blogombal Page 229
Page 229
"Ah."
"I want to see Kitahara-sensei's house." Kuno Tatsuka would rather play at his house than play outside.
Kitahara Hakuba said with a smile:
"What's so great about where I live? It's small and the air circulation is terrible."
He has recently been considering whether to move to a different place, but after thinking about it, moving is too tiring, so he will make do for now and decide after the national conference.
He was originally planning to take Kanzaki Eri out to play at noon today, but he felt guilty about what happened with Kara0K and wanted to make it up to her separately.
I didn't expect that Tachibana Kuno would come along, which was quite unexpected.
"Maybe next time. My house is still quite messy right now, so it's not really suitable for you to see."
Kitahara Hakuba politely declined Kuno Tachibana's suggestion, but she seemed somewhat displeased and asked:
Why isn't Kanzaki-senpai with Nagase-senpai and the others?
Eri Kanzaki merely glanced at her, seemingly unwilling to offer further explanation, and said nothing.
Undeterred by the closed door, Kuno Tachibana went to Kanzaki Eri's side, looked into her small and delicate ear, and said:
"Are you arguing? Or having a fight? Or are you just giving each other the silent treatment? By the way, are you unhappy with your studies? You're in your final year of high school and the mock exams are coming up soon, right? What do you need Mr. Kitahara for? To teach music theory? Is your goal also to go to a university that specializes in vocal music?"
However, Eri Kanzaki's gaze remained fixed ahead, deliberately ignoring Tatsuka Kuno's rambling.
Seeing that Kuno Tachibana was relentlessly pursuing the matter, her purpose was obvious: to question why she had time to appear by Kitahara-sensei's side.
"Okay, here we are."
Kitahara Hakuba couldn't hold back any longer. He raised his hands, cupped Kuno Tachibana's head, and gently turned it to the side, directing her gaze toward a game center.
The three entered the game center, and Kitahara Hakuba exchanged 3,000 game coins.
“I’ve been here before. The claw machines’ grippers are as soft as noodles my mom makes. It’s best not to play,” Kuno Tachibana said.
Kitahara Hakuba looked at the silent girl beside him and asked:
"Kanzaki-san, what do you want to play?"
Eri Kanzaki, carrying her schoolbag in both hands, seemed to be visiting such a lively place for the first time, her gaze sweeping around:
"do not know."
"I'll show you around. If there's anything you'd like to try, you can give it a go."
"Teacher Kitahara, I want to play the claw machine."
Kuno Tachibana gently tugged at Kitahara Hakuba's sleeve and said,
"Can you play with me for a bit?"
Seeing this, Kanzaki Eri raised her eyebrows slightly, reached out and grasped his wrist, saying:
"Um... I can give it a try."
Looking in the direction she pointed, there was a machine that looked like a whack-a-mole game.
“Okay.” Kitahara Hakuba took out 1,000 game coins and handed them to Kuno Tatsuka, saying, “Kuno-kun, you go and play for a while.”
Hmm...
Kuno Tachibana felt the heavy game coins in his palm, looked at the two people who had walked together to the "Whack-a-Mole" machine, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Which air hammer do you want?" Kitahara Hakuba asked.
A slight smile appeared on Kanzaki Eri's lips as she gently brushed aside the bangs on her forehead with her slender fingertips.
"It will be all right."
Kitahara Hakuba handed her the hammer that felt better in his hand, and just as the two were about to start hammering, Kuno Tachibana stood to the side, her hands tied behind her back, and said in a deliberately affected manner:
"Ugh~ Kitahara-sensei, I really want to play this too~ Can I play it?"
Kitahara Hakuma hesitated for a moment, then handed the air hammer to her and stood up to make way for her.
Hmm...
When Kanzaki Eri saw that her "opponent" had changed, her face looked somewhat sad, but she still stared resolutely at the dozen or so small holes in her line of sight.
This is a competitive game where the winner is the one who hits the most moles in thirty seconds.
Kitahara Hakuba stood aside and watched as Kuno Tachibana, relying on her quick reflexes and unprecedented competitiveness, defeated Kanzaki Eri round after round without showing any mercy.
After knocking out another big "Lose" from Kanzaki Eri, Kuno Tachibana said to her triumphantly:
"Kansaki-senpai, I'll let you have five seconds to fight first."
Despite her repeated failures, Kanzaki Eri remained unperturbed. Rin ignored her completely, simply placing the air hammer back in its place and grabbing Kitahara Hakuba's wrist, saying:
"Let's go play something else."
"playing what?"
"Claw machine."
Kuno Tachibana, out of kindness, quickly said:
"The plush toys here are very hard to win; it's practically like giving money away to the store. I spent a thousand yuan and didn't win anything."
Eri Kanzaki, her loafers clicking on the tiles, suddenly turned to the side and spoke slowly and deliberately to the incessantly chattering Tatsuka Kuno:
"I have money."
"what?"
"I have money, lots of money."
Kuno Tachibana was stunned. Stubborn as she was, she didn't know how to refute those words.
Eri Kanzaki seems to be saying that even if it's a lie, it's okay, I have enough money for him to scam me, and I'm willing to be scammed.
In short, what she conveyed was just one sentence: "It's none of your business."
Kitahara Hakuma ran his left hand through his hair and gently said:
"But we still need to exercise restraint. If we don't have the right methods, it's no different from giving money away."
"Yes." Eri Kanzaki nodded.
The two arrived at the claw machine, and Kuno Tachibana, who was following behind, felt something was off.
Why is Kanzaki-senpai so well-behaved when he's with Kitahara-sensei? What methods did he use to get so close to Kitahara-sensei?
Based on her oboe?
"My alternate account isn't bad either."
However, the somewhat jealous Kuno Tachibana was completely unaware that, in the eyes of outsiders, her position was also very high in Kitahara Hakuba's heart.
>
There are three laws governing claw machines.
1. The claws should always be raised towards the direction of the overhead crane.
Second, the smaller the closure point of the claws, the less gripping force is required.
Third, the right of interpretation rests entirely with the machine.
"What does Kitahara-sensei want?" Kanzaki Eri asked suddenly, looking at the neatly arranged dolls inside the machine.
Kitahara Hakuba was genuinely taken aback. Strange, shouldn't he be the one saying such things?
And what does he want...?
A young man in his early twenties, who is also a teacher, has nothing left to attract him except for some posing figurines.
Kitahara Hakuba looked at the plush toys displayed in the machine, and they were all AveMujika plush toys.
Most importantly, it seems that none of them have been arrested; their orderly arrangement is heartbreaking.
"Is Kanzaki-san really strong?"
"We should be able to buy it," she said calmly.
Then why bother playing claw machines!
"Wow, they're all AveMujika dolls!" Kuno Tachibana seemed to really like these things, pressing his hands tightly against the glass.
"What does Kitahara-sensei want?" Kanzaki Eri asked again.
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"I don't really want anything," Kitahara Hakuba said with a smile. "But I can catch one for you, so you don't need to buy it."
"Can you help me catch them too?"
Kuno Tatsuka, without any hesitation, excitedly pointed to the "Toyokawa Shoko" doll and said...
"I absolutely love this! Kitahara-sensei, please~~~"
Kitahara Hakuba inserts a coin into the coin slot, and the machine's light instantly illuminates:
"What does Eri want?"
Kanzaki Eri raised her hand to adjust her side hair, then raised her slender white hand and pointed to one of the dolls, saying:
"this."
Kuno Tachibana said with a beaming smile:
"Wakaba Mutsumi, I feel like she and Kanzaki-senpai would be a good match, they're both so cute."
Eri Kanzaki blinked, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and quietly watched Hakuba Kitahara's actions.
Before the two girls could react, their hands were already moving around in their field of vision. Then, they seized the opportunity to grab the "Wakaba Mutsu" plush toy and flung it back into the gift box.
"This machine is easier to catch than the one in Tokyo."
Kitahara Hakuba crouched down, took out the doll, and handed it to Kanzaki Eri, saying...
"for you."
“Hmm…:...” Kanzaki Eri subconsciously reached out and took it, meeting the doll’s amber eyes.
Those who had tried this spot several times before looked over, muttering with puzzlement, "Could it be a pad?"