Chapter 146 - Fateful Competition — Part 8 (2/2)

“Sana-chan gave her all in defeating Haru-chan. She won due to her enthusiasm. I did think that she messed up during the karaoke though.”

Natsumi-chan laughed a bit as she waved her hand and left.

Following the rest of the audience who were leaving the gym, the rest of us also left the venue.

After waiting for her, Sana came over while holding a trophy.

“Good work.”

“…Yeah. I’m tired.”

I was instantly given the trophy. The two of us followed the road home together.

“I won against Hiiragi-sensei”

“Yeah. I saw. You did your best. Congratulations on winning.”

“Thank you.”

I thought I’d get her something to celebrate, but I couldn’t think of anything.

“Why don’t we go buy something next time? To celebrate your victory.”

“Is that okay? Really!?”

“It’s fine. Your brother isn’t a NEET, and properly makes money at a part time job.”

“T-then, let’s go buy… some games sometime.”

This person really is a hardcore gamer in the end. Of course, the first she would want isn’t an accessory or anything like that.

“What is it? Why are you staring so much at Sana?”

“No, I was just thinking that this would become good for your future.”

“… What… did you think? Of the illustration that is.”

She asked fearfully, and so I answered.

“It’s a nice hobby. It’s really good.”

Sana’s tense expression softened.

“I was once secretly drawing in class, but it was found out by someone, and they called it disgusting and dark. So, I ended up not drawing at school.”

I patted her delicate shoulders.

“Be proud of it. That’s how you’ll be able to eat after all.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Uhhh… It’s nothing, just that it would be great if you could become a pro just like that. Or something along those lines…?”

I tried to muddy the waters.

“Then, Sana will continue to play more games, read more manga, and watch more anime.”

“It’s fine like that.”

Yeah, Sana smiled.

“A new game, Sana should have you buy. Guess there really was something good to come out of participating in the contest.”

With Sana in a great mood, she began to talk about what to buy from the recently released games.

That night, Hiiragi-chan called.

“Seiji-kuuuun… I lost to Sana-chaaan…”

She was crying over the phone.

“That’s too bad. However, I really got to see a lot of unexpected sides from Haruka-san, so I thought it was good.”

“Really? … If that’s the case then it’s all good.”

She was originally super sad, but after praising her a bit in different places, she regained her mood.

Hmmm. As expected, the impression that I get from the “Hiiragi-sensei” that stands in the public view really is different from Hiiragi-chan.

TN:

A traditional Japanese string instrument, which looks like a long table with strings strung over it.