Being stared at by the two children, Makoto Kyogoku felt a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I made you worry, but it's really nothing."
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"What if we hadn't come, and you couldn't stop?" Ai Haibara asked with half-lidded eyes.
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"You wouldn't," Chi Feichi denied the assumption.
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Makoto Kyogoku explained, "Combat situations change quickly. As long as one person's stamina can't keep up, the other can slow down, and then gradually stop. With our combat awareness and observation skills, either side being unable to keep up with stamina can be detected in time, and we can use the opportunity to adjust!"
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Though the injuries would be a bit more serious, and they'd have to lie in the hospital for a while...
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But he had been injured too many times in training and competitions since childhood, and had seen even more severe injuries. Some people took half a year or a year to recover; these injuries were really nothing.
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It was the same for Chi Feichi; he had gone through all of Makoto Kyogoku's experiences in his previous life. It was common to accidentally be too heavy-handed or have accidents during sparring.
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Makoto Kyogoku remembered their previous agreement. "Right, I didn't win this time, so it seems I won't get an answer to my question today..."
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"But you didn't lose either," Chi Feichi said.
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If they had truly fought to the end, he couldn't say for sure who would win. A small change could determine the outcome.
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Makoto Kyogoku shook his head and insisted, "It was a draw, but I still didn't win."
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"Then let's just ask each other," Chi Feichi didn't dwell on winning or losing. "You ask yours, I'll ask mine. Who goes first?"
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Makoto Kyogoku thought for a moment. "You go first. You made the first move earlier."
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Conan and Ai Haibara, who were quietly spectating: "..."
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You can decide who goes first like that?
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Are people who like fighting all this weird?
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Actually, Makoto Kyogoku hadn't explained clearly.
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At that time, both were slowly adjusting their state and building up their fighting spirit. Chi Feichi making the first move wasn't due to impatience; on the contrary, it meant he entered his state before him. Fortunately, he wasn't much slower.
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Logically, if one person adjusts to peak state and strikes first, the other, if not at their peak, could easily be suppressed from the start and get worse as they fought.
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In this step, he felt he had still lost to Chi Feichi.
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Chi Feichi didn't refuse and asked frankly, "Do you like Sonoko?"
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His tone was like stating a fact.
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Makoto Kyogoku was startled, then his face turned red. "How did you know?"
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Conan looked at Makoto Kyogoku in surprise. No way, he actually likes Sonoko?
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Chi Feichi said calmly, "You followed us the whole way tonight, and your gaze was mostly on Sonoko. Occasionally, when Sonoko linked my arm and chatted, your gaze lingered on me."
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Conan: "..."
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He actually didn't notice someone was tailing them!
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Makoto Kyogoku also couldn't understand. "When did you notice?"
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"Since we came out of the hot spring," Chi Feichi said. "As for the gaze... when you stared at me, I felt uncomfortable, like there were thorns on my back. I didn't need to turn around; the feeling was very obvious."
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"No, I was just wondering what relationship you had with Sonoko," Makoto Kyogoku's face was red, and he strenuously argued he wasn't glaring. "Maybe I was thinking hard, so my gaze was a bit... a bit heavy. Actually, the question I wanted to ask you was also this. Are you and Sonoko... dating?"
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"Not dating, no intention of dating," Chi Feichi said. "Just friends, possibly a bit closer due to family connections."
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Makoto Kyogoku's eyes were like dots. "Th-That's good... No, I mean... Okay, it's really good."
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Chi Feichi: "..."
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He could actually understand Sonoko Suzuki's behavior of taking pictures of couples everywhere earlier.
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Although such behavior was disrespectful, the season for romance seemed to have arrived recently. If you weren't in a good mood, it was easy to smell sourness and become emotionally imbalanced.
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...
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After resting for a while, the group returned the way they came.
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Conan had nothing to say about these two fighting just to ask two simple questions, and he was sent to bed by Chi Feichi...
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Ai Haibara saw that the two could walk back as if nothing had happened, and seemed about to chat for a while longer. Running around had also tired her out, so she rubbed her eyes. "I'm going to sleep first too."
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As Ai Haibara went upstairs, Chi Feichi called out a reminder, "Remember to wash your face."
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Ai Haibara was startled and immediately ran upstairs to the bathroom to look in the mirror.
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She had gotten dust all over her face in the woods and just wiped it casually. Now that she rubbed her eyes, her face looked like a calico cat...
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Conan was also washing his face. Seeing Ai Haibara come in, he turned his head and couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
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"What's so funny?" Ai Haibara opened the faucet with a straight face.
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"I was thinking..." Conan's smile froze, and he reached out to slap his forehead in annoyance. "I should have taken a picture of Chi Feichi lying on the ground just now. Maybe I could have gotten my video back."
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Chi Feichi lying there covered in dust was probably the most undignified he had ever looked. It was a shame he was scared by how fierce the two fought at the time and missed the chance...
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Ai Haibara calmly washed her face. "I don't think that would be enough to get your video back."
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"Could you at least care a little?" Conan said with half-lidded eyes. "Your picture still needs to be deleted, doesn't it?"
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"Didn't I entrust it to you?" Ai Haibara wiped her face with a towel. Although she had implicitly agreed to let Chi Feichi keep the picture, she would be happy if Conan could delete it. Thinking it might be a bit hard on Conan, she added, "I'll pay you."
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Conan got a headache. He couldn't rely on his teammate. It seemed he would have to find his own chance...
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...
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First floor.
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Makoto Kyogoku took out some medicine and bandages for external wounds and began skillfully treating the injury on his hand.
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Chi Feichi also treated the scrapes on his own hand.
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"Senior Chi, about that..." Makoto Kyogoku hesitated.
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Chi Feichi looked up. "What is it?"
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"I didn't pay much attention to the school rumors before, and I didn't believe them even when I heard them," Makoto Kyogoku said with a serious expression; he felt this needed to be clarified. "After getting to know you, I even less believe you're the kind of person who is arrogant and cold just because of your family background."
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Chi Feichi nodded. "I understand."
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Makoto Kyogoku hesitated again. "I heard the senior who started saying those things confessed to you and was rejected? Was it because of that?"
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"Probably, but it wasn't entirely her fault," Chi Feichi didn't dwell on it.
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He remembered that girl; she was a year younger than him. When he was in his second year of middle school, she had indeed confessed to him.
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However, the original self was an introverted person who wasn't very good with words. His reason for rejection at the time was just – 'Sorry, I don't like you,' and he rejected her three times in a row.
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One time, that girl seemed to have specifically folded a bottle of paper cranes and brought them. But you really couldn't force matters of the heart.
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After that, the rumor that he was arrogant spread, from the second year of middle school all the way to high school.
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When he was at Beika High School, the original self saw that girl. She had apologized and explained what happened back then.
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Girls usually have one or two close friends. Seeing that girl upset at the time, her friends complained to others about him being too cruel, and then as it spread, it became him being cold and arrogant.
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Later, someone mentioned his family background, and the rumor turned into him looking down on classmates because of his family. If he had a personality like Sonoko, it might have been fine, but the original self chose silence.
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Perhaps, finding a common 'enemy' was the best way to strengthen friendships. Isolation sometimes required too many reasons, perhaps not even the truth.
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You feel this way, I also feel this way; you don't want to deal with him, neither do I, so we are similar. And when others want to gain or maintain this 'friendship,' they also have to be like everyone else.
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In the end, that girl didn't understand why things turned out that way.
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From the emotions he could vaguely sense in his memory, the original self was initially very concerned.
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Awkwardly trying to make friends, before seeing any results, he suddenly found himself isolated. How could he not care?
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Even with his family background, he hadn't experienced any school bullying, but the alienation was enough to make him miserable.
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It was like at home, the servants always stood by, and only he sat alone at the dining table, day after day.
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From a certain day onwards, his schoolmates also became distant and polite, only giving one or two brief responses when he spoke to them before leaving in a hurry.
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After that, the original self became increasingly afraid of interacting with people. The less he interacted, the more likely he was to develop problems.
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He felt he was much better than the original self, regardless of what Shiming Fukuyama thought. He certainly felt that way.
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At least in the short time since he came to this world, he had quite a few people he could call friends...
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End of Chapter