Just as Tsushima Kagami braced himself to take the full force of this punch.
In the midst of it, Sayuri's fist grew slower and slower, until at last it landed softly against his chest.
Then she crouched down and started sobbing.
Huh? Even back in the Manga Research Club, when they cracked far cruder dirty jokes than this, she'd never reacted like this.
Tsushima Kagami hadn't expected his joke to backfire on him.
"Honestly, how could you say something like that to Sayuri?"
Once Yukinoshita Shizuku finished saying this to Tsushima Kagami, she crouched down, supported Sayuri, and began softly consoling her.
Hiratsuka Shizuka and Ijichi Seika nodded along too.
"Even if you and Sayuri are on really good terms, Kagami."
"You still can't joke around like that!"
Tsushima Kagami also glanced at Shimizu Nayotake beside him.
She, for her part, didn't say a word.
Tsushima Kagami let out a sigh too, walked over to Sayuri's side, and crouched down.
"Sayuri, I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have said something so over-the-top."
"I apologize to you."
After Tsushima Kagami finished apologizing, he saw that Sayuri still paid him no mind.
She just crouched there, silently choking back sobs and wiping at her tears.
Tsushima Kagami scratched his head.
"I'll cut the post-school-trip homework in half when we get back."
Sayuri's shoulders, trembling faintly from her sobbing, suddenly went still.
Then she resumed her trembling, choked-up weeping.
Tsushima Kagami noticed Sayuri's odd reaction and went on.
"When we get back, you can take a week off with no homework at all."
"Really?"
Crouched on the ground wiping her tears, Sayuri suddenly asked.
"Really."
"Really, really?"
Sayuri confirmed it once more, as though afraid Tsushima Kagami would go back on his word.
"Really, really."
"Hehehehe."
"Then I'm all better now!"
Sayuri instantly broke into a smile through her tears and stood right up.
Yukinoshita Shizuku, Hiratsuka Shizuka, and Ijichi Seika all wore speechless looks on their faces.
So she'd been faking the crying on purpose to haggle with Kagami.
Still, Kagami really did have absolutely no defense against a girl's tears.
Another lesson learned right there.
But as a special-attack move against Kagami, it couldn't just be tossed out casually here the way Sayuri did.
The three of them silently filed it away in their minds.
I only said I'd waive one week.
But I never said I wouldn't pile on a super-double dose the week after next.
That way, the progress would be made up just fine, wouldn't it.
How naive you are, Sayuri.
Tsushima Kagami smiled especially brightly too.
After that, the group wandered around the movie village some more, finding spots here and there to take pictures.
Once it was about time, the buses the school had arranged carried the students, class by class, back to the hotel they were staying at near Kyoto Station.
That night, after dinner and washing up, Tsushima Kagami returned to the room he was sharing with Yamada Kenta.
Gazing at the nighttime view of Kyoto outside the window.
From here he could see the Kamogawa River, not too far off.
Along both banks of the river there were still quite a few tourists and nearby residents strolling and cycling along the waterside.
He could also spot quite a few couples from the school.
Compared to the fast-paced Tokyo and the bustling, noisy Osaka.
Life in Kyoto really was relatively more slow-paced, tranquil, and comfortable.
"Kagami, what are you looking at?"
Tsushima Kagami turned around and saw that Yamada Kenta and two other classmates had come back as well.
"I'm looking at the Kamogawa River."
"We just got back from a stroll along the Kamogawa too."
"We asked earlier if you wanted to come along, and you said you wouldn't."
"It didn't really feel like there'd be anything worth seeing."
"And there's that fishy river smell."
"Better to just stand here and take in the night view."
Tsushima Kagami explained.
The truth was, in his past life, when he'd come to Japan to travel, he'd already been to Kyoto.
Back then he'd made a special trip just to see the Kamogawa, and was truly hugely disappointed.
Actually, the Kamogawa is very long, and there's some decent scenery upstream and downstream.
But the stretch of the Kamogawa that runs through the city felt, for the most part, like a little drainage ditch.
Later, since it was on the way, his itinerary took him on a Sound! Euphonium holy-land pilgrimage to Uji.
After seeing the Ujigawa River, he figured it was, at any rate, a fair bit nicer to look at than the Kamogawa.
Yamada Kenta walked over to the window too and took a look at the night view outside.
"It really is a lot nicer to look at than walking around down below."
"You really do know how to enjoy life."
Tsushima Kagami chuckled as well.
He saw that the other two classmates had already taken out the hotel's bedding and laid out their floor mats on the ground.
So he walked over to the cabinet to one side, took out the bedding that had been prepared, and started laying out his own.
Once everyone had lain down.
Tsushima Kagami lay sprawled on his bedding, holding a manga magazine he'd brought from Tokyo, reading it while chatting with the others on and off.
Suddenly the room went quiet for a few seconds.
Then one of the classmates abruptly spoke up.
Tsushima Kagami recalled that this one was named Sato Kazuya, he thought.
"Yamada."
"Hm?"
"You've been getting pretty close with Hazuki Hotaru from the class next door lately, huh?"
Yamada Kenta's finger stopped on the page of his manga book.
Tsushima Kagami also lifted his head and shot him a glance.
Hazuki Hotaru was probably that Hazuki classmate he'd seen together with Yamada Kenta a few times before.
This was the first time he'd ever learned this girl's full name.
"You know, that girl who's always coming to hang out with you."
"Every break time, you can see her standing at the classroom door, waving at you, Yamada."
"That cute girl with the bob cut, the one with two dimples when she smiles."
Sato Kazuya went on.
"So, are you two going out?"
And another classmate named Tanaka Yuta leaned in too, a gossipy look all over his face.
"Yeah, yeah, you two are always together—are you already going out?"
Yamada Kenta closed his manga, then looked at the two of them.
"Don't go making stuff up."
"We're just friends, that's all."
"If word like that gets out, it'll cause trouble for Hazuki."
The room instantly fell silent again.
Sato Kazuya and Tanaka Yuta exchanged a glance, then looked over at Tsushima Kagami, who seemed quite interested too; the three of them shared a laugh and tactfully dropped the subject.
After a few seconds of silence, Sato Kazuya suddenly turned toward Tsushima Kagami.
"Yukinoshita."
"What is it?"
Tsushima Kagami looked at him.
Sato Kazuya lowered his voice and said with a mysterious look on his face.
"Is that 'Harem Tiger of Private Ousai High School' title of yours true or not?"
Wasn't it the 'Harem Tiger of the Second Year'? How'd it turn into the 'Harem Tiger of Private Ousai High School'?
Tsushima Kagami flatly denied it.
"It's fake."
"It's all tabloid gossip those Newspaper Club people made up about me to grab eyeballs."
"But there really are a lot of girls gathered around you."
"I'm so jealous!"
Tanaka Yuta chimed in at this point too.
Tsushima Kagami nodded.
"That part's true."
"But we're all in pure, wholesome friendships."
Hearing this, Sato Kazuya's eyes lit up, and he looked at Tsushima Kagami with admiration.
"Yukinoshita, could you impart a bit of your wisdom to me?"
"Wisdom about what?"
"You know... the know-how for getting on good terms with girls."
"Just normal friendships are great too, you know!"
Tsushima Kagami was silent for a few seconds.
"This thing called friendship, it comes down to fate."
"You can't force it."
Sato Kazuya wouldn't give up, and leaned in a little closer.
"So you're saying there is a way to force it, then?"
Tsushima Kagami thought it over.
"There is."
All three of them pricked up their ears at once.
Tsushima Kagami looked at them with a faint smile.
"Either you've got money."
"Or you've got good modeling."
"Modeling?"
"It means your face."
Yamada Kenta explained from the side.
"It means being good-looking."
Sato Kazuya nodded and went on to ask.
"And what if you've got neither of those?"
Tsushima Kagami shot him a glance.
"Then at the very least you'd better have an interesting soul."
____
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