[📕Novel: Four-Character Idioms] ② Ichigo Ichie (Once-in-a-Lifetime Encounter)

Episode 2: "Four-Character Idioms Becoming Reality!?"

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　The next morning.
　Naicun's LINE suddenly pinged.

Naicun: "Grandma's diary... Grandpa found out I opened it without asking..."
Normald: "Oh, and then?"
Naicun: "He scolded me, saying 'Don't dig up the past.' But at the end, he muttered, 'Knowing things isn't a bad thing, though.'"
Hardon: "...Wait, what? Are you still hung up on the four-character idiom?"

　I thought it couldn't be.
　But it was too perfect to be a coincidence.

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◆ Gathering Again

　After school. In the usual Naicun family living room.

　"...Isn't that Game of Life thing dangerous?"
　When I (Hardon) started the conversation, Normald also had a serious look on his face.
　"Indeed, it feels like Naicun's episode is unfolding like 'Onko Chishin' (Learning from the Past)..."

　Naicun smiled bitterly and spread out the game again.

　"Want to try it again?"
　"O-oh... I'll check it out!"

　Hardon rolled the dice.
　The result was "5".

　The card he drew was—

　"Yugen Jikko" (Putting Words into Action)

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◆ Hardon's Day

　That night, during dinner, my mother said,
　"Hey, the shopping district around here is doing another support campaign for the kids. Someone was saying before that they wanted Hardon-kun to draw the poster."

　"Eh, no way... I never said I'd draw it..."
　But when I really thought about it, I had said it before summer vacation.

　> "I'm in the art club, so if someone asks me, I don't mind drawing it."

　That was it.

　The next day, I was asked to make the poster and was in a situation where I couldn't escape.
　Moreover, the teacher said,

　"Hardon, I'm looking forward to your 'Yugen Jikko'."

　"...What!? Who said that four-character idiom!!"

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◆ Normald Too

　A few days later.

　"Hey, for me too..."
　Normald started talking.

　"Yesterday, I saw an elementary school kid doing a back-hip circle at the park. I instinctively called out, 'Try it seven times, you'll definitely be able to do it,' and the parent asked me, 'Could you be their coach?'..."

　"...Shichiten Hakki" (Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight).
　Naicun muttered.

　"What is this, seriously... the four-character idioms are becoming reality."

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◆ Naicun's Card

　"Then, it's my turn next."
　Naicun rolled the dice. The result was "2".

　He drew a card. Written on it was—

　"Ichigo Ichie" (Once-in-a-Lifetime Encounter)

　"...This is an amazing phrase."
　Naicun gently held the card to his chest.

　"I feel like 'something' is going to happen soon."
　"Stop it with that flag-like talk," I shouted, and Normald laughed.

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◆ That Night's Event

　As Naicun was walking through the shopping district, he stopped in front of a used bookstore.
　He happened to see someone drop a small paperback book.

　When he chased after them to hand it back, the person who turned around was—

　"...Huh?"
　A face he felt he had seen somewhere. No, from an old... photo?

　The woman said,
　"Thank you. This is an important book."
　Saying that, she smiled brightly for just a fleeting moment.

　For some reason, Naicun felt like he was going to cry.

　"Ichigo Ichie"—it was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter where he didn't even get to ask her name.

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　When he returned to his room, that Game of Life was placed on the table.
　Even though no one should have taken it out.

　Moreover, there was a card I had never seen before in the center card slot.
　Seeing those characters, we lost our voices.

　"Next time: Hegan Issho (Bursting into Laughter)"

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To be continued