manga artist Kirito

If you have any ideas for side stories, maybe I'll try to write one, perhaps?

Please donate, yes, I want razor blades and tips~

208

【NO.206 Third Master】

Yukino Yukinoshita is currently a second-year student in Class J at Chiba Municipal Soubu High School. She is beautiful and cute, and if judged by herself or by others, she would be among the top students at Soubu High School, a school with a very high average level of attractiveness. She is definitely a beautiful girl, both in terms of self-proclaimed beauty and external evaluations.

Her long, straight black hair cascaded down her back, and her delicate features were framed by slightly open, serious eyes. However, her dark blue eyes often flashed with a cold indifference that kept strangers at bay. She was outstanding in both academics and sports—not to mention physical strength.

Although her personality may seem terrible at first glance, once you get to know her, you'll find that... it really is terrible.

Of course, her occasional performances are quite good. If it weren't for her self-righteous sharp tongue and the unfortunate fact that Eriri could hold her head high in front of her, Yukinoshita would undoubtedly be an excellent girl.

The saying goes that mediocre people are not envied. It is perfectly normal for outstanding people to be envious. Although excellence is not perfect, girls often have their own troubles—different from the troubles they usually have in social interactions or club activities.

Today, she received a very... well, a call from her sister.

She should have gone to school by now, since it was getting late. Yukinoshita, who was always right, never made a mistake, not even being late...

Okay, I heard you've already taken the leave?

"So, sister, what exactly do you want to do?" Her eyes were filled with confusion, and her expression was not as gentle as that of a typical younger sister; in fact, it even looked somewhat cold.

"Going on a trip! I finally have some free time lately, so of course I'm going on a trip with Yukino!" Despite her imperfect sister complex, Yukinoshita Haruno is very happy right now—if Yukino could be as gentle and considerate as Kazuto's little sister, then my life would be worthwhile!

However, this is not possible.

Similarly, only in this way can she truly be Yukino.

But... I really want to see my gentle and considerate younger sister...

Yukino Yukinoshita, who was deemed unqualified and could only be described as a stalker, cried out in her heart.

“You know I’m not interested in this kind of thing, and I have to go to class.” With a calm expression, Yukino looked at her older sister who was slowly approaching, unmoved. “She thought she could help me get a leave of absence, and then she told me—sister, I don’t like this kind of thing happening.”

"Waaah!" Feeling deeply traumatized, Yukino's cheerful smile gradually became strained. "But... it's such a rare opportunity! My sister finally managed to get a short vacation from Mother, and she won't have any free time since summer vacation started... So, Yukino, please come with me~!"

"Please excuse me, but I cannot..."

"Resisting is useless!!!"

What a terrible siscon...

…………

"Excuse me, is this... Mikasa?"

With a refined and beautiful face, long black hair, and very few facial expressions, she exudes a calm and composed personality. The girl who appeared here with Yoko is the assistant instructor of the Tiger Dojo—Kirigaya Mikasa, reporting for duty!

“It’s me.” With her eyes still calm, Mikasa looked at the girl named Yuuki Asuna in front of her and narrowed her eyes slightly. “Well… let’s say it’s our first meeting. I look forward to working with you in the future.”

"Uh... Breakfast is just ready, sit down and eat?" Asuna looked at Suguha and Mikasa, who were completely at home, and then adopted the air of a mistress of the house. "I'm packing things up, they'll be here in a bit."

Incidentally, both of them brought their luggage. Were they planning to go on a trip together, or were they planning to stay here for a while?

"Oh right, this is my cousin, Shiina Mashiro."

"Hello."

"Hello, Third Master." Shiina Mashiro remembered that Kiritani-kun had mentioned this woman who might never get married in the future—Third Master.

Of course, the way he addressed me was something I learned from Kiritani-kun.

In addition, Kiritani-kun has told Mashiro-chan many times that first impressions are very important, so it is essential to respond when someone greets you, especially when you are going to spend a lot of time with someone. When greeting someone, you must be original.

Hmm, original...

"..." Miss Mikasa's expression remained unchanged, showing no embarrassment, dissatisfaction, or annoyance.

However, I silently made a note of it for Kiritani-kun.

"...Puhaha, hahaha...Mikasa-neechan...this nickname...suits you so well." Unable to hold back any longer, Yoko burst out laughing. Although it wasn't the first time she'd heard this nickname, it was especially hilarious coming from Shiina Mashiro, especially with her expressionless face!

“Your brother… must miss me a lot.” With her eyes slightly narrowed, Mikasa concluded.

"Ahem, well... Mashiro was being silly, I'm so sorry!" The gentle and virtuous Asuna naturally wouldn't laugh out loud like Suguha, but cleverly covered it up with a smile, although it didn't seem very natural.

"It's nothing, I'm used to it... or rather, it would be strange if I weren't." Mikasa remained calm, as if her words had no meaning whatsoever.

"Please take a seat. I'll go to the kitchen and bring out the breakfast... Luckily, someone reminded me to prepare two extra portions, otherwise we would have had to eat out." Displaying the demeanor of a hostess, Asuna walked confidently into the kitchen.

Shiina Mashiro stared intently at the seemingly perverted Third Master in Kiritani's eyes, a thoughtful expression occasionally flashing in her eyes.

In contrast, Mikasa casually strolled around the living room, then raised her eyebrows slightly, walked to the sofa, and pulled out a black wooden sword from under the coffee table—it was there after all.

"Huh! I didn't even notice..." Suguha, who had been here a few weeks ago, had clearly figured out the general layout of the room, but she hadn't noticed that there was a wooden sword here.

“There should be another one…” Under the strange gazes of Shiina Mashiro and Kiritani Suguha, Mikasa walked to the door carrying the wooden sword.

"Mikasa...can I call you that?...Where are you going?" Asuna, carrying breakfast and placing it on the table, looked strangely at the non-human wooden sword that Kirito-kun had mentioned many times. Asuna naturally knew that her boyfriend had hidden it under the coffee table, but...it seemed that no one else knew about it except her, right?

“Okay, I’ll wait for someone outside.” After nodding slightly, Mikasa reached out and opened the door, where she was greeted by… the long-awaited Kirito boy.

"—We've arrived!"

"Seeing ghosts in broad daylight? — That must mean the door was opened wrong."

Having finally finished tidying up his eldest daughter's room, Kiritani-kun decisively took a step back and closed the door behind him.

Mikasa wasn't angry or embarrassed, nor did she rush over like Yoko had before. Instead, she calmly looked at the closed door.

As she expected, the door opened quickly, and Kiritani-kun, carrying a backpack, walked past her as if he hadn't seen her, then handed the backpack to Asuna, who was standing behind the door.

Suddenly, a gust of wind came from behind...

As I mentioned before, Kiritani Kazuto is no ordinary person.

...Being one of the four kings of pretentiousness is not simple, is it?

In terms of setting, aside from the memories of the black-clad swordsman from a parallel dimension, there is also his superb swordsmanship—of course, I'm not referring to those trashy sword skills that rely on system guidance, but rather the swordsmanship that the black-clad swordsman calls a mind skill—I think you should be able to get used to it, after all, this slice-of-life novel has been quite cheeky from the beginning, and even if it gets a little cheekier now, you won't shout "Let's go, cheeky Yue!"

This setting is incredibly clever no matter how you look at it, isn't it?

Yes, Kirito's swordsmanship is superb. Don't complain about his stamina, after all, the outcome of a swordsmanship battle is never a matter of prolonged combat.

Coupled with his exceptional reflexes, Kiritani has never been afraid of anything except a massive human wave tactic!

Therefore, when the gust of wind came from behind his ear, he had already made a general reaction. He casually placed the wooden sword he was holding in his left hand—the Lake Toya sword that Kiritani had given to Asuna—behind his back, and then ignored it and greeted his sister inside the house.

Unless Third Master suddenly changed his move from slashing to stabbing, this wooden sword would have to be sentient to actually hit him.

Furthermore, although the corridor was relatively wide, Mikasa and Kiritani were not far apart, leaving her no extra space to change her moves.

Snapped!

With the clash of the wooden swords, Kiritani, who was slightly weaker, felt the wooden sword in his hand pressing down on his back, which hurt a little... This woman is still so strong, she must have abs, right?

With a slight shift in her footing, she turned around abruptly, simultaneously transferring the wooden sword to her right hand. Mikasa focused her attention and began to wield the sword with both hands—it should be noted beforehand that both Kirito and Mikasa practice dual-wielding.

"—Living Slaughter: Chaotic Snow, Moon, and Flowers!"

"—My Style: Sword Breaker Slash!"

The two passed each other in such a small space. Mikasa straightened up, nodded to Asuna in front of her, and then stepped into the room.

Kiritani-kun shook his reddened right palm slightly; this woman's strength was getting stronger and stronger, it hurt...

"Wow, Kazuto-kun is so handsome... How come I never knew Kazuto-kun was so cool when he was wielding a sword?" Hinano, who had just come out of the next room, looked at Kiritani-kun with a very cheerful smile and said loudly.

"..." Yukino, who didn't know what kind of agreement had been reached with her, took two steps back, looking at her with an expression that said, "I don't know her."

"Ah, Haruno... can you tell me what's going on?" Kirigaya-kun planted his wooden sword on the ground. The arrival of Mikasa and Yoko at this moment seemed rather strange, and as the organizer of the tour, asking Haruno was definitely the right thing to do.

"By the way, besides us, who else will be coming?"

P.S.: I think you'll understand what I mean if I just say "prequel" for the side story!

By the way, it's almost the end of the month, and I still don't have many words to write~ Even though I was supposed to write 18 words this month~

Please feed them! (Keep an eye on them!)

209

[NO.207 I feel sorry for your intelligence]

"That what..."

The girl looked at the smiling boy opposite her, her smile becoming slightly distorted and unnatural.

Upon seeing this, the boy's smile widened, and he exhaled softly, "Mikasa, you're still as manly as ever. This shows that no one can stand you."

“I know someone who’s a lot like you, and she’s actually quite nice in terms of personality. But compared to her, you’re quite a bit lacking. Even so, she’s thirty and still hasn’t found a girlfriend… What a cruel reality!”

"Shall we go outside and talk?" Mikasa subconsciously gripped the wooden sword beside her, maintaining a forced smile. This guy was as annoying as ever.

"Life is so beautiful, yet you're so irritable. This isn't good... not good!" Kiritani kindly advised, moving closer to where the wooden sword was. "This is a society governed by law. The days when you sword-wielding people could rule the world are long gone—besides, even if I go off to paint, your senior brother will still be your senior brother!"

"That was just a formality." Mikasa remained unmoved and gave Kirito a calm smile.

"Putting everything else aside, but... isn't it a bit much to criticize Shizuka like this, sir?" Haruno interjected, expressing pity for Kirigaya-kun's casual criticism of Shizuka earlier.

"Shut up. No one will think you're mute if you don't speak. Have you packed everything for your sister?" Kirigaya glanced at this incompetent siscon, then at Yukino Yukinoshita, who was indifferently hugging her chest and thought no one had noticed that she had been secretly reading cat books. "By the way, is your Service Club really okay without you?"

Kiritani-kun knows very well that the Service Club only has three members. Currently, aside from Yukinoshita, there are only Hachiman and Ryunosuke—Dan seems to have not yet submitted her application to join the club—I'm afraid she'll lock the door and calmly read or program while the club is in session.

Yukinoshita remained calm and showed no concern whatsoever. "There's nothing I can do. Although I wasn't originally planning to go, since I've already agreed, I can only leave the Service Club to Hikigaya and Akasaka."

See? Yukinoshita didn't mention Sanbe Dango, who always calls out "Yukino, Yukino" whenever she sees her. This shows that she doesn't consider her a member at all. Poor Yuihama, she arrives at the Service Club on time every day, but she's not even a member.

"It's unbelievable that you could trust them both..."

"Compared to Kirito, Hikigaya and Akasaka are more trustworthy." Yukinoshita knows quite a bit about Kirito, after all, he practically stole the Zaimokuza request, which made Yukinoshita very dissatisfied.

Perhaps, from a professional standpoint, entrusting it to Kiritani-kun was indeed the right thing to do.

However, since the commission was accepted by the Service Department, it naturally had to be handled by the Service Department as well.

Because of this incident, Yukinoshita referred to Hachiman as "Hikigaya-kun" or "Hikigaya-kun" that week, and Hachiman also started calling him "that one" or "that one over there"...

Very subtle...

Furthermore, with Ryunosuke Akasaka joining the club, the manga club being right next door, and the advisor being Shizuka Kaori, it would be difficult for Yukinoshita not to understand him.

Of course, she also knew that Kiritani-kun was reliable only in certain special circumstances, and not all the time.

You can tell from the fact that he can fight with his childhood sweetheart as soon as they meet.

However, surprisingly, my sister seemed to be quite familiar with this guy...

In fact, they know each other better than their neighbor and classmate...

"Is it really that bad?" After seeing Asuna, Suguha, and the others carrying their travel essentials, Kiritani smiled nonchalantly. "We'll talk about these things later. We should go now."

Taking the backpack from Asuna, Kiritani tossed the bag from Yoko's shoulder to Mikasa, who casually slung it over her shoulder without a word.

"Alright, let's go!"

…………

Apartment building parking lot

Kiritani stared in shock at the two older women, who were striking cool poses but whose faces were full of worry, and a thought crossed his mind that he should turn around and leave.

"You... do you want to get beaten up as soon as we meet?" The gentle and cute girl, who was good at reading minds, suddenly exuded a fierce aura, and her cool demeanor just now turned into the sorrow of an older saintess.

"Hmph!" Former top student Kirito Kazuto sneered, raising his head to face Hiratsuka Shizuka. "Do you want to challenge the geniuses of our Tiger Dojo?"

Naoya and Mikasa stepped forward in turn.

"Tsk, you bastard..." The female teacher clicked her tongue in annoyance, but had to admit that she really couldn't beat him—in fact, if Kirito-kun picked up his twin swords, the female teacher would have a hard time beating him.

However, although this novel is quite quirky, it doesn't quite turn into a fighting game.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, nice to meet you." Suguha greeted her future teacher with a slight smile—it was entirely expected that Suguha would take the entrance exam for Soubu High School.

"Nice to meet you, Hiratsuka-sensei." Mikasa nodded to her.

"Yes, we'll see each other more often in the future." The female teacher smiled gently. Being with so many young people made even me feel younger...

As they greeted each other, Kiritani looked at the woman who was drinking coffee with surprise, "But speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be very busy lately? Why are you here?"

"I've mostly finished the more important work, and I've delegated the less important tasks to Ichigo and Ayano. I finished the final volume of the work last night, so I should have plenty of time to rest now... Anyway, I'm free for the time being, and since Haruno invited me, I came over." The woman, stroking her waist-length hair and exuding a lazy aura, yawned slightly. "Please take good care of your hair, it's a complete mess!"

"I did it on purpose, what are you going to do about it!" Kirigaya-kun threw his backpack at her and glanced at her dark circles. "Please, Suika, take care of yourself. I don't want you to suddenly die one day and I have to come over and bring you a wreath... I'm not short on cash lately, but I don't have the money to buy you a wreath."

"Shut your dog mouth, my body is much healthier than yours." After throwing her backpack into the back seat of the car, Akane Kosaka scratched her equally messy hair. "Come back and help me out sometime. I have a pretty big project to work on during the summer vacation, so come and supervise me then."