Pure Love X Insult Complex

「 Still, you sure are amusing, Baker 」

One of the boys watching us from the side of the cafeteria said.

「 Yeah, you're so amusing when you get angry 」

Amusing?

Also, angry?

No, I was just talking seriously.

Err, right…I guess they find it funny if I speak seriously.

「 Yeah, it's my first time seeing someone get angry but get logical 」

Err.

「 Uhm, just so you know, I think that she's really the daughter of the president of Torii electronics 」

A girl said.

「 Yeah, I heard it from Hoshizaki Kana-san from the tennis club. She's Hoshizaki-san's best friend she says 」

「 Hoshizaki-san doesn't seem like she would lie 」

「 Oh, the tennis club girl, the beauty? 」

「 Yep, that Hoshizaki-san 」

Kana-senpai's a popular girl in our high school as she stands out a lot.

「 I saw her earlier this morning giving the tennis girls makeup. Together with Katsuko-san from the bakery 」

Oh, some of the spectators from earlier are here.

「 I saw it too, Katsuko-san's good at giving makeup that it makes you think that she really is an adult, but, this girl knows a lot about makeup even though she's still in high school 」

「 True, she even brought in a huge cardboard box filled with tons of brand-name cosmetics. She's got to be the daughter of Torii electronics to have so many of those! 」

The girls speak one after another.

「 And so, the people over there, especially the girl wearing that weird leather jacket…I don't know your reason to come to our school, but I don't think it's a good idea to offend someone who's from the Torii Electronics house by saying something crazy 」

「 I mean, she's smiling right now but that blonde there is scary when she gets angry 」

「 Yep, definitely scary 」

「 You're going to die 」

The senior boys see Margo-san as the scary delinquent.

「 No, I won't I already graduated from that 」

Margo-san laughs.

「 I'm wondering if anyone among you saw the broadcast of the martial arts tournament Edie competed in? I also appeared there, but it was a late-night broadcast so I'm not sure if many people know about it 」

「 Oh, I saw that! 」

One of the boys raised his hand

「 You mean the martial arts where that freshman exchange student who stands next to Baker won? 」

A third-year boy asked the guy who was raising his hand.

「 Edie Sexton won the lighter weight class, and Margo Starkweather-san over there competed in the open-weight division 」

「 Did she win? 」

「 Yes, she won by a huge margin. I mean, it's a huge win with so much momentum that she finished all the other pro female martial artists in the finals in just seconds! 」

What's with that, won by a huge margin? Don't exaggerate it.

「 Err, wait a second, wasn't she a student in our school until last year? 」

Margo-san just graduated this year.

「 That's right! Margo Starkweather senpai's just 19, and yet she beat all the top fighters in the country. Even Rudolfo Seiko-san from the Golden Balm Gym was defeated in an instant 」

「 You like women's martial arts? 」

Margo-san asks the boy.

「 Y-Yes, I love watching martial arts, whether it's men or women 」

「 I see. Then, you probably know it already but later, at three pm, Rodulfo-san will also be in the tournament Edie's holding 」

「 Eeeeeeh?! Is that so?!!! I know that they were putting on a ring but I didn't plan on watching it since I thought that it was just Edie-san and Grace Marinka-san fighting 」

「 It won't be just the two of them. A young girl from Rodulfo-san's gym and girls from our team will also be competing 」

「 Kudou Haruka-san too? 」

「 Yes, she will be on the ring too 」

Kudou Haruka's a famous high school karate champion so it's no surprise that a student who loves martial arts knows her.

「 Today's game will be televised so everyone should gather in the schoolyard and cheer for them 」

Margo-san said with a smile.

「 Ooooh, seriously?! 」

「 I'll go watch it! 」

「 I want to watch it too 」

「 Let's go together! 」

They get noisy in the cafeteria.

「 Uhm, Margo-senpai's going to participate too? 」

The guy from earlier asked Margo-san.

「 Me? I won't be participating today 」

Margo-san replied with a smile.

「 Huh? Why? 」

「 Because if I appear, we'll have too much extra airtime 」

Margo-san, who easily beat the other contestants, said.

「 So I'm just watching for today, Oh, I'll also deal with the TV crew. Edie can't deal with them after all 」

Margo-san's still 19,

But, Margo-san's got enough style to overwhelm even old men.

「 Now that we had some good bread, we should go check on Edie and the girls now 」

Margo-san stood up

「 Let's go 」

Smiling and looking at Mariko, Tsukiko, Kurose Anju, Erica, Marika, the Matsumoto siblings, Igarashi Izumi, and me.

「 Right, let's go 」

I stood up and then Mariko and the girls stood up too.

Erica, Marika, then the Matsumoto siblings.

「 You're not coming? 」

Margo-san asks Igarashi Izumi.

「 I-I… 」

「 You might want to follow us and get to meet some folks on TV 」

Margo-san said.

「 O-Okay, I'll go 」

Igarashi Izumi also stood up.

◇ ◇ ◇

Leaving the school cafeteria, immediately;

「 Uhm, we were nervous earlier, so I'm sorry 」

Matsumoto-san, the elder, Maki-san, approached me with her sister, Miki-san.

「 No, it's okay 」

Were they worried that I got angry?

「 Also, thank you for the delicious bread. And the drinks too 」

「 Thank you, it was delicious 」

The little sister bowed to me along with the elder.

「 Sorry for the late thanks 」

「 Sorry 」

Oh, these sisters can say their thanks properly.

On the other hand, Igarashi Izumi's just staring at Matsumoto-san, then turned around.

The leather jacket girl doesn't say her thanks.

「 Well then 」

The cafe outside the school cafeteria where Kana-senpai and the girls are working is filled as usual.

「 Margo-san, let's go around this way 」

Going through the cafe is closer to Edie and the girls, but…

I suggest that we took the long away around so we avoid interfering with Kana-senpai's work.

「 Going out? 」

「 Out? 」

Mitama and Kinuka, who were doing a street performance to attract customers to the cafe sensed that we were leaving the cafeteria so they rushed to me.

「 Wait, that's Anjou Mitama? 」

Igarashi Izumi seems to know about Mitama, who appears in Yukino's show every week.

「 I'll be fine. I have Tsukiko Kurose-san, and Margo-san with me 」

I speak first so Mitama and Kinuka don't say that they'll come and guard me.

「 You girls can continue guarding this place 」

「 Roger that 」

「 Roger! 」

Mitama and Kinuka bowed, then.

「 We'll leave this to you, Kurose Anju 」

「 You're in charge 」

「 Eeeeeeeh?! Me?! 」

Kurose Anju looks troubled as the Anjou sisters stare at her.

「 Don't worry, everything's an experience! 」

「 Experience! 」

「 Well then, Anjou Mitama will return to her post. Excuse me 」

「 Excuse us! 」

Mitama and Kinuka runs off like a ninja and returned to their original spots.

「 What was that? 」

Igarashi Izumi's dumbfounded.

「 Kou-sama's surrounded by people that you see on TV 」

Tsukiko told Igarashi Izumi.

「 You seem to doubt Marika-san and Fujimiya Reika-san, but… 」

Huh, Tsukiko.

Tsukiko should see through Igarashi Izumi's mind with her Miko power.

Rei-chan did send off Marika to her school back then.

She purposely went in front of the school, telling the schoolgirls there that she's a relative of Marika's.

We thought that Marika's status in school would get better if Rei-chan, who's become a national celebrity on TV now, introduce herself as a relative of Marika.

Igarashi Izumi and the Matsumoto elder are students in the same school as Marika, so…

They may have not seen Rei-chan in person, but they should've heard the rumor that Marika and Rei-chan are relatives.

「 There's no lie in what Marika-san told Matsumoto-san 」

Tsukiko said.

What? What did Marika tell Matsumoto-san earlier?

「 Let's go 」

Margo-san urged us and walked.

I talked to Marika.

「 Why won't you tell me what exactly do you want with me, Marika? 」

I asked her directly.

「 Sorry, I… 」

Marika replies.

「 I just wanted Kou-kun to see Matsumoto-san as she is before I tell you anything 」

As she is?

「 And I want Kou-kun to see with his own eyes that Matsumoto-san is truly a wonderful person 」

Oh, I see.

The Matsumoto sisters are, from what I guessed, in need of money, and scholarship to continue their music studies.

Marika wants me to ask for Minaho-neesan's support for her friends.

But, if she just mentions that the sisters have money troubles, so help them, then…

I'll see them as siblings who want money.

She thinks that I won't try to understand the Matsumoto siblings apart from the thought of if I should help them or not.

「 Okay, Matsumoto-san is good friends with marika 」

In the end, I should get to know Matsumoto-san as Marika's friend.

Talking about money can be for later.

「 Yes, she's a precious friend of mine 」

Marika looks me in the eye.

「 Takahata-san, thank you 」

Hearing our conversation, Matsumoto Maki-san's eyes turn moist.

Miki-san bows to Marika too.

「 Okay, I get Matsumoto-san's case, but… 」

I looked at Igarashi Izumi who makes a sullen look.

「 What kind of relationship do you have with Igarashi-san? 」

From how I see it earlier, she's not close to Marika at all.

「 I don't know much about Igarashi-san either 」

Eeeh, Marika?

「 She heard me talk to Matsumoto-san that I'll introduce her to Kou-kun, and she came along 」

So Igarashi Izumi's not a friend of Marika, yet she just came along without permission?

「 I'm sorry when I mentioned today, she said: "I'll go too" 」

Matsumoto Maki-san looked down and said.

「 Oh, she's not friends with Marika, but Matsumoto-san's? 」

I see it now.

「 No, I hardly talked to her either 」

What?

「 It seems that she heard Takahata-san and me talk in the lounge room in the dorm, after Takahata-san returned to her room, she told me "Tell me the details of the conversation just now," then, "Takahata-san's deceiving you," then "that's too good to be true" and forced herself today 」

What an absurd woman.

Haaa, now I know why she made a fuss in the cafeteria earlier.

Anyway, Igarashi Izumi wants to prevent Marika from introducing the Matsumoto siblings to me.

I don't know the reason why though.

「 N-No, that's not it! 」

Igarashi Izumi comes to us running.

「 I-I just want to make sure that Takahata-san is a relative of Fujimiya Reika 」

「 How do you confirm that? 」

I ask her.

「 T-That's…F-Fujimiya Reika appears on TV, right? I-If so, she knows someone from the entertainment industry 」

Entertainment industry?

「 I-I…My parents told me to sing classical music, but the truth is I don't want classical, I-I want to sing more like I'm on TV 」

Igarashi Izumi says.

「 That's why, I want to get acquainted with Fujimiya Reika and ask her to introduce me to someone in the industry, yes. That's why I came here! 」

Igarashi Izumi says while she's sweating on her forehead, but…

Suspicious, too suspicious.

「 If that's the case, then you're just nuts 」

I looked at Igarashi Izumi and said.

「 What part of me is nuts! 」

「 Every part of you! 」

She's wearing a black leather jacket on top of the same neat blazer uniform as Marika and the girls.

Her hair's shaken up, her lipstick is too red, and she's got a poorly applied makeup.

「 Is that how high-school girls who want to get introduced to someone in the entertainment industry should look? 」

If they were to look at Igarashi Izumi right now and give their opinion, they'll say that she's nothing but an idiot.

「 That's…uhm 」

Igarashi Izumi suddenly fell quiet and fidgeted.

What's with this girl?

「 Kou-san, uhm 」

Marika talks to me.

「 Hm? 」

「 Kou-san, that…you have Tsukiko-san with you, yet, why do you not ask her? 」

Marika knows that Tsukiko can read minds and memories.

「 Marika-oneesama, you don't get it 」

Erica, who had been watching us from the side, speaks up.

「 Kou-san not doing anything unfair is what's best about him 」

Erica said, and went to Miki-san, the younger of the siblings.

「 Miki-san, you don't have to worry. All we need to do is watch 」

She speaks to her gently.

「 Don't worry, in the end, Kou-san will give it a good ending, it's true for Marika-oneesama, and me back then 」

「 Erica-san 」

「 Don't make such a worried face! You need to relax, you're safe now! You won't be able to play well in front of Kou-san like that 」

Right, I still have to listen to these sisters play music.

It's essential to understand the Matsumoto siblings as they are since they're girls who do music.

「 I'm supporting Marika-oneesama too 」

Erica shows a smile that makes her the star of the middle school for the young ladies as she speaks to Miki-san.

「 Yes, I'll do my best 」

Miki-san replies, I feel like this middle-school girl is a good kid.

「 Igarashi-san won't get any cheer from me though 」

「 W-What's with that? Hmph 」

Igarashi Izumi gets sullen from what Erica said.

While we're having that conversation.

We passed by the school building, the gym, and out to the schoolyard.

◇ ◇ ◇

「 What the hell? 」

It's surprising.

Right in the middle of the schoolyard with the main gate directly in front;

It's a huge martial arts ring.

No, that's not it, around the ring are four platforms about four meters high, assembled from metal frames.

Apart from that, there are three white large tents.

Also, there are four large trucks parked on the corner. Those must be what brought these in.

Then, there are several cars from the TV station parked there.

「 Darling! Margo! Here! 」

Edie's wearing her jersey in the ring, waving at us.

As expected, she's not dressed for the school swimsuit judo yet.

「 I'm getting off 」

Edie crossed the ring ropes, down the white metal stairs at the corner post, and ran towards us.

「 This platform seems to be called 'In-tray' That's where the TV camera is put 」

Edie says while pointing at the four tall platforms around the ring.

「 I asked the crew why it's called 'In-tray' and they answer, "I don't know." Weird 」

Edie laughs.

「 You know the reason, right, Edie? 」

I asked.

「 In-Tray is mostly a shortening of Intolerance. It's from the American movie from a hundred years ago, Intolerance 」

100 years ago?

「 That movie's built a set of the gate of Babylon so big, but because the labor cost was low at that time, they made huge things without hesitation. However, it was too big that it was hard to capture it with a camera 」

A set too big that the camera can't capture it?

「 That's because 100 years ago, there were no dedicated lenses like there are now. If they want to take a photo of a big gate, then they have to get far enough away and from a high spot to take a picture 」

「 I see. 」

「 At first, they tried to put the camera on a balloon and shoot from the sky, but the balloons of the time were unstable because the wind sweeps them away. So, they had no other choice but to build a platform across from the same height as the big gate, just to capture it with their cameras.

They made a platform the same size as the gates to take a photo of it.

「 That became an anecdote, and the Japanese film and TV productions refer to this platform used during filming as in-tray. Whether it's big or not, even if it's used for camera or not, if it's a platform, you call it an in-tray 」

Edie sure knows a lot.

She couldn't even speak Japanese just a few months ago.

「 By the way, do you know what intolerance, the origin of in-tray, means? 」

Hmm.

In English, "In" means to negate the word, right?

So…

「 It means that "There's no Tolerance?" 」

「 That's right, "tolerance" basically means generosity, and intolerance means the opposite 」

「 The opposite? 」

「 Narrow-minded, so you shouldn't turn intolerant, Darling! 」

Edie smiled.

I see, so the platform used for filming also means narrow-minded when used in Japanese.

「 Edie, is everything going well? Do we have problems? 」

Margo-san asks Edie with a smile.

「 The setup went without a hitch, everything else is full of problems 」

Edie said with a smile.

「 I can't do anything about it, so I was waiting for Margo to come 」

「 Must be the TV crew, right? 」

Margo-san replies

「 That's correct 」

TV crew?

Margo-san turned to me.

「 The people filming Yoshinobu-kun earlier were from a national TV, well, national TV companies have a lot, but they're mostly in the news department, so there was no problem with the broadcast 」

Margo-san looks at the TV station car parked in the schoolyard.

「 Edie's martial arts coverage is on a commercial TV, so they will bring a lot of trouble 」

「 What kind of problems? 」

I asked.

「 Simply put, all the crew from the national TV are employees of that TV station. That's why you can get straight to the point. There's only one superior, so if they say something, the people below will make their move 」

True, the news crew from earlier were the serious types.

They met with Katsuko-nee beforehand and everything went well.

Well, it's also a five-minute corner in the noon news.

「 However, this martial arts tournament is broadcasted by a commercial network, but all the staff here are from subcontractor companies 」

Margo-san sighs.

「 Depending on the situation, it could be a lot of trouble 」