"So Ayaka, what is this about?"
When Kobayashi Ayaka stepped through the door of the Kendo Club's training room, Miyajima Sakura was smiling at her.
The latter was wearing a Kendo uniform, having removed her 'men,' or helmet, and held a phone in her plain white hands.
On the phone screen was a photo of Hayato and Kobayashi Ayaka leaving the teaching building together.
Such photos, if placed on certain websites, would belong to the 'candid' section.
The pixel quality wasn't good, making one wonder if it was taken with a landline phone.
However, the main point was very prominent.
It was the two hands held together in the photo.
Time rewound to more than ten minutes ago.
A certain male member of the Kendo Club received a text message. Since it wasn't his training time, he was already playing on his phone and immediately brought up the message interface.
[Image]
And the caption: "Oh my god, look what I found!"
The internet speed was slow, waiting for the refresh.
He was originally listless.
Mainly because the guy on the other end was very boring, a professional clickbaiter. He had once sent a so-called 'blockbuster' with the slogan 'The Story of Three Married Women and a Bunch of Bandits.'
He was originally excited, thinking, holy crap, group sex! And 'married women' were totally his type.
But after downloading the torrent, he saw it was Water Margin!!
However, the photo that refreshed this time was clearly very wholesome, yet the boy still widened his eyes.
An excited "Holy crap!" involuntarily burst out.
It immediately attracted the attention of many people.
"Huh!? What are you 'crapping' about?"
"Damn, you won't let me see?"
"Good things should be shared with everyone."
"Create a group! Give us a torrent!"
The boys swarmed over, while the girls, while looking on with disdain, tiptoed, trying to catch a glimpse of something.
And then, all the boys, with that phone as the center, collectively leaned back:
"Holy crap!"
This made the girls very curious. Some bolder and thicker-skinned ones had already come closer, also wanting to 'crap' a little.
So they collectively:
"Holy crap!!"
The scene was quite spectacular.
"Is that Ayaka-senpai and Xiao Lin?" someone asked.
"It must be them! Even with mosaic quality, I can recognize Ayaka-senpai at a glance!" someone said.
"As expected of an Ayaka fan!" someone praised. "But whether that boy is Xiao Lin might still be debatable, right?"
"Even if he turned into ash, I could still tell that person is Xiao Lin!" the person who spoke earlier said again.
"When did you betray the faith!? Has Ayaka-senpai's position in your heart actually wavered!?" someone chastised.
"Not just wavered, Xiao Lin is practically a T0 existence in my heart!" that person smiled proudly.
"Beast! You're a man too!!"
After a commotion, the girls' side expressed their opinions.
"Hmm? Is Xiao Lin already with Ayaka-senpai?"
"Wuwuwu, I'm heartbroken—my Xiao Lin, wuwuwuwu…"
"You should look in the mirror. At most, you're only fit for Senior Katō. How could Xiao Lin ever like you!"
"Dreams must always be had, what if they come true?"
"Me? What about me!?" Kato Takeshi was furious. You can praise Xiao Lin all you want, but don't kick me while I'm down! Then, after deep thought, he smiled brightly: "Since Ayaka is with Xiao Lin, doesn't that mean I can pursue Minister Gongdao!?"
He was then glared at coldly by a group of his juniors.
As if Minister Gongdao even looked at you when Xiao Lin wasn't around.
There's plenty of money in the bank, but does it have anything to do with you?
—Kato Takeshi somewhat understood this meaning.
His tears fell like noodles.
"Wait, so does this mean the result of the 'Great Triangle' is decided?" someone said.
The so-called 'Great Triangle' referred to the six-arrow relationship between Kobayashi Ayaka, Miyajima Sakura, and Hayato.
When the Kendo Club members saw these three using the same style of phone charm, they more or less sensed how twisted the relationship between the three of them was.
"Senior Miyajima being betrayed by both her best friend and the boy she admired, it's… too tragic!" someone sympathized.
He spoke first and then shed tears, but before those tears could fall.
A delicate face leaned over from behind and asked:
"What's wrong?"
Sweat clung to her forehead, and she was slightly out of breath as she spoke, but still clean-cut and beautiful… Miyajima Sakura had heard everyone's conversation.
"No, nothing—"
Everyone was still very gently trying to keep it from Miyajima Sakura.
But unfortunately, Miyajima Sakura's eyes were sharp, and the junior holding the important confidential document was a beat too slow to react.
The photo on the screen was of mosaic quality. If the junior had been firm and immediately put away his phone, Miyajima Sakura might not have discovered anything.
But the junior was startled by the Minister's gaze and immediately bowed, presenting his phone with both hands:
"Please!"
Everyone slapped their foreheads.
You're French, aren't you!!
Miyajima Sakura took the phone with both hands and looked at it twice.
Just then, Hayato and Kobayashi Ayaka entered the door simultaneously.
Kobayashi Ayaka saw Miyajima Sakura's smiling expression and the photo she held, and instinctively, with a guilty conscience, she jumped back and hid behind Hayato.
Then she twisted Hayato's arm:
"You, say something!"
Hayato, however, remained calm and composed, neither arrogant nor humble. In everyone's eyes, he showed no awareness of having 'cheated.'
"This matter isn't actually like that; there's another hidden story," he said. "What you saw isn't the truth. I'm too lazy to explain the vested interests; just figure it out yourselves. Those who know, know—stop thinking about useless things. Those who need to train, hurry up and train. Kase—"
Kase Masafumi, unusually, didn't jump out with his usual vigor today. Instead, he timidly peeked his head out from behind the crowd:
"Se-Senior Kobayashi—"
"Hmm?"
"Are you dating Ayaka-senpai?"
"No."
"I-is that so!" Kase Masafumi's expression immediately brightened.
Strange.
Hayato thought to himself, could it be that this guy has transferred his affections and fallen for Kobayashi Ayaka?
Although the man was unmarried and the woman was not yet married, he always felt something was not quite right.
"Oh, so Ayaka and Xiao Lin aren't dating," Miyajima Sakura said, looking at the phone screen, her tone even carrying a hint of regret.
?
For a moment, everyone didn't know whether this Minister was speaking sincerely or being sarcastic.
Kobayashi Ayaka, as Miyajima Sakura's sunshine sister, naturally understood her intentions immediately, so she instead tilted her head in confusion.
Sakura, what is she up to?
"Sakura, I have something to tell you," Kobayashi Ayaka said.
"Mhm." Miyajima Sakura returned the phone to the young boy, thanked him, and then followed Kobayashi Ayaka to a quiet corner.
At the same time, Kobayashi Ayaka's gaze deterred everyone who wanted to come and eavesdrop.
She crossed her arms over her chest, which was slightly smaller than Miyajima Sakura's, and after sizing up Miyajima Sakura, she spoke:
"I like Xiao Lin."
"I know," Miyajima Sakura replied naturally.
"What the hell do you know?" Kobayashi Ayaka immediately interrupted, "What I mean is, aren't you angry?"
"Not angry. What's there to be angry about?" Miyajima Sakura tilted her head and said, "Hayato is so outstanding, it's normal for you to like him. I like him too."
"I'm not talking about that."
Kobayashi Ayaka scratched her head, annoyed. She had long known that her best friend was a blank slate when it came to relationships, but she never expected her to be this much of a blank slate: "What if Hayato gets a girlfriend in the future? What will you do then?"
Miyajima Sakura tilted her head again:
"What does his having a girlfriend have to do with me?"
"Huh!?"
Miyajima Sakura's absurd answer made Kobayashi Ayaka shriek, and then, realizing she had attracted too many eyes, she lowered her voice again: "Sakura, what on earth are you thinking?"
"I... don't quite understand what Ayaka means," Miyajima Sakura said. "If possible, I'd like to become friends with Hayato's girlfriend too."
"If he gets a girlfriend, his girlfriend will absolutely not allow him to come to you anymore," Kobayashi Ayaka said.
"Eh?"
Miyajima Sakura froze. She seemed a few beats slow, but still unwilling to admit it, she trembled her delicate lips: "B-but why?"
"There's no why. That's how all relationships in the world are," Kobayashi Ayaka sighed and said, "If he gets a girlfriend, he'll spend all his time with her from then on. All ties like 'club' and 'Ayaka-senpai' will cease to exist. He might even forget you."
Miyajima Sakura was silent for a long time again.
Her eyes, which had been smiling moments before, had now become hollow and distant under Kobayashi Ayaka's words: "H-how could this be?"
Phew.
Finally, this girl realized the seriousness of the matter.
Kobayashi Ayaka finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, to prevent this from happening, the best solution is—" Kobayashi Ayaka pointed decisively.
"You become his girlfriend!" Miyajima Sakura said.
"That's right, it's you—wait, wait, wait, hold on a minute!" Kobayashi Ayaka fumbled. The 'you' she was referring to was Miyajima Sakura, so the 'you' in Miyajima Sakura's mouth must be...
"No, Sakura. Why would you think that?"
"Because if Ayaka becomes his girlfriend, you definitely won't let Hayato ignore me, right?" Miyajima Sakura said innocently, "And you just said you like Hayato."
—"Pfft." Kobayashi Ayaka almost spat out her water: "Th-that was just a hypothetical. H-he's not my type."
"You're lying," Miyajima Sakura said with a smile.
"Don't be so perceptive in this kind of situation," Kobayashi Ayaka said, rubbing her forehead helplessly. She asked with a bit of a headache, "Have you never considered becoming Hayato's girlfriend yourself?"
"No."
"Immediate answer!?"
"Hayato seems to have no interest in me at all, right?" Miyajima Sakura said, lowering her gaze with a smile, "And I'm not worthy of being his girlfriend—"
"Who said that?" Kobayashi Ayaka looked at her strangely.
Is there a better girl in this school than Sakura? At least in Kobayashi Ayaka's mind, the answer to this question should be 'no'.
..."Hmm." Miyajima Sakura's cheeks were a little red. She smiled, only letting out a long, drawn-out sound, but didn't speak.
"Hayato!"
Kobayashi Ayaka shouted to Hayato, who was sparring with Kase Masafumi at the other end: "Sakura says she likes you!"
—"Ugh!? W-wait... Ayaka!"
Miyajima Sakura suddenly panicked. She started frantically searching for something nearby.
No sword.
Otherwise, she would have knocked Kobayashi Ayaka out with a sword right now.
Wait.
Kobayashi Ayaka suddenly thought... wait, if Hayato agreed now, how would she get along with Mr. Hayashi in the future?
Well, since Sakura would say something like letting her become Hayato's girlfriend, she probably wouldn't mind her playing like this with him.
Wow, how exciting—Kobayashi Ayaka's face flushed even more.
And Kobayashi Ayaka's shout finally made everyone turn their gaze back to Hayato.
The latter smiled slightly, a confident smile:
"Ah, I like myself very much too."
That Mr. Hayashi!
The Kendo Club members were even more shocked.
Then, for some reason, the members, who had been half-believing before, now fully believed his previous statement that 'he and Ayaka-senpai had nothing going on'.
Putting aside his relationship with Ayaka-senpai for now.
Even facing such a 'confession,' an ordinary boy, even if he knew it was a joke, would probably be moved, yet Hayato remained so unperturbed!
They had truly wronged him. Hayato was probably just devoted to kendo, and his life was much healthier than they had imagined.
...
Rooftop.
Hayato was using water from a plastic bottle to wash his hands. As a silly young man, he still had to ensure his fingers were clean.
And Nanao Akane was lying exhausted on the side. Her clothes were a bit disheveled, but fortunately, there was no one here, so she didn't have to worry about exposure.
"Why..." Nanao Akane asked weakly, "...are you always able to enjoy yourself so much, but I can't?"
"Everyone has their own characteristics. You have to grasp your characteristics..." Hayato thought for a moment and then said, "Never mind, you won't understand even if I tell you."
Nanao Akane grabbed his wrist: "You... teach me... and then, take me."
"No," Hayato refused flatly.
"Why!" Nanao Akane was anxious: "Are you saying my technique isn't good!? I'm willing to learn, I'll learn anything you're willing to teach me!"
But Hayato pushed her hand away, then smiled charmingly:
"Because you haven't ranked in the top ten of the F Class yet!"
"Hmph!"
Nanao Akane threw herself onto the ground in despair, then crossed her arms over her chest and turned away: "Just kill me!!"
"Top ten in the F Class isn't top ten in the grade, it's not that hard," Hayato said. "Work harder."
"Anyway, I'm just an idiot!!" Nanao Akane said sulkily, "If you do that again next time, I won't talk to you."
Hayato sneered dismissively, not caring.
"You just think I'm not good!" Nanao Akane almost pounced on Hayato.
And Hayato looked at the stairwell and said, "Put your pants on, someone's coming up!"
...
...
----------------------------------
I've already posted 30 new chapters on Patreon!
If you like the story and want to reaad more, please visit my patreon. Every support is very meaningful!
[patreon.com/Kazenova223]
Thank you very much!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"