"Concentrate your awareness on your breathing, and feel the outgoing and incoming breath with your heart."
"…………"
"How is it? Are there any distracting thoughts in your head?"
In the darkness, a picture emerged before his eyes.
First, it was the moving train, then the passengers in the carriage, and finally it was fixed on a pair of pupils that suddenly dilated in fear.
The picture began to turn scarlet, a woman's scream sounded in the ears, and a fishy smell came from the nose.
Then he responded silently: "...Yes."
"Please accept these distracting thoughts slowly and calmly, and let them go with your breathing."
"call…………"
"The muscles between the brows and cheeks are too tense. Try to relax a little more. It doesn't matter if you can't eliminate distracting thoughts. Continue to focus on your breathing."
…
It stayed like this for who knows how long.
The quiet voice responsible for guidance sounded again.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now."
The tone of his speech was slightly higher than before, and his tone was a little more gentle.
Following the other party's guidance, the young man slowly opened his eyes.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone in from outside the dojo and shone in his eyes. Something seemed to be surging in a pair of thick black eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
Take advantage of the situation and look at the person in front of you.
Wearing a white gown, a black dropped skirt, and the feet under the skirt are wrapped by snow-white footbags, the girl exudes an aura of purity and elegance.
"Nakano-senpai." After finishing his meditation, Kato Yusuke nodded to the other party and bowed slightly.
Nakano Ryoko smiled and asked, "How are you? Do you feel a little more relaxed?"
I lowered my head and thought for a moment, feeling that some of the images in my mind were still there, but nothing seemed to have changed.
So he said silently: "I'm sorry to have troubled my senior sister, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on me."
"Is this so..."
Nakano Ryoko nodded thoughtfully, looked at his face, and then thought for a while and said: "I understand, in this case, you can train with me during the recent period, and attend the morning shift meeting every day."
Before and after school.”
"No, this doesn't seem good."
Kato Yusuke shook his head, "After all, I am not a member of the Kyudo Club, and I will also take up Nakano-senpai's time -"
"Hey, Kato-kun."
In a tone that sounded gentle but could not be refused, the girl who interrupted him said: "Training starts tomorrow, remember not to be late."
"So let's forget it." - After swallowing the next words in his throat, Kato Yusuke raised his eyes and looked at Nakano Ryoko.
The short black hair that reaches her shoulders covers her neck like a black silk necklace, and floats gently with gravity.
He saw the other party looking at him calmly, with a decent smile like Yamato Nadeshiko's on his face, but he smiled and said nothing.
So the words of rejection became a bit unspeakable.
In this case, Kato Yusuke simply agreed generously, "...I know, then I'll bother Nakano-senpai and I'll come on time."
"Um."
Ryoko Nakano nodded with satisfaction, "Although I don't know what happened to Kato-kun, judging from your mental state, this training will probably last for a while, so I will prepare a new set of clothes for you.
Yes, tell me your size."
"...Although I think it doesn't have to be so troublesome, I probably don't have the option to refuse."
"As expected of the student council president~ He is a smart kid~~"
Faced with the boy's helplessness, Ryoko Nakano affirmed with a smile and clapped gently.
Seeing this, Kato Yusuke gave a wry smile, then sat up straight and said seriously: "Then please take care of me, senior, as well as the election of the student union and the installation of air conditioning. I have always been greatly influenced by you.
Thank you very much for your help.”
He took out a small black bottle from the pocket of his uniform and handed it to the other party with both hands.
"Although it's not a valuable thing, please accept this as a token of appreciation."
"This is……?"
Looking at the exquisitely shaped oblate vial, Nakano Ryoko's eyes were slightly confused.
"It's beauty cream."
Kato Yusuke explained: "This is something I got by chance. It has a very good effect on skin recovery. Because Senior Nakano said before that she has been practicing kyudo for several years, and she thought that maybe she could pass it.
It came in handy, so I brought it here."
"Hmm~~Is that so?"
Nakano Ryoko reached out and picked up the vial, looked at it for a moment, and said: "Although it's a bit strange to be given something like this by a boy, but if the other person is a cute junior, I will accept it."
In this regard, Kato Yusuke seemed a little resistant, "If it is convenient, I hope that my senior sister can not use that word to describe me."
The other party hummed noncommittally: "Can I open it? Kato-kun."
"sure."
Kato Yusuke responded calmly.
So the girl directly opened the small bottle without any logo on it, and took out a little toothpaste-sized milky white paste from it with her fingers in front of him.
Think for a moment.
Then I applied this paste to my fingertips that were a little rough from drawing the bow all the time.
Along with a pleasant fragrance, it melts on the fingertips.
The cuticles in the skin that have been hardened due to long-term tension will slowly soften, making the skin become more delicate, just like bamboo shoots that have shed their shells and appear very delicate.
"..."
Seeing this scene, Nakano Ryoko's eyes lit up slightly.
She turned her gaze to the opposite side, "This is called beauty cream, right... The effect is indeed very good. Thank you for your gift, Kato-kun."
Kato Yusuke shook his head and said no.
After taking a look at the sky outside, I saw that there was already a hint of twilight in the vermilion, and then I realized that I seemed to have been here for a long time.
So he stood up and said goodbye: "Thank you for your guidance today, Nakano-senpai. If nothing happens, I should go back."
"Okay, be careful along the way."
The girl nodded gently and watched him leave.
…
After visiting Nakano-senpai, Kato Yusuke returned to the classroom and picked up the schoolbag left here.
Step towards the outside.
Just when he was planning to go home like this, a graceful figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Are you going back? Kato-kun."
A white silk floral shirt, a black hip-hugging suit skirt, a pair of slender legs wrapped in pure black stockings, and a pair of slightly deep kitten heels on her feet.
The whole person looks tall and attractive.
It was Kanoko Hasumi whom I hadn't seen for a day.
"Hasumi-sensei."
Looking at the woman standing in front of him, Kato Yusuke asked doubtfully: "Excuse me, what's the matter?"
His eyes moved to the other person's feet, and then he asked again: "Is there any problem with the teacher's feet?"
"Huh? Ah, um...!"
Teacher Renjian was stunned for a moment, and then immediately responded, "Although I haven't fully recovered yet, it can't affect my work all the time, and my actions are no longer seriously affected..."
At this point, she paused again.
As if remembering something, Hasumi Kanoko suddenly changed her words and said: "Speaking of which, I have never properly thanked Kato-kun for what happened that day, otherwise I would have asked the teacher to treat you to dinner today."
"No, the teacher has helped me a lot before, so there's no need to be like this-"
Just when Kato Yusuke wanted to refuse, the other party suddenly interrupted him.
"Please, otherwise I will feel guilty...! Okay?" He clasped his hands on his chest, Teacher Hasumi said in a slightly lighter tone than before, with a hint of expectation in his tone.
"…………"
Seeing that the other party was so insistent, Kato Yusuke no longer refused. He just said that he wanted to make a call first, and then walked aside with his cell phone, as if talking to someone.
Looking at this scene, Hasumi Kanoko's eyes flickered slightly.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but secretly think in my heart: ‘I should be contacting my girlfriend, but I don’t know which one of the three it is…”