Hiko found Ichigo in the dance studio again and said he had something to discuss with him. The two went to the office.
After the door was closed, Hiko got straight to the point: "We agreed that I would take charge of Ai's training after a month, but yesterday the date arrived, and you didn't contact me."
"I thought you were just saying that. You haven't been here much this month, but Ai has been coming every day for basic practice." Ichigo didn't answer directly. He sat in the chair behind his desk.
"I'm not here to chat with you today. When will you give me this authority?" Hiko couldn't be bothered to waste time with the President.
"Don't be anxious, it's no use. You might as well lay a stronger foundation first." Ichigo still didn't want to hand Ai over to Hiko for training.
Hiko listened to Ichigo's words and felt that he didn't want to honor the agreement, and even wanted to push it off, so he said directly, "Are you trying to go back on our agreement?"
"I didn't say I wouldn't fulfill the agreement. I just want you to postpone it a bit, wait a while longer, until after Ai's first performance, and then let you train her. That way, we can better compare the differences in our training methods." Ichigo replied to Hiko's pressure with words he had already prepared.
"What you're saying sounds very reasonable, but I refuse!" Hiko rejected Ichigo's suggestion without hesitation.
It was completely meaningless to him; what he needed was to take over as soon as possible.
"Right now, Ai isn't performing on stage, so there's no way to compare the results of our direct training." Ichigo continued to try and induce Hiko to choose.
"Even without a performance comparison, you'll still be able to feel the difference then." Hiko said in a firm tone, "Stop making excuses; I won't accept any of them."
Hearing Hiko's statement, Ichigo felt troubled. He scratched his head, thought for a moment, and then said, "Actually, you don't need permission to train Ai directly."
"It's not the same. I don't just need to train Ai; I also need the cooperation of the other members of the group. Otherwise, even if only Ai is trained, if the group's performance isn't harmonious, it still won't work." Hiko explained, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have said this."
However, this was not Hiko's true intention.
He had proposed that Ichigo fulfill the agreement and give him the right to train Ai, but his uncle kept making excuses or trying to persuade him.
This made him feel that if he didn't find a solution, he would be led on and fooled by Ichigo's evasiveness.
At this moment, he thought of the broken window theory.
If you say the room is too dark and you want to open a window, others won't agree. But if you propose to tear down the roof, they will compromise and be willing to open a skylight.
"No, did you plan this from the beginning?" Ichigo heard for the first time that the training Hiko spoke of wasn't just for Ai alone.
He felt like he had been tricked by this brat again, but hearing this, he felt a little relieved. At least this brat understood the importance of performance coordination.
"Otherwise? For just Ai's training, I'd just have her make time." Hiko replied affirmatively. Seeing how easily Ichigo took the bait, he couldn't help but marvel at the wisdom of his predecessors.
He was secretly pleased but tried to maintain a calm expression, not letting his joy show on his face.
"No, we originally agreed it was just Ai. Now you're demanding the training rights for the entire group, that won't do!" Ichigo suddenly realized that this was a perfect opportunity to shamelessly renege!
"So you still want to renege, right?" Hearing Ichigo say this, Hiko felt like he was about to succeed.
"I never intended to renege." Ichigo replied, "Ai can be trained by you, but the other members of the group cannot; they still need to train step by step."
"That won't work. You have to give me the whole group to train together. Otherwise, if I only train and improve Ai, and the other members fall behind as a result, do you think the performance will still be successful?"
Hiko casually faked it again.
However, this time the President fell silent.
Hiko's words reminded him again, forcing him to consider this point. A group needs to cultivate camaraderie, and training together would definitely be much better.
Ichigo thought about it for a moment. It's just one month, right? It's not that long anyway, and if it doesn't work out, there's no major impact. As long as he continued having the members maintain their daily basic training, he gritted his teeth and said, "Alright! You can train the whole group for one month!"
Hiko: "???"
'No, why didn't you hold out a little longer? If you had held out just one more time, I would have given up. How could you surrender?' Hiko was instead bewildered by Ichigo agreeing to his request.
He wanted to refuse to train the other few members of the group, but if he said it out loud, his uncle would probably use that as an opportunity to take back Ai's training rights, using the very method he had just described.
He had really shot himself in the foot... "Alright, it's just one month." Hiko could only choose to swallow the bitter pill. "And it's currently a holiday, which is perfect for training."
"You didn't even plan that, did you?" Ichigo only thought of this point when Hiko mentioned the holiday.
The time Hiko chose was precisely the spring break.
Before this, all the group members had to go to school and had no time to practice at all.
"Who knows?" Hiko felt there was no need to tell others about his calculations.
"Alright, you should write up the documents. At least give me the proper procedures." Hiko continued.
"You always manage to achieve your goals. I really don't know what's in your head. At just twelve years old, you consider things so thoroughly." Ichigo sighed after failing another confrontation with Hiko. He resigned himself and began preparing the documents for printing.
An hour later, the uncle and nephew had completed the procedures.
"Alright, I've given you everything you need. Later, you'll have to figure out how to get those girls to listen to you." Ichigo tossed the documents to Hiko and then waved his hand, wanting to dismiss him.
But Hiko walked forward, took the documents, put them in his pocket, and didn't leave immediately. Instead, he looked at Ichigo with an idiotic gaze and then said, "Procedures are just for show. I'm only twelve years old, so you definitely need to announce it publicly for them to follow my arrangements and start training. Otherwise, they definitely won't obey."
"Then why did you need the procedures? Weren't they just to convince them?" Ichigo heard that he still needed to make the announcement and felt that Hiko was going to make another fuss about these procedures.
"Of course, they're for me to keep as a memento."
Hiko would never reveal the real reason.
The reason he wanted the procedures was simply a cautious choice.
Because yesterday, when the agreed time arrived, he didn't automatically complete the task.
But now the task was completed.
And the reward had already been received.
"I don't believe it. You're definitely brewing another plan to trick someone." Ichigo speculated.
"I really didn't plan to trick anyone." Hiko finished speaking, but still saw Ichigo maintaining an expression of disbelief.
'Tsk, you don't believe me even when I'm telling the truth.' Hiko inwardly shook his head.
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Hiko X Ai - 51: Opposition
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Hiko x Ai - 78: Fee
Hiko x Ai - 79: Don't Take Off My Sailor Uniform
Hiko x Ai - 80: Teacher, Teacher
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