Leisurely days always pass quickly, and since the last time she went to Kanagawa with Matsuda to find clues, Nao has devoted herself to the practice of karate every day. The basic skills practice with all the members of the team, and the sparring practice with Natsuki Ujigawa and Shumi Sakamoto, not only to improve her skills, but more importantly, to master her skills, in order to show off her skills in the summer middle school league. Since the first club activity, Mizushima Consultant has not been to the ministry again. Although Natsuki and the rest of the team had long been accustomed to the casual style of their own advisors, Shumi Sakamoto, who was Taiichi Mizushima's younger sister when he practiced in the dojo, could not accept his approach.

"That Uncle Mizushima, it's just too much!" Shumi took a bite of the sandwich in her hand viciously, almost taking it for Mizushima's face, "Obviously, as a consultant, not only does he not guide the team's practice, but he hasn't appeared once after that!

"Shumei, keep quiet when eating, do you want to go to the health room again?" Natsuki on the side swallowed a mouthful of rice, raised his head and looked at the crowd coming and going downstairs, the smile on the corner of his mouth was a little bitter, "No way, who made our department so weak...... It used to be like this, and no matter how much the advisor tried to guide us, we still couldn't get through the guò competition, so it was only natural that we lost hope. ”

"The most important thing in karate is self-practice, and the consultant and the demonstration are just to guide you to the path you need to take, and it has nothing to do with whether he is there or not. Nao, who had finished eating, lay on the railing on the roof of the building, her long ponytail swinging in the wind. She stretched out her hand to hold it in front of her chest, and slowly opened it, "As long as you have basic skills, coupled with your unremitting efforts, it is impossible to stop." The most important thing is your own belief, whether you have the consciousness to hone yourself in order to win everyone, and whether you will not give up even if you are injured, this is the most important thing. ”

"Isn't it also the task of the consultant to guide the team members to have this kind of awareness?" Shumei stuffed the remaining sandwiches into his mouth in two or three bites, and said inarticulately: "Ah-what a fire! No matter how you say it, it's his fault, what the seniors lack now is self-confidence!"

Therefore, breaking the inferiority complex is also a kind of consciousness! You can't blindly blame others for it. Natsuki closed the lunch box, took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, "But the sense of honor and unity of the team is still the most important, so we got together, didn't we?" Although I don't want to admit it, the men's department is such a team. Not only them, but the strong team of any school has a unity that does not lose to anyone. It's like the girls' karate club at Teitan High School, the men's tennis club affiliated with Kanagawa Tatsukai University, and the girls' choir club at Ice Emperor High School. Isn't this the reason why these societies are famous all over the country?"

"The girls' karate club at Teidan High School...... There seems to be a girl in our dojo who is from that school. Shumi crumpled the sandwich package and threw it in her hand, and then suddenly leaned over as if she had thought of something, "Is the men's tennis club of Lihai University the one who has won the Kanto Championship for thirteen consecutive years along with the men's karate club of our school?"

"That's right, it's the one that's called the strongest men's club in Kanto. Natsuki narrowed his eyes as he looked in Kanagawa's direction, "It's nothing to win once, I've won the championship for thirteen years in a row...... This is not just luck, but also a manifestation of strength and unity. The sense of honor of being called a 'strong' is also their belief that they must not lose. If you lose, it will hurt more than any club. ”

"So we're poor and white, and there's nothing to be afraid of?" Nao, who hadn't spoken, turned her head, raised her lips and smiled, "Then this week's goal is to reduce the bruises on Shumei's body from four to one!"

"Ahh

"Ah, being seen?" Nao laughed wickedly, "because you look better with an OK bandage on your face." ”

"Hey, I know. Shumei touched the tape on her cheek, pursed her lips and glanced at Nao, "But then again, that tennis club is very strong, and it looks like there will be a school festival in two days......" She scratched her curly blonde hair and winked at the two, "Na, do you want to go and see? Anyway, we've been practicing hard lately!"

"Ahh ”

Nao's thumb dexterity grew under Matsuda's training, and after only hearing the sound of a drop of drops, a message was sent that was neither long nor short: "Werewolf-san, I have friends from two clubs going to the Kaibara Festival on the weekend, I don't know if it's convenient?"

"Na Nao, do you know someone from Lihai University?boy or girl?what grade?what club?" Shumei leaned over with big blue eyes, and her face was full of "I'm curious".

"The boy, like us, is in the first grade, and he joined the men's tennis club...... Hey!!" Nao blocked Shumi's head with one hand that was about to be attached to her cheek, and said with black lines on her face, "I said, are you so excited that you want to go on a blind date?"

"Men's Tennis Club!!That King Lihai's Great Men's Tennis Club!!" Shumei looked yearning, "Such a famous club, the people in it don't know what they look like! Can you know such a powerful person...... Nao, Natsuki-senpai, aren't you excited?"

"Why get excited? No matter how powerful you are, you're just a middle school student, if you say anything, you might knock them out with one punch. Nao twitched the corners of her mouth and shook her hand, "...... Strange boar. ”

"That's right!" Natsuki coolly unscrewed the cap of the oolong tea bottle and glanced at Shumei, "Don't always be like a hillbilly, we will also become kings after this year's conference, juniors." ”

"It's too much, Nao, you actually say that about me! And Natsuki's seniors too!"

"Wait...... There are incoming calls. Nao stopped Shumei from wanting to pounce again, looked at the mobile phone in his hand that kept vibrating, and picked up the phone: "I'm Saotome." ”

"Yo, it's me, Nioh. A male voice on the other side of the phone, which was a mixture of dialects, rang, "It's really gratifying that you can remember the Kaiwon Festival!"

"Thank you very much. The corners of Nao's mouth twitched slightly, and she gave up understanding the reason why she remembered the Kaihara Festival, "Isn't it convenient? If the three of them go together......"

"There's nothing inconvenient, the Kaibara Festival is open, and you can come with just a few people. It's just that if you come in the morning, I need to help out in the class's mock shop...... In this case, I will ask the classmates to pick you up and tell me about your friend's characteristics. ”

"Then I don't need to say it first, my two friends are both girls, and they are both lower than me. As for the characteristics...... Nao turned his head to look at Natsuki, who was combing his head and drinking tea, and Shumei, who was looking at her with sparkling eyes, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and he lowered his voice and said to the person on the other side of the phone: "One is a golden-maned boar who has always been energetic, jumping up and down with a bandage on his right hand, and the other is a black-haired man who is about as tall as me, and his expression is very big sister at first glance...... Mickey Mouse. ”

"Poof!"

The sound of drinks squirting out came from the other end of the line.

**

Early on a weekend morning, Nao had just woken up when she heard a series of doorbells. Because it was a weekend, everyone except her and her grandmother were still sleeping, so Nao had to haphazardly clean up her hair and run to open the door. And the person standing at the door made Nao, who woke up with low blood pressure, even more bruised, and she couldn't help but point to the big clock in the living room and raise her eyebrows at the comer. Under the other party's overly bright smile, he suppressed the complaint of "You didn't see what time it was, didn't we say ten o'clock?!", and could only start morning training in the yard with Shumi Sakamoto, who found her three hours earlier because she was too excited.

Nao, who vented her anger in the morning sparring practice, pulled the almost out of strength Shumi to eat the breakfast made by Aiko, and both set off to meet Natsuki Ujigawa. The morning sun was warm and comfortable, and three ununiformed girls boarded a train bound for Kanagawa Prefecture in the morning light. Nao sat in the car and looked at the two beside him, and couldn't help but sigh a little dejectedly.

Tight-fitting denim cropped pants, a furred ochre jacket with a collar and cuffs, the original dumpling head was torn apart and draped softly over the shoulders. Unlike the usual neat and neat dress, today's Ujigawa Natsuki has a sweet feeling that is contrary to his usual temperament, and the only thing that hasn't changed is the firm and confident look in his black eyes.

Boots that covered the ankles, a ten-centimeter thin skirt above the knees, a pullover sweater with excessively long sleeves, golden curls held in place by a hair ring, and big blue eyes filled with a layer of mist from the sleepiness of morning exercise. This is Sakamoto Shumi at this time.,Trained by Nao and looks weak.,No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like the usual cheerful her.,It's like a cowardly and gentle girl.。

There's nothing wrong with the two of them dressing up like this, but it's a big problem for Nao. Because the two people in front of them whose temperament has changed drastically don't look like the "golden-maned boar" and "Mickey Mouse" she sued Nioh, right?! The key is not Nioh himself who came to pick them up, but the classmates in the class he asked. There was such a difference between the characteristics and the description that she could barely recognize them, let alone strangers who only knew their characteristics, and now she only prayed that among the people who visited the Kaiwon Festival, there would never be any red-haired people like her.

"What's wrong?" a stomachache on his face. Natsuki ripped off the headphones of the CD and looked at Nao with a tangled face suspiciously, "It can't be that you have a bad stomach, right?" Shumei has not looked good since they met, and now even you have no energy!"

"Natsuki senior...... Why today, that hairstyle ......" Nao paused, but still said it.

"Oh, that's what you said!" "Natsuki Ujikawa touched his long hair and moved the corners of his mouth slightly, "Because my sister is not home today." ”

Does "My sister not be at home?" has anything to do with hairstyles?

"She loves Mickey Mouse. ”

"......" I see.

"She can't see, but she loves Mickey Mouse when she can. Natsuki looked at the scenery outside the window and fell into her own thoughts, "Every time I go out, I have to hug her, and she likes to touch my hair, which has become a habit." Although her eyes have undergone surgery and are slowly recovering...... But I can't get into this habit!"

"Heh, Natsuki-senpai is really a good sister. Nao, who also has a younger sister, listened to Natsuki's words and couldn't help but soften her expression, "This habit is not bad, at least when you are slacking, you can recall something that can motivate you." ”

"Junior, you're also a good sister!" Natsuki smiled at Nao, "Learning karate is for my sister, right? It seems that you have suffered a lot, and you have had a lot of fights when you were in Okinawa, right?"

"It's really a senior. Nao remembered the past and unconsciously stroked his left forearm, "Yes, at the beginning, I had to fight twice a day almost every day, but then I gradually got better. In front of those guys, only hard fists can stand on my feet! Thanks to them, my skills can improve so quickly. ”

Natsuki watched Nao's movements, her eyes resting on her left forearm, which was not straight, and her eyebrows moved but she didn't ask any more. Everyone has their own secrets, and Nao may have a past that she doesn't want anyone to know. But for her, no matter what her members were in the past, as long as she joined their Kakudo women's karate club, she was a karate player who had nothing but motivation and faith.

"Kanagawa Prefecture, Tatsukai University Affiliated Junior High School is about to arrive, please press the electric bell if you need to get off the bus......"

"It's here, let's go. ”

Natsuki stood up, pulled up Shumi, who was almost drooling from her sleep, and walked to the car door with Nao. On the wall outside the car window, there is a bronze plaque with the words "Lihai University Affiliated High School" written on it. On the stainless steel elevated shelf at the entrance of the school, three words with silver luster are particularly eye-catching, standing in front of everyone in front of the early summer sunshine.

-- Kaibara Festival.