All the way back to Qing Dormitory, the two stood in the hallway.
"Um, Asama-kun, please wait a moment."
At this moment, Hayakawa-san suddenly called out to Kazuo, who was about to enter his room.
"Eh… Is something wrong?"
Hayakawa-san quickly went into the room, and when she came out a moment later, she was holding a spray bottle.
"This is…"
Hayakawa-san handed over the spray: "Don't try to be strong; you must have bruises on your legs, right? This is a liniment spray, it should help a little."
An angel, she truly was an angel—
Kazuo accepted the spray with trepidation, so moved that he didn't know what to say.
However, Hayakawa-san blinked, "It's a deal, okay? Next weekend, Sunday, you're free, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow. Asama-kun, you should also get some rest."
"Alright, see you tomorrow…"
After Hayakawa-san, his neighbor, sweetly said goodnight, Kazuo stood in the hallway with the spray, watching her enter her room.
Hayakawa-san… "Oh, I was wondering why Kazuo wasn't back so late… So you had ulterior motives after all—"
"Jing"
Without him realizing it, his troublesome senior appeared behind him and playfully poked Kazuo's cheek.
"Quick, tell me what happened between you two. Staying so late at the academy was just so you could come back with Hayakawa, right? I never would have thought, I never would have thought, you look so honest, but you have so many tricks up your sleeve!!"
"It's not what you think!"
.
"Hmm, so you stayed out so late because of the Uma Musume matter?"
Koji skillfully took a can of beer from the refrigerator.
Kazuo nodded, then took out a glass and poured himself some barley tea.
"Hmm… But I heard it all, you're going to the Racecourse with Hayakawa to watch the races, right?"
Saying this, Koji's smile was incredibly lewd. He looked like he was thinking, 'you're quite something, kid,' as he popped the tab and gulped down his drink.
"It's just to simply watch the races. I've been in Tokyo for a month and haven't even been to Tokyo's Racecourse yet. Since I also have time next week, that's why I agreed."
After a day of exhaustion, ice-cold barley tea was quite soothing.
"Hmm, are you talking about the Fuchu Racecourse? Hmm… Come to think of it, you mentioned you're not from Tokyo, right?"
"My hometown is in Kitakyushu, around the Seto Inland Sea."
"Hoo~ That's quite far indeed. It's pretty impressive that you managed to come all the way to Tokyo by yourself…"
"Well…"
At the mention of this, Kazuo couldn't help but think of his mother and daughter still living in his hometown.
"But speaking of which, you certainly have a lot of luck with women. So many male staff at the academy tried to ask Hayakawa out and failed, but you, kid, are not to be underestimated—"
"(--)"
One second he was talking about his hometown, and the next, this guy jumped to this topic again.
"Sigh… You don't have to say that…"
Kazuo felt a throbbing pain in his temples. He slowly sat down, shaking his head with a hint of helplessness, "If you ask if there's any affection, then perhaps there is a little. But it's not to the point of romantic love. I don't have the mind to consider such things right now. If I can't even stabilize my own life, talking about these things, what's the difference from being a scoundrel?"
"Your views on romance are surprisingly old-fashioned," Koji said with a teasing sip of beer.
"However, she is indeed the academy goddess; she's especially popular among us male staff."
"Is that so?"
"Of course! She's sincere and generous, likes to help others, is reliable in her work, intellectual and gentle, and her looks are sweet. She's far more popular at school than you imagine."
"From what I know, Sasaki from your department is one of her ardent admirers…"
Sasaki?
He seemed to be a deputy team leader?
"What about you?"
After hearing all that, Kazuo couldn't help but ask.
"Heh… I'm not interested in those things. Hayakawa and I are just friends and neighbors, if anything, more like best friends."
"Hmm… Then what about Tojo-san?"
"Mmm-hmm, cough, cough—"
Suddenly retaliating against the senior who always poked fun at him, sure enough, upon hearing Kazuo mention Tojo, Koji immediately choked on his beer.
"What are you talking about? Why suddenly bring her up?"
"Koji, you definitely had something going on with Tojo-san, right? Otherwise, why would she throw away all the magazines you originally had on your desk?"
"You're thinking too much; how could I possibly be with someone like her—"
Okino Kouji suddenly turned to stone.
He mechanically turned his head and stared at Kazuo, blinking for a long while: "Wait… wait, I must have misheard just now. What did you say? She, she threw away what of mine?"
"The spot I'm sitting in the office now seems to be your old spot, but all the things you originally had there were packed into a cardboard box by Tojo-san and thrown out."
"Those were a year's worth of Uma Musume model magazine subscriptions, and various Uma Musume beautiful leg photo books!!"
No—
Why would he keep those kinds of things in the office? What normal person would read those magazines in that place… Just imagining that scene, Koji sitting alone in the office, squirming like a maggot, and he himself was sitting in the very spot Koji used to sit…
I couldn't help but get goosebumps.
Koji, devastated by the truth, wiped away his tears, stood up without a word, put down his beer, slipped on his slippers, and ran out.
He quickly went downstairs and knocked on the door of dorm room 318.
However, Kazuo didn't intend to pay attention to any of that; he just rolled up his pant leg, revealing the bruises on his calf.
Just as Miss Hayakawa said, Daijin really kicked him hard this time... After spraying some relief on it, about a few minutes later, Koji returned to the room, but this time, he had a slap mark on his face.
"Uggh—that stinky woman, she's been targeting me since our school days."
Koji was clearly not in the mood to joke with Kazuo anymore; after returning, he sat alone, drinking his sorrows away, clearly still heartbroken and reminiscing about his magazine collection.
But perhaps he should thank Miss Tojo; it was rare for the dorm to be so quiet.
Kazuo thought this as he drank his mugwort tea and continued reading.
[Today's Match-up]
[Okino Kouji's Crushing Defeat — His Mental World Severely Impacted]
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