Chapter 207: Festival
At three in the afternoon, after the second half of the knockout round ended, everyone from Shuchiin prepared to go to the celebration party.
Seeing that the time was still fine, Sakurai did not refuse.
He had originally thought the tournament would take much longer, but unexpectedly, even including the time for repairing electrical equipment and the award ceremony, it was still not yet evening.
The celebration party was chosen to be held at a rather high-class restaurant.
As soon as the owner saw Daimon Saburou, he put on a standard customer-reception smile.
The two chatted for a few minutes.
It seemed that back when this sensei was still instructing the Kendo club, he had come here quite a few times.
"Last time we lost in the first round, we still came here to eat," Kojima revealed.
"The Kendo club's budget is still given too much," Sakurai remarked.
Next semester, it might be possible to cut down a bit.
But thinking about the fact that he was, after all, considered a member of the Kendo club, Sakurai temporarily put that thought aside.
As a beneficiary, he could not betray his own status—in other words, don't eat the meal and then curse the cook.
After finishing the small talk, more than a dozen members of the Kendo club entered a luxurious VIP room deep inside.
Despite being the absolute main character, Sakurai Saki did not sit at the central seat, but chose a spot near the edge of the table.
The dishes were brought up one after another, and everyone was still talking about the morning's rain and power outage.
Someone even said they vaguely saw the silhouette of a dragon.
It was a dragon with a pair of sharp horns, only one arm, and three fingers on it.
Flood dragons indeed have only three fingers; only when they shed their skin and become azure dragons do they gain two more.
Sakurai picked up the dishes that the waiters brought over, eating small bites one at a time.
"Sakurai, why are you spacing out?" Miyazaki Kazuki asked.
These past days he had sparred with Sakurai many times, and gradually, he too had been conquered by him.
In truth, in the Kendo club, aside from being unable to stand Kojima, he could accept the others, even Sakurai Saki—the one who had once embarrassed him—was not a problem.
… Sakurai felt this guy was a masochist.
"Thinking about your date tonight, aren't you?" a member teased with a sour tone.
Going to a festival with a girl, really enviable!
They were also members of the Kendo club; even though they had won the Gyokuryu-ki tournament, why did their hearts still feel an inexplicable sourness?
Perhaps this was the gap between the strong and the weak?
Not only had Sakurai massacred in the Kendo tournament, but tonight he would probably massacre again—and with five sisters born in the same year… tsk tsk.
"Must be nice~"
"How about the two of us go to the festival together? Sounds fun too."
(˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)
"Don't disgust me. I'm dead tired these past days, tonight I'm going back to the hotel to sleep like a log!"
(·•᷄ࡇ•᷅ )
Hearing the members being noisy, Kojima didn't say anything.
A victory celebration party—if it wasn't noisy, that would be strange.
"Why didn't Murakami Ryu end up competing in the end?" Kojima, sitting next to Sakurai, asked quietly.
"He fell," Sakurai snapped back to reality and explained briefly.
Just now, he had still been thinking about what exactly would happen three months later.
And who the "Distinguished One" that the other side mentioned was.
"Don't use excuses like that to brush me off."
"If I told you the truth, you might believe it even less."
"Say it, I can handle it."
"He had to go with his girlfriend, I'm not lying," Sakurai said seriously.
Kojima froze for a few seconds.
We're in the Gyokuryu-ki tournament, right? The Kendo tournament—moreover, the most prestigious one—has something gone wrong with my ears?
These people—does no one take this tournament seriously!?
Then the past months I spent seriously preparing… wasn't I just a fool?
Kojima: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
"You must've met his girlfriend already, right? When we went out earlier, you even bumped into her."
"Umu, honestly she looked pretty average," Kojima recalled.
Murakami Ryu's looks weren't bad; at school he was probably liked by quite a few people, so why was he dating such an ordinary girl?
"What if she saved his life?"
Sakurai guessed.
The farmer's daughter saving a stranded dragon… that kind of plot wasn't impossible.
After all, the real world didn't need logic; a girl could love you one second and stab you to death the next—it wasn't something impossible.
Hayasaka & Chika: (♡´▽`♡)▬ι═ﺤ-`♡´-
...
After the party ended, Sakurai returned to the hotel.
After resting for a bit and seeing that it was getting late, he sent a message to Miku.
They agreed to meet in front of the hotel.
Sakurai washed his face quickly, then changed into a set of summer clothes. Even though it wasn't going to the festival with a girlfriend, since it was still a date, it was better to dress properly.
Stepping out to the front of the hotel—
Sakurai Saki discovered that all five Nakano sisters had come, and they were all wearing yukata and kimono.
Was this preparing a ticket for five people to share?
"Hai hai!! Sakurai-san! We're over here!" Yotsuba happily waved her right hand.
Yotsuba: ヾ(＾ ∇ ＾).
"You're too slow," Itsuki softly complained.
Itsuki: ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)
Tonight she hadn't eaten anything yet, just waiting to get to the festival stalls to eat something.
"Sensei-chan~ How's this outfit?" Ichika said as she twirled once in front of Sakurai Saki.
Ichika: ₍₍ ◝(●˙꒳˙●)◜ ₎₎
Sakurai Saki looked at her obi, on which there was a butterfly pattern, the kind of Japanese motif his mother often used.
"Ara~ Sensei-chan, if you want to untie the obi, you'll have to wait until the festival's over," Ichika said as she leaned in close to Sakurai Saki.
Ichika: (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Seeing Ichika's action, Nino slightly furrowed her delicate brows, her bright eyes carrying a hint of displeasure.
Nino: (ᓀ‸ᓂ)
"Oya, Nino's mad? Then I'll leave Sensei-chan to you~" Ichika deliberately teased her younger sister.
Ichika: (≖⩊≖)
Among the five sisters, anyone with eyes could tell that Nino liked Sakurai Saki.
"Not mad at all." Although Nino said that, she still slightly lifted her sleeve, carrying a look of expectation toward Sakurai Saki.
She softly asked, "How is it?"
Nino: ٩(⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)و*̣̩⋆̩*
Sakurai looked her over several times—ocean blue yukata, golden obi, wave pattern printed on the yukata.
If he didn't lie against his conscience, it was indeed very beautiful.
"It suits you very well." Sakurai, for once, gave a compliment.
"Really?" Nino's face showed joy.
Nino: ( ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ♡
Miku: ( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)
Nakano Miku, standing beside them, watched the interaction between the two, her expression not changing much.
This time she had invited Sakurai Saki to the festival in order to help Nino, as requested.
If Nino had been the one to invite him, Sakurai Saki would definitely have refused, even if she had used a wish ticket.
'But why… does it feel so uncomfortable?'
Strange.
"Miku's yukata is also very cute." Sakurai Saki smiled at Miku.
Since she was the student he liked most, Sakurai Saki had never been stingy with compliments toward her.
"Thank you," Miku softly replied.
Miku: (..◜ᴗ◝..)
This way… was fine too, as teacher and student.
...
Arriving at the festival venue—it wasn't far from the hotel, just over ten minutes' walk.
Night had fallen.
The atmosphere gradually became lively.
Nino and Sakurai walked at the back of the group; around them were local residents, making it a bit crowded.
"I like you, Sakurai-san," Nino suddenly confessed.
"…I know, but that's just your impulse."
"You're very cute, and very attractive." Sakurai stopped walking, looking straight at her: "You can have better choices, not me."
Nino also stopped, turning to look at him, and said seriously: "I understand."
"But, even if my feelings really are just an impulse, I still want to stay impulsive like this forever."
Sakurai: "..."
"I don't want to stop," Nino said, then smiled at Sakurai: "Pretty stupid, right? Like a train engine."
"Not stupid, you're really very charming." Sakurai turned his gaze away.
'Why is my heart beating so fast again…'
So embarrassing.
...
Note: Chapter 208 seems to have been deleted or censored or glitched or something, I don't know. I tried to find the raw but couldn't. All four sites with raws that I found don't have chapter 208, sorry…
(｡╯︵╰｡)