Chapter 2: Not Losing, Truly Winning
Takemoto Uruka is a girl with an active imagination. Her greatest joy is being near her childhood friend, Hanyu Qingkong. His occasional unintended gestures would launch Takemoto into delightful, romantic daydreams.
Despite nearly oversleeping that morning, getting to ride with Qingkong made Takemoto feel incredibly fortunate, even erasing the annoyance of failing to wake up early due to her broken alarm clock. Regarding the rule against carrying passengers on bicycles—it's not an issue if you avoid getting caught (presumably).
"Oh, Wu Yuan, it's been a while. Heading to swim club practice?"
Goodness, remembering herself perched on the back seat, gripping Hanyu Qingkong's clothing, Takemoto Uruka felt her pulse quicken. "If Qingkong and I were dating, couldn't we commute to school together daily? But if Qingkong wanted to kiss me... Wait, no, I mean don't, ah no, don't refuse."
"Um, Wu Yuan, if you're heading to swim club, it appears you've passed it. You should have descended those stairs earlier."
Takemoto Uruka shook her head and exhaled. Due to something she'd said in middle school, combined with her natural bashfulness, advancing her relationship with Hanyu Qingkong proved challenging. She patted her cheeks, forcing herself alert. "I'll just aim for becoming best friends initially." In what she assumed was a deserted corridor, the girl quietly voiced her youthful aspiration.
Then, Takemoto Uruka discovered her middle school classmate standing beside her, head tilted and gazing at her with a puzzled expression, having just uttered something unintelligible.
"Ah! Xiao Hui, what brings you here? You startled me." Remembering what she'd just declared, Takemoto Uruka's face, already bronzed from sun exposure, flushed crimson. "Your presence is too subtle."
The short-haired girl, Kato Megumi, blinked and gently said, "I noticed you, so I approached to greet you." She deemed it wiser not to mention she'd been trailing her for some time, otherwise Wu Yuan would certainly feel guilty about overlooking her.
And it was preferable not to acknowledge hearing that rather meaningful statement just now. Kato Megumi thought privately.
"Xiao Hui, you're holding a stack of books. Delivering them to Teacher Kirisu?" Takemoto, feeling relieved, observed the items in her friend's grasp and enthusiastically offered assistance. "Hehe, let me carry some for you."
Kato Megumi understood her friend's nature and didn't refuse, dividing the books equally with Takemoto Uruka.
"Xiao Hui, you witnessed Qingkong's stage speech today, correct? Rengar leaping up there genuinely shocked me. Later, I realized Rengar was concealed in the backpack I'd been holding. Fortunately, Qingkong didn't fault me. But he appeared so adorable with a cat perched on his head! If it weren't the opening ceremony, I absolutely would have retrieved my phone for a photograph. Ugh, the more I consider it, the more dissatisfied I become." As though compensating for overlooking her friend with the faint presence, Takemoto chattered continuously along the route, but the subject unconsciously drifted to their mutual classmate.
"How does Hanyu Qingkong consistently notice Xiao Hui?" Since someone was referenced, Takemoto naturally considered how Qingkong and Xiao Hui typically interacted. "Perhaps it's his skill at interpreting the atmosphere and paying excessive attention to his environment."
Kato Megumi listened to Takemoto Uruka recounting her summer vacation adventures, not interrupting, but nodding continuously. When Hanyu Qingkong was mentioned, Miss Kato's eyes appeared to brighten slightly more.
Incidentally, Miss Kato, who ordinarily goes unnoticed, extracted her phone during the opening ceremony and captured a picture of Hanyu Qingkong with Rengar on his head. Although this action made the perpetually well-behaved Kato Megumi somewhat anxious.
Nevertheless, whenever Kato Megumi viewed that photograph on her phone, she felt this risk was thoroughly worthwhile.
"Well, I'm departing now, Xiao Hui, see you tomorrow." Takemoto Uruka bid farewell to Kato Megumi at the entrance and then rushed back.
Silently appreciating Takemoto, Kato Megumi entered the office and quietly deposited the stack of books. Nobody noticed her, and she didn't disturb anyone, so she could simply depart directly.
Before leaving, she spotted a long-haired girl beside the math teacher. Kato Megumi couldn't resist glancing several more times, not because this girl was the "exceptionally rare flat-chested character" that Hanyu Qingkong frequently mentioned, but because Kato Megumi perpetually sensed a peculiar familiarity with this girl.
"Her name appears to be Furuhashi Fumino? That girl who excels remarkably at liberal arts." Quietly shutting the door, Kato Megumi recalled information regarding this girl.
Meanwhile, on a tree-lined pathway near Toyosaki Academy's entrance, the principal member of the Going-Home Club, Hanyu Qingkong, stood beneath a shaded tree, gazing at a cat in the tree. Rengar in his arms was leisurely grooming his paws.
"Tsk, appears it climbed excessively high and can't descend. So bothersome." Though Hanyu Qingkong said it was bothersome, he didn't waver and prepared to commence the foolish cat rescue operation.
Positioning his cat from his arms on a nearby bench, Hanyu Qingkong began ascending the tree. As the principal player of the middle school Basketball Club, Qingkong was nimble, and swiftly, he'd climbed halfway.
"Hanyu, could you explain what you're doing?" A frigid voice originated from below Hanyu Qingkong, sounding like he'd just heard it.
"Ah, Teacher Kirisu, please hold on briefly, I must rescue this cat first." In his current position, it was challenging to greet Teacher Kirisu respectfully as customary, so he had to momentarily set aside his homeroom teacher.
Just slightly more, just slightly more and he could reach it. Hanyu Qingkong stretched earnestly toward the trembling foolish cat. Just as he was about to grasp it, the foolish cat tumbled due to the branch's shaking.
Fortunately, Kirisu Mafuyu, who was observing nearby, with an agility unsuitable for her teacher position, caught the cat. Excellent type OB player Hanyu Qingkong hadn't even shouted "Teacher Kirisu nice" when he witnessed Teacher Kirisu twist her ankle, set down the cat, and was excessively pained to stand.
"Teacher Kirisu, if you're wearing high heels, please refrain from such challenging maneuvers, alright?" Hanyu Qingkong, having purchased bandages, simply attended to Teacher Kirisu's ankle, who was seated on a bench. As a student treating a beautiful teacher's ankle, he was so mortified that he could only attempt finding topics to distract himself.
"It was my error in judgment." Kirisu Mafuyu appeared somewhat nervous about her ankle being held in her student's grasp, and she continuously stroked the Rengar beside her. "Thank you for your assistance, Hanyu. I can return by myself, you should head home early as well."
Though Hanyu Qingkong questioned whether Teacher Kirisu was genuinely fine, as a student, he tentatively believed her.
However, observing Teacher Kirisu nearly stumble after merely a few steps, Hanyu Qingkong sighed, silently muttered "so bothersome" internally, and then advanced forward to support Teacher Kirisu. "Pardon me, but Teacher Kirisu's direction appears similar to my home, so allow me to escort Teacher Kirisu."
As he draped Teacher Kirisu's arm across his shoulder, Hanyu Qingkong felt his heart racing, and the fragrance from the beautiful woman beside him made him feel entirely uncomfortable. "I should have cycled home; that way I could have offered Teacher Kirisu a ride on the back seat."
Kirisu Mafuyu also recognized that she was genuinely having difficulty moving, so she reluctantly accepted her student's generosity. Though the expression on her face remained unchanged, if one observed closely, her ears, concealed by her hair, were completely crimson.
Along the considerably lengthy path, Kirisu Mafuyu kept inquiring whether Hanyu Qingkong was traveling the same direction, to avoid troubling her student excessively, and Hanyu Qingkong consistently replied that he was genuinely taking that route home.
"So, we actually reside next door to each other?" Hanyu Qingkong discovered this fact after escorting Teacher Kirisu home. "So, Teacher Kirisu, you're the neighbor who feeds Rengar things daily."
No wonder this foolish cat is growing increasingly plump, it's entirely thanks to you, Teacher Kirisu, Hanyu Qingkong thought privately, no wonder this rotund cat can't shed weight.
"So you're the one who assists me with disposing the trash?" Teacher Kirisu also appeared surprised. Oh no, how mortifying, she still needed her student to help with the trash left at the entrance.
Hanyu Qingkong's face darkened, and he had numerous complaints he wished to voice, but he restrained them.
"Well, please look after me from now on, Teacher Kirisu." Hanyu Qingkong wanted to quickly bow to Teacher Kirisu and formally introduce himself. However, he forgot that he was supporting Kirisu Mafuyu, and a significant movement triggered a chain reaction.
Unfortunately, Miss Kirisu was already in a state of "Oh no, how mortifying," and didn't react, directly falling forward with her entire body.
Then she collided head-first with Hanyu Qingkong's nose, causing it to bleed.
"Should I visit a shrine and pray?" Hanyu Qingkong, observing Teacher Kirisu frantically extracting tissues from her bag, felt particularly disheartened at this moment.