JSWGAS Chapter 43

Chapter 43 (Minor Edit)

Chapter 43 (Minor Edit)

43.

Kiyose Haiji first saw that boy one evening a month ago.

He contracted the morning and evening meals for Chikuseisou, so he went out to the shopping street to purchase ingredients every evening, and sometimes brought Chikuseisou’s dog, Nira, along. Nira was a very lively brown puppy who would get attached to anyone she saw, possessing a pure joy and loveliness.

After finishing his shopping, Kiyose Haiji walked towards Chikuseisou carrying a basket of ingredients, calculating what to cook for dinner tonight, and also calculating whether the collected rent was enough to cover expenses—it was during these few moments of absentmindedness that the leash looped around his arm loosened, and the canine broke free, barking enthusiastically, darting out in an instant.

“Nira!”

Kiyose Haiji shouted anxiously, afraid that she would run into the middle of the road. But the puppy ran without hesitation, not into the traffic, but instead, she plunged into the dense bushes next to the road in a few blinks of an eye.

Kiyose Haiji lunged forward and pushed aside the bushes, but could no longer find Nira’s shadow, only being able to see the pedestrians coming and going in the park through the iron railing. She must have slipped into the park from here.

This park was not large, but it had all kinds of amusement facilities, and it was very popular among the children living nearby.

Although Kiyose believed that Nira would not harm people for no reason, the puppy’s enthusiasm was sometimes overwhelming, and without a leash, she could easily frighten children. He immediately ran towards the side gate of the park ahead, but when he entered the park, he couldn’t find the puppy’s shadow for a moment.

Thinking that Nira liked to play with children, he hurried towards the amusement facilities.

Getting closer, he could hear the dog’s excited barking. Nira was wagging her tail, running around the slide of the slide. Of course, she had no bad intentions, but the little girl standing shakily on top of the slide, holding the handrails, was terribly afraid.

“There’s a big dog…” She had already accumulated a cluster of tears, refusing to go down, “I’m scared… Mommy, Mommy…”

The slide was very popular among the children, and it took a long time to get a turn. The children waiting in line urged from behind: “What are you doing! Are you still going to play?”

The little girl cried loudly: “But I’m scared… I don’t want to play,” she hiccuped through her sobs, and it was clear that she really wanted to play on the slide, “I don’t want to play anymore, let me down…”

Nira didn’t know the little girl’s resistance. Her bright eyes blinked, not understanding why the beautiful and cute human cub refused to come down. Was she not enthusiastic enough? So she ‘barked’ even more cheerfully.

The little girl shivered from her barking. She wanted to squeeze out of the line, but she was too weak, and couldn’t get out for a long time. Instead, she was pushed to the entrance of the slide: “Go down quickly!”

Someone accidentally pushed her in the chaos. The little girl screamed, waving her hands wildly, trying to grab the handrails, but her body uncontrollably fell backwards!

Kiyose Haiji had just arrived and saw this scene: “Dangerous!”

The parents of the children were chatting and laughing in groups of three or five, and almost no one noticed the danger happening. By the time they heard this loud shout and realized that the little girl’s posture was wrong, she was already head down, and was about to hit the ground!

“Ah!!!”

The child’s piercing scream and the adults’ screams rang out.

In the nick of time, just when everyone thought a tragedy was about to happen before their eyes, a black shadow appeared under the slide in the blink of an eye, reaching out to protect the falling little girl in his arms!

How fast!

The child’s wailing echoed leisurely in the air, and the adults finally came to their senses, covering their wildly pounding hearts and running over: “Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Junko!” The little girl’s mother also rushed over, tears falling instantly when she saw her daughter, “Does anything hurt?”

The little girl refused to speak, clutching the clothes of the person who saved her, crying sadly and fearfully, and not wanting her mother to hold her either. The person first carefully coaxed the little girl, and after checking and finding that she was not injured, picked her up and took her to a nearby bench, saying to the little girl’s mother, “She’s not injured.”

Afterwards, he looked down at her expression, “What are you afraid of?”

The little girl sobbed softly, breathless, “B-big, big dog…”

Nira was squeezed out of the crowd, but was still barking spiritedly. Kiyose hurriedly ran over to re-leash Nira, pulling tight on the dog who still wanted to pounce on the little girl, “Be good! Nira!”

He briefly made eye contact with the person who caught the little girl, who only glanced at him, then lowered his head again, standing up straight, revealing a face that was surprisingly young—he was just a teenager.

“It’s okay, the dog is leashed.” He comforted the little girl in a low voice, somewhat clumsily, “Don’t be afraid, Junko, you’re safe.”

He quietly let the little girl cry in his arms for a while, and when her emotions had calmed down, he softly asked: “Do you want Mommy to hold you?”

Junko’s mother had just been anxiously pacing around beside her. At this moment, she held back her tears and stretched out her arms, also using a tone that was afraid of startling a butterfly, saying, “Junko, come to Mommy, okay?”

Junko, in her mother’s worried gaze, finally let go of the small hand that had been pulling on the teenager’s collar, and came to her mother’s arms, sobbing.

Junko’s mother hugged her daughter and thanked him repeatedly: “Thank you, thank you! If it weren’t for you, Junko might have been injured…” Her voice choked up at the end.

The teenager was half a head taller than her, with deep features and a calm expression. He waved his hand, “It’s okay, it’s good that she wasn’t injured.”

Junko’s voice still had a bit of a cry in it. Following behind her mother, she thanked him obediently, “Thank you, big brother, for saving Junko. Big brother is so cool!” After all, she was just a child, and her emotions quickly passed after a good cry.

The teenager’s expression was blank for a moment, looking like he was not good at dealing with such directness, and he replied with a bit of a stutter: “Junko is also very cute.”

Then he paused, and unexpectedly looked towards Kiyose, “That big brother holding the dog seems to want to apologize to you too.”

Kiyose Haiji was stunned, and pulled on Nira’s leash again. The biggest reason for the danger the little girl encountered was because of Nira’s barking—even if the dog didn’t have malicious intent. But this made him very ashamed, and afraid that he would scare the little girl again if he led Nira over, so he didn’t rashly step forward. The puppy seemed to keenly realize that she had just done something wrong, and no longer barked, drooping her tail somewhat dejectedly, and whimpering softly.

Even so, Nira was still very terrifying in the eyes of Junko, who was afraid of dogs. She trembled subconsciously, hugging her mother’s neck, and timidly said, “But he’s holding the dog…”

“How about big brother helps you watch the dog and not let it come over, okay?”

Junko looked at the handsome big brother in front of her, speaking softly with gentle eyes, and was dazed by his handsome and gentle smile. Plus, she had just been rescued by the big brother, and her trust in him exploded, so she hesitated and agreed, “Then, then you must watch the dog carefully, okay?” she said seriously.

The teenager extended his little finger.

“I promise you, I will definitely watch the dog.”

The little girl’s soft little finger hooked onto the teenager’s distinct little finger, shaking slightly twice, “Liars have to swallow a thousand needles,” she said.

The teenager then followed suit and said, “Liars have to swallow a thousand needles.”

After completing the ritual, the teenager apologized to Junko’s mother: “I’m sorry, I took the liberty of deciding.” Junko’s mother shook her head: “I was also wrong, I didn’t keep watching Junko…” She looked at Kiyose, “So we should let Junko decide whether or not to forgive.”

The teenager was silent for a moment: “…You are a very good mother.”

After saying this, he stopped lingering and walked towards Kiyose Haiji. Kiyose had just heard the conversation of several people next to him. At this time, he handed the rope to him, and put his basket at the other party’s feet: “Thank you.” He sincerely thanked him, and asked the other party to help him watch the things, and then walked towards the little girl.

Nira squatted obediently beside the teenager after he took the leash, her docile black eyes staring at her master’s back.

“I’m very sorry!”

Kiyose Haiji bowed solemnly, “I didn’t leash Nira properly, causing her to scare you, I’m really very sorry!”

Junko saw this big brother holding the scary dog: Kiyose had a delicate and gentle face. At this time, his eyebrows were slightly drooping, and his expression was apologetic, making her, who was originally a little scared, suddenly feel soft-hearted— just as handsome as the older brother in black.

Junko secretly thought in her heart, and quietly wiped away her tears, revealing a sweet smile: “It’s okay… Then, then brother, you have to leash her next time…” But the fear of dogs was not so easily eliminated after all, and she couldn’t help but sniffle.

Kiyose Haiji straightened up and said seriously: “Do you want to make a promise with brother too?” He stretched out his little finger, imitating the way the two of them had just done.

“Can I?”

“Of course.”

Junko stretched out her finger, “Then, promised.”

Kiyose Haiji smiled at the cute little girl again, and turned to Junko’s mother, who was holding her, and said solemnly: “I’m very sorry. Or would you like to take Junko to the hospital for a check-up?”

Junko’s mother shook her head at him, and said gently: “If she was uncomfortable, Junko wouldn’t be so obedient in my arms.” She smiled, “Please don’t worry, Junko has already forgiven you.”

The mother and daughter quickly said goodbye to them and walked out of the park. Kiyose Haiji took the leash of Nira. The puppy whimpered listlessly twice, and lay obediently on the ground.

“My name is Kiyose Haiji.” he said, “Thank you for saving that little girl.”

Getting closer, Kiyose realized that the teenager looked even younger than he had imagined, his eyebrows full of restrained publicity and sharpness.

“Kokonoe Taka.” He nodded politely to Kiyose, and said, “It’s okay, I just happened to be there. Besides, I can’t just watch a little girl fall.”

As soon as he said this, Kiyose Haiji remembered the teenager’s terrifying explosive power just now. He lowered his eyes and saw that Kokonoe was wearing a pair of dark red running shoes.

“Are you a resident nearby?”

“No, I’m here to exercise, and also to visit my grandfather. He teaches at Kansei University.” He replied.

“Exercise?” Kiyose was more concerned with the first word than the last sentence, “Is it long-distance running?” he guessed.

Kokonoe Taka was a little surprised: “Yes. Is it easy to tell?”

Kiyose shook his head: “It’s just because I also happen to be a long-distance runner. By the way, how old are you?” Speaking of topics he was interested in, Kiyose Haiji became even more enthusiastic. But at least he still remembered the inconvenience of being in a public place at this time. Otherwise, he would have reached out to touch the muscles on the other’s calf.

Kokonoe Taka noticed that his eyes were strange, and retreated vigilantly: “…I’m a first-year middle school student…”

“Ah, then I’m your senior.” Kiyose Haiji seemed not to notice his resistance, “By the way, I’m also a student at Kansei University. How long have you been practicing long-distance running?” “…I’m not a professional long-distance runner.” Kokonoe Taka took a few steps back and said cautiously, “Mainly through long-distance running to train endurance.”

“Is that so? But looking at you, you should also be practicing sports, right?”

As soon as these words came out, Kiyose Haiji noticed that the teenager’s expression suddenly turned cold. The sharpness between his eyebrows floated up, so cold that it seemed to be able to cut people. Did he say something wrong? Just as he was about to apologize, he saw Kokonoe Taka maintain a cold expression: “Sorry, I’ll take my leave.”

As soon as the words fell, he walked out of the park without looking back.

After that day, Kiyose Haiji had inquired whether there was a professor surnamed ‘Kokonoe’ at Kansei University. He did find this professor: the other party was a lecturer in political science, and he did seem to have a grandson. It’s just that Kiyose had been busy preparing for the Hakone Ekiden during this time, and not long after getting the news, he was too busy to put this matter out of his mind.

But not long after, he saw Kokonoe again.

The group at Chikuseisou had been jogging every morning for more than a month, Kiyose Haiji usually followed behind Prince during the morning jog to urge him on. That day was the same scene. He loudly encouraged Prince, occasionally threatening him with Prince’s most cherished manga to keep him from stopping.

Sometimes passers-by would cast strange glances at the two of them. After all, Prince’s running posture was really awkward, looking like a zombie was crawling forward – of course, this couldn’t be told to Prince.

When turning a corner, Prince staggered and almost bumped into the person coming towards them – fortunately, the other party’s lower body was very stable, and avoided them before bumping into them, and also helped Prince. As soon as Kiyose Haiji looked up, “Sorry…”

He rarely got stuck, and the person on the opposite side didn’t expect to meet a familiar person either, silently looking back.

Slightly red cheeks, falling sweat, and familiar eyebrows and a cold expression, it was the teenager he met that day.

Kiyose Haiji was only stunned for a moment: “Are you here for a morning run?”

Kokonoe Taka hummed. He hesitated for a few seconds, as if recalling the embarrassment last time, and finally said goodbye: “Excuse me.”

Then for the second time, the third time, the fourth time… Kiyose Haiji followed Prince to run, and met Kokonoe, who was also doing morning exercises, a total of seven times. In the end, Kokonoe also learned about their challenge to the Hakone Ekiden from scratch.

——”And then?”

Kiyose Haiji stopped telling the story and laughed heartily: “And then? Then we should let the two of them stop—”

Just now, he was helplessly entangled by the twins, and he could only selectively tell some of the beginning and end of his encounter with Kokonoe. Seeing that Kurahara Kakeru and Kokonoe Taka had run around the Tama River bank twice and still had the momentum to continue, Kiyose Haiji felt that it was time to stop the two fools who were running head-on.

Jota and Joji were halfway through hearing the story and shouted in dissatisfaction: “What! Haiji-san is so mean!”

The introverted genius and Musa sighed in the back: “Um, I wonder what Kokonoe-san thinks of us— in the past, I would also think this is a fool’s dream.”

And the veterans – Nico and Yuki, complained speechlessly: “Haiji, this sounds more like a story you made up to coax fools…”

Kiyose Haiji neither admitted nor denied it: “Well, who knows?” He smiled, raised his hand and waved it twice, shouting the names of the two people competing fiercely, “Kakeru! Kokonoe!”