Chapter 29: Beautiful women fighting

Translator: Soafp

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Ding dong ding dong. The chime signaling the end of class and the start of lunch break rings.

“Class is over. Don’t forget to review.”

Now, it’s time to announce the decision to hold the school sports festival. It would be great if over 90% of the students at Isshiki High School are in favor.

Ping pong pang pong. The announcement chime echoes through the speakers.

“This is Nanasei, the physical education teacher. I will now announce the results of the sports festival survey. The approval rate for Mina no Iro High School is over 90%… It has surpassed it!”

The male students applaud silently. The girls give high-fives.

“And now, the survey results for Isshiki High School… It has also exceeded 90%!!!! Hyahaaaa!”

“”””Uoooohhhh!!!””””

　The boys finally reveal their joy. The girls are usually happy.

“We must win the sports festival. Let’s hope to beat up Isshiki High School in the sports festival. That’s all for Nanasei.”

As a teacher, I wonder how that sounds. To crush them… It’s genuinely good news that the festival can be held.

Amidst the celebratory atmosphere in the classroom, Gindou Kohaku comes up to me. I’ve been trying not to think about it honestly, but now that it’s confirmed, I’m not sure how to react.

Oh, is she interested in me? That’s what I was thinking before, but now that it’s confirmed, it’s a bit awkward for me too.

“Izayoi-kun. Wo-would you like to have lunch together?”

It’s quite different from when I was with Hihara Karen, but I’m happy that she’s asking me. However, if I let things continue to sour between her and Hihara Karen, it could be dangerous, couldn’t it?

Is there any way to restore things to how they were before? What should I do? Even if we have a meal together, it might ruin the taste of lunch and make everything feel ten times heavier. But maybe it’s better than not doing anything.

Even if things start off poorly, there’s a possibility that they could become friends through conversation… Maybe.

“Yes, let’s eat together… Uhm, can I invite Hihara-senpai too?”

“…Are you unhappy with me?”

“Oh, no, it’s just that I thought it would be nice if the two of you got along…”

“…Get along?”

“Yeah, you know, maybe you’ll unexpectedly hit it off…”

“…I see. I was actually planning to assess the situation once, so shall we invite her?”

“….Y-yeah. If that’s decided, let’s go right away.”

Great!! From here on, let’s gradually deepen their friendship!! As they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If they get to know each other’s good points, maybe they can return to a relationship closer to the original “story”!

In the “story,” Kikawa Moegi tends to go on a rampage, Gindou Kohaku gets involved in various erotic things, and Hihara Karen stops her.

That’s a story from the time when there were three of them. Well, not much changed even when the other two joined…

Oops, I got off track. I don’t need to think about that right now.

As I stand up to go with her to invite Hihara Karen, the classroom door opens. I can sense someone’s arrival.

“Izayoi, let’s go for lunch.”

I don’t need to worry about the jealous glances from the boys right now. I also have to let her know that we’ll be having lunch together with the three of us.

By the way, Kohaku Gindou is looking at Hihara Karen with a cold gaze as usual.

“Um, Hihara-senpai, are you okay with Gindou-san eating with us?”

Will she refuse? Even if she does, I thought I would just try to convince her, but she surprised me with a completely unexpected response.

“Yeah! That’s fine!! We should cherish the connections between people, so let’s eat together with Kohaku-san, right?”

She confirmed with a smile toward Gindou Kohaku.

“…Sure. I don’t mind.”

Ohh. What is this turn of events!! It’s intense!! Oi!!

She announced it with an incredibly bright smile. What does this mean?

I think it’s great that Hihara Karen is taking a kinder attitude towards Gindou Kohaku. Why the sudden change, though? Did they sense something as future Magical Girls?

I don’t know, but I don’t want to let this opportunity slip away.

“Alright, let’s go to the cafeteria!!”

“Yeah, let’s go together, the three of us.”

“…”

We start walking towards the cafeteria. It feels like I’m sandwiched between the two, but this time Hihara Karen is the one with the smile.

Gindou Kohaku also seems somewhat puzzled.

“What are your hobbies, Kohaku?”

“Why? Why do you want to know that?”

“Oh, come on! Tell me! Izayoi wants to know too, right?”

“Well, alright. My hobbies would be reading and cooking, I suppose.”

“Yeah, do you have any particular skills?”

“It overlaps with my hobbies, but I guess it would be cooking. Other than that… I don’t have anything special.”

While walking, the two of them continue talking non-stop. Well, Hihara Karen keeps asking questions the whole time. How good are you at studying? How about sports?

She keeps asking questions the whole time. It feels a bit strange… Isn’t she asking too many questions?

It doesn’t feel like a conversation… Isn’t she asking too much?

And Hihara Karen is gradually becoming more and more unhappy. I don’t know if it’s because the answers to her questions are not interesting… Gindou Kohaku doesn’t have many weaknesses or flaws, so maybe that’s frustrating for her. She said she doesn’t have any particular skills, but she excels at studying and sports. She’s the strongest heroine, talented and beautiful. On the other hand, Hihara Karen has some things she’s desperately bad at.

For example, while Gindou Kohaku is good at cooking, Hihara Karen can’t cook at all.

In the “story,” there was a heartwarming scene where she felt a bit embarrassed about not being able to cook and learned from Kohaku Gindou. I wonder if something like that will happen now? I have a bad feeling about it though.

It would be best if it turned into a situation like “Since I can’t cook, teach me!!” or something.

“Uhm, then next…”

“Now hold on a minute.”

“W-what?”

“You’ve been asking too many questions. What’s your purpose?”

Gindou Kohaku gives her a suspicious look. It’s true that she asked too many questions, but there’s no need to look so scary…

“W-well, I don’t have any particular purpose…”

“I see. In that case, is it alright if I ask you some questions too?”

“S-sure, of course.”

The atmosphere is starting to get suspicious. Is it just my imagination?

“What are your weaknesses, senpai?”

“I-I don’t have any in particular. I can pretty much do anything…”

She’s putting on airs. She’s avoiding eye contact. But she’s supposed to be bad at cooking. Well, actually, she’s bad at all household chores.

“Oh, really? Are you good at housework?”

“Y-yes… I do it every day…”

“Hmm…”

Gindou Kohaku smirks. She continues with her questions.

“If you do it every day, did you make last night’s dinner as well, Senpai?”

“Yes, I made fried chicken…”

“What part did you use?”

“The, the part? Uhm, I think it was chicken thigh…”

“What seasoning did you use?”

“…Mayonnaise.”

“Is that all?”

“…”

“If you can’t answer, does that mean you can’t cook?”

“…”

She laughs mockingly. Isn’t she going too far with this teasing? This might escalate into an argument…

“You can’t cook~. I can pretty much make anything, but senpai can’t~”

She’s provoking too much. She’s really good at provoking. Since this is supposed to be an opportunity for a conversation, I have to find a way to stop this.

“Wait, Gindou-san, that’s a bit…”

“I can do it!!!!”

She shouted loudly as I tried to stop her.

“I can do it because I can!!! Just because I haven’t done it before doesn’t mean I can’t!!!”

“Well, if you haven’t done it before, can you really make something delicious?”

“I can. Cooking something delicious is a piece of cake for me!!”

“In that case, I’d love to try it sometime♪ Your delicious cooking, senpai♪”

“This! B*tch!”

“Your eyes look like a fox♪”

“Enough! I’m going back to the classroom!!!”

She forcefully stuffs the food into her mouth and leaves angrily. So this is the true nature of that bad feeling…

“Fufu. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“That person was originally looking for my weaknesses and things she dislikes.”

“Really? Is that so?”

Could there have been such an intention behind all those questions? It might just be Gindou Kohaku’s interpretation, but it does make sense. They suddenly became friendly, after all.

She seemed slightly unhappy because even after asking so many questions, the replies were mostly about strengths. That could be another way to look at it.

“That’s right. But in the end, she dug her own grave. Can anything interesting come out of this?”

“I’m not sure… I can’t really say anything about it…”

“I see. Well, it doesn’t matter anymore, right? Let’s forget about her and enjoy lunch together, just the two of us.”

“Oh, yeah.”

I wonder if the supermarket on the way home sells stomach medicine? I’m a bit shocked that these two ended up parting ways without becoming closer.

I have to do something about it. I have to make it up during the sports festival. I don’t have a specific plan in mind, but I start thinking.

“Uhm, Izayoi-kun…”

“What’s the matter?”

Suddenly, she speaks to me with a gentle voice, her face showing some shyness. I wish she would talk to Hihara Karen in the same way.

“For the sports festival, we have to bring our own lunch, right?”

“Come to think of it, that’s right.”

“Uhm, if it’s okay with you, I can make yours, so would you like to eat together? Whether it’s one person or two people, the effort to prepare it won’t change much…”

As she says that with a bright red face, I also feel embarrassed. To be honest, a handmade lunch from a beautiful girl is nothing short of a stroke of luck. But what if this further worsens the relationship with Hihara Karen…

“Do you… perhaps, not want to?”

That teary-eyed gaze and looking up at me like that… It’s unfair. There’s no other option but to accept it…

“I don’t mind.”

“Really!? Then I’m going to go make your favorite fried food, Izayoi-kun.”

“Ah, thank you very much.”

She remembered my favorite food. She’s just too adorable… this girl.

I have lunch with her and the lunch break ends, followed by classes and after-school activities.

The sports festival has been decided, and the organizing committee is set to resume its activities. We have a meeting to discuss the details and confirm the events.

Glasses-wearing committee chairman, Kaneko Taichi, is explaining things in detail, and everyone is listening attentively, except for one person.

Hihara Karen, who is reading a book under the desk. I discreetly take a look since we’re sitting next to each other.

“Basics Cooking from the Age of Three.”

So she’s planning to brush up on her cooking skills. Kohaku Gindou.

“Making tamagoyaki is difficult huh…”

She murmurs softly. In the end, she never takes her eyes off the book during the meeting.

“Well then, this concludes the meeting, serving as a confirmation. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin the preparations in earnest. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Today was just the meeting, but it seems like the organizing committee will have a busy time from tomorrow onward. With those words from Kaneko Taichi, the other committee members disperse and leave. We do the same.

As we leave the room after the meeting…

“Hey, Izayoi.”

“What’s the matter?”

She approaches me looking a bit awkward. Could it be…?

“For the sports festival, since we have to bring our own lunch, I thought I could make yours as well. Be grateful, okay?”

I’m happy. Honestly, I’m really happy. But if it turns into a lunch showdown, things will get even more complicated.

I can’t let it escalate any further. But just eating Kohaku Gindou’s lunch alone feels uncomfortable.

“Don’t you want to try my lunch?”

With that kind of expression… I can’t refuse. Damn it, I can’t say no to her!

“Well, I only have the desire to eat it.”

“Yay! I mean… Hmmph. I have no choice, so I’ll go make you some.”

“Please…”

I answered immediately, but with that kind of face, there’s no answer other than affirmation. But what should I do…

I sighed, carrying the emotions of the upcoming sports festival turning into something extraordinary, while suppressing the pain in my stomach.

When I was about to leave with Hihara Karen, Gindou Kohaku was waiting for me, which made my stomach ache even worse, but that’s my secret.