(50 Power Stone Bonus)
Chapter 167: Sweetness (Long Chapter)
Just as he stepped into the school building, preparing to change his shoes, a familiar girl came into view. She stood before the entrance wearing a school uniform starkly different from those of Sobu High School. With shoulder-length hair and a slightly melancholic aura, she was currently drawing more than a few wandering eyes.
This was especially true for the boys, though none of them were brave enough to approach and strike up a conversation. She stood there, occasionally glancing around as if looking for someone.
"Mitsuha! What are you doing here?"
Kaiko ran over cheerfully, taking the girl's hand in a fit of surprise.
"Kaiko, Yuika... I finally found you. I came to report to Sobu High, and since I was finished with the paperwork, I figured I'd wait for you both here."
The girl was, of course, Miyamizu Mitsuha. Officially a transfer student to Sobu High School, she stood bathed in the morning sun. She had cut the long hair she used to favor; while she had lost a bit of her old playfulness, she had gained a three-fold air of intellectual grace.
Yuika walked over happily as well. "Mitsuha, I didn't think you'd be here this early. Why didn't you send me a message? How long have you been waiting?"
"I just got here a little while ago. And I did send a message!" Mitsuha's expression turned a bit strange. "But Yuika, you didn't reply, so I thought I'd just come here and wait. I ended up catching you guys sooner than I expected. This school is just so massive..."
"You sent a message? But I..."
Yuika blinked, pulling out her phone. She realized she hadn't checked her LINE notifications at all today. Opening the app, sure enough, Mitsuha's messages were sitting right at the top.
She immediately offered a sheepish apology. "I'm so sorry, Mitsuha. Since today is the opening ceremony, I was in a rush this morning and didn't check my phone. I completely missed your texts."
That was one reason, but the truth was she usually only checked her phone briefly at night. Most of her time outside of work was dedicated to her studies.
"It's fine." Mitsuha smiled and shook her head, not minding at all. "We met in person, didn't we? That's much better than the internet anyway."
"That's true! Anyway, Mitsuha," Kaiko interjected excitedly, "what class are you in? Are you in the same one as Yuika and me? We're in Class C."
"I saw your names on the roster for Class B."
Yuika's eyes widened with curiosity. "Does that mean..."
Mitsuha's smile bloomed like a flower. "That's right. I'm in the same class as you. We can study together from now on."
Akishin and Shizuka approached, offering smiles of their own. "Mitsuha-san, it's been a while."
"Chishima-sensei, Hiratsuka-sensei, it has been a long time. Also... thank you so much for your help." Seeing the two of them, Mitsuha stood straight and bowed deeply, looking a bit stiff.
"It was a small thing." Akishin shook his head, while Shizuka looked down and spoke sincerely. "Mitsuha, welcome to Sobu High School. From today on, I am your teacher."
Since Mitsuha was in the same grade as Kaiko and Yuika, Shizuka would be one of her teachers. While she wasn't the guidance counselor for that specific track, she still taught Japanese in that class.
"Yes! Hiratsuka-sensei, I look forward to being in your care."
"Likewise."
Under the watchful eyes of the other students, the five of them entered the building. They first headed to Class 1-C, where Kaiko helped find an empty seat for Mitsuha. Afterward, they gave Mitsuha a quick tour of the campus, as the opening ceremony was due to start soon.
Akishin and Shizuka returned to the office.
Sinking into his familiar seat, breathing in the scent of ink and paper that defined the faculty room, Shizuka suddenly slumped face-down onto her desk. "Back to work already... but honestly, sleeping right here feels pretty good too," she mumbled lazily.
More than ten minutes later, Hachiman showed up to see his teacher. He grumbled about how, as soon as he set foot on campus, he was swarmed by an enthusiastic crowd—mostly girls.
Following him, Mizukawa Masaru and several others stopped by, followed by the principal, members of the board, various teachers, and department heads.
Throughout the entire morning, the stream of people in front of Akishin never ended. Shizuka, who had been hoping for a quick nap, found it impossible and kept shooting him resentful glares.
Akishin remained expressionless. He couldn't exactly chase them away. He didn't go out of his way to flatter others, but that didn't stop people from wanting to show him goodwill. They weren't bringing bribes, just offering a few polite words. How could he turn that down?
This situation persisted right up until the opening ceremony.
Sitting in the front-left section of the auditorium reserved for teachers, Akishin watched as the Student Council President, Shiomegruri Meguri, spoke fluently from the stage. She detailed the achievements Sobu High had reached last semester, specifically highlighting Hachiman and the Kendo Club's victory at the Gyokuryu-ki tournament, which had brought great honor to the school.
Afterward, the principal took the stage. From his passionate tone, it was clear he was incredibly fired up.
He brandished the Gyokuryu-ki victory banner before the entire student body, insisting it be hung on the innermost wall of the hall of fame. He then called Hachiman, Mizukawa Masaru, and the rest of the boys' team, along with the five members of the girls' team—ten people in total—to the stage to receive their awards.
They had won a prestigious reputation for the school that was hard to come by. If Sobu High didn't show proper appreciation, even Akishin wouldn't have been able to stay quiet. In that regard, the school had done well, preparing rewards well in advance.
First was the girls' team. Each member received a certificate of merit, followed by an imported fountain pen, and finally an envelope. Inside each envelope was one hundred thousand yen.
The girls' team was seen as somewhat benefiting from the boys' momentum, but the fact that they had fought their way to the third round already proved their strength. No one in school would dare mock them—mostly because no one could beat them. As long as they were members of the Kendo Club, regardless of gender, they occupied the top of the student hierarchy, especially since the club was expected to explode in popularity after this.
The five of them stood together for a commemorative photo.
Next was the boys' team. They received the same certificates, pens, and envelopes; the only difference was that the boys' envelopes were significantly thicker, containing three hundred thousand yen each.
Sobu High wasn't short on cash, but there were limits to how much could be given to students. Three hundred thousand yen was already considered a very generous sum; any more, and it would be difficult to balance future awards.
The boys' team proudly displayed their gold medals. Hachiman stood in the center as the five of them held the victory banner for the cameras.
These were the visible rewards, but there were also perks like full tuition waivers and free uniforms. The real prize, however, was that the school had secured three high-level university recommendations. As long as their academic scores met the requirements, three of them could secure their college placements immediately.
This kind of slot was vital. Even Mizukawa Masaru couldn't help but feel tempted, quietly deciding to buckle down on his studies in the coming term to secure one for himself.
Clap, clap, clap, clap...
Thunderous applause echoed through the hall. Hachiman, the boy who had once been a transparent presence in class—a loner who was practically shunned—now stood at the very front of the entire student body.
The happiest person in the room was undoubtedly Yui.
Yukino also clapped for him with genuine sincerity.
Shizuka joined in with gusto, truly happy for Hachiman. Akishin watched Hachiman with a smile as the boy stood before the microphone to give his thanks. He noted that Hachiman's primary focus of gratitude was his teacher.
In the past, Akishin simply felt he had recruited an interesting student. But this student kept providing surprises, eventually earning Akishin's genuine respect.
The opening ceremony was a massive success, even drawing interest from reporters. This semester, in addition to Mitsuha, dozens of other high-achieving students had transferred into Sobu High.
It wasn't hard to predict that next year's recruitment cycle would be intense!
...It really is a heartwarming, wonderful story, isn't it?
Don't be ridiculous! How could that be?
Hachiman finished reading the proposal and handed the stack of papers back to Akishin.
The pile was quite thick, emitting a unique, indescribable aura. If a Book of the Dead actually existed, it would probably look something like this.
The cover of the proposal read: [Musical Drama: "The Little Prince"]. Based on the title alone, one might expect a hot-blooded tennis tournament, considering there was an anime called "The Prince of Tennis."
Time had moved into autumn.
Speaking of autumn, you couldn't escape the School Anniversary. And the School Anniversary meant classmates coming together with one heart to plan activities.
For someone playing the role of the aloof loner, a slightly tedious season was approaching—well, Hachiman was his usual self. Despite winning the Kendo championship and seeing his grades improve significantly... he still frequently wore those signature dead fish eyes. When he wasn't sleeping face-down on his desk, he was only ever serious during a fight.
Or perhaps when he was in the Service Club.
Hachiman had changed a lot, but in the eyes of those who knew him, he hadn't changed at all.
People's perspectives always shifted based on status and position. The old Hachiman with dead fish eyes was called disgusting; the current Hachiman with dead fish eyes was said to have "personality" and "aura."
There were even a fair number of students trying to imitate him.
Naturally, they all failed. Dead fish eyes are a high-level state of being; without years of cynical life reflection, they simply don't form! (Laughs)
In short, starting today, Class 2-F—Hachiman's class—had to begin preparations for the School Anniversary.
After much turmoil, the class finally decided to put on a play. This was the conclusion reached after a voting duel.
Hachiman didn't participate. He just saw the majority of the class raise their hands, so he followed suit.
He went with the flow; his interest was minimal.
Once the decision for a play was made, a series of discussions and polls followed, eventually leading to the current script candidate: "The Little Prince."
It was the famous novel by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Even those who hadn't read it were likely familiar with the work.
The plot follows a pilot whose plane crashes, forcing him to land in the Sahara Desert, where he meets "The Little Prince" in the sands. The two discuss many topics, gradually coming to understand what is truly important in life.
A world-renowned work like this was perfectly suited for a high school drama.
However...
The only problem was that the person who wrote the script for this version was none other than Ebina Hina!!!
"So, everyone knows what Ebina is like, so why did they still recommend her? Do they have bad taste?"
In the script Ebina had written, the beginning was a character setup full of despair. The outline... then, when forced to keep reading, words like [The planets I've visited total one hundred and eight] and [A certain pilot and a perverted prince] appeared, easily inviting deep, dark thoughts.
The reasoning from the supporters was that this was a musical drama, not a BL novel. If it were officially staged, it might turn out very differently from the outline on paper—seeing a group of masculine high school boys wearing strange costumes and talking about love would likely just end up as a sort of short comedy.
When it came to the most important standard for a School Anniversary performance, the answers were [Interesting] and [Different from the Rest].
Hachiman immediately threw up both hands in a gesture of surrender.
He could have ignored it, but why did the class assign him the role of the "Pilot"? And while Totsuka Saika as the Little Prince was an excellent choice... why include me? Surely Hayama or Tobe or someone else would be more pleasant to look at?
That woman... what exactly is going on inside her head?
As Hachiman stared at Ebina with a look of pure dread, she appeared to blush shyly and winked at him.
Hikigaya Hachiman: I'm starting to feel a little embarrassed!
No, no, no... it's not "a little." It's "completely and utterly" embarrassing!
Akishin finished reading the proposal, looking at Hachiman with a wide grin. "Interesting, interesting. Hikigaya, I'm really looking forward to seeing you perform. I'll be there in the front row."
As he spoke, he gave Hachiman a thumbs-up.
It had been a while since he'd seen this kid look so defeated. Lately, the boy's strength had been growing rapidly; during practice, if Akishin didn't use some of his actual abilities, he couldn't fully suppress him anymore.
It was currently midday at the Service Club. When Akishin had nothing to do, he liked to come here to meditate, while Hachiman came seeking a moment of peace.
As the saying goes: "Sometimes I just want to run away from everything."
But right now, the proposal had only just been set. The actual School Anniversary was still a month away, giving everyone plenty of time to practice.
A week had passed since the school reopened, and Hachiman had truly realized the use of [Sword Meditation], managing to achieve genuine meditative states.
Because Hachiman had reached a moment of enlightenment on the day of the fireworks festival, he had spent every day using breathing techniques to chase that sensation, finally succeeding three days ago.
Akishin didn't understand the specific mechanics himself; he could only use it and provide guidance based on general methods. Hachiman's success was entirely down to his own talent.
—He really is quite impressive!
The autumn wind played with the window curtains.
Blowing in through a slightly open pane, the curtains fluttered, revealing cirrocumulus clouds stained red by the setting sun.
After this scene repeated two or three times, Akishin stopped his hand from turning the page. The constant movement at the edge of his vision made it impossible to concentrate.
By comparison, the teacher in the white lab coat sitting beside him, leaning on his shoulder, had been focused for the last half hour.
Shizuka's eyes were fixed on the book "Rickshaw Boy" in her hands. She calmly scanned line after line, clearly captivated by the prose.
This was a new book Akishin had recommended to her; the previous ones were nearly falling apart from how often she'd flipped through them.
"Akishin, I feel like many of us are a lot like this Xiangzi," Shizuka noted. Realizing Akishin had lost his focus, she shifted her head to a more comfortable position. The other teachers nearby were used to this by now and ignored them. She spoke with a hint of bitterness. "I've seen many people like Xiangzi. They might not be as tragic as he was, but that's only because society has improved since then..."
Akishin didn't answer, instead gently stroking her hair. He could see the sorrow in her eyes; she was a truly kind-hearted person.
Shizuka looked up at him. "Akishin, what is the meaning of life?"
Akishin thought for a moment, then answered with a wry smile. "Shizuka, you're starting to explore philosophical questions now! There is no inherent meaning. But if I had to give an answer... this is the meaning of life."
Akishin took Shizuka's left hand and pressed it against the left side of his chest. Shizuka could clearly feel his slow but powerful heartbeat.
Shizuka was stunned for a moment. She closed her book, set it aside, and smiled. She looked beautiful; the sunlight filtering through the curtains illuminated her face, giving her an air of sanctity, like an angel fallen to the mortal realm.
She picked up her phone to play a little game she'd downloaded yesterday, then popped a piece of green bean cake into her mouth. As the thick sweetness spread, her large eyes curved into crescent moons.
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