Over the peaceful passing years, she finally settled into a stable routine. The Student Council President of elementary division, Imonoyama Nokoru, unintentionally and frequently bumped into her, pretending to be friendly, and eventually sought her opinions on various matters. In the end, he successfully added Akira to his harem. Observing the satisfied expression on his face, she affirmed that he had some ulterior motive, although she knew he could accomplish anything without her. It must be noted that during these years, not only did Nokoru recruit people, but she also managed to recruit someone herself.
"Good morning, Hanazaki-sama!"
"Ichikawa-senpai, how many times do I have to tell you? Please call me Kanon and don't add 'sama' to it. I might choke on my tea. And can't you sit down? How am I supposed to drink tea with you standing like that?"
Ichikawa Seiji stood behind the chair she was sitting in at the school's canteen, resolutely refusing to leave his position, his cold expression not warming up even a bit in response to his lady's pleading words.
Kanon admitted defeat to this person. She sighed, wondering why Nokoru and Souh became close friends, able to understand each other without speaking, while she got entangled with this block of ice. Or perhaps it is easier to find a compromise as a ninja rather than as a samurai?
"Kanon-chan, if you keep sighing like that, you won't be able to appreciate the tea's delicious taste."
Without looking, Kanon already knew who had just spoken. Nokoru smiled mischievously as he sat across from Kanon, not forgetting to nod in greeting to Ichikawa Seiji. He often witnessed Seiji's steadfastness and stubbornness, moreover, it seemed that Seiji had no intention of getting close to anyone in the student council, so they only treated each other as acquaintances, exchanging nods of greeting. Perhaps Kanon was an exception to Seiji's "closeness" because she was also involved with the student council, whether she wanted to or not.
Nokoru casually poured himself a cup of tea, adding plenty of milk and drinking as if this tea table was his own. Kanon had no choice, simply drinking her own tea, pulling a book out of her bag and slowly reading, ignoring Nokoru who was waiting for her to speak first. But after years of training, she had upgraded the new level of patience and eccentricity as this student council president. Finally:
"Alright, alright! I give up! Kanon-chan! I have a proposal for you..."
Kanon continued drinking her tea, not bothering to look up.
"The thing is, this weekend, the student council has a trip around Tokyo..."
She still remained silent.
"And the destination is Tokyo Tower. The student council wants to rent the entire tower to organize a ball there."
Only now did Kanon raise her head:
"Are you planning to buy that tower too?"
She was absolutely 100% certain about that. This wealthy person always found a way to acquire whatever he desired and stash it in his pocket. He just had so much money, it was excessive, Kanon muttered under her breath.
"Oh, Kanon-chan, you truly understand me! You know what I want!" Nokoru's eyes sparkled, but then he immediately spoke with a hint of sadness. "But it is artifact, not for sale!"
"Then what? If it is not for sale, no one can buy it anyway!"
Hearing Kanon's attempt at consolation, Nokoru wiped away his fake tears and continued with his proposal.
"I want to invite you to join the student council's trip."
Kanon raised an eyebrow, suspicious of the offer.
"Please don't look at me like that. It breaks my heart. Since when have I deceived you, sold you out, I mean, done anything wrong to you?"
Nokoru looked hurt when he saw Kanon's gaze of disbelief.
"All three members of the student council will participate, and of course, the invitation extends to Ichikawa-san as well."
Nokoru glanced and smiled at poker-faced Seiji standing behind Kanon. Kanon twitched her mouth, clearly aware that this was intentional. Everything was deliberate.
"So, what do you think?"
"This invitation is quite tempting," Kanon replied, closing her book. "But I need to check my schedule. I have to submit a new chapter for the school's literary magazine next week."
"The new chapter of 'The Adventurous Tales of the Red-Haired Princess,' right?"
Nokoru's eyes gleamed as he looked at Kanon. It seemed like two kitten ears sprouted on top of his head, and there was even a tail. Kanon despised this feigned his innocence. She stood up decisively, stuffed the book into her bag, and turned away, speaking over her shoulder.
"You'll have to read it in the magazine!"
Watching Kanon and Ichikawa's figures leaving, Nokoru sighed. The more days passed, the harder it became to deal with Kanon. She had become immune to his thick-skinned face, perhaps needing to be more proactive. If he could bring her to the student council, there would be nothing to worry about anymore, fun-filled days awaited him. Just thinking about it, our exceptional student council president regained his fighting spirit, cheerfully returning to the messy council room with high piles of documents and papers like a mountain that he had left behind, along with Suoh's scowling face.
Today was a self-study day, so Kanon didn't need to go to class. In fact, she didn't even need to go to school, but being at school was still more enjoyable. Therefore, Kanon sat in the library, referring to a stack of books to prepare for the next chapter of the story and a few upcoming projects.
Three years had passed since she had transmigrated here, and now she was in the fourth grade, while the main characters of the story were placed in their correct positions when the story began. Nokoru was in sixth grade, Suoh in fifth grade, and Akira in fourth grade. Kanon held the book "History of Europe" and chuckled, making Seiji, sitting across from her, curious. Nevertheless, he tried to maintain his silent and serious face, helping her prepare the materials to write.
Over the past three years, Kanon has accomplished quite a lot. Regardless of what the main characters of this anime series had done, she also wanted to create something of her own based on her literary talent. Kanon's first work was a short story of about 20 pages, telling the story of a girl who discovered a shop of dreams in her subconscious.
At that time, the girl's life was at a dead end, and she needed to find an escape, but she couldn't do anything about her current situation. One late night, exhausted and half asleep on her way back home from her part-time job, she unknowingly took the wrong path. She was very hungry, but she wanted to save money, so she decided to wait until she got home to eat instant noodles. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was in front of a late-night noodle shop on a mobile cart with a dim light. The aroma of the noodles made her stomach growl. That night, the girl decided to use some money to have a bowl of street noodle, thinking it wouldn't be expensive. She timidly approached the shop owner, who was standing with his back turned towards the stall, and when he turned around, she was startled because the shop owner was a black cat. He was wearing a traditional striped kimono for working people, with a white twisted cloth band on his forehead and a white apron, giving him the air of a long-standing traditional shop owner.
The girl then got acquainted with the shop owner and his son, who were both part of the cat family, good yokais who sold noodles to other spirits every night. They didn't understand why humans could get lost and end up here, but they were open-minded and kind-hearted. After a few times drinking sake together, they became friends. Strangely enough, since then, the girl could still cross the boundary of being human and randomly find the noodle shop. On the little cat boy's birthday, she gave him a music box with two mice chasing each other to the rhythm of the music.
Afterwards, the girl faced difficulties and didn't know what to do. The shop owner directed her to a gallery, suggesting that she sell her dream of becoming an artist to pay her own medical treatment. After recovering, she couldn't find the noodle shop anymore. Strangely enough, just when she seemed to have forgotten about her dream of being an artist, luck and opportunity came knocking. Someone came to buy the paintings she had displayed at a friend's art gallery. They even offered her a high-paying job.
Despite the changes in her life, the girl still continued to search for the noodle shop from years ago. After winning an award for her work "Noodle Shop in Dream," which had a strong traditional essence but also gave viewers a surreal feeling, she got drunk after her celebration party and on her way home, she encountered the noodle shop again. Finally, she understood why her dream of becoming an artist had become a reality. It was because the shop owner's son had sacrificed the food of the shop to fulfill her dream as a way to repay her for the birthday gift she had given before.
She cried tears of joy and immediately pulled out the two knitted scarves she always carried with her, prepared to meet them at any time. She had been knitting them for the shop owner and his son as a way to show her gratitude. However, the two of them refused to accept the scarves because everything had returned to its original state, and no one owed anyone anything anymore. So, the final words in the story, the girl said:
"So, how about exchanging the two scarves for two bowls of noodles?"
This story is inspired by Kanon's love for the manga XXXHolic by Clamp. She always wanted to visit the noodle shop of the fox father and son in the manga, but she preferred cats and imagined what would happen if those manga pages were placed under the words. "Kanon" herself was truly a genius, as she could create magical words with just an idea. The work won the annual literary award of Clamp's literary magazine, the most prestigious literary magazine in the country, even surpassing Suoh's ancient poetry.
When she received the news of her award, Kanon almost fainted.
Afterwards, the literary magazine invited her to sign a contract and work for them. Currently, she was writing a short story every month and a chapter of a long story every week. Mrs. Hanazaki was so happy that she threw a party that lasted for a whole day and night, even though there were only the two of them. However, during the party, Nokoru sent flowers to congratulate her, and that night, 20 faces also sent flowers and chocolates.
Kanon felt a bit guilty for borrowing ideas from Clamp, but well, she was now a character in their story after all. Incorporating this story into another one was a brilliant trick to attract readers, just like Clamp did.
What surprised her even more was the next day at school when Nokoru secretly arranged to meet her... and Suoh shyly asked her for an autograph. She fainted. How did things became like this? It was just a short story after all.
"That was an amazing story, combining tradition and modernity, reality and fantasy. I never expected someone could write such marvelous words!" Suoh said, holding up the magazine he had just bought, asking her to sign it right below the title of the published story.
From that moment on, Kanon became the center of attention because of becoming the idol of the student council secretary.
Kanon looked up at the sky in awe. All of this was thanks to her mother, who saw the discarded manuscript on her desk and then she sent it off to a contest while Kanon was at school. She didn't know whether to thank or scold her mother! The life of a small character like her had truly changed from here on.