Hokushin Itto-ryu Style

What happened before was just a small episode, which didn't take up much of Kouro's time.

When he arrived at Senba academy, the remnants of the setting sun were still shining, signaling twilight.

If this counted as a Date, then Kouro was the man who arrived earlier than the agreed date.

Surprisingly, Kouro found that Mei arrived earlier than he did.

She was sitting on the same bench as yesterday, except that she was wearing slightly different clothes than yesterday, she seemed to be wearing clothes with an extra thick coat.

It seemed like Mei wanted to have a long chat with Kouro.

"Have you been waiting long?" Kouro's words made Mei turn her head.

She looked a little dazed and Mei didn't seem to immediately find Kouro's whereabouts like she did yesterday.

A few seconds later.

After being sure that the person she was talking to was really Kouro, Mei's face then revealed a gentle smile.

Truly, Mei's situation was very sad.

"Not too long, because it's the weekend, so I have more free time, usually I often sit here."

"Sitting here in confusion, and letting time pass? That sounds very poetic. By the way, did you finish your homework?"

Kouro asked while opening the topic casually, in his previous life while still in school the first thing his friends asked him about was definitely homework and he was now doing the same.

...On second thought it seemed a bit pathetic to use the friends as a homework reminder.

Kouro's lips pursed slightly realizing how pathetic he was in his previous life.

Kouro's doubts about her homework made Mei show a protesting expression.

"I've already finished all the weekend homework every Friday."

"So hard work?" Kouro said with a raised eyebrow.

"...Not really, because I don't have anyone else to play with on the weekends like the others, so I have a lot of free time." Mei said with a slightly sad expression.

Mei quickly realized that her expression was unpleasant so she quickly hid it.

Then quickly the girl's face showed a relaxed smile as if nothing had happened and looked at Kouro.

'...It feels like Mei has a split personality seeing how her emotions change...'

Keeping this thought in his heart, Kouro then heard Mei ask him.

"What about you, besides being a student at school you still have to intern at the ME company right? Isn't it tiring to be busy like that?"

It seemed like Mei knew that Kouro was still interning at the ME company today, hearing that Kouro was a little surprised and then quickly spoke.

"Ah! You don't have to worry about that, I'm currently looking for an opportunity to stop interning at the ME company and give internship opportunities to other student at school."

"Huh!? Why?"

Mei's face showed a very clear expression of surprise.

After all, although the ME company had declined due to its damaged reputation, it was still one of the best companies in Nagazora city.

How could Kouro want to resign on purpose? Could it have been caused by someone else from the ME company?

In the past, Mei was able to use her identity as the daughter of the ME company's owner to help Kouro deal with work problems.

But now she can't do much and can only be a listener.

Hmm... Perhaps Mei would retract her thoughts after seeing the large number of zeros in Kouro's account.

Mei was currently ready to listen to Kouro's preparations regarding this matter, but the other party's answer was unexpected.

"Because the internship work that the ME company gave me was so boring, they had me sorting through almost the same information data for the past two days." Kouro said while shrugging his shoulders.

"After further research, I found that the information for these two days was similar. Especially after spending time as an apprentice at the ME company, I found that apprentices basically have no other work content and can only rely on accumulation from the past." He continued while shaking his head.

The value of working as an intern at the ME company was already exhausted after knowing the geographical layout of the company building.

Therefore in order not to waste his precious time, Kouro planned to stop his internship work.

"This morning I had also inquired about a promotion and it turns out that I will have to wait until I graduate, which is three years later. "

"At that level of work, even if I work at the ME company for ten years, I'll probably still be an information sorter and if that really happens, I think I'll die of boredom." Kouro continued with a helpless expression.

Mei who heard Kouro's words was a little surprised. She opened her mouth to say something but didn't know how to comfort Kouro, so she continued to ask.

"Then... What do you find fun?"

Kouro looked at Mei strangely when he heard her question before answering.

"Fun? Chatting with you now is fun."

Is this a confession?!

Seeing Kouro's innocent attitude, Mei felt that this should not be considered a confession, but her white cheeks were already stained with a slight pink color.

"Should I... Say thank you?" She said quietly.

"Haha just kidding, There's still plenty of time to think about it. No one knows what will happen, after all I'm just an ordinary high school student now." Kouro replied while waving his hand.

He then looked up at the sky and said in a calm voice.

"There are still many things to prove besides sifting through information, and next time maybe I can get an important position in the ME company."

"Or maybe one day, the ME Company's branch building will suffer a natural disaster, and will be left by history in the dust." Kouro said in a joking tone while winking his eyes.

Mei felt that the things Kouro described were unlikely to come true, but with her gentle personality, it was impossible to refute him firmly.

Mei also had a bit of selfishness and wished that if Kouro stopped interning at ME's company, wouldn't that mean she would have more time to chat with him on the weekends.

While Mei was still thinking about that, Kouro spoke again.

"By the way what about you? Mei-san, do you have any hobbies?"

As far as Kouro knew, Mei had a hobby of practicing kendo because back when she was a child there was a mysterious figure who wore the clothes of HOMU (Raiden Ryoma) and taught her kendo for self-defense.

In the game, Mei's sword techniques play a big role in fighting the Honkai Beast which seems to be a high-level sword technique.

"Hobby? Hmm... Actually, I learn a swordsmanship called Hokushin Itto-ryu. When I was a kid, I was a bit interested in kendo and even I still practice regularly until now."

Mei's words contained lonely emotions but Kouro ignored them with his sparkling eyes.

Although it was fun to hang out with Mei, but hearing the name of Mei's sword technique made Kouro a little curious.

"Actually, I'm also very interested in kendo. Of course, I don't want to learn your 'Hokushin Itto-ryu' sword technique without your permission. It's just that if you need a training partner you can count on me."

Mei was a little happy at his words and patted her chest as she replied.

"It's okay, the 'Hokushin Itto-ryu' Swordsmanship technique was taught to me by a mysterious person dressed as HOMU when I was a child. "

"I still don't know who he is, and he didn't tell me to keep this sword technique a secret either. So if you want to learn it, I can teach you."

"Thank you, then I should call you Mei-sensei." Kouro said with a grateful expression.

Mei's expression became embarrassed and quickly said, "Hey, no need to be so formal, you... just call me Mei."

Kouro smiled widely and replied. "Alright Mei-senpai."

Their relationship slowly but surely became closer, this being the first step for Kouro to save more people.