Amane’s feelings? Safe.
Izumi’s stomach? Safe.
A perfect, conflict-free resolution.
But Amane—
“Eh…?”
—looked utterly heartbroken.
“W-What? What’s wrong?”
“Um…”
Fidgeting in embarrassment, she dropped a bombshell.
“I-I made a different lunch for you… for later…?”
“Are you trying to turn me into a pro wrestler!??”
He was way past the age of “Eat well and grow big!”
In the end, under the weight of everyone’s stares, he picked up the chopsticks.
“…A-Alright. But from tomorrow, just lunch, okay?”
Amane’s face lit up instantly.
“Mhm! ♪”
Faced with that radiant smile, Izumi had no room to argue.
Well, if he thought of it as atonement for what happened with Amane the other day, it wasn’t so bad. With that in mind, he opened the lunchbox.
And then—
“Wait.”
It was curry.
A stamina-boosting, crowd-pleasing dish… but with one fatal flaw.
The smell.
One bite, and everyone within a five-mile radius would know. “Oh, that guy had curry.”
And now—
He was supposed to sit through morning classes in a confined classroom, reeking of curry. That required next-level mental fortitude.
Stuck in what felt like a punishment game, Izumi cursed his earlier “chivalry.”
“Amane…”
He tried to suggest eating it later, but—
“Hmm~? What’s up, Izumi-chi~?”
Amane had a lovestruck expression.
Izumi conceded to Amane’s satisfied aura that shone brilliantly. And quite easily at that.
“…”
He glanced at his classmates around him.
The crowd that had been teasing him moments ago had returned to their normal routines as if that scene had been a lie. Despite the curry aroma wafting through the air, they unnaturally avoided making eye contact.
When he looked toward Nanao…
“Hey, Nanao…”
Nanao smiled cheerfully, showing a cute victory pose with both arms.
It was what you’d call a “Go get ’em!” gesture.
“…”
Izumi compared the curry bento box before him with the remaining time until homeroom.
(Why chopsticks for curry in the first place…)
Facing this second breakfast that lacked attention to detail, he vowed in his heart that the next after-school study session would definitely include a lecture on proper bento etiquette.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
After school.
Izumi was helping with chores—or rather, cleaning up—in the infirmary. When he finished, the female school nurse gave him tea as a thank you.
“Izumi-kun. I’m sorry for always asking you to help.”
“No, I was free anyway. Please feel free to call on me anytime.”
Rolling the bottled tea in his hand with a “Lucky♪,” he walked down the hallway. His steps were light, almost as if he might accidentally skip. He was an easily pleased man.
After putting on his shoes at the entrance, he headed toward the school gate to go home.
(Hm?)
Girls in gym clothes ran past him.
Sports club activities… a world far removed from Izumi. If he had also been devoted to a club, would he have become somewhat of a more brilliant person?
While thinking about such things, he suddenly remembered Nanao.
“…”
There was no particular significance to it.
He just felt like it somehow. He had no part-time job today, and going straight home seemed dull. That’s all.
(This school has an average academic record, but surprisingly many clubs…)
It’s unusual these days when teachers are so busy, he thought, as if it were someone else’s business.
In a corner of the school stands an archery range, remarkably impressive even for Tokyo. When he stepped onto the grounds—there was a sharp sound of a bowstring cutting through the air. Then, a “ton” sound of something hard colliding. Several of these sounds continued in succession.
(What a beautiful sound)
He believed it was called “tsurune.”
Though not knowledgeable about archery, he thought it was a pleasant sound.
It was a calming sound. Surprisingly, Izumi didn’t dislike this sound. Then, from behind a fence with a sign reading [Caution! Flying Arrows!], he secretly peeked at the practice area.
Five club members were drawing their bows in a line.
Two male students who appeared to be upperclassmen. Then two female upperclassmen. And at the very back was a second-year female student.
It was Nanao.
Dressed in hakama for practice, she was facing forward with her body while setting up her arrow. Her straight bob hair was tied back in a small ponytail.
The third-year student in front released an arrow.
It resonated with a beautiful tsurune sound (though Izumi couldn’t tell the difference) and hit just outside the center of the round target.
After that, Nanao moved.
Slowly raising her bow, she drew back the arrow hooked on the string. She expanded her chest, covered by a chest protector, and stretched the string to its fullest.
Little by little, she aimed the arrowhead.
It was a strange moment. It felt like an instant, yet also like a very long time was passing. There was even an illusion that time flowed differently in this space, separate from the outside world.
Then a moment of stillness.
That serious gaze blinked for an instant.
—The arrow flew.
It resonated with a beautiful tsurune sound (again, Izumi couldn’t tell the difference) and pierced into the center of the round target as if being drawn in.
The surrounding club members applauded softly.
Nanao looked relieved and went back to the female club members waiting behind. Then one of them (who Izumi believed was a girl from Nanao’s class) pointed at Izumi with a meaningful smile.
Nanao turned around with a puzzled face… and when she saw Izumi, her eyes widened.
Her face turned bright red.
(Huh?)
Nanao tried to hurriedly escape to the back.
However, she was caught by the female club members and dragged forward. Then, making a small peace sign shyly, she laughed with an “ehehe.”
“…”
Izumi turned away, hiding his reddening face.
It was exactly like THAT. The phenomenon of everyone teasing a girl whose boyfriend came to pick her up. Let’s call it the [Pickup Event]. If there was an unacceptable issue to point out, it would be that they were already acknowledged as a couple by the club even though they weren’t actually dating yet.
(What should I do? I just planned to check things out before going home…)
In this atmosphere, he couldn’t just leave without saying anything.
Either way, it was almost the school’s closing time. From the direction of the grounds, he could hear the sports clubs starting to pack up. Izumi waited there for the archery club’s practice to end, in an extremely awkward state.
After about thirty minutes, Nanao came out.
She must have hurriedly prepared to leave, as there was a bit of sweat on her forehead. Somehow, that made Izumi feel uncomfortable.
“I was surprised to see you here, Izumi-kun.”
“Sorry about that. I kind of interrupted your practice…”
“No, don’t worry. It’s just a little embarrassing to have someone I know watch me draw a bow.”
Saying something uncharacteristic like that, Nanao gave a wry smile.
“Everyone was teasing me about you, and I was quite troubled.”
While agreeing with “I see, that’s troublesome,” Izumi suddenly thought calmly.
(Wait, hasn’t she only transferred here about a month ago? But she’s already fitting in like a three-year veteran?)
There are occasionally people like this. Those who can quickly adapt to any environment.
Thanks to that, Izumi had been completely won over. Well, he personally still thought he was safe… Though instinctively, he probably realized it was futile.
While passing through the school gate together, Nanao continued the conversation.
“By the way, why were you at school so late today?”
“Ah, I was just helping clean up the infirmary.”
“Oh? Are you on the health committee, Izumi-kun?”
“No. Due to various things that happened before, I help out sometimes. That teacher is not good at cleaning… I mean, she’s busy.”
“Hmm. Izumi-kun, you really do all sorts of things. You’re like the school’s handyman.”
At those words, Izumi responded with a twitch.
Striking an exaggerated smug pose, he placed his finger along his jaw in a cool guy pose.
“I am Sumie Izumi. The school’s handyman.” (Looking smug)
“Why are you so proud?”
Izumi smiled wryly.
“Well, as I said before, I can only help others. So being relied on like that makes me genuinely happy.”
“Fufu. Izumi-kun, you’re the same as always.”
Nanao smiled softly.
Then, as if thinking of something, she whispered in his ear while Izumi was looking away.
“Too bad. I was hoping you might have been waiting for me♪”
“Uga…!”
Caught off guard by such a comeback, Izumi was at a loss for words. His face turned bright red as he hurriedly covered his ear as if it tickled.
“I told you, no suddenly turning Black!”
“Eh? What do you mean by ‘Black’ anyway?”
“I know you understand what you’re saying!”
While this exchange with Nanao had become completely familiar, Izumi was beginning to feel a sense of comfort in his slightly changed daily life.
Such peaceful days.
It wasn’t until three days later that a dramatic change visited them three days later.
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