My love index is at its maximum.

After staring blankly for a while, Tsukasa Tazaki chuckled self-deprecatingly. The reflection in the glass looked even more handsome, making people's legs tremble.

"Click~"

A camera shutter sounded in my ear.

Tsukasa Tazaki looked in the direction of the sound and saw a girl who looked to be only a high school student with her head down and her ears bright red. Her hands, which were behind her back, were probably hiding her tools for committing the crime.

It seems that my charm is equally irresistible to girls my age.

However, she was also quite foolish. Although no camera in Japan can turn off the shutter sound when taking pictures, it is still very easy to take a sneaky photo with a mobile phone without being discovered.

When taking a photo, don't press the shutter button, just press the screenshot button.

Tazaki Tsukasa withdrew his gaze and stepped out of the carriage.

Exiting Yotsuya Station, the long ramp leading to the school gate was deserted, perhaps because of the holiday. Walking through the gate, past tall zelkova trees, I could see members of the soccer and baseball teams training on the playground in the distance.

Today is indeed a beautiful day. The sky is clear and transparent, and the tender leaves of the green trees sway in the wind, sparkling in the sunlight.

Every now and then you can hear a "thump," and you can't tell if it's a baseball bat hitting a baseball or a soccer ball hitting the goalpost.

The cherry trees planted along the school path had all lost their petals after a night of rain, and the once pink and white campus had lost its romantic color. Tsukasa Tazaki, walking from the school gate towards the club building, sighed deeply; he hadn't even had a chance to experience cherry blossom viewing in spring, and now they were all gone.

As I walked into the club building, I received a new message on Line.

[Ninomiya: Suki-kun, why don't you reply to my messages?]

The read receipt function is the most vicious function in the world. The person who came up with this idea should be burned at the stake!

After considering it for a moment, Tsukasa Tazaki picked up his phone and replied to her message.

In the Kendo Club activity room on the third floor of the club building, as the notification light on her phone flashed, Shiori Ninomiya's eyes lit up.

[Suki: I was just on the train.]

A warm spring breeze stirred the cotton curtains in the classroom. Shiori Ninomiya walked to the window with her phone in hand. Sunlight filtering through the thin clouds shone on the wooden floor beneath her feet, reflecting a soft sheen.

[Taking the train? Did Suki go on a date with another girl? (crying.jpg)]

[Suki: I'm going back to school.]

Does your club also need to hold training camps?

[Suki-kun: I'd like to pay a visit to the kendo club.]

Wow, that's awesome! Where are you?

[Suki: Just arrived at the club building.]

I'll come downstairs to meet you!

Great!

As soon as she put down her phone, Shiori Ninomiya cheered and rushed out the door. Her white socks made almost no sound as she stepped onto the waxed wooden floor.

"stop!"

An annoying voice came from behind her. She frowned and turned around unhappily.

"Training is about to begin. Where are you going?"

The speaker was a rather robust third-year student named Takeuchi Takumi.

Shiori Ninomiya pouted. As someone who was extremely particular about appearances, she was really impatient with this senior with a flat nose, round face, and particularly small eyes.

However, the other person is a senior student, and a senior member of the kendo club. In the current campus environment, there are many things that cannot be done without the involvement of senior students, so juniors must maintain a respectful and humble attitude towards their seniors.

If you offend him rashly, he might turn around and spread rumors about your disrespect for your seniors. If this causes you to incur the hostility of the upperclassmen, your high school life will be ruined.

“Takeuchi-senpai…” Ninomiya Shiori suppressed her displeasure and said politely, “A friend of mine is coming to visit the kendo club, so I plan to go down and meet him.”

"friend?"

"They are first-year students."

"Humph!"

Takumi Takeuchi snorted coldly, standing with his hands behind his back, maintaining a stern and aloof demeanor. He knew that Shiori Ninomiya's type was a cool and handsome guy. Although the innate attribute of "handsome" was not something he could match, he could at least become half of the person she liked by cultivating his "coolness."

Currently, he plans to remain aloof for six months before boldly confessing his feelings to Shiori Ninomiya.

As the saying goes, it doesn't matter if she's ugly, what if she's blind?

Thinking this, Takeuchi Takumi slowly nodded: "Go, bring him up here and let him see the strength of our kendo club!"

"Thank you, senior."

As soon as Shiori Ninomiya finished speaking, she had already run to the door.

To Takeuchi Takumi's astonishment, the girl hurriedly put on a pair of wooden clogs and ran downstairs with a "clack-clack-clack" sound.

That hurried figure looked just like myself rushing to the cafeteria after class.

Chapter Twelve: Holy crap... So handsome!

"Hello, Suki-kun!"

A gentle breeze brushed past my nose, bringing with it a faint fragrance.

The girl's cheerful voice cleared Tazaki Tsukasa's groggy head a little. He slowly rubbed his forehead and looked up.

Shiori Ninomiya stood in front of the steps, wearing a traditional kendo uniform with a white shirt and black pants, exuding a heroic and dashing aura at first glance.

Tsukasa Tazaki noticed the black corset around her waist, which subtly accentuated her slender waist and well-developed breasts.

"What did you do?" Shiori Ninomiya waved her hand. "Why do you still look like you haven't woken up yet?"

A thin layer of sweat covered her delicate cheeks, and being so close, I could feel the slight warmth emanating from the evaporation of her sweat.

"It's alright, let's go."

"What made you suddenly decide to visit our kendo club?" Shiori Ninomiya asked, glancing at him sideways as they walked. He was rather thin, with messy, tousled hair and artistic features, giving him a slightly颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of decadence, listlessness, or apathy) artistic air—quite impressive.

His cool and aloof demeanor was especially to her liking.

Before he could answer, Shiori Ninomiya suddenly added, "Suki-kun, your profile is so stunning... Quickly touch my chest and see if your breathing has become rapid?"

???

Tazaki Tsukasa was startled and turned to look at her, only to find her with a bright and energetic smile on her lips.

"Haha... No, you can't touch me. If you do, your aloof image in my heart will be ruined." Ninomiya Shiori said cheerfully, her black hair tied in a single ponytail swaying gently behind her with each step.

Tsukasa Tazaki felt that her inner monologues might be a little... no, a lot!

Although he is a handsome guy, he is not a "cool" handsome guy. For example, before meeting Hoshino Hana, he was a very simple-minded pervert.

The reason I have a somewhat expressionless face most of the time is simply because the pressure of living in a big city is too great. I'm so worried about making money that I'm experiencing a hair loss crisis at a young age. How can I be in the mood to face the little brats at school with a smile?

However, given that Ninomiya's smile was too healthy and too infectious, Tsukasa Tazaki didn't say anything else, but simply said, "Isn't there supposed to be a practice match? That's why I came."

"That's completely boring."

"Why do you say that?"

“That big guy, Shin-hiro Kikawa, often organizes these kinds of competitions, claiming they're for teaching, but actually…” Shiori Ninomiya pouted, her tone disdainful: “He just finds some newbie to beat up so he can show off in front of the girls.”

As they talked and walked, they soon arrived at the third floor, the floor where the kendo club was located.

Tsukasa Tazaki leaned against the wall to rest, and faintly, the sound of the brass band practicing music drifted from the classroom on the same floor.

His head was spinning more and more. He gasped for breath a few times before he could barely make out the sounds of a violin, a saxophone, and a trumpet.

"What's wrong?" Shiori Ninomiya asked with concern, looking at Tsukasa Tazaki, whose face was pale and looked unhealthy. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I got caught in the rain last night and have caught a bit of a cold."

"Huh?" Shiori Ninomiya exclaimed in surprise, "Should we go to the infirmary first?"

"It's alright, let's go." Tsukasa Tazaki shook his head and walked towards the corridor leading to the kendo club.

"Alright then, but once you're inside, just watch quietly. If anyone wants to spar with you, don't agree."

"why?"

"Adolescent boys always hope to seize every opportunity to show their masculine strength in front of the girls they like."

Tsukasa Tazaki nodded in agreement.

Shiori Ninomiya sighed as if she had a headache: "Little did she know that in the eyes of girls, bullying the weak is a very ungentlemanly behavior."

Who is the weaker party?

Anyway, I'm not.

Tsukasa Tazaki asked casually, "From what you're saying, all the boys in the kendo club like you?"

Shiori Ninomiya smiled confidently: "I'm not bragging, but out of the dozen or so guys in the kendo club, half like me and the other half like Yui Kikawa."

Tsukasa Tazaki's face stiffened: "She's here too?"

Perhaps it was because of the psychological trauma she left on the original owner that Tazaki Tsukasa felt a little scared whenever she heard her name, and subconsciously wanted to run away.

"She's just a figurehead; she rarely comes to training." Shiori Ninomiya tilted her head slightly, giving him a questioning look: "Why does your complexion suddenly look so bad, and why are you sweating? It's not even hot today."

"My cold has gotten worse," Tsukasa Tazaki replied without changing his expression.

They chatted all the way and soon arrived at the door of the Kendo Club activity room. Before they even opened the door, they could hear the sound of rapid footsteps, the clinking of bamboo swords, and loud shouts coming from inside.

Shiori Ninomiya pushed open the door, and Tsukasa Tazaki followed her inside. After changing into indoor shoes at the door, he glanced around at the room.

This is an activity room twice the size of a regular classroom, with shiny, waxed wooden planks underfoot.

The decorations were simple: a cabinet stood directly opposite the entrance, displaying a single trophy, its base and top covered in cobwebs.

In the center of the room, two practice areas, each about ten square meters, were marked with white lines, where two people were practicing together. Behind them were two small rooms separated by tall screens, which appeared to be changing rooms.

Tazaki Tsukasa glanced around but didn't see Shigawa Shinhiro or Kuriyama Sakura. He checked the time; it was 9:30 a.m., half an hour before the agreed time.

Suddenly, with a loud "thud," one of the two people practicing in the field stumbled and fell to the ground. The other immediately shouted, "Get up and continue!"

“Takeuchi-senpai… is no longer able to go on. Let’s find someone else.”

"I told you to get up and continue!"

"Hey..." The one who fell to the ground managed to stand up.