SFS Chapter 5: Owning a Kitten (Chestnut)
Chapter 5: Owning a Kitten (Chestnut)
Time flies, and five years have passed. Time flies like an arrow, and Ming and Shahe have reached the age of 11. They will naturally spend their youth together in elementary school until the fifth grade.
There's not much to say. Given the Okamine family's wealth, it wouldn't be difficult for Ming to get into Sawa's class. It would also be a good opportunity for the two of them to get to know each other better. As for whether Ming and Sawa have developed a deeper relationship yet... well, they're still just ordinary friends.
One morning, in the classroom of Class 2 at an elementary school called Ye Ying.
Mingzheng sat alone in the back row by the window, enjoying the first rays of morning sunlight, while Shahe sat in the front row with a heavy heart. She had been like this since they walked to school together that morning, and Mingzheng didn't understand her feelings, so he simply ignored her.
Another class passed, and it was time for the ten-minute break in PE class. Only then did Sawa get up and walk to Ming's desk, who was still organizing his textbooks. She looked at him without saying a word, as if she was preparing something, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Is there something you need, Sawa?"
Seeing the girl approach but remain silent for a long time, Ming asked.
"Um... Ming... I have a favor to ask you... is that alright?"
Sawa looked at Ming in front of her, her expression slightly shy and embarrassed, but there was still a trace of determination in her eyes. Even Ming, who had read tens of thousands of different expressions, couldn't quite understand her.
"What is it? Speak."
Ming spoke calmly, then met Sha He's amber eyes with a look of confusion on his face.
"Um... Ming, I want to get a cat!"
Sawa's gaze suddenly hardened, while Ming, upon hearing this, simply nodded dismissively and said, utterly lacking in emotional intelligence:
"Then let's raise them! Uncle Iwahira and Aunt Saori shouldn't refuse, right?"
"But Mom and Dad said they'll only let me raise it if I get over 80 on this exam." Sawa lowered her head, her voice growing softer and softer.
"Oh, so what? What are you trying to say? Get to the point."
Ming took out a piece of bread with a blank expression, took a bite, and then continued to look at Sawa.
"Wow! Don't be so calm! We were classmates in kindergarten, after all!"
"So? Get to the point!" Ming said calmly, his face expressionless once again.
"Um... Ming, could you tutor me? Heh..."
Sawa's eyes glazed over after Ming's scathing remarks, and she spoke with a somewhat empty gaze.
"No, Sawa, as your friend of several years, you should know that I'm a profit-driven person, right? What do you think you have to trade with me? Knowledge is priceless, but getting tutoring from me has a price, understand?"
Upon hearing Ming ask her a question, Sawa began to ponder. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind: Ming seemed to be a cat lover like herself, and since she was planning to raise a cat, it would definitely be related to his interests.
"Ming, how about this? After you get tutoring and score 80 on your test, and I also get a kitten, I'll let you be the first one to come to my house to pet my cat, how about that?"
"Uh... wait a minute..." Ming was silent for a moment, secretly delighted. As a cat lover, he would not miss any opportunity to pet a cat, but... it was not the right time yet.
"no?"
"Why? Don't you really like cats? Ming, when I came to your house in second grade, I saw lots of cat-themed magazines on your bookshelf. You can't possibly start to hate such cute cats, can you?"
As Sawa spoke, she tightly grasped Ming's hand, which was resting on the desk, and looked at her "childhood friend" with a worried and puzzled expression.
"Ouch, it hurts!" Ming's expressionless face showed a slight change in expression as he spoke, but Sawa's hand was still gripping tightly.
"Wait, I haven't finished yet!" Ming immediately stopped her, and Sawa let go of her hand. "What I mean is, having a kitten isn't enough, I want more!"
"Huh? Ming's family is so rich, what could he possibly want..." Sawa thought carefully, realizing that Ming didn't have what she did. Suddenly, she seemed to understand something, her face flushing slightly as she asked tremblingly:
"So... Ming, what do you want... Actually, it's not impossible for you to make some unreasonable requests..."
Sawa intertwined her two fingers together, looking at Ming in front of her with a mixture of shyness and anticipation. Of course, Ming did not disappoint her at this moment, and slowly pointed his hand at Sawa.
Sawa Kenmei pointed to himself, smoke already rising from his head, and began to recall the plot of the shoujo manga he had been reading.
'Could it be... that Ming wants to confess to me? Does he want me to say yes and be with him? This kind of thing... doesn't seem impossible...'
Sawa kept thinking, and steam began to rise wildly from her head. Seeing this, Ming remained very calm and said:
“Sawa, I want you…”
"Sure, Ming! I can do it if you want!"
Shahe, who had been wiping away the steam rising from her clothes, immediately interrupted Ming's request and agreed without saying a word.
"Really? You said it yourself. Well then... this month's duty roster is mine, so you can do it for me. Don't worry about tutoring or anything."
Ming spoke casually, but upon hearing Ming's once again blunt and masculine remark, Sawa felt as if struck by lightning. She lowered her head and began to mutter to herself in a voice barely audible to others, filled with resentment:
"Heh... Why would I believe Ming has any emotional intelligence? His house is full of cat picture books, how could he have romance comics? Ha... I was so stupid to believe he'd confess to me today... Hehe..."
Note: Sawa isn't some naive and innocent character in the original work. She knows more than Kurumi and even teases the clueless Kurumi in the early flashbacks of the spin-off.
What Sawa didn't know was that Ming had actually read almost every romance manga in his previous life, but he never thought that such a lucky thing would happen to him. Moreover, Ming himself didn't trust others, so it would be difficult for Sawa, who had been bullied by Ming, to befriend him.
Sawa spoke in a low voice, which Ming barely heard. He simply stood up, patted the girl's body, and then uttered a sentence devoid of emotion:
"Thanks. Starting tomorrow, I'll organize your study materials. Also... remember to bring me to your house to play when you adopt the kitten."
After saying this, Ming turned around and walked out of the classroom to attend his physical education class.
Two weeks later~
During this period, Ming relied on his memory of elementary school exams to successfully predict all the questions that would be asked and gradually mastered the content by mentally reviewing it.
During this time, Ming would occasionally give Sawa a few questions from a Chinese classic called "Two Years of College Entrance Examination, Three Years of Simulation" to give her some practice. Of course, Sawa, being a native Japanese, couldn't answer these questions at her age.
On a weekend morning after the exams, Sawa's mother, Saori Yamata, led Sawa and Akira on a walk through the city's commercial street.
"I really have to thank you this time, little brother Ming. If it weren't for your help in tutoring, my daughter Shahe might not have been able to get over 80 on this exam."
"No, it's all because Sawa is willing to come to me to learn that I teach her this way. It's all thanks to Sawa's hard work."
Ming recited the text with a blank expression, almost mechanically. Because his relationship with Sawa, involving petting cats and sweeping floors, couldn't be exposed, Sawa only gave Ming a script to read to her mother after her grades came out and confirmed that she had scored over 80.
"Yes, it's all thanks to Ming's excellent teaching. Don't you agree, Ming?"
Sawa tilted her head and squinted at Ming, praising him with a hint of revenge in her eyes. Even Ming, who usually looked at the world with a calm expression, trembled slightly.
As they walked, the three of them came to a rather large pet store. The store had all sorts of pets, and Sawa excitedly ran over to take a look.
Ming took this opportunity to walk around inside, and one after another, adorable kittens came into view, making him almost burst out, "They're so cute!"
As for watching all this, Saori Yamada silently took out a small camera and recorded a series of events involving the two cat lovers in front of her, intending to bring these youthful photos to the hall of their future marriage. However, the two, who were still captivated by the kittens, were unaware of this.
A few minutes later, Sawa, still holding a black kitten in her arms, walked out of the pet store with her mother and Ming, who regretted not choosing a white cat.
Sawa walked out of the pet store carrying the kitten her mother had bought for her, and Saori, as her mother, casually asked:
"Sawa~ What name are you going to give this kitten?"
After hearing this, Sawa hesitated, unsure of what name to choose.
"I think we could call him Xiao Hei, it sounds good."
Ming offered the suggestion, and upon hearing it, Sawa shook her head and covered her mouth with her other hand, muttering:
"Hehe, it seems Ming's naming skills are quite poor? I think you could call him Coal Ball, how cute it would be, so tiny."
Sawa affectionately stroked the kitten's fur.
"No way, absolutely not! I'm considered a genius by the school, how can you say my naming skills are bad?" Ming objected for the first time, his voice brimming with undisguised emotion. "I think we should call him Xiao Hei!"
"Hmph, no way! Although Ming is usually very nice to me, and you're the one who tutored me, I absolutely will not back down when it comes to naming our 'child'!"
Sawa pointed her finger at Ming beside her, abandoning her usual gentle demeanor and rejecting the name Ming had chosen.
"The name 'Don't Want Coal Balls' is so corny!"
Ming's facial paralysis was congenital, but for the first time, he showed a resolute expression and spoke sternly about the kitten's name.
"No way! I was the one who suggested getting this cat!"
Sawa also spoke with equal conviction, and just as her daughter and Ming were about to start arguing over naming the cat, Saori Yamada, who was watching from behind, finally stopped being a bystander.
'Although in Japan, women are often seen as less assertive than their husbands, it would be good if our Sawa and Ming were to be more assertive when they're together... Oh no, they're about to start arguing, and as their mother, I can't just stand by and do nothing!'
Saori thought to herself, then grabbed the two of them by the shoulders and whispered:
"I think we could name her Chestnut~ It looks like it matches Sawa's hair color really well."
"Chestnuts? Hmm... that sounds good."
Ming placed his hand slightly on his chin, thought for a moment, and nodded.
"Yay! Mom chose the best name!"
Sawa's expression also brightened; she was very satisfied with the name.
Seeing Sawa's happy expression, Ming couldn't help but laugh as well.
They decided to name the adorable kitten "Chestnut".
Sawa and Ming reached a consensus and took the kitten back to the mountain house together.