Chapter 92
The Calligraphy Plot
Our school gives a choice of an elective for students . You can choose your preferred arts subject among music, art, and calligraphy . The one that I chose was calligraphy .
Normally, there would be a specialized calligraphy teacher that led the class, but today was somewhat different .
“Iguchi-sensei is resting today, so today, I, Hiiragi Haruka, will be in charge of the class . Nice to meet everyone . ”
After Hiiragi-chan made her greetings, she lowered her head .
Hiiragi-chan, can you really do calligraphy? Although, I guess your handwriting on the blackboard is usually quite neat .
“Sensei, do you actually know any calligraphy?”
A boy asked in a teasing manner, to which Hiiragi-chan went ahem, and held her chest high .
“Even though I look like this, I’m really good at calligraphy, you know? I got to the fifth level in calligraphy after all!”
That somehow sounds amazing… The around twenty students in the calligraphy room all had the same reaction as me . It sounded amazing, but no one had any clue as to the way in which it was amazing .
“If you were to ask how amazing it is, well, it’s good enough to open my own calligraphy class!”
““““That’s amazing!””””
“I know, right?”
Ahem, Hiiragi-chan who was making a smug face was cute . She was quite knowledgeable when it came to tea ceremonies, so maybe things along this line are part of the etiquette taught to a refined lady .
“I think it’ll probably be boring doing as the textbook says . Rather, Iguchi-sensei told me to freely have you guys write something . As such, the topic that you will write about is ‘something you like’ . ”
“Something you like”, is it…?
As if Hiiragi-chan had just thought of it, she took a side glance at me and our eyes met .
“Ah, Sanadkun, it’s okay if you write my name, okay?”
Kusu kusu, the whole class had a good laugh .
Since I brought Hiiragi-chan as the “person that I like” in the borrowed item race, I have been teased by various people who had witnessed it . It was only ever meant as joking around, no one ever believed that I actually did like Hiiragi-chan .
More importantly, it was really convenient . The more people tease me about it, the more people recognize it as a joke .
Sponsored Content
“I won’t write that . ”
“Weelll, that’s too bad . ”
Hiiragi-chan smiled . The girls jokingly tried to comfort her saying stuff like, “Sensei was rejected,” or “Sensei, cheer up . ”
…I was the only one that knew that she was seriously down after smiling like that though…
Taking the ink, I grinded it into the inkstone .
What should I write?
As I look around, there were some that wrote things about club activities, and even girls who straight up wrote ‘boyfriend’ . Taking it further, there were even some people who were writing the names of their favorite anime character .
Of course, I won’t write girlfriend or anything like that .
“Sanadkun, I heard from Iguchi-sensei that you were good . ”
Hiiragi-chan came over to see how I was doing .
“I’m not that good . ”
“Do you want to try writing a sentence? How about something like, “The smell of spring, the life instilling breath of April”? Isn’t that so elegant?”
Oooh… as expected of a Hiiragi-chan, who is at the fifth level . Such an elegant proposal .
“Then, I guess I’ll try it . ”
“I’ll write it out as an example . ”
As she holds my brush, she dips it into the inkstone, and wiped off any excess ink . Perhaps it was because of her splendid posture, Hiiragi-chan’s movements felt high class . Her eyes portrayed the definition of seriousness . Her bangs seemed to be in the way, so she brushed them off to the side and behind her ear .
This might be the first time I’ve seen such a serious expression from her .
She wrote down a couple of characters .
[I ♡ Seiji]
Please do this seriously .
Sponsored Content
I was just thinking that I would once again fall in love with her and then she does this . Still, her handwriting was quite pretty .
I crumpled the calligraphy paper and shot it into the trash can .
“Ah . That was really nice too, what are you doing?”
Pukuu, Hiiragi-chan pouted .
Me liking Hiiragi-chan is being treated as a joke, but it doesn’t work the other way around .
“Sensei, please properly write the example . ”
“Okaaay . ”
While being sullen she replied like a child and mumbled, “It’s fine if I do it, right?” and once again dipped the brush into the inkstone .
Hey, weren’t you the one that said that you would write it . Why does it feel like I am forcing you to do it?
Smoothly, she wrote out in beautiful handwriting, [The smell of spring, the life instilling breath of April] .
“Amazing…”
“Ahem . Have you fallen in love again?”
If I did say yes, it would turn into a big fuss again, so I didn’t say anything .
Putting her example next to me, I commanded the brush and tried to write it a few times . However, it could not be compared to the skill of someone of the fifth level . It was quite a high hurdle, for someone like me, who has never attended a calligraphy class .
After Hiiragi-chan provided advice to help other students and chatted with them, she returned to the struggling me .
“Fuun fuun . Are you struggling?”
Looking at my failed attempts, Hiiragi-chan grinned .
…Did she think of some sort of trick?
“It’s hard to balance, as your words need to be small, right?”
Wrapping around from behind me, Hiiragi-chan grabbed my hand tightly . Like how pottery was done from some time ago, Hiiragi-chan looked over my shoulder .
“Wait, why are you sticking so close to me . ”
Sponsored Content
“It’s easier to grasp the feel of things this way ♡ I’ve actually taught this before, you know?”
If we were alone, this would be a distance at which she would give me a kiss on the cheek . “The space between the characters should be something like this,” is something she would use to explain .
“Over here, you do this ♪”
While holding onto my right hand that had the brush, Hiiragi-chan wrote the characters on the calligraphy paper .
“Oh… oohh…”
It’s amazing . It was as if magic was used to create the neat words . It was basically Hiiragi-chan writing it, so of course it would be that way though .
“Sensei, can I just submit this?”
“Nope ♡”
It seems that she won’t spoil me here .
“Sei… Sanadkun, it needs to be something that you put your own heart into and write . ”
She shook her index finger back and forth and said something teacher like .
Since it couldn’t be helped I practiced over and over again, over and over again, but I couldn’t write it so easily .
“Do your best . ”
Hiiragi-chan secretly cheered me on .
Just hearing that really motivated me . I’m such a simple man . While trying to match the feel and the image, I put my heart into each stroke .
“…”
Yeah . This one is the best one . Since it was closing in on the end of class, I submitted it .
“Sanadkun, you did pretty well . The characters being small make it hard too . ”
“I practiced quite a bit after all . ”
Mufufu, Hiiragi-chan smiled .
“This… if I scan it and edit it… mufufu…”
What is she talking about?
As I tilted my head in confusion, the next day, I finally understood what she meant .
I arrived at the staff room due to a small errand, and I just happened to look at the absent Hiiragi-chan’s desk . The characters I wrote were stuck far in the back of her desk .
[Haruka’s Life . Second Year Class B, Sanada Seiji] [1]
Ah . Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh! It was all a trap!! Having me write a sentence, making me work hard, all of it was for this!!
I tear apart and crumple the piece of paper and throw it into the trash can .
… Now, for the data . While trying to hide myself, I operated Hiiragi-chan’s laptop and accessed a folder labelled [SS] . The pictures and videos she took with me were all put in here . Just as I thought, the scan of the thing I wrote yesterday and the edited version were saved here . I put both into the trashcan and empty it .
Hiiragi-chan’s phone, which was left on the table, vibrated .
At that moment, I saw it .
[Haruka’s Life . Second Year Class B, Sanada Seiji]
She’s even using it as her wallpaper!!!!
I should delete it .
I operate the phone and delete it .
Phew . I erased her evildoings .
That night, when Hiiragi-chan called, she wasn’t very energetic .
“Is something wrong?”
“Something a little shocking happened…” Needless to say, she her energy level was quite low . Of course, I didn’t tell her what happened .
TN:
The original line that he was told to write was this: 『春香る 命芽吹く四月』 . While the new line is this: 『春香命 二年Ｂ組真田誠治』 . As you can see, there are some similarities to the two lines, but there were significant edits . I tried my best to translate them but they’re kind of meant to be poetic in some sense .