Editing Absolute Duo:Volume 3 Prologue

==Prologue==


“I, wonder what type of person I will fall in love with………..”



The girl-----Hotaka Miyabi is bad with the opposite sex.

It’s not like she has an inerasable trauma from her childhood…………but, it’s just that she is bad with strangers and shy. Above that, another reason of it was that she went to a girls only middle school same like her sister.

Because of that, the existence of males in the same age as the middle-school Miyabi, only appears in stories like drama or manga.

But even if she is bad with them, it’s not like she has no interest in love.

Because of that, she has imagined that she will fall for someone one day------like that.

Even though she was not conscious about this, her head turned completely blank when she saw the target of her affections getting kissed----even though it’s just on the cheeks. To Miyabi who has slowly gotten used to having a conversation with the opposite sex, a kiss is a very high level action for her.

The moment she regained her composure the criticism that came out from her mouth was-------a cute shout calling him pervert. Of course, it’s not like there were any bad intentions in it and those were the only words that Miyabi could have thought off in her half-panic state.

However, she encountered a different kind of emotion in her chest when she recalled the event calmly after some time passed and it became night time. As if being covered in a haze, those hazy emotions made her feel hard to breathe and at the same time made her feelings heavier.

Thanks to that, Miyabi feels troubled.

(What is this feeling………)

“Miyabi, I am turning off the lights”

“Ah, un………….”

Since she was daydreaming about the emotions in her chest on the bed, it passed the time for lights off before she knew it, and Tachibana her roommate and at the same time <<Duo>> called out to her.

After Miyabi nodded, Tomoe turned off the lights and the room was covered in darkness.

She closed her eyes. But, the event that happened in the afternoon did not vanish. The image of the boy who gave her the feelings to make her work harder in Kouryou academy and is her first male friend, getting kissed.

The haze in her chest would not clear up.

It was there, whether she slept or was stayed awake.






The girl-----Tachibana is dense.

Of course, the denseness here is related to the opposite sex-----which means it is related to love emotions.

She can take care of everything other than love in details, and is good at taking care of others.

Although she was a little hard-headed, she is diligent, social, and is seen favorably by others.

But she is dense.

It was something created from her environment.

Being born in the martial family of the Tachibana style, Tomoe had devoted most of her childhood days training to succeed in the family’s name. Fortunately she was blessed with the talent of martial arts and the tough training certainly bore fruit even though it was little by little.

However, it became Tomoe’s misfortune. The training of the Tachibana style was to give girls the strength enough to make males in the same age as them run away barefooted.

Strength is simply something standard to males-----especially teenagers.

The fact of having a girl stronger than them made the teenage males around Tomoe have stubborn hearts.  It was so severe that not even one person could tell their feelings even though they have favorable intentions towards the girl. 

If any one of them was honest then, Tomoe might be able to discover love.

……………….judging from the point of telling their feelings, there were several times she got letters and chocolates from other girls and that made her confused.

Anyways-------as a result of being of being born in the environment she was raised in with that talent, Tomoe grew up without knowing about love. Different from Miyabi, one of the reasons was that she had no chance to touch any works that made her yearn for love.

That is why; the trigger of this was being treated as a girl by a teenage boy she met in Kouryou academy.

Even though it was not like she fell in love, it was just strong enough to concern over the boy unconsciously.

That was still a small feeling.  Her chest rustled the moment she saw him getting kissed, and she crushed the chance to notice this feeling by shouting how shameless------which was done from outside her senses. 

But even so, her story did not stop and still continues on.

Gradually but certainly, she was starting to get attracted to the boy without noticing it.




After a few days passed, the boy------Kokonoe Tooru got discharged and has returned back to the girls.





When Miyabi thinks about Tooru, her chest ached. It feels itchy and does not calm down.

Strangely enough, those feelings vanished off when Tooru actually stands in front of her and she gets wrapped in an uplifting fluffy and comfortable feeling as a replacement.

It '''''was''''' the same thing when Tooru called out to her when she headed to the cafeteria alone during the evening.

---Yes, in past tense.

“Eh……Ah, you are going with Tomoe-chan tomorrow morning………..?”

What Tooru was saying was, that he would most likely not show his face in the morning runs for a while because he was going to learn martial arts from Tomoe starting tomorrow morning.

“Sorry. We promised to have her teach me once the <<Survive>> ended”

Even though he did not make any promise with Miyabi, Tooru felt a little apologetic to her since he runs with her almost every day.

This sudden talk gave Miyabi a shock when she was unconsciously looking forward to running together again starting from tomorrow morning.

---but, she swung her head to the side in panic when she saw Tooru’s apologetic expression.

“Th-there is no reason for Tooru-kun to apologize. See, it’s not like we promised to run together………a-and, you would show your face since it’s for a while right? Then, I will run as much as I can and become fast so I can surprise Tooru-kun, fufu”

Miyabi tried her best to smile and Tooru felt saved when he saw that expression.

“I get it. Alright, I look forward to that day………..the day Miyabi would make me run laps slower than her”

“-----E-eeeeeeeeeeeeh!? To-Tooru-kun, don’t make such an unreasonable demand<nowiki>～～～～</nowiki>”

The atmosphere flowing between them returned back to the usual lively one.

After a while from that, Miyabi would send her sights towards Tooru who was having fun talking to his friends several times during dinner and would make small sighs unconsciously each time.

(I see………..With Tomoe-chan, huh………..)

In the end, Miyabi did not have any appetite for today’s dinner and left-over her dinner.




The night cleared out and it became morning-----

Right in the promenade between the dormitory and the hall opposite, Tooru and Tomoe were facing each other.

“Well then, we will now begin the introduction of the techniques from the Tachibana style”

“I am counting on you master Tachibana”

“St-stop it, It’s true that I am going to be the one guiding but, I am still a novice so I can’t help, but feel itchy if I am being called that”

Tomoe scratched her cheeks while looking embarrassed and troubled, because of my joke made to the Tachibana style.

“I’ll say this before we start, the contents I am going to teach you are basics, so plain and simple training will continue. I am sorry but, please prepare yourself for that. If you want a good sword then forge it from the ore, that is the guidance thought in the Tachibana-----“

“Haha, I got told something close to that by my master before. Well, mine is a tree instead of a sword though”

When Tooru talked about the proverb he told to Miyabi before, Tomoe made a agreeing nod.

And at the same time, she had a favorable impression to Tooru who understood the importance of basics which are easily overlooked and forgotten even though it was a normal thing to do.

“Well then, let’s begin. First off please imitate my stances……………yes, like that. Then move your leg-----“

The guidance for the body movements started. Even though he was confused at first, Tooru immediately made an understanding nod.

“------Uuun, I am able to understand the shape but, I have to make my body get familiarized to it to use it” 

After he said that, Tomoe made a small smile while looking at Tooru who was repeating the moves he learned seriously while somewhat having fun.
 
(Fufu, Looks like he would progress fast by this pace)

No matter what skills it may be, it takes time for the body to really get it. However that time changes greatly by the enthusiasm of the heart of wanting to learn.

After a while, the guidance for the next technique-----the way of the eight style’s basics started.

“----------that’s about it. If you get used to it then you will be able to combine it with the first moves. I’ll show you an example. I will now get close to you and you thrust your fist out”

Tooru brought his fist forward towards Tomoe who got close like he was told------and at that moment, Tomoe suddenly spun her body and grabbed his arms before slipping into his chest area.

“And well, this is it. I am saying that I will make a throw here. It’s probably good to add an elbow strike here depending on the situation”

“………….This is the move I lost to during the <<Fist practice>> from a while ago. But I see now. The connection between attacking and blocking is amazing” 

“It’s Ryuusui<ref group ="3a">Flowing water</ref>. Whether it’s the movements, way of performing, or attack, all of it will flow within as one. Okay, let’s try it out. I will bring my fist forward now so, you try doing the same”

Tooru nodded and dodged her fist similar to her and entered a throwing stance once he slipped into her chest area together with grabbing her hands but-----

He noticed.

Tomoe’s big and soft breasts touched his back.

“That’s right, that’s the feeling. Okay, let’s repeat that for 10 times. However, you can put more strength in your arm and pull harder this time”

Tooru’s face stiffened.

The breast behind him would touch harder the stronger he pulls and makes him more conscious about it.

(Hu-hurry up and endddddddddd!!)

Tooru’s heart got chaotic from the feeling touching his back.

Tomoe thought this when she saw Tooru like that.

(Umu, it’s a good face. The spirit of wanting to acquire this move as fast as possible is being told)

“………….okay, since we gone this way, let’s add in 10 more times!”

Tooru shouted in his heart at Tomoe’s suggestion.




Like that------Tachibana Tomoe deepened her relationship with Tooru through the guidance of martial arts.




There was someone looking at both of them from the tree shadows.

It was Miyabi.

She would normally be running outside the school in this time slot by now but, she got curious about Tooru and Tomoe today and took up an unfunny action of peeking like this. 

(What am I doing…………)

Miyabi made sigh when she looked at the objectives of her actions.

Even though she was thinking why her eyes won’t leave them for some odd reason, she continued looking at the both of them without getting any answers and-----

“-----!!”

Suddenly, Tomoe hugged Tooru from the back.

---Of course, it was just a lecture of the combination of the move and the way of performing it and is completely unrelated to the male and female relationship but, Miyabi misunderstood that and took a big breath.

It was only when she saw Tooru and Tomoe’s position switched and performing the same------the action of repeatedly bringing their body closer and letting go, that she let go of the breath she sucked in. 

(O-oh I see………That was training…………)

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Dokun**dokun* her heartbeat coming from her chest got faster at this surprise.

She took a deep breath to calm it down as much as possible and slowly exhaled. She then repeated this.

Her heartbeat started to calm down and-----

“Haa……….”

Miyabi feelings sank together with that, and leaked a big sigh------she then mumbled this.

“How nice…………”

Those were her true thoughts she said unconsciously.

It was something pointed to the scenery of Tomoe------and Tooru bringing their body closer.

(Eh………?)

After she mumbled that, Miyabi felt surprise at her own words.

(Why did I thought how nice just now……….?)

Miyabi got bewildered at her true thoughts that came out unconsciously.

It was impossible for her senses until now to think that hugging a male was enviable. 

Rather, it was something enough to make her get embarrassed and look away when she sees males and females-----couples bringing their body closer in the city.

But even so, Miyabi continuing thinking why and------the answer came out.

The answer was shown from the words she said unconsciously.

Yes, Miyabi was envious of Tomoe. She understood herself for feeling envious of bringing her body close to none other than Tooru.

And to find what kind of emotion it was, Miyabi applied the knowledge she had in herself before---- 

(Ah-re…………? That’ means……….I, might have……..)

She got perplexed when she reached the answer.

However, the answer is shown to be correct by the throbbing heart she gets just by hearing Tooru’s voice.

She wants to hear his voice more.

She wants to see his face more.

The embarrassment was enough to make her die but, she wants to run to him and hug him.

No matter if Tooru is the first male friend she got close with, there is no way she would hold that kind of emotion to a friend.

Miyabi mumbled this.

“So, I love-----Tooru-kun, huh…………..”




Like this-----Hotaka Miyabi became aware of her first love.


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==Translation Notes and References==
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