Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Encounter at the school gate
“Ding-ling-ling——”
As soon as the ringtone rang, Saionji Tamon turned off the alarm clock with lightning speed.
"Hmm... why so early?" She stretched lazily, and as the daylight leaked into the room through the gaps in the curtains, she saw the big "06:00" displayed on the alarm clock and muttered.
Just as she was about to lie back in bed, Saionji Tamon suddenly realized that today was the day she officially joined the Kyudo Club. She would no longer be able to sleep until seven in the morning and then walk slowly to school.
She could only reluctantly get up, wash up, put on her school uniform, pick up the full set of archery equipment she had packed last night, and pushed open the door.
"I'm going out!"
In mid-April, the late cherry blossoms on both sides of the road still stubbornly refused to completely wither. Breathing in the fresh air filled with a tranquil and fragrant scent, Saionji Gyoin's depressed mood caused by getting up early was somewhat relieved.
The joy she felt from appreciating the flowers continued until she saw the super-long black luxury car passing by her and parked at the school gate.
In Hyotei, there is only one person who would do something so outrageous and without bounds.
"Ah~ It's Master Atobe!"
"Atobe-sama—!"
…
Bathed in the scorching gazes of the crowd, Atobe Keigo stepped out of the car with his long legs, tossed his flying hair, and snapped his fingers: "Indulge in my splendor~"
Like a choir conductor, he made the scene burst into even more enthusiastic noise after a moment of silence.
Saionji Tamon was just about to take the opportunity to sneak into the school, but there were too many people gathered at the school gate and she couldn't squeeze through at all.
Don't notice me, don't notice me... she hoped in her heart.
"Saionji...?"
Unfortunately, what you fear will come true. Saionji Tamane's back stiffened, and she turned around and said with a sullen smile, "Good morning, Atobe-san."
Atobe Keigo narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on the equipment bag on the back of his classmate sitting next to him, a classmate whose presence was minimal and whom he rarely encountered in the mornings. If he hadn't misjudged the shape and size, it should be...
"Have you joined the Kyudo Club?"
“Ahem…”
Saionji Tamon knew Atobe was perceptive, but she hadn't expected him to be this sharp. She'd arrived at school an hour early, intending to drop her equipment bag off at the archery club, away from her classmates and drawing no extra attention. Minimizing one's presence at all times is a fundamental skill for a recluse.
Seeing that she could no longer hide it from Atobe, she had no choice but to admit it openly: "Yes, from today on, I am a member of the Kyudo Club."
If only Atobe knew about this, he would probably have no time to chat about it with others as he has a lot of things to deal with every day, and would forget about it in the blink of an eye.
Saionji Tamon's guess was correct. Atobe was just a little curious because he met her at a time when they shouldn't have met, but he immediately connected it to the transfer application form processed in the student union office three days ago. The person who filled it out was Kanda Rei, and she was the female archery captain of Hyotei.
The women's archery club had just lost its leader, and Saionji Tamon joined shortly afterwards. It was hard for Atobe to convince himself that there was no connection between the two.
Could it be that Saionji is very good at archery?
Atobe tapped his cheek with his finger, thinking.
As for Saionji Gyokon?
She left with a sentence "I'm going to the Kyudo Club" and ran away.
Saionji Tamon: Just kidding, this is at the school gate. If I don't run, all the fans in the school will notice me and mistakenly think that I am close to him. Wouldn't that be very troublesome~
*
"Quiet down, everyone please come and gather."
Kanda Rei, who was wearing a Kyudo uniform, clapped her hands and called everyone in the activity room together.
Today was her last day at Hyotei, and the club members all knew about it a long time ago, so the atmosphere in the activity room was a little depressing.
But as soon as Kanda Rei called, everyone quickly gathered together.
Kanda Rei nodded in satisfaction, then she remembered something and felt a little sad: "I believe everyone knows that I'm transferring schools..."
"Minister..." the members said reluctantly.
Kanda Rei bowed and said, "I'm sorry for letting you all down on this matter. I'm very sorry."
She then pulled out Saionji Tamon, who was hiding behind her, and introduced her, "To make up for the loss I caused everyone, I've invited Saionji Tamon-san. She's a friend I've known since childhood, and her Kyudo skills are even better than mine."
Saionji Tamon, who had been gazing around the archery club's activity room, forced an awkward yet polite smile upon hearing this. Hearing Kanda Rei's introduction, even though she knew she was deliberately trying to distance herself from the other members, she couldn't help but internally grumble, "Hey, hey, even if it's true, you don't have to exaggerate like that, right? And what's with the childhood friends thing? We only met once or twice when we were kids!"
"From today on, Saionji-san will join our Kyudo Club and compete in the national tournament with everyone. I hope everyone will respect Saionji-san as much as they respect me."
When she said this, there was a little discussion below, but it was still within a controllable range. Kanda Rei took a deep breath before saying the next words that would obviously cause controversy.
"Because Saionji-san is a strong supporter I specially invited, she will not represent our school in individual competitions except for team competitions. Even in team competitions, Saionji-san will not participate in every one. Instead, she will selectively participate based on intelligence and the strength of her opponents. She usually only serves as a reserve for major competitions."
If this was still within the members' understanding, the following paragraph made them wonder if the minister, who had always been strict with himself and others, had lost his mind.
"Since the competition has already taken up a lot of Saionji's spare time, he doesn't have to attend all the morning and evening club activities. He only needs to participate in club practice before each competition to keep in shape..."
"be opposed to!"
Before Kanda Rei could finish, Goto Rika, the hot-tempered third-year student, exploded: "Everyone must abide by the club's rules. Even if you're a talent brought in by the club leader, there's no reason to skip training! I strongly object to allowing someone who has no respect for archery to join the Kyudo Club!"
It was not surprising that someone would jump out to object to Saionji Tamon, or it would be strange that no one raised any objection to this. Before she came in, Kanda Rei had given her a brief introduction. Goto Rika was the second best player in the third grade after Kanda Rei. She was straightforward and impulsive, and was the most likely person to jump out to oppose.
Kanda Rei originally assured her that with her persuasion, Goto Rika would definitely accept the conditions she proposed.
That's right, whether it's reporting in three days later, requiring only to participate in team competitions and reduce the number of matches, and not participating in every regular training session, these are the three conditions proposed by Saionji Tamion for joining the Kyudo club.
These three conditions correspond to her needing to finish her manuscript quickly, minimizing the subsequent impact of the competition on her life at Hyotei, and being lazy_(:з」∠)_
However, since it was a request she made, of course she had to solve it herself. Saionji Tamane stopped Kanda Rei's proposal to suppress the opposition and planned to do it herself.
"Goto-san, right?"
Saionji Tamon pushed the frame of her mirror and pointed at the target on the other side of the wall. "Shall we have a competition?"
Goto Rika raised an eyebrow: "Now?"
"In Hyotei, strength always prevails, doesn't it?" Saionji Tamane raised her lips. "If you win, I'll leave the Kyudo Club immediately, just as you wish. If I win, no," she paused deliberately, then "if every arrow I shoot hits the bull's eye, then from now on, not just you, but no one in the Kyudo Club will be able to object to my behavior in the club."
Goto Rika's face looked a little strange when she heard this: "Every arrow hits the bull's eye?"
You have to know that even Kanda Rei, who she admitted was stronger than herself, could not achieve this level. Those who could hit the target every time were all high-level masters in the National Kyudo Association. Before this, she had never heard of the name of Saionji Tamon. When Kanda Rei praised Saionji so much before, Goto Rika just regarded it as flattery and her credibility was questionable.
Is this guy planning to lose to me on purpose so he can leave?
Rika Goto thought with a strange look on her face.
"That's right." Saionji Tamane nodded affirmatively.
It's not that she hasn't thought about losing on purpose, but as a principled recluse, the premise of her seclusion is not to harm the interests of others. Since she has promised Kanda Rei and Morimoto Anko to help the Hyotei Women's Kyudo Club participate in the national competition, preferably to win the team championship, then she will not go back on her word, but will give it her all.
Of course, the premise of going all out is to first strive for enough benefits for yourself. After all, Xianyu really doesn’t want to get up early and stay up late to train every day.
Saionji Tamon, who has experienced the arduous training routines of both worlds, really doesn't want to relive them all again_(:з」∠)_
"Okay then!" Goto Rika thought for a moment. If Saionji Tamane could really hit the bull's eye, then it wouldn't be a problem for her to make an exception. She pointed to the locker room nearby and said, "Go change your clothes and protective gear. I'll wait for you."
"No."
Saionji Tamon stretched her muscles, opened her equipment bag, and took out her longbow. "Changing protective gear will take too much time, so let's just compete like this." She straightened her school uniform with a serious expression, turned around, walked towards the shooting range and stood still.
"Let's finish the competition quickly. I want to go back to the classroom quickly." She turned around and smiled shyly at Goto Rika. Goto Rika suddenly felt as if she saw a cobra opening its tongue.
"After all, I still have to collect homework."
*
When Keigo Atobe returned to the classroom, he was surprised to find that the person sitting next to him was already seated.
Is the Kyudo Club's morning training so relaxed?
He raised his handsome eyebrows and was just considering whether to inquire about this matter in his capacity as the student union president and remind the new director not to slack off in management just because he had just taken office, when he saw the person at the next table seeing him and showing a smile that was a little different from usual.
"Atobe, I saw your homework on your desk, so I took it away. Is that okay?"
"Ah, well, that was placed on the table on purpose."
Atobe originally thought that Saionji would go to the classroom like him, but he didn't expect her to go directly to the Archery Club. Thinking about how he had troubled others to wait until he was the last to collect their homework, he put the homework on the table today. Anyway, no one in the 3rd grade A group dared to touch the things on his desk.
Saionji Tamane nodded with satisfaction. She was right about what Atobe meant.
After some proper exercise in the morning, she felt more refreshed. Thinking of the shocked expressions of Goto Rika and the other people in the archery club when they saw her shooting results, Saionji Tamon felt happy. Now she could continue to slack off in the archery club without any worries.
She inadvertently glanced at Atobe next to her. In this matter, Atobe Keigo was used as an example. If he had not broken the school's tacit rules in the campus assembly and the tennis club in his first year of junior high school, setting a precedent that the stronger is right, she thought it would be a bit troublesome not to abide by the rules of the Kyudo Club.
I feel like Xiyuanji's temperament is a little different today...
Atobe, who was organizing books, rarely spared a moment of his attention to think about his neighbor who had no sense of existence. With his insight, he could of course see that Saionji Tamon herself was not bad looking, but her good looks were completely obscured by her thick bangs, her long vertical hair that had not been trimmed or styled at all, and her glasses with strange taste. Coupled with her withdrawn and introverted personality, she never took the initiative to interact with others, which made her presence even less and less.
But today he actually felt that her thinness was like the edge of a cheetah lazily retracting after a full meal.
How could that be?
Atobe shook his head in amusement, he was thinking too much.
The author has something to say:
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I remember seeing the scene where Atobe took the bus to school and caused a commotion at the school gate in some episode of the anime, but I couldn't find it after searching for a long time.
Yuyin's usual acting skills and thinness can still deceive Atobe's excellent insight, but she had just used a bow and arrow this morning, and her temperament was not completely concealed, so Atobe noticed it a little.
Actually, this is a campus love story =V=
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