The old man and Hayato went back and forth.
It was a draw.
When the old man's body leaned forward, it was ultimately due to his old age, his explosive power rapidly declining, unable to exert force again, but the speed at which he stabilized his posture was surprisingly fast.
After stabilizing, he no longer exerted force with his hands but spread his legs.
One leg branched between Hayato's two legs.
Then he bumped left and right again, hitting Hayato's knees, trying to make the young man lose his balance.
But...
No effect.
Hayato smiled slightly. The old man hadn't expected that I, your junior, practice lower body techniques.
But before he could react, the experienced old man realized that this was ineffective, immediately let go, and chopped at Hayato's wrist with his palm.
Hayato quickly pulled his hand, and the book accidentally slipped from his fingertips.
The old man, however, performed a 'scooping the moon from the sea' move, taking it into his hand.
Then he even showed off to Hayato, shaking it: "Hahahahaha, young man, your skill is good, but ultimately, I am still superior!"
Hayato looked at him.
…Damn it. He thought, the bookstore is so big, and there's definitely more than one copy in stock. Just ask the staff.
However, he also admitted that in terms of hand-to-hand combat, he was definitely inferior to this old man, even with the Fantasy Killer and the cheating-like "Thousand-Pound Drop." If he drew his sword, he was ninety percent sure he could win, but it was just about grabbing a book, not killing a minotaur, so there was no need to go all out.
So, he sighed and cupped his hands in a bow:
"Awesome, awesome."
Then he turned to the counter to inquire.
Towards Hayato's back, the old man reached out, as if to ask something... but in the end, he didn't open his mouth.
Never mind.
Although the potential was good, he had been retired from the martial world for a long time, and even if he got contact information, it would be impossible to guide him further. It was better to stop here.
It was just a pity that this child's lower body technique was invincible among his peers, but he didn't know how his sword skills were.
The old man sighed and turned to leave.
"...Ay-Ayaka!?"
He saw a girl behind him, about the same age as his granddaughter, blinking. The old man quickly hid the "Senior" book behind him. "Wha-what, Ayaka, why are you here?"
Then he looked at the book in the girl's hand, "alpaca princess"... what strange taste.
"Miyajima Grandpa..." Kobayashi Ayaka said in surprise, "Why are you here?"
She should have seen the old man first, but she had that "Oh, you're here" look... It was bad.
She had been so busy observing Mr. Hayashi's face that she forgot the person in front of her was her best friend's grandfather... Family, who understands?
Kobayashi Ayaka then stood on tiptoe and looked towards Hayato.
Damn, she missed the best time to say hello. Now, catching up felt a bit awkward, making her seem like a peeping tom. Besides, the person in front of her was an elder she always respected, so she definitely couldn't leave rudely on her own.
However.
She had heard Hayato's conversation from beginning to end. The charm of a senior lay in "saying one thing and meaning another"?
Hmm? What charm does that kind of woman have? ...By the way, did she know any students of the same grade like that? She had to be careful of her.
"Ha, hahahahaha... I'm just taking a walk, nothing to do." The old man laughed awkwardly, "Ayaka, you don't have to mind me, just do your own thing!"
Go on, go on! The old man shouted in his heart, I still need to pay.
Kobayashi Ayaka also felt greatly relieved. After bowing in greeting, she wanted to leave, but as she turned, she looked back again.
"Grandpa, is everything alright at home?" she asked worriedly.
"...It's fine." The old man smiled gently and said, "You don't need to worry. I'm not useless enough for you juniors to worry about me."
"That's good." Kobayashi Ayaka smiled.
But then, she heard a faint sigh from behind her.
It wasn't an illusion.
...
The encounter with the old man was a beautiful accident, and then it was time to return to daily life.
Hayato asked the store clerk for the first volume of "Senior" and was about to go home to read it when his phone, tucked in his pocket, vibrated.
He took it out; it was a message from Nanao Akane.
But he didn't read that one first; instead, he opened the communication interface with Sawamura Airiri.
Yes, Sawamura Airiri was still in contact with him. But not often.
At first, Hayato was like he was competing, unwilling to send Sawamura Airiri many messages, and it was still like that now, but it had evolved from competition to a "casual chat, but I'll reply when I remember" mode. It was like, you say your thing, I'll talk about mine.
"When I was cooking today, I think I put too much soy sauce in the eggplant, and my family told me off. Sigh~~~"
↑ This was Sawamura Airiri's complaint.
The impression this person gave Hayato was that she had an enormous amount of housework, even though she was just a high school student... Was she being exploited by her family?
But Hayato didn't think much of it, nor did he offer comfort. It was a typical "it's okay if I can't keep up with the topic" chat.
"[Image], Eating a burger."
Sawamura Airiri wouldn't reply for a while, so he went back to look at Nanao Akane's message.
"I'm so tired, Lin-chan... I'm going to die from exhaustion! Don't make me study anymore! Just let me die!!"
Nanuo Student's resentment seemed to overflow from the screen. Hayato tilted his head, then skillfully replied.
"[Image], Eating a burger."
Nanao Akane was clearly much idler; she replied instantly.
"I really want to eat a late-night snack too... Wuwuwu, there's no more food left at home... ╥﹏╥"
Hayato smiled wickedly.
"Want to eat?"
"Yes!"
"Order takeout."
"Takeout is no good! The delivery fee is so expensive!"
"Is that so?"
"That's right, I'm a thrifty woman~~~ o(〃'▽'〃)o"
"Then you can only dream about it."
"Damn it!! My stomach is already rumbling… It's all your fault for showing me pictures, you have to be responsible for making my stomach full…"
"Heh."
Hayato sent that message, then turned off his phone screen, completely ignoring the new message Nanao Akane had sent.
He looked up, and the cashier behind the counter had already handed him the takeout bag:
"Hello, here is your Comet Burger."
"Thank you."
Hayato carried the takeout bag out of the burger shop and unfolded his bicycle.
He looked up at the dark sky.
Speaking of which… where was Akane's house again?
He seemed to recall her mentioning it before.
Then, he pedaled his bicycle towards Asakusa Temple.
"Mainly, I want to test the performance of this bicycle again," Hayato thought to himself, "and deliver a takeout order while I'm at it."
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