Chapter 10: Great Sage Equaling Heaven
After school.
In front of the lockers, Ren was changing his shoes. As he was about to leave the school, a girl's voice called out to him.
"Rokuhara-senpai..."
Ren turned around. The girl was his junior in the Archery Club—Sonoda Umi.
She had a slender figure, long dark blue hair with three bangs framing her face, and her brown eyes looked slightly nervous. Umi had the qualities of a yamato nadeshiko, a polite and traditional Japanese woman. Because of this, she was usually shy when interacting with people she didn't know well. Even with those she felt comfortable around, she remained quiet unless provoked.
It was precisely because of Umi's shy personality that Ren didn't expect her to initiate a conversation with him first.
"What's up, Umi-san?" He asked curiously.
Umi bit her lip for a moment before finally speaking in a soft voice. "U-um... are you planning to rejoin the Archery Club?"
Ren stared at her for a moment, then smiled faintly. "What makes you think that?"
Umi avoided eye contact, then slowly pointed to the archery bag on his back.
Ren understood her meaning and just chuckled softly.