All of a sudden, I wonder if everyone listening to this has heard the proverb, "Strike while the iron is hot." I doubt many people haven't heard it.
It's a rare proverb that was originally used in the West and spread after being introduced from the Netherlands around the late Edo period, but let's put that aside.
To roughly explain the meaning, it's something like, "There's an opportunity for everything, so don't miss it," or "Study and train while you're young."
If you want to know more, there's probably a wiki or something, so just google it.
Now, I'm talking about a proverb everyone knows, so you're probably wondering what I'm getting at. Let's get to the main point.
First, let me introduce myself. My name is Tsugumi Saito, and I'm currently 15 years old. The reason I've emphasized this will be on a later test, so remember it.
Yes, 15 years old. After many twists and turns, I successfully graduated from middle school and am a fresh high school boy. In terms of the proverb from earlier, I'm a red-hot iron.
However, since I was born, I have had absolutely no passion for life. All I have is the desire to enrich my life in the easiest way possible.
A soccer player? A doctor? An astronaut? Non, non, non. Those are certainly good dreams, but you can do them on your own.
Once a piece of iron has completely cooled, it will never change its shape again. I've survived by drinking muddy water in an environment with no hope. I can't become such a pure person now.
So, what's my dream, you ask? It's none other than to become a kept man for a cute girl.
I won't work myself to the bone as a cog in society. I'll massage my beautiful wife's feet and shoulders when she gets home, then we'll hug and sleep... What a dreamy life. Could there be any greater happiness? No, there couldn't.
And for that purpose, I have never neglected to improve myself since birth. I pushed the old-fashioned prejudice that you'll be popular if you play sports, and I went to various sports clubs in the area.
Football, baseball, basketball, swimming, etc... Fortunately, I had no problem with my communication skills because I had lived off others in my previous life.
And a little after I entered elementary school, I suddenly realized that there were no girls.
What a serious situation. Because I had been improving myself to become a kept man, I had somehow gathered only boys around me.
This way, I can't achieve my dream of molding a cute childhood friend to my liking and then getting married to her!
At this point, I don't care. I'll go around and win over all the girls who are isolated from their surroundings. I'll become the modern-day Genji!
...And that's when my luck ran out.
"What's wrong, Tsugumi-kun? Don't look at me with those dead fish eyes."
...She's a little far from my ideal wife. Her chest is small, and... Ouch!?
"Whoa!? I didn't do anything!"
"You were thinking something rude, weren't you? How long have we known each other? I can tell that much as if I'm holding it in my hands."
My Genji Plan ended up catching just one genius little girl.
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Morning. Tsugumi Saito was giving in to the pleasant vibrations of the bus.
The scenery flowing outside the window was his second hometown, which had become quite familiar to him now.
Beautiful cherry blossoms were blooming on the street trees planted at equal intervals on the sidewalk.
Looking at the spring-like scenery outside the window, Saito felt an indescribable sense of nostalgia.
(It's already been 13 years since then... Time flies.)
Saito rested his elbow on the window sill, gazing blankly outside.
The silver-haired girl sitting next to him let out a sigh and spoke.
"What is that gloomy face for? We're about to enter high school."
The girl, Arisu Sakayanagi, made no attempt to hide her exasperation.
Saito, familiar with her expression, replied without moving.
"Nah, I just... thought it might be goodbye to this scenery for three years."
"You're not the type to think that."
"Well, you're right."
With those words, silence filled the bus.
It couldn't be helped since neither of them was the type to actively carry on a conversation.
They had taken an early bus to avoid the crowds, so there were no other passengers besides them.
"Even so, didn't we have to take such an early bus?"
"It would be a big deal if we took the bus at the last minute and couldn't get a seat, wouldn't it?"
Saito answered Sakayanagi's words, looking down and to the left.
At his line of sight was the cane Sakayanagi held in her right hand.
"Oh my, for Tsugumi-kun to show such consideration. I can feel your growth."
Sakayanagi spoke with a feigned air, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Arisu-chan, you're in a good mood, aren't you?"
"Not as much as you used to be."
"...Please don't bring that up."
Saito scratched his head and looked away.
That's right. Although he was quiet now, he hadn't always been that way.
Perhaps remembering his dark past, Saito sighed and looked up as if to erase it.
"Don't fidget. It's cramped."
"Jeez... We could sit in other seats, but you're the one who said you wanted to sit next to me, Arisu-chan, right?"
"Didn't you want to sit next to me? ...That's a shame."
"I didn't say that."
At first glance, Sakayanagi's expression seemed genuinely sad, but her tricks didn't work on Saito.
As soon as he denied it, her gloomy expression changed to a challenging smile.
"Is that so? I'm relieved. I was worried you would just abandon the fish you caught."
"I think I was the one who was caught..."
Sakayanagi spoke impatiently to Saito, who was grumbling.
The teasing expression she had earlier disappeared, and she spoke in a serious tone.
"Come on, if you stay like that, I'll be thrown off too. We're about to start a new life, so get back to your usual self."
"...Fine. Are you that excited to go to Advanced Nurturing High School?"
While Saito's mood was unusually low, Sakayanagi was quite talkative compared to usual.
He had a rough idea of why, and he asked her, looking as if he couldn't understand her at all.
"Yes. After all, it's a place where excellent individuals who will support the future of Japan gather. I'm so excited to see what kind of people they are."
"...Well, in that case, I'll switch gears too. It's no use looking back forever. Arisu-chan, your small chest is bouncing, so... Ouch!?"
"Tsugumi-kun, I really hate that about you."
"I'm sorry."
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This is a story about a kept man and the genius girl he caught, who, after many twists and turns, find happiness together.
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