the current situation."
Seeing that I so readily admitted to the "loss," Sanada felt that I had changed recently and was not the same person he remembered.
Soon the finishing touches were almost done, and the seaside promenade in front of Rikkai University's main gate was unusually lively after nine o'clock. The clear autumn night was accompanied by a full moon, which cast a white glow on the sea.
So my later impressions of the Umihara Festival in my second year of high school were only the high-class barbecue bento I never had the chance to taste and the sea shimmering in the wind.
The ordinary yet peaceful moment, the slow feeling made every day that followed seem like it was on fast-forward. Life is just turning from one page of to-do list to the next, and I don't crave comfort.
That being said, I would still send a big "Get lost" to that white-haired classmate from the next class who would leisurely nap during self-study.
While I was in the bathroom, I reached out and took away the extracurricular magazine that Niou was using to block out the light. The guy sitting by the window completely ignored me and just changed his position to continue sleeping.
I waved my hand and returned to my seat, starting to hastily flip through the magazine.
"When you think of high school, what comes to mind...? Statistics show that among adults, over 60% of people choose school trips as their most cherished major school event, with school festivals coming in second..."
Where did the sample come from? And where did the questionnaire come from? I'll just call this research article something like that for now, and I'm reading it for fun, but what's on my mind is the school trip notice that the class teacher handed out after class this morning.
I once suspected that I was the person in the class who cared the most about this matter. From the time the student council started collecting student opinions to the present, when the entire schedule was finalized, I never heard anyone in the class mention this topic.
I can understand the reason. After all, how many schools would arrange for midterms to be held the day after a school trip? Apart from Rikkai University, which has always lacked humanitarian spirit and still posts its total score rankings, I can't think of another one.
"You have no idea, the moment I saw the person at the next table pull out that hospital certificate to ask for leave, my brain was screaming," I said, painfully eating egg whites while still trying to control my weight. "Wake up, high school student! Missing a few days of study won't kill you!"
"So you said it?" Yagyu calmly folded the handkerchief he used to wrap the bento.
"No, not at all," I paused, "we're not that close, definitely not close enough for her to take what I said as a joke."
"You're quite thoughtful, aren't you?" Nioh, who had been engrossed in playing Sudoku on his phone, managed to interject with a comment.
Compared to the college preparation classes downstairs, the international student classes upstairs seemed more normal. At least I saw the natural longing for overseas travel on the faces of the students in those classes, and this atmosphere gave me some breathing room.
The girls planned their free time in Taiwan in advance and kindly shared it with their classmates Yukimura Seiichi and Yagyu Hiroshi. I think they could tell that they wanted to invite them to join the group.
Or perhaps they want to join their tennis team.
That's the advantage of forming teams freely: you don't have to care about your class or whether you're in the arts or sciences stream; you just need to know each other.
However, because of our past record of sneaking out of a hotel without permission during our middle school years in England, our teacher strongly opposed the three of us getting together again, but couldn't openly stop us.
So, on the last day before we set off, Marui and Kuwabara in our group were "accidentally" replaced by Sanada and Yukimura by the teacher in charge.
"It seems that the voice of top students isn't very effective." Niou accurately pointed out the essence of the matter.
The asterisk next to Sanada's name, indicating that he was the group leader, was also glaring. I folded the group assignment form twice and stuffed it into my school uniform pocket, turning my head away, not really wanting to pay attention to Niou behind me.
The bus to the airport was parked in the school's parking lot. Our group was to take the first bus in line. The girl who initially envied me for being able to join the tennis club saw Sanada Genichiro standing in front of the bus with a cold face. It was as if the nightmare of his ruthless discipline in middle school was being replayed. So she naturally added some sympathy to her eyes.
In order not to break up the two pairs of good brothers in the same group, I wisely chose a spot where I would be alone. Unexpectedly, Yukimura, who was carrying a camera bag, smiled and asked me as he passed by that spot if it was okay for Genichiro to sit there, while he himself sat on the other side of the aisle. He even thoughtfully fastened a seatbelt for his camera bag.
"Everyone, please remember your seats. It will be the same when we get to Taipei. I hope no one will wander off alone. Your conduct record won't help you with your college applications." The teacher reminded us all from the front.
Excluding the first and last two days on the road, the entire school trip is seven days long. The school has arranged five days of itinerary, including study tours at National Taiwan University and visits to museums, so there will be plenty of time on the bus.
After hearing the teacher's words, my vision went black. I subconsciously glanced at Yagyu and Niou diagonally in front of me. Niou then replied to me in the three-person group chat on LINE with the words "Take care".
"He did it on purpose, didn't he?" I quickly tapped my phone's keypad with my finger, filled with inexplicable emotions.
"Who? Yukimura? That's hard to say." Yagyu's sarcastic tone was practically overflowing the screen.
As I put my phone in my bag, I noticed Sanada looking at me. Before I could even ask what he wanted, he said, "You're sitting on my seatbelt."
"Oh, I'm sorry." I unbuckled my seatbelt, sat up slightly, and pulled out the one I was sitting on. Our knees accidentally touched, and I could clearly feel him flinch slightly.
Seeing Sanada's awkward and stiff expression, I couldn't help but turn my face away and chuckle as I looked out the window.
Just like when we had a fight during a school field trip in elementary school, and the teacher made us sit together holding hands on the way back, the two of us who were not disciplined were still arguing about whether "my master is more powerful" or "my grandfather is more amazing". Since we couldn't say it, we could only tighten our grip on each other's hands. Neither of us let go, and neither of us complained of pain.
Although the teacher forcibly separated us after we got off the bus, this battle of not letting go and not complaining of pain seemed to never end. Much later, when we met again at work, we became the legendary young version of Tezuka Kunioichi and Sanada Gen'emon in the mouths of our colleagues.
He unusually extended his right hand to me generously then: "Welcome to the First Division, Inspector Okada."
With their hands clasped together, the image of their childhood and the outline of their future growth overlapped.
However, I am now standing in the middle of the timeline, frowning at Team Leader Sanada, who is ordering his team members not to spend too much time in the souvenir shop.
"Marui and his group are still eating milk ice cream at the last intersection," I said, breaking the red bean wheel cake I had just bought in half and handing it to him. "Relax, Genichiro."
Sanada hesitated and looked down at me. The next second, I shoved the biscuit directly into his mouth. Seeing his eyes widen as if he had been offended, I patted his shoulder and said, "No need to thank me, I'm very generous."
I quickly stepped between Yagyu and Niou. Although I wasn't afraid of his "iron fist," I still had to save my life if I angered the Black-Faced God; it was instinctive.
After struggling to swallow the red bean cake, Sanada didn't immediately catch up. Instead, he went back to find Yukimura. The person who raised the camera at that moment definitely didn't take a picture of the street scene or shops. Yukimura readily admitted this and even flipped the screen to share the photo with Sanada.
The girl holding the red bean wheel cake looked up and met Sanada's gaze, who was looking down. Gone was the tension of her daily life; she smiled easily, and his eyes shone with joy.
On a drizzly autumn day, we walked together through the streets of a foreign country. Little did I know that at that moment, he slowly withdrew his gaze and began searching for me in the crowd, only to realize that the person standing next to Liu Sheng was still the same as the one in the photograph.
He originally thought that only I had changed, but now he realizes that perhaps I have always just been myself. Maybe everything around me changed from the moment Atobe mentioned to him, "Isn't this the person Tezuka cares about a lot also at your school?"
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