Episode 10

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I Managed to Bring Down the Entire Family of That Impossible-To-Conquer S-Class Beauty, Completely Filling in Her Outer Moat

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“I’m home~”

“Ah, Mom’s back.”

The living room door opened, and Hina—or rather, China’s mother—came home.

She seemed in a particularly good mood. Had something nice happened?

“Did something good happen?”

“Hehe, can you guess~? At work today, I found this amazing kid~♪ His name is Nozomu-chan.”

“Nozomu…?”

Hearing that name, the first person who popped into my head was my classmate, Watarai Nozomu.
But since Mom added “-chan” to the name, it must be a girl with the same name as Watarai-kun.

“So~? I got these nail tips from her, and I was wondering if you would be happy if I gave them to you?”

“Huh!? But… didn’t you get them, Mom?”

“Nozomu chan said I could give them to my daughter as a present~. Here, look.”

“Eh… wow…!”

The nail tips were a beautiful piece with striking blue and white contrast.

They looked like white clouds floating in a blue sky, somehow radiating warmth too.

I occasionally go to nail salons myself, but I thought these were just as good as anything done by the professionals.

“B-but… is it okay…? Getting something this amazing?”

“Nozomu chan said absolutely, if it would make you happy~”

“O-okay. Thank you! I’ll treasure them!”

“Hehe, I’m glad♪ Well then, I’m going to make dinner now, so wait just a moment, okay~?”

Mom headed straight for the kitchen and started preparing dinner.

I held the nail tips I’d received in both hands and headed for my room. I laid all ten tips out on my white bed and started looking at them.

“They’re really beautiful… It might be a shame to wear them. No, but maybe I’ll wear them tomorrow?”

My high school has pretty relaxed rules; hair dye, makeup, and nails are all allowed.

It’s more like you get a warning if you go too far.

“Nah, but first I need to check if they fit properly… Hehe, can’t wait♪”

A smile slipped out of my mouth naturally.

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――The next morning.

I indulged in my hobby early in the morning before heading back to my classroom.

“Oh, Nozomu, good morning~! Your backpack was in the classroom, but did you go somewhere?”

“Good morning, Kouki. Just had a little chat with the principal.”

“Huh?! Did you do something wrong!?”

“Huh? Nah, just managing the king oyster mushrooms we’re growing together with the principal.”

“…I’m still amazed by the breadth of your hobbies…”

The moment I got back, Koki started talking to me.

But somehow, the classroom felt louder than usual.

As if reading my thoughts, Kouki spoke up.

“So, guess what~? China-san got her nails done!”

“Whoa. Just that gets everyone this hyped… An S-class cutie is major content, huh?”

Our high school is pretty liberal, so nails are totally fine.

I was drawn to that free-spirited atmosphere and thought it’d suit my eclectic tastes when I enrolled.

Amagiri-san is a black-haired straight-A student, but she’s got sly blue highlights and probably looks great with nails too.

“Koki, what kind of nails did Amagiri-san get?”

“Huh?　Hmm… something blue and white… really bright and cheerful!!”

“??… Yeah.”

I was an idiot for relying on Kouki’s vocabulary, considering he failed modern Japanese.

I’m curious what her nails looked like, but if I went up to her like, “Gufufu, show me your nails, China-nyan… Haa haa,” I’d probably get teased, so I’ll pass.

Watching the moths drawn to the light, another flashy, conspicuous moth arrived.

“China chan, show me too!”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure, of course!”

Hikari Fumihiko. A guy like weeds that just keep growing back no matter how many times you cut them down.

His persistence alone deserves some credit. If Kouki is the light-loving extrovert, Fumihiko is the dark-loving extrovert (DQN).

Even to a guy like that, the angelic Amagiri-san still gave him the same smile as always.

As she showed off the nails she’d probably gotten done, Fumihiko reached out his hand to touch them.

“Huh!?”
“Eh?”

As if sensing it, Amagiri-san quickly pulled her hand back.

“Ah, s-sorry! I just… I really love these nails, you know? I just pulled my hand back.”

“Ah, ahh. Oh, right. Haha! I thought you didn’t like it!!”

“U-uh, yeah, I guess so. Sorry?”

Facing Amagiri-san’s apologetic expression, Fumihiko’s face twitches as he forces a smile.

He almost burst out laughing, but managed to hold it in.

“Pffft, look at this, Koki. Fumihiko just got rejected by Amagiri san.”

“Wahahaha! Well, touching a girl’s hand without permission is just plain wrong anyway!”

“Hey, idiot, keep your voice down…!”

“You’re right!! Sorry, Nozomu!!!”

“I told you not to yell so loud!!!”

Looking back at Amagiri, I saw Fumihiko glaring at us.

It was plain as day he was furious at us for mocking him.

Still, I caught a brief glimpse of Amagiri san’s nails from afar, and they looked suspiciously similar to the ones I made yesterday.

Looks like I ended up making a copycat piece. Next time, I’ll make something more original.

“Oh, hey, Nozomu. You free this weekend?”

“Oh, totally free. Wanna go somewhere?”

“I wanna try fishing!”

“Oh! I’m pretty sure you’ve never done it before, right? Glad you’re interested. Alright then, let’s go to the sea!!”

We couldn’t go river fishing last time, so let’s really enjoy fishing this time!

With that decided, I’ll go buy fishing gear after class.

—That’s what I was thinking, but I never imagined I’d get tangled up with Fumihiko there, run into that person again, and end up in such a mess…

Maiasa

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