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Despite the minor interlude, Hua Yi did not waste much time. By the time he reached Chiba Academy, the last rays of the setting sun were still shimmering it wasn't quite evening yet.
If this were to be considered a date, Hua Yi would be the kind of excellent gentleman who arrived at the meeting spot slightly ahead of schedule.
To his surprise, however, he found that Raiden Mei had arrived even earlier than he had. She was sitting on the same bench from yesterday, though her attire had changed slightly; she wore a thicker coat today, as if she intended to have a long, heart-to-heart talk with him.
"Have you been waiting long?"
Hua Yi's voice caused Raiden Mei to turn her head. She had been lost in thought and hadn't noticed his approach as quickly as she had the day before. Upon seeing him, a soft smile spread across her face.
"Not very long. Since it's the weekend, I have a lot of free time. I often come and sit here."
"Sitting here dazing off and letting time slip by? It sounds quite poetic. By the way, did you finish your homework?"
Mei looked slightly startled by his questioning of her academic diligence. "I usually finish all my weekend assignments every Friday."
"That diligent?"
"...It's not really that," Mei said, her expression flickering with a momentary shadow of gloom that she quickly suppressed. She offered him another relaxing smile. "It's just that I don't go out with other classmates during the weekends like everyone else,
so I have plenty of free time. What about you? Besides being a student, aren't you also an intern at ME Corp? Don't you feel tired running around like this?"
It seemed Raiden Mei was aware that Hua Yi was supposed to be at his internship today. Hua Yi paused for a moment before speaking.
"I'm actually planning to find an opportunity to resign from ME Corp soon. Since the internship has only just begun, I'd rather let someone else at the school have the opportunity."
"Huh?! Why?"
Surprise was etched clearly on Mei's face. Although ME Corp's scale had shrunk following its hit to its reputation, it remained one of the best places to work in all of Nagazora. Why would Hua Yi want to quit? Had he been mistreated by others at the company?
If this were the past, she could have used her status as the young mistress of the company to resolve any issues he had at work. But now, she could do little more than be a listener. She was already prepared to hear out his troubles, but his answer was completely unexpected.
"Because it's boring. For the past two days, the company has had me doing nothing but organizing files. It sounds meaningful, right? But when I looked closely, I found the data was all essentially the same.
Either these files are just busywork meant to kill time for interns, or the company simply has no new work and is just coasting on its past accumulations. Either way, it's easy to lose motivation.
Besides, I asked today, and it turns out any promotion would have to wait until after I graduate three years from now. At that rate, even if I worked there for ten years, I'd probably still be sorting files. If that happens, I think I'd die die of boredom."
Hua Yi's words were a mix of truth and jest. Hearing this, Mei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She opened her mouth to comfort him but found herself at a loss for words, eventually asking, "Then... what do you find interesting?"
"Interesting? Chatting with you right now is very interesting."
Was that a confession?
Looking at Hua Yi's perfectly natural demeanor, Mei felt it probably wasn't, yet a faint blush crept onto her fair cheeks regardless.
"Should I... say thank you?"
"Haha, just a joke. There's still plenty of time ahead, and no one knows what will happen. I'm just a high school student right now; there's no need to spend all my weekend time on an internship.
Maybe one day, I'll prove my value through something other than sorting files, and ME Corp will come crying and begging me to join in a high-ranking position. Or maybe one day, that branch building will be hit by some natural disaster and vanish into the dust of history."
Mei felt the likelihood of either scenario coming true was extremely low, but her gentle nature prevented her from contradicting him. Furthermore, she felt a small, selfish hope if Hua Yi quit his internship, would that mean he would have more time to talk to her on the weekends?
As Mei's thoughts wandered, Hua Yi spoke again.
"Speaking of which, what about you? Do you have any hobbies?"
Friendship Points could only be obtained through contact with Valkyries or those destined to become them. To maximize his gains, Hua Yi couldn't just visit Mei on the weekends. Seeing the loneliness that permeated her existence, he doubted she would reject his company. Besides
"Hobbies? Hmm... actually, I studied a sword style called Hokushin Itto-ryu when I was a child, so I'm quite interested in Kendo. I still practice regularly. Fortunately, once you reach a certain level, Kendo doesn't necessarily require someone to practice with you."
The touch of loneliness in Mei's voice made Hua Yi's eyes flash. While simply cultivating a relationship with Mei was pleasant enough, it would be even better if he could improve his own strength as well.
"Actually, I'm quite interested in Kendo too. Of course, I don't mean to learn your Hokushin Itto-ryu without permission, but if you ever need a sparring partner...
well, I don't know much about Kendo, but I'm fairly good at taking a hit. Could I take on that responsibility?"
"It's not that serious," Mei giggled. "Hokushin Itto-ryu was taught to me when I was little by a person dressed as a Homu. To this day, I still don't know who they were. That person never told me to keep the style a secret, so if you want to learn, I can teach you."
"Then I must thank you, Teacher Raiden Mei."
"Heehee, there's no need to be so formal. You can just... call me Mei."
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