Chapter 930

"Withdraw? Impossible!"

"And, I haven't lost!"

"Rather, everything is just beginning now!"

"Whether it's you or any other girl, I won't lose!"

Hearing the word "lose", Nanami Izumi seemed to have triggered a switch deeply embedded in her heart.

The smile on her face faded, replaced by an expression of gritted-teeth defiance.

"Is that so?"

"Then let's just wait and see!"

"Let me state first, you are the challenger!"

"When you lose, don't come crying to me, oh!"

Rin Tsukishima's mouth twitched again, but she still forced a confident smile and retorted without backing down.

"That's exactly what I should be saying."

The two of them just stood in the empty corridor, staring at each other, neither willing to give an inch, the air filled with the thick scent of gunpowder.

Finally, they let out a huff of unknown meaning from their noses almost simultaneously, turned their heads away, and parted on bad terms.

Soon.

Rin Tsukishima adjusted her expression, returned to the theater, and sat back in the seat next to Natsume Chikage.

Natsume Chikage turned his head, gave her an appreciative smile, and congratulated her sincerely:

"Tsukishima-senpai, the performance just now was really great."

Hearing this praise from Natsume Chikage, Rin Tsukishima, who had been feeling gloomy because of Nanami Izumi, instantly felt the dark clouds disperse and the sun shine through.

After all, this was a rare direct compliment from Natsume Chikage regarding her personal abilities.

Or rather, this time she had specifically gone to great lengths to invite Natsume Chikage to watch, and what she was hoping for deep down was perhaps exactly this kind of recognition.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, her heart leaping with joy, and she responded happily:

"Thank you, Natsume-kun."

However, when she thought of that scene just now, she couldn't help but puff out her cheeks slightly, like a little hamster that couldn't hide its worries.

She asked cautiously, with a hint of imperceptible sourness in her tone:

"Just now... that Nanami Izumi, what did she talk to you about when she came over?"

Natsume Chikage did not notice her subtle little mood and explained naturally:

"Oh, she said her younger brother is a classmate of my sister Ruri at this school."

Upon hearing this, Rin Tsukishima's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ah?"

"Izumi-san's younger brother... is a classmate of your younger sister?"

Natsume Chikage nodded.

"Yes."

"She said she had a violin competition recently and had extra tickets, so she gave them away, and they happened to end up in my sister's hands."

"I saw that my sister seemed quite interested in going, so I agreed to accompany her."

"As for her coming over to find me just now, it was just to confirm if I would be going, and to say hello and get acquainted."

Rin Tsukishima nodded thoughtfully.

"So that's how it is..."

Natsume Chikage looked at her and asked curiously in return:

"However, hearing you call out the name 'Nanami Izumi' so naturally just now... did you know her before?"

Rin Tsukishima sighed, her tone tinged with a bit of helplessness.

"I know her... she and I both play the violin."

"So naturally, we run into each other at many related competitions and musical events."

"At first, I didn't really pay much attention to her; after all, we aren't close, I just knew such a person existed."

"But you know, there is only one champion in a competition. I don't want to lose, and I hate the feeling of losing."

"So every time I compete, I give it my all. Over time, perhaps because my ranking was always above hers, she started regarding me as a rival she had to surpass."

"After that, every time we met at a competition, she would say things like challenge declarations to me... and so, we 'got to know' each other."

Hearing this, Natsume Chikage smiled knowingly.

"Oh, I see. It's equivalent to... some kind of 'ill-fated relationship'?"

Rin Tsukishima smiled helplessly, which counted as tacit agreement.

"It's pretty much that kind of feeling."

However, she suddenly remembered something else, and couldn't help but puff out her pink cheeks slightly, muttering in a volume only the two of them could hear:

"So... Natsume-kun's sister wants to go watch a violin competition..."

"That competition... I will be participating in it too."

Natsume Chikage was slightly surprised, then smiled:

"That's great, then I'll be able to see your performance on site, Tsukishima-senpai."

Rin Tsukishima listened to these expected words, but her heart felt as if it had been soaked in honey, with threads of sweetness rising.

Actually, she had originally planned to find an opportunity to invite Natsume Chikage to watch that competition.

But since Nanami Izumi had already "stolen a march" and given the tickets, it saved her some trouble.

Moreover, Nanami Izumi had provoked her so blatantly...

She, Rin Tsukishima, was not a pushover.

When the time came at the competition, she must rely on absolute strength to win decisively!