I am practicing in Tokyo

Chapter 13 Azusa Changgu

On the morning of early May, Fujii passed by a convenience store on his way to school by bike. He remembered that the book he had copied, Chainsaw Man, seemed to have been published in Shogakukan's half-monthly magazine, right?

“Welcome.”

After the automatic door opened, a greeting from a young female clerk rang out. Fujii came to the magazine bookshelf and picked out a Shogakukan bimonthly. The cover was the popular Detective Conan, and some popular serial works were printed on the corners.

In the upper left corner of the figure, which is the most inconspicuous, I found the image of Denji holding Pochita in his painting.

"Thank you for your patronage, 280 yen."

The thickness of the fortnightly magazine was nearly twice as thick as the average weekly magazine, and the charge was naturally more expensive. Fujii paid the bill, put the magazine into his shoulder bag, got on his bicycle and continued on his way.

When I came to the classroom and handed in my homework to class monitor Chika Akiyama, Azusa Hase in the back seat was alone and reading a book. The classmates around her were chatting and laughing, and there was a wall of air between her and her. She was so close and so far away as the horizon.

.

"This is the latest work of the Minotaur Warriors, the Hypnosis Academy Special. I managed to get it with great difficulty."

Several male classmates were trading in the paintings, and their laughter seemed obscene. The female high school students nearby were talking about celebrities on TV. When they saw Fujii Shu appeared, they all turned their attention to them.

Sitting down and flipping through Shogakukan's fortnightly magazine, Fujii found the first chapter of his Chainsaw Man at the end of the page. He didn't know what the original author, who was only one word different from him, would think after seeing this work.

He will not covet his own talents, resulting in strong hatred.

After briefly flipping through the magazine, Fujii closed the fortnightly magazine and turned to look at Azusa Hase in the back seat. In her hand was a novel with a white cover borrowed from the school library, called In Search of Lost Time, written by a Frenchman.

.

"Do you want to be Madame Guermantes in it? Or Madame Odette, the courtesan?"

Fujii's literary skills, which were about to be upgraded to LV4, were developed after he read a lot of novels. He also read this pioneering work of stream-of-consciousness novels.

"Or maybe it's the rebellious Miss Alberti?"

Seeing Azusa Hase's delay in answering his question, Fujii just grabbed the novel on her desk and put down the Shogakukan half-monthly magazine he had just bought.

"Fujii...Fujii-san, please return it to me."

Hase Azusa raised her head to plead in a low voice, her eyes looking towards Asami Mao, looking worried and frightened like a frightened rabbit.

But it was already too late. Asami Mao would always look at Fujii Shu by the window intentionally or unintentionally. Such obvious communication had already been seen by her.

"Life is just a series of isolated moments. Relying on memories and fantasies, many meanings emerge, then disappear, and then reappear after disappearing."

Fujii read out the passage above "In Search of Lost Time", his voice was ups and downs, full of emotion, Hase Azusa listened a little blankly, the boy by the window read her favorite novel, Time, under the slightly undulating transparent screen.

It seemed as if it was also frozen at this moment.

"I will eventually forget the paths, mountains and fields in my dreams, and the dreams that will never come true."

Turning to the next few pages, Fujii found the sentence he liked and narrated it softly. A gust of wind came from the window, and a few scattered cherry blossom petals fluttered down and stayed on the desk in front of him and in the boy's palm.

"This is the last bit of cherry blossoms."

Fujii turned his head and looked at the cherry blossom trees outside the window. The pink color of early April was no longer on them. He sighed, and another spring disappeared before his eyes.

"Crack!"

There was a sound of an object falling in the classroom. Everyone looked at Asami Mao. Her water glass hit the ground and the lid fell off. Transparent pure water was gurgling out. The client said with a slight smile.

Sorry, pick up the dropped water glass.

During the lunch break, Azusa Hase ran out of the classroom as soon as the get out of class was over, as if staying with someone for too long would lead to misfortune.

With the lesson learned last time, she chose to eat the bento she brought from home in the girls' bathroom at school, and did not even dare to use the microwave in the classroom, for fear that she would be caught and bullied by Asami Mao again if it was too late.

"Where is that giant woman hiding? Find it!"

The leader, who made an unmistakable voice, was Asami Mao.

There were footsteps outside the women's restroom, and the doors were opened one after another. Only the door that Azusa Hase had locked was closed. It was easy to guess her location.

"Get out! Hurry up."

Roughly kicking the door of the cubicle where Hase Azusa was hiding, Asami Mao had never been so angry. Growing up, she had always been able to get whatever she wanted. Now she was beaten by a guy she looked down on, and Fujii, who refused to date her.

Isn't it a slap in the face for Shu to show such intimacy?

"Asami-san, I'm sorry."

Hase Azusa, who has always been submissive, opened the door obediently and saw Asami Mao with a cold face, as well as her two followers. These girls were only as tall as her chin, but they were arrogant and menacing.

"Have you forgotten everything I told you? I'm looking for a fight!"

Asami Mao raised her arm, about to slap her, but was caught by a strong hand. She turned around in surprise, and it turned out to be Fujii Shu, a boy. She also followed into the women's restroom, and a few people stood outside the door to watch the excitement.

The female classmate pointed at her actions.

"That's enough, Asami-san. Stop bullying Hase Azusa, she didn't mess with you."

Fujii didn't care about other people's eyes, and suppressed Asami Mao's hand without using much strength in his arm.

"It turns out that you guys have been together for a long time. Have you been to home plate? Have you rented a room?" Asami Mao actually doesn't like Fujii tree that much. She wants the best things. Fujii tree's appearance is the best in school.

She is the best boy among them, so of course she will pursue him, but now that he is meddling in her affairs, she won't give him any sympathy.

"Um, no..." Hase Azusa opened her mouth to defend, but was interrupted by Fujii Shu.

"Yes, Zi is my girlfriend. Bullying her means offending me. Although I don't want to hit a woman, I can't help it."

What kind of soap opera plot is this? Why did it happen to me? How could a perfect woman like me be inferior to a timid giant woman? How ridiculous!

Asami Mao shook off Fujii's hand, with a gloomy face, stopped entangled, and left quickly.

"I'm sorry everyone, I can't watch my girlfriend being bullied. I'm very sorry!"

After bowing to the female classmates who were watching the excitement at the door, Fujii took Azusa Hase's hand and pulled her away from here.

When the two of them went up to the rooftop, Fujii let go of his hand and started to explain.

"Sorry, it was too sudden just now, but Asami Mao probably won't trouble you again in the future."

Fujii apologized and explained to Azusa Hase, who still looked blank.

Only then did he notice that Azusa Hase, who was not much shorter than himself, had a charming face, with small beauty marks on the corners of her eyes. Under her towering nose, her small and attractive cherry lips were pursed at an extremely attractive angle.

One can't help but want to lower his head and taste the fragrance.

(End of chapter)