Isanari:"I'm back, fight me again!"

Nurse:"Welcome back."

Isanari:"No way! She took me out again!?"

Isanari:"It's a new day! Let's fight!"

Nurse:"This is becoming a pattern."

Isanari:"Damn it! I've never lost three times."

It was yet another day. Isanari had been coming to Minami Katsumi High School for the last couple of days in an attempt to be victorious over this girl who could best him so easily. Once he got back to the garden behind the main building, he began to run out in hope to catch the attention of that girl once again. But he was stopped upon a certain sight.

"Are you okay!?"

"Get her to the nurse!"

The girl was coughing violently without stopping. Isanari could only watch as they took her away, leaving all of her supplies behind. He only moved when he noticed the wind taking some of them away. In pure silence, Isanari caught them and put them inside her backpack before leaving for the day.

Maruo:"That's the reason you gave up yesterday? I didn't take you for a reasonable man."

Isanari and Maruo were eating together during lunch time.

Isanari:"Haha, laugh it up. Obviously, I didn't believe it at first, so I went right back and challenged her again. But..."

Maruo:"I see."

Maruo was writing something down.

Isanari:"What are you doing?"

Maruo:"Writing the evidence I need for your next trip to the principal's office."

Isanari:"...Anyway, I got destroyed multiple times. I was going to challenge her one more time but after seeing that, the reality of the situation finally hit. So, I'm giving up on trying to defeat her in a contest of strength. I may be a punk but I have a moral code!"

Maruo:"Sure you do."

Isanari:"But it's frustrating! I still want to best her at something. So, I've been looking into options on what contest I can beat her at!"

Maruo simply kept eating in silence as Isanari went off in his tangent.

Isanari:"Obviously, I can't have her do anything too intensive. I don't know what her limits are. So no racing, basketball, baseball. Oh, especially not swimming, seeing as I can't even swim. Hmm...I got it! I'll beat her in Arts and Crafts!"

Maruo:"...I must be honest, sometimes your stupidity is quite endearing. Too bad it's worthless in the real world."

Isanari:"Hey man, if I wanted to feel bad about myself, I'd talk to my parents."

Maruo:"I will say I'm surprised you're able to keep breaking into that school."

Isanari:"I'm pretty good at that shit! Yeah, that fancy school has security, but they're nothing compared to my skills. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Maruo:"Before you do that. Here's your ticket, the principal will see you shortly."

Isanari:"You really have to interrupt everything, huh?"

Maruo:"Just following the rules."

Isanari began to whisper as he walked away.

Isanari:"Pretty sure lusting after your teacher and making a fanclub for her is against those rules..."

Maruo:"I heard that."

Isanari began to sprint out of there as soon as he realized he was heard. To Isanari, the only thing scarier than Maruo was Ms. Nakano.

Isanari:"I challenge you to a contest!"

Kotoha:"...Huh?"

Shiraishi was back on her table, in the same place Isanari had met her.

Kotoha:"You're really looking for a fourth fight?"

Isanari:"Nah, I've decided to beat you in something else. Arts and Crafts! Not to worry, I've already brought plenty of materials. There's this shop next to that graveyard that sells a bunch of stuff."

Kotoha:"...No thanks, I'd rather continue studying."

Isanari:"Ho? Afraid you're gonna lose?"

Kotoha stopped before turning her head.

Kotoha:"Huh!? You're on!"

Isanari brought his project up. It was a sword, or at least he would try to tell people it's a sword, barely resembling one with many mistakes. Shiraishi would bring up hers, which would be several hydrangea flowers of differing colors.

Isanari:"H-How?"

Kotoha:"People say I'm good at this sorta stuff, but I've never been too interested in it."

Isanari, knowing he was defeated, retreated with the promise of a future challenge.

Isanari:"I challenge you to a contest!"

Kotoha:"What now?"

Isanari:"A drawing contest!"

Isanari proudly showed off his 2-D drawing of a car, to which Kotoha showed her picture of flowers.

Isanari:"Again with the flowers...Gah! I lost again!"

Over the next few weeks, Isanari would come back with a new challenge and every time, he would get bested. At some point, the other students would notice and cheer them on, much to Shiraishi's dismay.

"My, my. You've been coming here a lot lately."

The owner of the shop, an old lady, began to ask Isanari about his constant attendance.

Isanari:"I'm just getting ready to kick that girl's ass! Not physically, but you know!"

"Oh, it's a girl! Today's youth has some fascinating ways of showing their love!"\

Isanari:"Love!? Yeah, she's wicked hot, but that's besides the point!"

"Oh ,and today's youth is so honest!"

Isanari:"You makin' fun of me?"

The owner's simple smile was her only response.

Isanari:"Tch. Anyway, here's what I want to buy today...Ah, damn, I'm almost out of money. Sorry, grandma, but I'll have to come back later."

"Oh my...How about this? I'll give you a big discount if you do a little work for me?"

Isanari:"Really?"

"Of course, I'm always excited to see a young one be so interested in these fields."

Isanari:"T-That's not it! I'm just doing this to beat her!"

"Yes, yes, of course."

Isanari:"...Tch."

Ms. Nakano was talking to another teacher.

Rena:"It's pretty wonderful that he's not getting into trouble anymore."

"He is still breaking into her school."

Rena:"Oh, I'm sure they're used to it by now...Hehe, the best part is, I believe he doesn't even realize he's already changed."

Maruo:"That makes how many losses?"

Isanari:"...32...I didn't think I'd have to do this...But I must defeat her! I'll pull out my trump card!"

Maruo:"Hm?"

Isanari:"I hate that I'm great at this, but desperate times call for desperate measures!"

Isanari:"This is our final challenge!"

Due to the nature of this challenge, a small group of people came to "examine" the results of this match. All of them were surprisingly willing to come, for the chance to see the next Isanari challenge.

"Do your best, you two!"

"Give us another great showing!"

Kotoha:"When did these turn into such a public event?"

Isanari:"Today's theme is...baking!"

Kotoha:"Ah."

Isanari:"Are you ready?"

Kotoha:"Well.. You see…"

Shiraishi began to fidget. Isanari had never seen her like this before.

Kotoha:"I've...never baked before."

...

Isanari:"...Bleh, fine! I'll just teach you as you go along!"

Kotoha:"Eh? Won't that give me an advantage?"

Isanari:"If I was happy with winning unfairly, I'd have kept trying to fight you."

"He says that even though he totally got his butt kicked."

Isanari:"You wanna say that to my face!?"

The crowd simply laughed as Isanari got all of the materials out.

Isanari:"Alright, since you're a newbie, we'll just bake some bread. Come closer."

Shiraishi was reluctant, but she eventually gave in. Over the next couple of hours, Isanari guided her through the process. Through the process, Shiraishi learned how much flour to use. They got the sugar ready, the yeast, the table salt and water as they began to coat the bowl. As they mixed everything together, it eventually became a rough, shaggy mass of dough. Once they had a floured surface, they kneaded the dough until it became bouncy and smooth. They then put the dough in a bowl covered in plastic wrap ready for its size to increase. After this, Isanari was knocked out when he made a joke about her breasts. 90 minutes later, Isanari finally woke up and the dough had doubled in size. Now more cautious about his jokes, he helped her deflate the dough and cut it in half. They then folded it so it was about the size of a letter. In the 45 minutes waiting for it to become more puffy, Isanari tried beating Shiraishi in Rock, Paper, Scissors, which he promptly lost. While the process took a while, the crowd was happy seeing the previously cold Shiraishi and the tenacious Isanari compete with each other. There were even fanclubs of the two. During the baking process, some tried taking pictu-

Isanari:"Don't you dare take pictures!"

As the bread continued to bake, Shiraishi began to sing again without realizing it.

Kotoha:" But I follow what I want. These sweet days are passing me by… "

Kotoha eventually stops and takes a deep breath.

Isanari:[She probably can't do that too long due to her condition. Shame, she has a good voice.]

With enough time, the loafs of bread came out golden brown. After some more time to let them cool, it was time to taste the bread. Shiraishi was nervous as she handed her work. The judges gave Shiraishi a positive score.

"This is so delicious!"

"You did great!"

Unsurprisingly, despite the positivity, Isanari's was deemed better, making this his first win.

Isanari:"Oh, yeah, we were competing. Kinda forgot midway through."

Isanari then noticed something. Shiraishi was covering her mouth, blushing at the sight of people enjoying what she made.

Kotoha:"This feeling…"

Isanari:"..." [This gal's pretty cute, isn't she?]

End of Chapter 42