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Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Third Question

2012-04-09T17:22:56Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Third Question */

==The Third Question==

'''Under the 76th line of the Japanese Constitution ‘The Independence of the Judge’, please fill in the following blanks.'''

‘All judges shall exercise (________) to (________) execute their (________) and shall be bound only by (________) and the (________) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Himeji Mizuki’s answer:'''

‘All judges shall exercise (conscience) to (independently) execute their (authority) and shall be bound only by (Constitution) and the (laws) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

Well answered. This is one of the rather important articles in the Japanese Constitution. As the judge’s exercise the privileges, the constitution can ensure that the judge won’t be instigated by political powers and high-levels of the court and perform the duties independently. The content itself also includes ensuring the personal safety of the judge. I hope you can remember this little knowledge.

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

‘All judges shall exercise (BLEEP) to (BLEEP) execute their (BLEEP) and shall be bound only by (BLEEP) and the (BLEEP) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

In that case, wouldn’t the 76th article be a bad thing?

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

‘All judges shall exercise (instincts) to (take off their clothes and) execute (a strip exercise) and shall be bound only by (the policeman’s hand holding onto the culprit) and the (handcuffs) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I DEMAND YOU SEND A LETTER OF APOLOGY TO ALL THE JUDGES WITH FULL SINCERITY!!

The familiar sound of the dismissal bell rang, and it’s finally time for school dismissal.

“Yuuji, can I discuss with you something?”

I asked my bad friend who was ready to pack his bag and go home.

“Hm? Akihisa, what’s the matter?”

“For today, can I stay over at your house tonight? There are a lot of things about homework and the types of questions that are to be tested at the end-of-term tests I want to ask you about.”

—ZAWAASH

The moment I said this, buzzing could be heard in the classroom.

“Oi…did you hear that…?”

“I heard that. To think that such an unbelievable thing was said…”

“How could those two possibly…”

“Yeah, how could that Yoshii and Sakamoto…”

““Actually know of end-of-term tests…””

I really want to argue back at them, but I’ll let them off for today. Humph, you guys managed to keep your own lives there.

“You want me to teach you?”

“Un.”

“Really there…haven’t you memorized the times table for 7?”

“Hold on a sec! I don’t remember saying that I’m uneasy over being unable to recite the division table! Even I know how to multiply fractions there!”

“I see. Then tell me what’s the area of a triangle.”

“(Base) X (Height) = <Area>! Are you thinking that I’m an idiot on that level!?”

“Okay okay, you got it, Akihisa. Just remember to divide by two to get the correct area of the triangle.”

…

“Fuu, really there…you’re really a genius at being picky in such things, Yuuji.”

“Amazing! This answer is far more than what I even expected!”

Tha, that’s not it! I just answered too quickly and forgot about it. I will definitely be able to answer if there are questions related to the area of a triangle!

“Well, Akihisa-kun….”

Just when Yuuji and I were yapping away, Himeji-san with her hands carrying her bag arrived in front of us. She’s probably intending to go home directly today.

“What is it, Himeji-san?”

“I have to tell you that there’s a trick to memorizing the times table quickly.”

“I can memorize it! Even I can remember that nine times nine equals eighty one!”

Himeji-san really looked worried. Am I really an incorrigible idiot in Himeji-san’s mind? This really shocked me.

“But why did you become so hardworking? If there’s no special reason, I don’t think you would study obediently.”

On hearing Hideyoshi, who’s sitting nearby, say the words special reasons, Himeji-san stared at me in a gloomier fashion.

“No, that’s not it. Didn’t Yuuji announce it to everyone? The ‘summoning system’s data is being reset’ and that ‘we have to attend summer remedial if we don’t do well for the end-of-term tests’. I don’t want to keep carrying a wooden sword and wearing a school uniform until graduation, and I want to enjoy summer vacation as well, so I thought I should work hard.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Aki will start working hard because of such a trivial reason.”

Muttsurini and Minami came over. Why did so many people gather when I said that I want to study?

“Well, Akihisa-kun, if you don’t mind…can I study with you?”

Himeji-san timidly raised her hand to request. Saying ‘Really, Himeji-san’s really a kind-hearted person.

Under normal circumstances, I would accept this offer gratefully. But today’s situation is different. It’s possible if it’s Yuuji’s house, but—

“I can’t possibly stay overnight at Himeji-san’s house…”

“Eh? Akihisa-kun, you want to stay over at my house?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…”

“In, in that case, I have to call back home first and tell otou-san not to drink tonight…erm…I’m saying that if Akihisa-kun’s willing to talk about ‘important things’ with him, it will be troublesome when he’s drunk…”

Himeji-san fidgeted and said some things I couldn’t even understand. What important things do I want to say to Himeji-san’s dad—

“Is it about the transfer? I’ll go convince him then!”

Are tatami mats still not enough? If we can have someone get some normal tables and chairs…

“Are you talking about changing of faith? Isn’t Akihisa-kun a Buddhist?” TN: Transfer school/changing of faith are both written with the furigana ‘tenkou’.

‘Hoh? What is that about?”

“No, well, it’s about how our families have different religions…”

“???”

What the heck? It sounds like both of us aren’t on the same page here.

“Himeji’s thinking pattern’ really similar to Akihisa.”

“Yeah, this is what it means by taking the color of one’s company.”

“…Way too similar.”

My three bad friends stared at me, seemingly exchanging looks and whispering.

On a side note, there are some terms Minami doesn’t understand, so she has a pile of question marks above her head now.

“Speaking of which, I’ve been wondering about it since this morning. Why do you want to come over to my house, Akihisa? Did something happen at your house?”

“Ah…well, actually…”

“Don’t try and lie to me.”

“I suddenly thought that I need to study—ack, that’s too fast! I didn’t even say anything yet!”

It’s true that that was a lie though.

“Oh well. This will implicate the next summoning battle, so it’s not like I can’t teach you.”

“Eh? Really?”

“But we’re going to your house. It’ll be easier to deal with things there.”

After saying that, Yuuji even looked aside and muttered “because of such a mother around in my house…”

That kind of mother? I’ve never met Yuuji’s mother before. What kind of mother is she?

“Eh? My house’s not convenient! It’s a little, well, inconvenient today!”

“Your house is inconvenient today? What’s wrong?”

“U, un, well, actually, some workers are going to come over to decorate my house.”

“Stop lying. We were supposed to go to your house to play that boxing game. How is it possible that any workers will be here!”

“No, I accidentally lost my key.”

“Your house is an apartment. Just call the caretaker to open it for you.”

“No, actually, my house caught fire!”

“A fire happened and you have the heart to prepare a bento and even iron your clothes thoroughly? How stupid can you get?”

“Ah—erm, actually, what other…!”

“Time to buck up. Your lies are really so bad that I can read through them.”

“Gu…”

I really thought a lot about this, but I just couldn’t think of a reason not to go home. This is bad.

Can’t be helped. In that case, I’ll just go back home and try to fight against my sister…

“I got it. I’ll just go home then…”

I carried my back and got up from my seat. But just when I was about to turn around and leave, Hideyoshi grabbed my shoulder.

“Wait a sec, Akihisa. Is there something you’re hiding from this gang here?”

“Uehh!? No, there’s nothing!”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but if there’s a secret this idiot wants to hide no matter what…looks like it’ll be interesting.”

Yuuji smirked as his eyes narrowed.

“Alright, let’s go check it out!”

“Wa, wait a sec, Yuuji! What are you saying?”

“Yeah. Maybe we can see a completely different side to Aki.”

“I’m interested too.”

“…Time to search the house.”

“Since club activities are suspended during the exams, I guess I’ll come along too.”

THIS IS BAD! WHY IS THE SITUATION BECOMING MORE AND MORE DISADVANTAGEOUS TO ME!!?

“No! You can’t go to my house today! Erm, my house is messy now!”

“Erm, if it’s messy, I can help you clean it up. You can’t concentrate if it’s messy.”

As, as expected of Himeji-san…! Her kindness’ just like an angel…!

But if this keeps up, Himeji-san will come over to my house and meet that ridiculously weird sister of mine. What should I do? What should I—that’s right! I’ll just mention something that girls won’t want to touch!

“But the mess I’m talking about is the 2000+ ero books I have at home!”

“…Leave it to me (thumbs up)”

“Damn it! It ended up piquing Muttsurini’s interest!? This is way different from my initial prediction!”

“Alright. Since everyone has a common understanding, let’s go over to Akihisa’ house!”

“““Ossu!!”””

“NO~!!!!”

I tried my best to resist, but in the end, I was twisted on the neck and dragged back home with everyone. Wha, what should I do now…

<center>☆</center>

“What can it be?”

“Akihisa’s different from Muttsurini in that there’s nothing he would normally hide. Even I would be looking forward to seeing what he has at home.”

“…I don’t hide anything.”

“Muttsurini, are you interested in girls’ underwear?”

“…How could I.”

“I’d say, Muttsurini, you’re so used to lying that you could do it without blinking.”

“…(Shakes head furiously)!”

On the way home, everyone except me seemed to be chatting away happily as they walked.

“But what could it be? Something that Akihisa-kun wants to hide no matter what…”

“That’s right. There’s the huge commotion he caused during the study camp. I don’t think he will be hiding ero-books.”

“Yeah…Akihisa would actually bring his own bento and even iron his clothes properly. I’d guess…”

“Maybe he got a girlfriend?”

“““…!?”””

But Yuuji’s careless words caused everyone present to widen their eyes.

“A, Aki! What’s going on!? Explain clearly!”

“M, muu…so Akihisa found his partner in life…as a friend, I’d be giving my blessings, but I don’t know whether I should be relieved or jealous here…”

“…Traitor!”

“I, I didn’t even say anything!”

Isn’t everyone’s imagination way too creative?

“Everyone, don’t worry. How could Akihisa-kun be dating a girl and hiding it from us? I believe Akihisa-kun.”

Amongst the voices of the 4 people, Himeji-san was the only one who kept her calm. As expected of Himeji-san, she’s really different from the rest.

“Right, Akihisa-kun? You aren’t ‘hiding someone’ and keeping it a secret from us, right?”

Really, she’s different from the rest—Himeji-san’s smile looks really creepy here.

As we continued to argue, our gang arrived in front of the building where I lived in.

“Oh well, the truth will be out once we enter the house. Oi, Akihisa, take out the key.”

“I don’t want to.”

I still tried to resist.

“Akihisa, do you want to try the pain of wearing just a Y-shirt?”

“Eh? Wait a sec! Didn’t you leave out lots of parts in the middle!?”

“…I want to see Akihisa looking up with tears in his eyes.”

“Muttsurini! You’re even designating what the action will be!? Are you trying to sell it!? Make a cushion out of it!? The twin-sided cushion has Hideyoshi on the other side, right!?”

“Why do you even got me involved?”

“Tsuchiya-kun, if possible, I hope that the top two buttons of the shirt are opened…”

“EVEN HIMEJI-SAN’S BEEN WEIRD RECENTLY! I GOT IT! I’LL OPEN! I’LL OPEN IT!”

“…Buttons?”

“THE DOOR!!”

Since it came to this, it’s useless to resist no matter what. In that case, I can only pray silently and hope nee-san’s out…

I secretly prayed to all the gods in the world and opened the door leading to my house.

“Don’t tell me he really has a girlfriend…”

“I feel really nervous…”

“Don’t worry, it’s definitely not something like that…”

Just when everyone swallowed their saliva and watched me, I opened the door to the corridor.

Nee-san would normally put her shoes in the corridor—they’re gone! Great! She went out!

If nee-san’s not around, I have nothing to worry about. I’ll just let them look around the house and immediately send them out.

“Alright, everyone, come into the house then.”

I called everyone in and opened the door leading to the living room.

The moment I opened the door, what entered my eyes was—

“““…”””

The thing hanging inside the room—was a type of woman’s underwear called a brassiere.

“WHY IS THERE AN EVIDENCE I CAN’T HIDE NO MATTER WHAT!!”

THAT THING SHOULD BE HUNG INSIDE THE BATHROOM! THAT IDIOT SISTER OF MINE!!

I frantically ran over and threw the washed bra into another room. Did they see it? Did they all see it?

I slowly turned around to check everyone’s response,

“…Well, there’s no evidence that’s more decisive than that.”

“I, I feel the same here…”

“…I’m so jealous that I want to kill you!”

Minami and the rest said their response.

“Eh, ermm, that’s…”

Damn it…! I can’t even try to mislead them here…!!!

In the midst of despair, I still thought of some method to try and give an excuse.

In the meantime, Himeji-san was the only one who remained calm and she smiled and walked over to me.

“Akihisa-kun, how could you do this?”

“Eh? What?”

“That bra isn’t Akihisa-kun’s size, right?”

“““ISN’T SHE IN SELF-DENIAL HERE!?”””

Eh! Himeji-san, do you think that I’ll wear a girl’s bra? In a certain sense, this is something that disturbs me more than having my sister’s existence discovered!

“Himeji-san, that’s not mine!”

“Arre? That’s—”

Even with such a huge misunderstanding, I tried my best to explain, but Himeji-san’s gaze had already moved to the table in the living room. What is it this time? Ah, that’s the cotton pad nee-san uses for cosmetics—

“That’s fishcake, right?”

“““Fishcake!?”””

As, as expected of Himeji-san! She actually saw the cotton pad as fishcake; she’s living in a completely different dimension from an ordinary person…I’m really wondering what Himeji-san’s dining table will have.

Just when I saw these random things, Himeji-san looked afar. What she saw on the table—wasn’t that a healthy bento women like most!?”

“Hi, Himeji-san…? What…? What’s weird about that bento?”

“Sob sob…”

“UEEHH!? Why are you crying out of a sudden?”

“I can’t deny it further…”

“HOLD ON A SEC! WHY IS IT THAT A BRA AND COSMETICS CAN BE PASSED OFF BUT A BENTO IS IMMEDIATELY OUT!?”

Don’t tell me a healthy bento women like is a more serious evidence than bra and cosmetics?

“Haa…since it came to this, it can’t be helped…I’ll be honest here. My sister just came back home…”

Since so much was found it, it’s pointless for me to hide anything, so I have to say the truth. It’ll be extremely bad if I continue to try and hide things and cause them to mistake me for having a crossdressing fetish.

After hearing my confession, everyone finally showed a relieved look.

“Tha, that’s right. How could Aki have a girlfriend.”

“…We’re thinking too much.”

“Even I’d feel relieved.”

Everyone put their hand on their chests and heaved a sigh of relief.

Even though it’s a little late, I’m really wondering why they wouldn’t think that it was nee-san instead of a girlfriend I would have? Did they already have some sort of idea?

“I see. So Akihisa-kun’s nee-san came back. That’s great…”

That’s not good to me at all.

“Well, since things are like that, I made my own bento and ironed my clothes nearly. Do you understand now?”

Alright, now that I explained things here, please leave. I have to make these troublesome people leave before there’s any doubts.

“Wait, Akihisa.”

Ack! The most troublesome idiot seemed to notice something.

“Is, is there something wrong, Yuuji?”

“We knew that you have a sister. But why aren’t you willing to stay at home with your sister here?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Even I feel that it’s weird here.”

“…(Nods head).”

“Does Akihisa-kun still have something else he wants to hide from us?”

Yuuji’s doubt caused everyone present to feel suspicious.

Gu…! If I had known that things will end up like this, I shouldn’t have told Yuuji about staying overnight and should have just went home…

“Akihisa, it will be easier for you if you just say the truth, right?”

Yuuji reached his hand out and patted me on the shoulder. Un, actually, I’m already prepared…

“Actually…my sister here, well…she’s really a weird person… or rather, lacks common sense…anyway, if I’m with her, a lot of terrible things will happen, and I’ll be deducted a lot of points for whatever strange reason, so I don’t want to go home…”

“To, to think that even Aki would say that she lacks common sense. How serious can that be?”

“Muu…even, if it’s scary, even I’d be wondering here.”

“…Have to meet her no matter what.”

“Yeah, I want to meet Akihisa-kun’s sister for once.”

So it became like this…this is almost like the worst situation I could imagine.

Just when I was thinking that everyone here was interested in seeing nee-san,

“Ah~ what the heck, I say, your interest in other people’s family affairs is way too weak. Even other people have sisters or ‘mothers’ that they don’t want others to meet.”

That’s rare! It’s rare that Yuuji would actually say something for me. What kind of wind is blowing here?

“Yu, Yuuji…! Thanks—”

GACHANK!

At this moment, the sound of the door at the corridor being opened could be heard.

“Arre…? You came back when nee-san’s out shopping, Aki-kun?”

……Eh? What’s with this timing? Are we having a comedy here!?”

“UWAAAAHHH!! SH, SHE’S BACK! EVERYONE, FIND A PLACE TO HIDE—”

“Is it Akihisa-kun’s sister…? I’m really nervous here…”

“Ca, can I actually say hello to Aki’s sister…”

“NOT GOOD! YOU PEOPLE JUST WANT TO SEE HER!!”

Just everyone focused on the living room door to see nee-san appear, I could only continue to look up to the heavens and pray.

Since things ended up like this, I have only one last hope left. Nee-san! I won’t demand for you to greet everyone properly…! So at least, just for once, be in normal clothes…!

The tense moment went by immediately, and the door finally opened.

“Oh my, do we have guest? Welcome. Our house is a little small, but I hope that you can treat it as your own house. Please don’t feel restrained.”

Nee-san, who said such a normal thing, was dressed in ¾ pants and a collared short-sleeved shirt with a vest on. That’s a normal kind of get-up if there was one.

“““So, sorry to bother you…”””

The appearance of the ever-normal looking nee-san with a normal attire, demeanor and common sense caused Yuuji and the rest to look completely stumped.

“Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Yoshii Akira. Everyone, thank you for willing to be friends with this stupid and useless brother of mine.”

She even bowed after saying that. Tha, that’s too perfect! She looks just like a normal sister no matter how I see it! In that case..I should be able to fool them, right?

“Ahh, hello. I’m Sakamoto Yuuji, Akihisa’s classmate.”

Having recovered, Yuuji hurriedly lowered his head and greeted nee-san.

“…I’m Tsuchiya Kouta.”

Muttsurini spoke up next.

“Hello, Yuuji-kun, Kouta-kun.”

Nee-san smiled back at them.

Ahh…such a wonderful scene here…

Just when I was touched by this rare peaceful moment, Yuuji looked over slightly and whispered,

“Oi, Akihisa, your sister looks rather normal here. Calling her weird, how well off can you get? Instead of me, instead of me…”

“Ahaha…she, she’s normal, isn’t it? So if you have seen enough, hurry up and leave!”

Just when I whispered to Yuuji, the other classmates continued to chat with nee-san. Right now, it seems like it’s Hideyoshi’s turn.

“I’m called Kinoshita Hideyoshi. Please take care of me. A lot of people will be mistaken when seeing me, but I’m not a girl—”

“Ehh. You’re a boy, aren’t you? Hideyoshi-kun. Welcome to my house.”

“!”

On hearing those words, Hideyoshi couldn’t help but look completely shocked as he looked up at nee-san.”

“You, you’re the first one to actually be able to tell that I’m a guy….!”

I don’t know what’s going on, but Hideyoshi just looked really moved

“Of course I can tell. That’s because,”

Nee-san smiled as she said,

“That’s because it’s impossible for that stupid and ugly and useless brother of mine to have female friends.”

What’s with that firm belief that really sickens me!

Just when I was wondering how to snark back at her, nee-san’s stare moved to Himeji-san and Minami,

“So these two are guys, right?”

She made such a conclusion.

“WA, WAIT A SEC, NEE-SAN! HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH A RUDE THING YOU’RE MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME! THE THREE OF THEM ARE GIRLS!”

“Akihisa! I’m an authentic guy here, right?”

How little common sense does she have to view the three of them as guys…

After shouting that out, nee-san seemed to have a reaction to my words and slowly turned around to look at me.

“…‘Girls’, you say? Has Aki-kun been bringing girls back home?”

GUAAHH!! Da, damn it! Nee-san seems to be unhappy that I brought girls back home!

Nee-san already thinks that holding hands is illicit sexual relationships. She’s definitely fuming now! Got to find a good reason!

“We, well, nee-san, listen to me! There’s a lot of reasons—”

“…Really? Girls? Sorry for saying such insensitive things/”

“In fact..eh? That’s weird?”

While ignoring me as I tried to explain, nee-san honestly lowered her head at Himeji-san and Minami and didn’t give off any killing intent at all. Is nee-san really not angry here?”

“What’s wrong, Aki-kun?’

“Ah, no…it’s just that I’m wondering whether you’re angry, nee-san…”

“? What are you saying? Why would nee-san be angry at you?”

Nee-san looked really calm and answered as if she had no reason to be angry at all.

Wha, what, am I thinking too much? But this is great…that’s right. It’s just that some friends came over to visit my house. This kind of thing is normal, nee-san has no need to be angry.

Just when I put my hang at my chest and thought that I could heave a sigh of relief, nee-san suddenly smiled and said to me,

“Oh yes, Aki-kun.”

“Nn? What is it?’

“There’s a lot of guests here today, so the doctor game Aki-kun likes to play will have to delay till tomorrow, right?”

Ahhh I see…this person’s really trying to drive me to my grave…

“NE, NEE-SAN, WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SAYING! YOU’RE SAYING IT AS IF MY HABIT IS TO PLAY DOCTOR WITH YOU EVERY DAY…CAN YOU STOP SAYING SUCH MISLEADING THINGS! I HAVE NO INTENTION OF PLAYING THAT KIND OF GAMES WITH NEE-SAN!”

DAMN IT! SHE’S DEFINITELY ANGRY NOW! COULDN’T SHE JUST EXERT VIOLENCE ON ME!? WHY MUST SHE TORTURE ME IN SUCH A CRUEL MANNER!? THIS PERSON HERE IS REALLY TOO MUCH!

“A, Akihisa-kun…playing doctor with your own sister…”

“Aki…it’s against the law to do this with your blood-related sister…”

FUUOOOHHH!! SEE, THEY’RE MISTAKEN HERE!!

“NEE-SAN! SCOLD ME LATER WHATEVER YOU WANT, JUST CORRECT THOSE WORDS!”

“Aki-kun, what are you panicking about? Oh yes. Do you know where’s the nurse uniform nee-san gave you yesterday?”

“DON’T ASK ME SUCH A THING AT THIS MOMENT!”

DAMN IRRITATING! THIS PERSON’S DAMN IRRITATING! IF I HAD KNOWN THAT THINGS WOULD END UP LIKE THIS, I MIGHT AS WELL CAMP OUTSIDE!

“Alos, I’m going to deduct you another 150 points under the crime of illicit sexual relationships.”

“150? 150’S TOO MUCH! I DIDN’T EVEN DO ANYTHING YET!”

“…’Didn’t even do anything yet’? …I’ll deduct another 200 points.”

“FUWAAAAHHHH!!!! NEE-SAN’S ONE HUGE IDIOT!”

200 POINTS! WHY DID IT JUST END UP IN A STATE WHERE I CAN’T RECOVER NO MATTER WHETHER I WANT TO!

“…Sorry Akihisa, I’m willing to take back those words I just said.”

“Un…thanks Yuuji…this, this is the first time I actually feel healed by Yuuji ever since I was born…”

I wasn’t able to prepare myself mentally in time because of my sister’s attire and demeanor. I’M BASICALLY GAMBLING WITH MY LIFE FOR ACTUALLY DARING TO BE CARELESS IN FRONT OF THIS PERSON!

“Sorry for being off-topic. Can I ask you for your names?”

“Ah, yes, sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Himeji Mizuki, Akihisa-kun’s classmate.”

“I’m Shimada Minami, and—”

Minami suddenly glanced at me as she spoke halfway,

“—I’m friends with Aki.”

Mu. Minami just looked like she wanted to say that we aren’t friends. Was she planning to use the introduction she made at class and say that I was her wrestling training sandbag?

“So it’s Mizuki-san and Minami-san. Nice to meet you for the first time.”

Nee-san kept her smile and answered them throughout. It’s because she showed herself to be so normal in such situations that people will wonder how real were those weird things she said. Really, she’s a sister that really worries me…

“Oh yeah. Where did you go just now, nee-san?”

“I went to buy ingredients for dinner.”

Nee-san opened the bags she was holding, and there were ingredients like clams and bacon. I see, so nee-san went to buy ingredients for dinner.

“Eh? Didn’t you buy too much here?”

Each ingredient was way too much if it’s for two people. Even a family can’t finish that much.

“Nope, that’s definitely just enough.”

Nee-san seemed to be unhappy with my words and even puffed her cheeks unhappily. It’s rather refreshing when nee-san herself doesn’t really show her real emotions on her face.

Nee-san’s not good at cooking, and actually ran off to buy dinner ingredients, so the amount was mistaken, right? But it isn’t like nee-san to be unhappy over being pointed out.

“It’s rare for everyone to come over to our house. Why don’t you stay behind for dinner? There’s not many dishes we can offer though.”

It seemed that everyone was ready to do so. Nee-san spoke and invited everyone to stay behind for dinner. Looks like she just wouldn’t admit that she bought the wrong amount no matter what.

“In that case, I’ll stay behind too.”

“…I’ll stay for dinner too.”

“It’ll be troublesome for you, but I’d stay for dinner too.”

“Me too.”

“I, in that case, I’ll…”

Everyone nodded their heads. Looks like dinner tonight will be noisy.

“So everyone’s willing to stay behind. That’s great. Aki-kun, I’ll leave the ingredients to you.”

“Un, got it.”

I took the bag of ingredients over from nee-san. Looks like I can enjoy a luxurious meal I haven’t had for a long time.

“Eh? Aki’s cooking dinner?”

“Un, yeah.”

“Akihisa-kun knows how to cook?”

Minami and Himeji-san both looked shocked. That’s weird; is it really strange that I can cook?

“Didn’t I say it before at lunch? I prepared my own bento.”

“No, now that you mentioned it, that’s true…”

“Akihisa-kun did mention it before…”

But both of them just gave inexplicable looks.

“This isn’t anything worth being shocked about, right? Even I can cook a few simple dishes here.”

“…That’s a gentleman’s habit.”

“I’d, I don’t know…how to cook at all here…”

Yuuji and Muttsurini did show off to everyone before, so they didn’t have much reaction that I can cook.

“Forget about Muttsurini. As expected, you’re forced to learn how to cook at home, right, Yuuji?”

“Oh, that’s right…but what do you mean by saying as expected?”

“Ahaha. Because you look like you have the lowest position at home, Yuuji.”

“? What are you talking about now?”

“Eh? What do you mean—isn’t the one at the lowest position in the family in charge of cooking?”

“““……”””

For some reason, everyone showed me stares of compassion.

“It’s because of my mom’s education policy that I was forced to cook.”

“Is, is that so…”

“Aki’s mother sounds really strong…”

“I’d feel that the position isn’t the problem, but rather who can cook…”

“Eh!? Don’t tell me everyone else’s different!? Damned mom! Lying to me since young!”

I see…so my family’s different from other families…when watching TV when I was young, I would think “Isn’t it weird for mothers to cook? Aren’t mothers supposed to be the strongest people in the families?” I felt that it was weird back then, so that’s how it is…

“Alright alright. It’s still early, but let’s prepare dinner. I’ll help you, Akihisa.”

“…I’ll help too.”

“Ah, un, thanks, you two.”

“Then, in that case, I’ll…”

“““NO NEED, THE GIRLS JUST NEED TO SIT QUIETLY AND WAIT!”””

“Ah, haa…I see…”

Thus, we decided to deal with dinner first, and everyone will then study to prepare for the exams.

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“Oi, Akihisa, is there a wok that’s of better size?”

“Hehe~, actually, that rack has a paellera on it.”

“When you say paellera, are you talking about the wok used to cook paella? I didn’t think that your house would have something so special. Even my house doesn’t have it.”

“…Mine neither.”

“That’s something my mom gave in the house. What I’m saying is that since our house had such a thing, I used it to cook paella, and it was rather nice. Since then, paella became one of my favorite dishes.”

“So that’s how it is.”

In the kitchen where I was most proud of at home, Yuuji, Muttsurini and me were ready to prepare dinner for tonight.

My house was one that was bought for a family of 4 to live in, so it is rather spacious. It’s so spacious that I would feel somewhat lonely when living alone, and it’s difficult to clean up. There’s not really much benefit to say…but with three guys in a kitchen, I do feel relieved that the house’s spacious enough. However, I do still feel restrained having 3 big boys packed in a kitchen.

“But are you really going to cook paella? I thought your sister would prefer Japanese cuisine…”

“…Nee-san said that she’s fine with anything.”

“…These ingredients are obviously meant to cook paella.”

“Yeah. If it’s just prawns and clams, we can still think that it’s spaghetti, but with saffron,”

“Yeah. I can’t think of any dishes that uses saffron other than paella…arre? What’s this bottle of tomato sauce used for?”

Amongst the ingredients nee-san bought, she actually added a bottle of tomato sauce. Is this really an ingredient for cooking paella? I never heard of it before.

“…There’s also paella that’s made from mixed celery, onions, garlic and tomato sauce.”

“Eh? Tomato sauce?”

“(Nods head)… it’s a tomato sauce called soffritto in Italy.”

“Heh~so that’s how it is. I never used tomato sauce when I made it before.”

Muttsurini actually knows about such things. Is there something related to sex in Spanish restaurants for Muttsurini to be this interested?

“Akihisa, don’t tell me you actually did such a troublesome dish like paella so many times.”

“Un, I like it very much, so I do make it often.”

However, the last time I actually made paella on my own was more than a year ago. I didn’t have enough money to cook something good ever since I started living alone.

“Since you did it so many times, why did she buy some unrelated ingredients? Isn’t this weird?”

“Really? I think it’s my sister who bought the wrong thing. Normally, I would be the one in charge of buying ingredients and cooking.”

“Really? Oh well, maybe she did buy the wrong thing.”

Yuuji was still puzzled about the ingredients, but still agreed with what I said. Does he feel that something’s wrong? There shouldn’t be any problems if it’s just the ingredients, right?

“Oh yeah, Akihisa, I just thought of something.”

“Hm?”

“You didn’t let your sister know what kind of life you lived, right?”

“…You’re rather sharp about it.”

“Anyone sharp enough can tell whether you’ve been well off or not, you idiot.”

Yuuji removed the intestines of the prawns and said to me.

“…Will you be scolded if she knew?”

Muttsurini, who was using the scrub to wash the clams, asked.

“It would be alright if it was just a tantrum.”

I’ll leave those horrifying punishments of being kissed on the lips aside.

“Is there anything else other than throwing a tantrum?”

“Un, if I don’t live properly or that I can’t get enough marks during this end-of-term exams, my sister will continue to stay over at home.”

I said that as I sliced up the onion, red peppers, asparagus and stuff and put them into the big bowl.

“Enough marks?”

“It’s just like what my sister said, about deducting 150 or 200 points or so.”

“She did seem to mention it, but I didn’t hear it clearly. What’s about that marks?”

“Besides the marks, I have to get more marks than the previous streaming exam during this end-of-term exams…”

“I see, so that’s why you thought of studying hard. So that’s how it is.”

“…Understood.”

I was only deducted 20 points yesterday, and in a short moment, it became 220. If the situation is better, my recent scores will be about 1000 points…but it will be bad if this keeps up. So no matter what, I have to prevent further loss of points.

“So I just want to say, please don’t say anything in front of my sister, like grades at school, my real living habits…and also, that incident with Minami…”

“That one you’re referring to is the kiss with Shimada—Mm!”

I frantically covered Yuuji’s mouth.

Yuuji’s really a loudmouth. The voice can even reach nee-san in the kitchen!

“That’s really bad too, so you can't say it! Nee-san’s very insistent on forbidding me from having any illicit sexual relationships!”

I kept my volume down, explained it to Yuuji, and slowly took back the hand covering his mouth.

“I see. Since you’re living alone, it’ll be easier for me to disturb you at home, so I’ll just shut up this time.”

“…I’ll help too.”

“Thanks guys.”

After explaining things, they were willing to help me out. Now, we’ll continue our preparations. Let me think, the next step is…

“Yuuji, can you help me get the consommé? It’s about time to boil the soup.”

“Hm? Don’t you intend to cook that soffritto?”

“U~n….I can try it if I’m living alone, but since everyone’s waiting for dinner, I guess we should follow the recipe I’m familiar with.”

“Is that so? Since you say so, let’s do this.”

Yuuji stopped slicing the octopus into slices and took a can of consummate. That Yuuji can really do anything, talking and working at the same time.

“Un, thanks.”

I received the can and opened it, pouring the consummate into the wok Yuuji just heated up by turning on the fire. The saffron will need some time to show more of its color, so it was added in the beginning, and the soup base that’s used to increase the flavor was soon completed. Did we prepare it well beforehand, or is it that they’re skilled with their hands…? I really have to take my hats off of those two.

Let alone Muttsurini, I didn’t expect Yuuji to be good at cooking. Does this guy cook normally? My curiosity started to sutge.

“I say, Yuuji, do you cook at home every day?”

“Ahh, no, not everyday. My mother does know how to cook…”

“That’s great, having such a mother.”

“…But if I leave her alone, I really can’t tell what kind of horrible thing she’ll cook…”

Yuuji looked far away. A slight indescribable melancholy surrounded him as if there was a dish served with a mix-up between crayfish and lobster.

“Oh yeah, isn’t it time to put the rice in?”

“Ahh, put it in. Muttsurini and I will prepare the salad and the dessert.”

“…Leave it to me.”

I put the vegetables and rice in, and turned on the fire. I’ll add in the soup once it’s fried somewhat.

“Akihisa, watch the wok when you pour the soup in, or else it will get burned.”

“Don’t worry. I know what to do.”

After a while, it seemed that the color of the food in the wok was almost there, and I poured the soup in. I just need to shake it occasionally and wait for the paella to be done.

Finally, we have nothing to do and can only wait silently. Just when I was staring at the wok and spacing out, I suddenly heard Himeji-san and the rest talking. What are those people talking about?

''“Do you want to see the photo album? These are all photos of Aki-kun when he was young.”''

''“Eh? Can we?”''

''“Sounds interesting.”''

''“Aki’s photos when he was little. How does he look like?”''

''“I’ll go get it. Please wait for me.”''

Uu…my photos when I was young…feels embarrassing…if possible, I really want to stop nee-san, but my eyes can’t leave the wok, and Himeji-san said that she wanted to see it…

''“Sorry to keep you waiting.”''

Just when I was thinking randomly, it seemed that nee-san got the photo album and came back.

Haa…can’t be helped. I can only grit my teeth and endure so that everyone can pass the time, no matter how shameful it can be…

''“This is Aki-kun’s bathing photo at two-years-old.”''

''“H, how cute!”''

''“Muu, I find this expression cute too.”''

''“Looks so honest, so cute~”''

''“Next, it’s Aki-kun’s bathing photo when he was four.”''

''“Ahaha, really, Aki, falling asleep in the middle of a bath.”''

''“Probably feels nice bathing in warm water.”''

''“That sleeping face looks so pure.”''

''“And this is Aki-kun’s bathing photo when he was 7.”''

''“Should be in elementary school at this point. How memorable.”''

''“He grew quite a bit.”''

''“He really grew a lot.”''

''“And this one’s Aki-kun’s bathing photo when he was 10.”''

“WAIT A SEC, NEE-SAN! WHY ARE THESE ALL BATHING PHOTOS OF ME!? WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT PHOTO ALBUM HAVE!?”

I had to watch the wok, so I could only stand in the kitchen and shout at the living room, but didn’t get any response at all. Really, even if these are photos when I was young, why are these all bathing photos—

''“—And this is Aki-kun’s bathing photo from yesterday.”''

''“““…(Gulp)”””''

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“THAT IDIOT SISTER! WHEN DID YOU TAKE THAT PHOTO!? WHEN I WAS CHANGING!? WAS IT WHEN YOU TOOK MY CHANGE OF CLOTHES FOR ME!?”

“Akihisa, didn’t I tell you not to look away from the wok? The rice will burn.”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER THE RICE GET BURNED OR NOT! THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO GET A FRYING PAN AND WHACK THAT IDIOT SISTER OF MINE ON THE HEAD!”

“I won’t let you look down on the importance of cooking! Watch the pot!”

“LET GO OF ME! YUUJI! YOU BIG IDIOT!”

No, it’ll definitely be alright. Himeji-san and Minami are different. They’re girls with common sense, wisdom and good decision making ability. They definitely won’t look at those kinds of photos!

—Time passed just like that—

“Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting. Dinner’s ready.”

“Thank you. Sorry to make you cook with Aki-kun even though you’re guests.”

“No, please don’t worry about that. I don’t hate cooking.”

We lined another table with the table in the living room, and the dinner that was finally finished was served. Un, it looks really good.

“Than, thank you…(blushes).”

“It, it looks good…(blushes).”

“Himeji-san, Minami, why are you blushing the moment you saw me?

You two didn’t see it right? You two definitely didn’t see the photo nee-san talked about, right?

“Oh yes, Aki-kun, why do you look extremely anxious? You were yelling and shouting, and I could hear you from the living room.”

“THAT’S BECAUSE I HAD TO YELL BECAUSE OF YOU!!”

And she even dared to tell me off when she didn’t mention what she did!

“See, you’ve been shouting again…do you like calcium?”

As she said that, nee-san moved away my plate of paella and put a plate with a deeper base. Hm? What’s with this plate?

“Everyone, put your leftover shells in this palte.”

“WHAT’S WITH THIS!? DOES MY DINNER ONLY CONSIST OF SHELLS? YOU SAY THAT I LACK CALCIUM, BUT THAT’S JUST SIMPLY ABUSE, RIGHT!?”

Such a beautiful relationship called family caused my tears to continue flowing no matter what.

At the same time, I vaguely realized something…

“Nee-san…do you actually, actually hate me, nee-san…?”

Beating me hard the moment she got back home, and showing embarrassing photos of me in front of the girls in class. If I combine these facts, I can’t think of anything other than being hated by her.

As she faced my doubts, nee-san gave a ‘you surprised me’ reply, and casually answered.

“Aki-kun, what are you saying, child? How can nee-san hate you?”

If you don’t hate me, the way you treat me is way too much.

“Or rather, on the contrary.”

“Eh? Isn’t the opposite of hate…”

“Nee-san loves you.”

“Is, is that so…”

“Yes, nee-san really loves you.”

I couldn’t help but shy off. I’m happy that nee-san said that, but I’m still somewhat awkward. Saying ‘love you’ in front of everyone is really—

“—As someone of the opposite gender.”

THIS IS THE WORST!!

“WAS THOSE LAST WORDS A JOKE? I’LL BE HAPPIER IF YOU SAID THAT YOU HATED ME!”

THIS PERSON’S DEFINITELY TRYING TO FORCE ME TO MY GRAVE! THAT’S RIGHT! SHE MUST BE THINKING ABOUT THIS! SHE DEFINITELY HATES ME!

“Doesn’t a Japanese saying say it?”

“What? What are you trying to say?”

“The dumber the child, the more adorable he is.”

“Akihisa, you better give up. There’s no one else who loves you more in the world than your sister.”

“WAIT A SEC! ARE YOU SAYING THAT I’M THE DUMBEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!?”

“I, I think that Aki’s the dumbest person in the world too!”

“Me, me too! I definitely believe that there’s nobody else dumber than Akihisa-kun in this world!”

“DON’T SAY IT! PLEASE STOP HURTING ME!!”

Why is it that everyone wants to trample on my heart mercilessly…

“Oh well, we’ll just leave this alone.”

“It, it doesn’t matter now…such a conversation is only a part and parcel of my life…”

Oh yeah, did Yuuji mean that it doesn’t matter what happens to my life?

“Anyway, let’s tuck in before it gets cold.”

I turned my eyes to the food that was giving off hot air. It’s not that everyone can’t eat whenever they want to, but it’ll be a waste if the food we spent so much effort to cook goes cold. Nee-san’s right. It’s better to tuck in.

“““Itaidakimasu!!”””

Everyone clapped their hands together and attacked the food in front of them.

“Muu, this is really good.”

“Really? It’s great that it fits your taste.”

“Now that you say that, it seemed that our efforts in making this dish is somewhat worth it.”

“…(Nods head).”

Hideyoshi smiled as he ate the paella, and the way he looked was so cute that I really want to take a photo and archive it. On the other hand, Himeji-san and Minami looked lost like they didn’t know what they were tasting.

“Arre? Do you two not like paella?”

“Uu…no, it’s not that we hate it. it’s really good…”

“It’s more like it’s depressing because it’s so good…”

I really couldn’t understand what they were saying. Girls’ feelings are really complicated.

“…As expected, I have to cook more to practice more! I have to make more unique and personal flavors to win this battle!”

I’ll just pretend that I didn’t hear Himeji-san’s muttering.

“It’s really good, but I deliberately bought ingredients different from the menu Aki-kun knew off, yet the flavor’s no different from before. Nee-san’s rather disappointed in that here.”

Nee-san said that as she put the prawn and clam shells on my plate. She’s probably still angry that I brought girls back if she’s using such an immature manner to bully me.

“Stop yapping over there. You don’t know how to cook at all, nee-san, and you dare to tell me off!”

In fact, before Himeji-san appeared, this person’s number two in the ranking of those who don’t know how to cook. On a side note, my mom’s ranked first.

“Aki-kun, what are you saying? Nee-san’s growing in ways Aki-kun doesn’t know of.”

“Fu~n, growth…in what aspect have you grown?”

“My bust size is now E.”

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD SHAME!? THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COOKING AT ALL!”

I couldn’t help but retort back at my sister who showed her chest proudly.

What should I see? When hearing my sister say this, I would be happy for her but worried about her.”

“Of course I worked hard in terms of cooking.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes, I can finally understand the difference between a sea urchin and a scrub.”

“To me, it’s more amazing that you couldn’t understand the difference between a sea urchin and a scrub…”

For some reason, Yuuji, who was beside me, actually muttered ‘I’m so jealous’ or something like that.

“But speaking of which, it’s amazing that you manage to buy ingredients like red peppers when you’re like that.”

No matter how much I think about this, I just feel that nee-san will mistake red peppers for green peppers.

“I won’t make that mistake. That’s because I handed the list directly to the shopkeeper and asked him to put it into the bag.”

“AND YOU NEED SOMEONE’S HELP IN THE END!”

She didn’t grow at all. No, she wouldn’t even do anything before, and now that she would prepare a list, I suppose it’s some form of improvement…

“Oh yes, I have something I want to ask everyone.”

It seemed that we finally entered the main point as nee-san suddenly said cheerily. What does she want?

“I want to know how’s my stupid brother doing a school, like school grades or ‘illicit sexual relationships’.”

Why must she deliberately emphasize on those last words!?

Ku…! Damned despicable…! So she’s been planning this when she invited everyone to stay behind for dinner!

But it doesn’t matter. After that explanation in the kitchen, and the supposedly biggest threats, Yuuji and Muttsurini are standing on my side.

“Well, I find that Akihisa-kun’s very hardworking. It seemed that his grades improved.”

“Tha, that’s right. He would sometimes be so serious that it’s scary.”

As expected of Himeji-san and Minami, they’re different from Yuuji in that they won’t say anything bad in front of the person involved or the family members. They’re really good girls who know how to back off.

“Really? Then, what about illicit sexual relationships?”

“Eh, erm, well, I’m not, too certain about this…regarding Akihisa-kun’s ‘relationships with the opposite gender’.”

“That, that’s right. I’m not too certain about this…regarding Aki’s ‘relationships with the opposite gender’.”

For some reason, both of them seemed to emphasize on the ‘illicit sexual relationships’.

Luckily, Himeji-san and Minami didn’t say anything. in that case, the only one left is—

“Akihisa’s relationships with the opposite gender, huh…”

Only Hideyoshi was left as he used his hand to support his chin.

Hideyoshi probably won’t mention about what happened between Minami and me, right? But…be may say something explosive with a half-joking tone. I have to find some way to prevent Hideyoshi from talking rubbish.

I took my fork and picked up the mushroom on the plate,

“Does Hideyoshi-kun know something?”

“Well…if there’s something.”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Nnu? Ahh-n”

I passed the fork in my hand to Hideyoshi before he said something ridiculous. On seeing my action, Hideyoshi didn’t show any suspicion and immediately ate the food I fed him. Naturally, he can’t talk when he’s chewing.

If he’s chewing, he shouldn’t open his mouth. That’s why nee-san waited for Hideyoshi to swallow the mushroom and ask,

“Hideyoshi-kun. About that—”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Ahh-n”

Chew Chew.

“Hideyoshi-kun. About just now—.”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Ahh-n”

Chew chew.

“Hi—”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Ahh-n”

Crack.

What is it? It seemed I heard something unnerving.

“UWAHH!! MY JOINT! MY JOINT! MY ELBOW’S TWISTED IN THE OPPOSITE MANNER! IS THIS THE NEXT GENERATION OF HUMANS!?”

“Aki-kun, please don’t bother me. Or else nee-san will do something terrible to you, you know?”

“YOU’VE DONE IT! YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING REALLY CRUEL TO ME!”

“Alright, what’s the situation like, Hideyoshi-kun?”

“Un, about that…”

Ignoring me while I was struggling on the ground in pain, nee-san continued her conversation with Hideyoshi.

“Akihisa himself didn’t mention it, so I don’t think I can say anything.”

Hideyoshi still smiled as nee-san asked him and said an answer to end things. Such an answer doesn’t state what exactly happened, but it does prove that something happened. Besides, Hideyoshi doesn’t know my situation and felt that saying this would be alright. Uu…it’s a grave mistake on my part not to inform Hideyoshi first…

“Arre, so that’s a secret? In that case…I’ll have Aki-kun explain things thoroughly next time.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Nee-san, what do you actually mean by ‘explain things thoroughly’? Normally put, it should be like ‘thoroughly’ or ‘slowly’ explain things!”

I can clearly feel her malice and killing intent from her tone. I think it’s best that I replenish my calcium for the sake of the crisis that was about to occur.

“I’ll just cook fish tomorrow…”

“You’re already thinking of tomorrow’s dishes when we haven’t finished dinner today? You’re really gluttonous, Aki-kun.”

“No, I don’t mean that.”

That’s to prevent my bones from being snapped.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you. From tomorrow on, you don’t have to prepare dinner for nee-san.”

“Eh? I don’t have to prepare your share?’

“Yeah, I have some work to deal with. From tomorrow until the weekend, I think I would be going home late.”

The work nee-san’s talking about should be related to helping out at dad’s company. As the head office’s shifted back to Japan, it seems that there’re still some processes to deal with or some deals. I don’t know what kind of company my dad’s running, so I don’t know of the specifics.

Anyway, it’s great that nee-san’s coming home late. In that case, I can get some breathing room from nee-san’s wanton desposition…

“Aki-kun, you look happy.”

“Eh! No, not really, that’s not true. Nee-san came back home and yet has to go home late. I’m really finding it a pity.”

“Say it in English then.”

“Happy.”

“…”

“AH! OUCH! NEE-SAN! DON’T SLAP ME WHEN WE’RE EATING!”

My mouth’s already bleeding inside, and the dessert I ate inadvertently had a slight tinge of blood.

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After dinner, we quickly cleared the plates. Everyone was gathered in the living room, and Himeji-san spoke up to say the biggest reason why we’re gathered here.

“Then, isn’t it about time we should study?”

“Yeah. It’s not good to go home too late.”

Maybe it’s because we ate dinner early that it’s now only 7pm. Right now, there’s a lot of time we can use to study. I don’t want to work hard, but this is for my own freedom. I have to force myself to work hard!

“In that case, please teach me about some lesson related questions.”

“…Me too.”

It’s really hard to imagine us as F-class members with such serious attitudes. I really want to show Ironman this.

“Yeah. Studying’s not about preparing for exams. Let’s start reading ‘like usual’!”

I held off nee-san’s response to prevent her from guessing.

“Is everyone going to study together? In that case, I have something good here, you know?”

“Something good?”

“Yes. I found it when I was cleaning the house. I’ll bring it over.”

Nee-san walked out of the living room, and the sound of rummaging could be heard. Soon after, nee-san came back to the living room.

“These aren’t really considered reference books, but it’ll be great if it can benefit everyone.”

Nee-san put the book in her hands onto the table. That’s weird, I seemed to have seen them before…

<<Female high school student: Lustful bold collection.>>

“I found them in Aki-kun’s room.”

“Isn’t that my top secret—!!”

What in the world did this person take out!? Does she feel happy to force her brother to the edge?

“Please take it as health education reference.”

“NOT! HOW CAN SUCH A THING BE USED AS REFERENCE! AND DIDN’T YOU ENTER MY ROOM ON YOUR OWN!? DIDN’T I TELL YOU MANY TIMES NOT TO ENTER MY ROOM!?”

“I didn’t enter on my own will, Aki-kun, you did say that I can enter your room.”

“ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE TIME WHEN YOU WENT TO MY ROOM TO GET CLOTHES!? IS THAT YOUR METHOD TO ACHIEVE SUCH AN AIM!? THIS UNDERHANDED TACTIC IS WAY TOO DESPICABLE!”

“I, in that case, I’ll use it as reference material…”

“Tha, that’s right, I’ll just take a peek then…”

“HIMEJI-SAN, MINAMI, WHAT’S WITH YOU!? YOU DON’T HAVE TO PLAY ALONG WITH NEE-SAN’S SEXUAL HARRASSMENT! OR RATHER, I BEG OF YOU, DON’T LOOK!?”

Wouldn’t you know of my fetishes in that case?

“Aki-kun, nee-san has checked through all the ‘reference books’ under your bed. Looks like your focus in studying are more towards big breasts and ponytails.”

“DON’T SAY SUCH THINGS SO CALMLY!? DIDN’T YOU JUST REVEAL MY FETISHES NO MATTER HOW YOU TRY TO TWIST THINGS!?”

“Ponytail…”

“Big breasts…”

Himeji-san and Minami stared at a certain part of each other’s body, and then both of them showed a pondering look.

“I’d say, aren’t you people going to study?”

“Tha, that’s right, Hideyoshi’s right! Alright, we should be studying!”

I snatched the book from Himeji-san’s hands and stuffed a textbook into her hands. Alrigh, time to study hard, we should be studying seriously.”

“Tha, that’s right. We should start studying. Nn…”

“Mi, Mizuki? Why are you tying your hair out of a sudden?”

“No, nothing? I’m tying my hair so that it won’t affect my mood.”

“I’ll help you tie then! I’ll tie it into buns!”

“No, that’s not it. I want to tie it into a ponytail.”

“No! You must tie it into buns!”

“Minami-chan, you’re so evil…”

Minami said that and immediately went behind Himeji-san to tie her hair into buns. They look youthful and eye-catching…

“What’s with you, Muttsurini? I’d say, you look rather quiet.”

“ah, yeah.”

Even if such a book put on the table, Muttsurini didn’t show any interest at all. This really isn’t like Muttsurini. Has he already died from too much nosebleeding?”

“…(Looks around).”

“? What’s wrong, Muttsurini?”

I look at him in a rather worried manner, but Muttsurini still looked calm and continued to look around as if he was searching for something.

“…Akihisa.”

“Nn?”

“…Where’s the remaining 1,999 books?”

“Ehh!? You actually thought that I really had 2,000 ero-books!?”

Amazing! As for what’s amazing, it’s that Muttsurini actually believed that there’s 2,000 ero-books here!

“…I have no interest in ero-books.”

In stark contrast to what he said, Muttsurini obviously looked disappointed as he lowered his shoulders. He looked like a puppy who was begging its own to bring it out for a walk, only to be rejected. Though pitiful, Muttsurini may be rather cute like this.

“Let’s just leave Akihisa’s ero-books aside for now. If we want to study, we better do so fast!”

Yuuji spoke in a reluctant manner. One can tell how scary these guys are when an idiot like Yuuji look like one with common sense.

“If you want to study, I can teach you.”

“Eh? Onee-san, you will?”

Nee-san’s suggestion caused Himeji-san and the rest to widen their eyes.

Having seen nee-san’s weird actions, it’s obvious that they would show a shocked look.

“Yes. I finished my degree in a certain school in Boston, America, so I should more or less be able to help you out.”

“Bo, Boston university…don’t tell me it’s that world famous Harvard University!?”

“You really do know it. Yes, it’s that cschool.”

“““EHHH!!!???”””

The strange thing is, nee-san’s abnormally good at studying, but is overwhelmingly lacking in common sense.

“I see, so the good ones were taken…”

“Yuuji, may I know what do you mean by that?”

The sad expression he showed me was really frustrating.

“In that case, please don’t hold back in your questions, like traditional English or things that the Japanese teachers can’t teach us. Nee-san seem to know a lot.”

“…Very reliable.”

“I understand. We’ll start from English then.”

“““We’re in your care!”””

After that, we continued to listen to nee-san’s lessons until 10pm before we disbanded and ended the study group today.

'''Current score [-220 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Second_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Fourth_Question}}
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Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Third Question

2012-04-09T17:15:14Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Third Question */

==The Third Question==

'''Under the 76th line of the Japanese Constitution ‘The Independence of the Judge’, please fill in the following blanks.'''

‘All judges shall exercise (________) to (________) execute their (________) and shall be bound only by (________) and the (________) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Himeji Mizuki’s answer:'''

‘All judges shall exercise (conscience) to (independently) execute their (authority) and shall be bound only by (Constitution) and the (laws) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

Well answered. This is one of the rather important articles in the Japanese Constitution. As the judge’s exercise the privileges, the constitution can ensure that the judge won’t be instigated by political powers and high-levels of the court and perform the duties independently. The content itself also includes ensuring the personal safety of the judge. I hope you can remember this little knowledge.

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

‘All judges shall exercise (BLEEP) to (BLEEP) execute their (BLEEP) and shall be bound only by (BLEEP) and the (BLEEP) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

In that case, wouldn’t the 76th article be a bad thing?

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

‘All judges shall exercise (instincts) to (take off their clothes and) execute (a strip exercise) and shall be bound only by (the policeman’s hand holding onto the culprit) and the (handcuffs) to apprehend criminals.’

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I DEMAND YOU SEND A LETTER OF APOLOGY TO ALL THE JUDGES WITH FULL SINCERITY!!

The familiar sound of the dismissal bell rang, and it’s finally time for school dismissal.

“Yuuji, can I discuss with you something?”

I asked my bad friend who was ready to pack his bag and go home.

“Hm? Akihisa, what’s the matter?”

“For today, can I stay over at your house tonight? There are a lot of things about homework and the types of questions that are to be tested at the end-of-term tests I want to ask you about.”

—ZAWAASH

The moment I said this, buzzing could be heard in the classroom.

“Oi…did you hear that…?”

“I heard that. To think that such an unbelievable thing was said…”

“How could those two possibly…”

“Yeah, how could that Yoshii and Sakamoto…”

““Actually know of end-of-term tests…””

I really want to argue back at them, but I’ll let them off for today. Humph, you guys managed to keep your own lives there.

“You want me to teach you?”

“Un.”

“Really there…haven’t you memorized the times table for 7?”

“Hold on a sec! I don’t remember saying that I’m uneasy over being unable to recite the division table! Even I know how to multiply fractions there!”

“I see. Then tell me what’s the area of a triangle.”

“(Base) X (Height) = <Area>! Are you thinking that I’m an idiot on that level!?”

“Okay okay, you got it, Akihisa. Just remember to divide by two to get the correct area of the triangle.”

…

“Fuu, really there…you’re really a genius at being picky in such things, Yuuji.”

“Amazing! This answer is far more than what I even expected!”

Tha, that’s not it! I just answered too quickly and forgot about it. I will definitely be able to answer if there are questions related to the area of a triangle!

“Well, Akihisa-kun….”

Just when Yuuji and I were yapping away, Himeji-san with her hands carrying her bag arrived in front of us. She’s probably intending to go home directly today.

“What is it, Himeji-san?”

“I have to tell you that there’s a trick to memorizing the times table quickly.”

“I can memorize it! Even I can remember that nine times nine equals eighty one!”

Himeji-san really looked worried. Am I really an incorrigible idiot in Himeji-san’s mind? This really shocked me.

“But why did you become so hardworking? If there’s no special reason, I don’t think you would study obediently.”

On hearing Hideyoshi, who’s sitting nearby, say the words special reasons, Himeji-san stared at me in a gloomier fashion.

“No, that’s not it. Didn’t Yuuji announce it to everyone? The ‘summoning system’s data is being reset’ and that ‘we have to attend summer remedial if we don’t do well for the end-of-term tests’. I don’t want to keep carrying a wooden sword and wearing a school uniform until graduation, and I want to enjoy summer vacation as well, so I thought I should work hard.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Aki will start working hard because of such a trivial reason.”

Muttsurini and Minami came over. Why did so many people gather when I said that I want to study?

“Well, Akihisa-kun, if you don’t mind…can I study with you?”

Himeji-san timidly raised her hand to request. Saying ‘Really, Himeji-san’s really a kind-hearted person.

Under normal circumstances, I would accept this offer gratefully. But today’s situation is different. It’s possible if it’s Yuuji’s house, but—

“I can’t possibly stay overnight at Himeji-san’s house…”

“Eh? Akihisa-kun, you want to stay over at my house?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…”

“In, in that case, I have to call back home first and tell otou-san not to drink tonight…erm…I’m saying that if Akihisa-kun’s willing to talk about ‘important things’ with him, it will be troublesome when he’s drunk…”

Himeji-san fidgeted and said some things I couldn’t even understand. What important things do I want to say to Himeji-san’s dad—

“Is it about the transfer? I’ll go convince him then!”

Are tatami mats still not enough? If we can have someone get some normal tables and chairs…

“Are you talking about changing of faith? Isn’t Akihisa-kun a Buddhist?” TN: Transfer school/changing of faith are both written with the furigana ‘tenkou’.

‘Hoh? What is that about?”

“No, well, it’s about how our families have different religions…”

“???”

What the heck? It sounds like both of us aren’t on the same page here.

“Himeji’s thinking pattern’ really similar to Akihisa.”

“Yeah, this is what it means by taking the color of one’s company.”

“…Way too similar.”

My three bad friends stared at me, seemingly exchanging looks and whispering.

On a side note, there are some terms Minami doesn’t understand, so she has a pile of question marks above her head now.

“Speaking of which, I’ve been wondering about it since this morning. Why do you want to come over to my house, Akihisa? Did something happen at your house?”

“Ah…well, actually…”

“Don’t try and lie to me.”

“I suddenly thought that I need to study—ack, that’s too fast! I didn’t even say anything yet!”

It’s true that that was a lie though.

“Oh well. This will implicate the next summoning battle, so it’s not like I can’t teach you.”

“Eh? Really?”

“But we’re going to your house. It’ll be easier to deal with things there.”

After saying that, Yuuji even looked aside and muttered “because of such a mother around in my house…”

That kind of mother? I’ve never met Yuuji’s mother before. What kind of mother is she?

“Eh? My house’s not convenient! It’s a little, well, inconvenient today!”

“Your house is inconvenient today? What’s wrong?”

“U, un, well, actually, some workers are going to come over to decorate my house.”

“Stop lying. We were supposed to go to your house to play that boxing game. How is it possible that any workers will be here!”

“No, I accidentally lost my key.”

“Your house is an apartment. Just call the caretaker to open it for you.”

“No, actually, my house caught fire!”

“A fire happened and you have the heart to prepare a bento and even iron your clothes thoroughly? How stupid can you get?”

“Ah—erm, actually, what other…!”

“Time to buck up. Your lies are really so bad that I can read through them.”

“Gu…”

I really thought a lot about this, but I just couldn’t think of a reason not to go home. This is bad.

Can’t be helped. In that case, I’ll just go back home and try to fight against my sister…

“I got it. I’ll just go home then…”

I carried my back and got up from my seat. But just when I was about to turn around and leave, Hideyoshi grabbed my shoulder.

“Wait a sec, Akihisa. Is there something you’re hiding from this gang here?”

“Uehh!? No, there’s nothing!”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but if there’s a secret this idiot wants to hide no matter what…looks like it’ll be interesting.”

Yuuji smirked as his eyes narrowed.

“Alright, let’s go check it out!”

“Wa, wait a sec, Yuuji! What are you saying?”

“Yeah. Maybe we can see a completely different side to Aki.”

“I’m interested too.”

“…Time to search the house.”

“Since club activities are suspended during the exams, I guess I’ll come along too.”

THIS IS BAD! WHY IS THE SITUATION BECOMING MORE AND MORE DISADVANTAGEOUS TO ME!!?

“No! You can’t go to my house today! Erm, my house is messy now!”

“Erm, if it’s messy, I can help you clean it up. You can’t concentrate if it’s messy.”

As, as expected of Himeji-san…! Her kindness’ just like an angel…!

But if this keeps up, Himeji-san will come over to my house and meet that ridiculously weird sister of mine. What should I do? What should I—that’s right! I’ll just mention something that girls won’t want to touch!

“But the mess I’m talking about is the 2000+ ero books I have at home!”

“…Leave it to me (thumbs up)”

“Damn it! It ended up piquing Muttsurini’s interest!? This is way different from my initial prediction!”

“Alright. Since everyone has a common understanding, let’s go over to Akihisa’ house!”

“““Ossu!!”””

“NO~!!!!”

I tried my best to resist, but in the end, I was twisted on the neck and dragged back home with everyone. Wha, what should I do now…

<center>☆</center>

“What can it be?”

“Akihisa’s different from Muttsurini in that there’s nothing he would normally hide. Even I would be looking forward to seeing what he has at home.”

“…I don’t hide anything.”

“Muttsurini, are you interested in girls’ underwear?”

“…How could I.”

“I’d say, Muttsurini, you’re so used to lying that you could do it without blinking.”

“…(Shakes head furiously)!”

On the way home, everyone except me seemed to be chatting away happily as they walked.

“But what could it be? Something that Akihisa-kun wants to hide no matter what…”

“That’s right. There’s the huge commotion he caused during the study camp. I don’t think he will be hiding ero-books.”

“Yeah…Akihisa would actually bring his own bento and even iron his clothes properly. I’d guess…”

“Maybe he got a girlfriend?”

“““…!?”””

But Yuuji’s careless words caused everyone present to widen their eyes.

“A, Aki! What’s going on!? Explain clearly!”

“M, muu…so Akihisa found his partner in life…as a friend, I’d be giving my blessings, but I don’t know whether I should be relieved or jealous here…”

“…Traitor!”

“I, I didn’t even say anything!”

Isn’t everyone’s imagination way too creative?

“Everyone, don’t worry. How could Akihisa-kun be dating a girl and hiding it from us? I believe Akihisa-kun.”

Amongst the voices of the 4 people, Himeji-san was the only one who kept her calm. As expected of Himeji-san, she’s really different from the rest.

“Right, Akihisa-kun? You aren’t ‘hiding someone’ and keeping it a secret from us, right?”

Really, she’s different from the rest—Himeji-san’s smile looks really creepy here.

As we continued to argue, our gang arrived in front of the building where I lived in.

“Oh well, the truth will be out once we enter the house. Oi, Akihisa, take out the key.”

“I don’t want to.”

I still tried to resist.

“Akihisa, do you want to try the pain of wearing just a Y-shirt?”

“Eh? Wait a sec! Didn’t you leave out lots of parts in the middle!?”

“…I want to see Akihisa looking up with tears in his eyes.”

“Muttsurini! You’re even designating what the action will be!? Are you trying to sell it!? Make a cushion out of it!? The twin-sided cushion has Hideyoshi on the other side, right!?”

“Why do you even got me involved?”

“Tsuchiya-kun, if possible, I hope that the top two buttons of the shirt are opened…”

“EVEN HIMEJI-SAN’S BEEN WEIRD RECENTLY! I GOT IT! I’LL OPEN! I’LL OPEN IT!”

“…Buttons?”

“THE DOOR!!”

Since it came to this, it’s useless to resist no matter what. In that case, I can only pray silently and hope nee-san’s out…

I secretly prayed to all the gods in the world and opened the door leading to my house.

“Don’t tell me he really has a girlfriend…”

“I feel really nervous…”

“Don’t worry, it’s definitely not something like that…”

Just when everyone swallowed their saliva and watched me, I opened the door to the corridor.

Nee-san would normally put her shoes in the corridor—they’re gone! Great! She went out!

If nee-san’s not around, I have nothing to worry about. I’ll just let them look around the house and immediately send them out.

“Alright, everyone, come into the house then.”

I called everyone in and opened the door leading to the living room.

The moment I opened the door, what entered my eyes was—

“““…”””

The thing hanging inside the room—was a type of woman’s underwear called a brassiere.

“WHY IS THERE AN EVIDENCE I CAN’T HIDE NO MATTER WHAT!!”

THAT THING SHOULD BE HUNG INSIDE THE BATHROOM! THAT IDIOT SISTER OF MINE!!

I frantically ran over and threw the washed bra into another room. Did they see it? Did they all see it?

I slowly turned around to check everyone’s response,

“…Well, there’s no evidence that’s more decisive than that.”

“I, I feel the same here…”

“…I’m so jealous that I want to kill you!”

Minami and the rest said their response.

“Eh, ermm, that’s…”

Damn it…! I can’t even try to mislead them here…!!!

In the midst of despair, I still thought of some method to try and give an excuse.

In the meantime, Himeji-san was the only one who remained calm and she smiled and walked over to me.

“Akihisa-kun, how could you do this?”

“Eh? What?”

“That bra isn’t Akihisa-kun’s size, right?”

“““ISN’T SHE IN SELF-DENIAL HERE!?”””

Eh! Himeji-san, do you think that I’ll wear a girl’s bra? In a certain sense, this is something that disturbs me more than having my sister’s existence discovered!

“Himeji-san, that’s not mine!”

“Arre? That’s—”

Even with such a huge misunderstanding, I tried my best to explain, but Himeji-san’s gaze had already moved to the table in the living room. What is it this time? Ah, that’s the cotton pad nee-san uses for cosmetics—

“That’s fishcake, right?”

“““Fishcake!?”””

As, as expected of Himeji-san! She actually saw the cotton pad as fishcake; she’s living in a completely different dimension from an ordinary person…I’m really wondering what Himeji-san’s dining table will have.

Just when I saw these random things, Himeji-san looked afar. What she saw on the table—wasn’t that a healthy bento women like most!?”

“Hi, Himeji-san…? What…? What’s weird about that bento?”

“Sob sob…”

“UEEHH!? Why are you crying out of a sudden?”

“I can’t deny it further…”

“HOLD ON A SEC! WHY IS IT THAT A BRA AND COSMETICS CAN BE PASSED OFF BUT A BENTO IS IMMEDIATELY OUT!?”

Don’t tell me a healthy bento women like is a more serious evidence than bra and cosmetics?

“Haa…since it came to this, it can’t be helped…I’ll be honest here. My sister just came back home…”

Since so much was found it, it’s pointless for me to hide anything, so I have to say the truth. It’ll be extremely bad if I continue to try and hide things and cause them to mistake me for having a crossdressing fetish.

After hearing my confession, everyone finally showed a relieved look.

“Tha, that’s right. How could Aki have a girlfriend.”

“…We’re thinking too much.”

“Even I’d feel relieved.”

Everyone put their hand on their chests and heaved a sigh of relief.

Even though it’s a little late, I’m really wondering why they wouldn’t think that it was nee-san instead of a girlfriend I would have? Did they already have some sort of idea?

“I see. So Akihisa-kun’s nee-san came back. That’s great…”

That’s not good to me at all.

“Well, since things are like that, I made my own bento and ironed my clothes nearly. Do you understand now?”

Alright, now that I explained things here, please leave. I have to make these troublesome people leave before there’s any doubts.

“Wait, Akihisa.”

Ack! The most troublesome idiot seemed to notice something.

“Is, is there something wrong, Yuuji?”

“We knew that you have a sister. But why aren’t you willing to stay at home with your sister here?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Even I feel that it’s weird here.”

“…(Nods head).”

“Does Akihisa-kun still have something else he wants to hide from us?”

Yuuji’s doubt caused everyone present to feel suspicious.

Gu…! If I had known that things will end up like this, I shouldn’t have told Yuuji about staying overnight and should have just went home…

“Akihisa, it will be easier for you if you just say the truth, right?”

Yuuji reached his hand out and patted me on the shoulder. Un, actually, I’m already prepared…

“Actually…my sister here, well…she’s really a weird person… or rather, lacks common sense…anyway, if I’m with her, a lot of terrible things will happen, and I’ll be deducted a lot of points for whatever strange reason, so I don’t want to go home…”

“To, to think that even Aki would say that she lacks common sense. How serious can that be?”

“Muu…even, if it’s scary, even I’d be wondering here.”

“…Have to meet her no matter what.”

“Yeah, I want to meet Akihisa-kun’s sister for once.”

So it became like this…this is almost like the worst situation I could imagine.

Just when I was thinking that everyone here was interested in seeing nee-san,

“Ah~ what the heck, I say, your interest in other people’s family affairs is way too weak. Even other people have sisters or ‘mothers’ that they don’t want others to meet.”

That’s rare! It’s rare that Yuuji would actually say something for me. What kind of wind is blowing here?

“Yu, Yuuji…! Thanks—”

GACHANK!

At this moment, the sound of the door at the corridor being opened could be heard.

“Arre…? You came back when nee-san’s out shopping, Aki-kun?”

……Eh? What’s with this timing? Are we having a comedy here!?”

“UWAAAAHHH!! SH, SHE’S BACK! EVERYONE, FIND A PLACE TO HIDE—”

“Is it Akihisa-kun’s sister…? I’m really nervous here…”

“Ca, can I actually say hello to Aki’s sister…”

“NOT GOOD! YOU PEOPLE JUST WANT TO SEE HER!!”

Just everyone focused on the living room door to see nee-san appear, I could only continue to look up to the heavens and pray.

Since things ended up like this, I have only one last hope left. Nee-san! I won’t demand for you to greet everyone properly…! So at least, just for once, be in normal clothes…!

The tense moment went by immediately, and the door finally opened.

“Oh my, do we have guest? Welcome. Our house is a little small, but I hope that you can treat it as your own house. Please don’t feel restrained.”

Nee-san, who said such a normal thing, was dressed in ¾ pants and a collared short-sleeved shirt with a vest on. That’s a normal kind of get-up if there was one.

“““So, sorry to bother you…”””

The appearance of the ever-normal looking nee-san with a normal attire, demeanor and common sense caused Yuuji and the rest to look completely stumped.

“Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Yoshii Akira. Everyone, thank you for willing to be friends with this stupid and useless brother of mine.”

She even bowed after saying that. Tha, that’s too perfect! She looks just like a normal sister no matter how I see it! In that case..I should be able to fool them, right?

“Ahh, hello. I’m Sakamoto Yuuji, Akihisa’s classmate.”

Having recovered, Yuuji hurriedly lowered his head and greeted nee-san.

“…I’m Tsuchiya Kouta.”

Muttsurini spoke up next.

“Hello, Yuuji-kun, Kouta-kun.”

Nee-san smiled back at them.

Ahh…such a wonderful scene here…

Just when I was touched by this rare peaceful moment, Yuuji looked over slightly and whispered,

“Oi, Akihisa, your sister looks rather normal here. Calling her weird, how well off can you get? Instead of me, instead of me…”

“Ahaha…she, she’s normal, isn’t it? So if you have seen enough, hurry up and leave!”

Just when I whispered to Yuuji, the other classmates continued to chat with nee-san. Right now, it seems like it’s Hideyoshi’s turn.

“I’m called Kinoshita Hideyoshi. Please take care of me. A lot of people will be mistaken when seeing me, but I’m not a girl—”

“Ehh. You’re a boy, aren’t you? Hideyoshi-kun. Welcome to my house.”

“!”

On hearing those words, Hideyoshi couldn’t help but look completely shocked as he looked up at nee-san.”

“You, you’re the first one to actually be able to tell that I’m a guy….!”

I don’t know what’s going on, but Hideyoshi just looked really moved

“Of course I can tell. That’s because,”

Nee-san smiled as she said,

“That’s because it’s impossible for that stupid and ugly and useless brother of mine to have female friends.”

What’s with that firm belief that really sickens me!

Just when I was wondering how to snark back at her, nee-san’s stare moved to Himeji-san and Minami,

“So these two are guys, right?”

She made such a conclusion.

“WA, WAIT A SEC, NEE-SAN! HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH A RUDE THING YOU’RE MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME! THE THREE OF THEM ARE GIRLS!”

“Akihisa! I’m an authentic guy here, right?”

How little common sense does she have to view the three of them as guys…

After shouting that out, nee-san seemed to have a reaction to my words and slowly turned around to look at me.

“…‘Girls’, you say? Has Aki-kun been bringing girls back home?”

GUAAHH!! Da, damn it! Nee-san seems to be unhappy that I brought girls back home!

Nee-san already thinks that holding hands is illicit sexual relationships. She’s definitely fuming now! Got to find a good reason!

“We, well, nee-san, listen to me! There’s a lot of reasons—”

“…Really? Girls? Sorry for saying such insensitive things/”

“In fact..eh? That’s weird?”

While ignoring me as I tried to explain, nee-san honestly lowered her head at Himeji-san and Minami and didn’t give off any killing intent at all. Is nee-san really not angry here?”

“What’s wrong, Aki-kun?’

“Ah, no…it’s just that I’m wondering whether you’re angry, nee-san…”

“? What are you saying? Why would nee-san be angry at you?”

Nee-san looked really calm and answered as if she had no reason to be angry at all.

Wha, what, am I thinking too much? But this is great…that’s right. It’s just that some friends came over to visit my house. This kind of thing is normal, nee-san has no need to be angry.

Just when I put my hang at my chest and thought that I could heave a sigh of relief, nee-san suddenly smiled and said to me,

“Oh yes, Aki-kun.”

“Nn? What is it?’

“There’s a lot of guests here today, so the doctor game Aki-kun likes to play will have to delay till tomorrow, right?”

Ahhh I see…this person’s really trying to drive me to my grave…

“NE, NEE-SAN, WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SAYING! YOU’RE SAYING IT AS IF MY HABIT IS TO PLAY DOCTOR WITH YOU EVERY DAY…CAN YOU STOP SAYING SUCH MISLEADING THINGS! I HAVE NO INTENTION OF PLAYING THAT KIND OF GAMES WITH NEE-SAN!”

DAMN IT! SHE’S DEFINITELY ANGRY NOW! COULDN’T SHE JUST EXERT VIOLENCE ON ME!? WHY MUST SHE TORTURE ME IN SUCH A CRUEL MANNER!? THIS PERSON HERE IS REALLY TOO MUCH!

“A, Akihisa-kun…playing doctor with your own sister…”

“Aki…it’s against the law to do this with your blood-related sister…”

FUUOOOHHH!! SEE, THEY’RE MISTAKEN HERE!!

“NEE-SAN! SCOLD ME LATER WHATEVER YOU WANT, JUST CORRECT THOSE WORDS!”

“Aki-kun, what are you panicking about? Oh yes. Do you know where’s the nurse uniform nee-san gave you yesterday?”

“DON’T ASK ME SUCH A THING AT THIS MOMENT!”

DAMN IRRITATING! THIS PERSON’S DAMN IRRITATING! IF I HAD KNOWN THAT THINGS WOULD END UP LIKE THIS, I MIGHT AS WELL CAMP OUTSIDE!

“Alos, I’m going to deduct you another 150 points under the crime of illicit sexual relationships.”

“150? 150’S TOO MUCH! I DIDN’T EVEN DO ANYTHING YET!”

“…’Didn’t even do anything yet’? …I’ll deduct another 200 points.”

“FUWAAAAHHHH!!!! NEE-SAN’S ONE HUGE IDIOT!”

200 POINTS! WHY DID IT JUST END UP IN A STATE WHERE I CAN’T RECOVER NO MATTER WHETHER I WANT TO!

“…Sorry Akihisa, I’m willing to take back those words I just said.”

“Un…thanks Yuuji…this, this is the first time I actually feel healed by Yuuji ever since I was born…”

I wasn’t able to prepare myself mentally in time because of my sister’s attire and demeanor. I’M BASICALLY GAMBLING WITH MY LIFE FOR ACTUALLY DARING TO BE CARELESS IN FRONT OF THIS PERSON!

“Sorry for being off-topic. Can I ask you for your names?”

“Ah, yes, sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Himeji Mizuki, Akihisa-kun’s classmate.”

“I’m Shimada Minami, and—”

Minami suddenly glanced at me as she spoke halfway,

“—I’m friends with Aki.”

Mu. Minami just looked like she wanted to say that we aren’t friends. Was she planning to use the introduction she made at class and say that I was her wrestling training sandbag?

“So it’s Mizuki-san and Minami-san. Nice to meet you for the first time.”

Nee-san kept her smile and answered them throughout. It’s because she showed herself to be so normal in such situations that people will wonder how real were those weird things she said. Really, she’s a sister that really worries me…

“Oh yeah. Where did you go just now, nee-san?”

“I went to buy ingredients for dinner.”

Nee-san opened the bags she was holding, and there were ingredients like clams and bacon. I see, so nee-san went to buy ingredients for dinner.

“Eh? Didn’t you buy too much here?”

Each ingredient was way too much if it’s for two people. Even a family can’t finish that much.

“Nope, that’s definitely just enough.”

Nee-san seemed to be unhappy with my words and even puffed her cheeks unhappily. It’s rather refreshing when nee-san herself doesn’t really show her real emotions on her face.

Nee-san’s not good at cooking, and actually ran off to buy dinner ingredients, so the amount was mistaken, right? But it isn’t like nee-san to be unhappy over being pointed out.

“It’s rare for everyone to come over to our house. Why don’t you stay behind for dinner? There’s not many dishes we can offer though.”

It seemed that everyone was ready to do so. Nee-san spoke and invited everyone to stay behind for dinner. Looks like she just wouldn’t admit that she bought the wrong amount no matter what.

“In that case, I’ll stay behind too.”

“…I’ll stay for dinner too.”

“It’ll be troublesome for you, but I’d stay for dinner too.”

“Me too.”

“I, in that case, I’ll…”

Everyone nodded their heads. Looks like dinner tonight will be noisy.

“So everyone’s willing to stay behind. That’s great. Aki-kun, I’ll leave the ingredients to you.”

“Un, got it.”

I took the bag of ingredients over from nee-san. Looks like I can enjoy a luxurious meal I haven’t had for a long time.

“Eh? Aki’s cooking dinner?”

“Un, yeah.”

“Akihisa-kun knows how to cook?”

Minami and Himeji-san both looked shocked. That’s weird; is it really strange that I can cook?

“Didn’t I say it before at lunch? I prepared my own bento.”

“No, now that you mentioned it, that’s true…”

“Akihisa-kun did mention it before…”

But both of them just gave inexplicable looks.

“This isn’t anything worth being shocked about, right? Even I can cook a few simple dishes here.”

“…That’s a gentleman’s habit.”

“I’d, I don’t know…how to cook at all here…”

Yuuji and Muttsurini did show off to everyone before, so they didn’t have much reaction that I can cook.

“Forget about Muttsurini. As expected, you’re forced to learn how to cook at home, right, Yuuji?”

“Oh, that’s right…but what do you mean by saying as expected?”

“Ahaha. Because you look like you have the lowest position at home, Yuuji.”

“? What are you talking about now?”

“Eh? What do you mean—isn’t the one at the lowest position in the family in charge of cooking?”

“““……”””

For some reason, everyone showed me stares of compassion.

“It’s because of my mom’s education policy that I was forced to cook.”

“Is, is that so…”

“Aki’s mother sounds really strong…”

“I’d feel that the position isn’t the problem, but rather who can cook…”

“Eh!? Don’t tell me everyone else’s different!? Damned mom! Lying to me since young!”

I see…so my family’s different from other families…when watching TV when I was young, I would think “Isn’t it weird for mothers to cook? Aren’t mothers supposed to be the strongest people in the families?” I felt that it was weird back then, so that’s how it is…

“Alright alright. It’s still early, but let’s prepare dinner. I’ll help you, Akihisa.”

“…I’ll help too.”

“Ah, un, thanks, you two.”

“Then, in that case, I’ll…”

“““NO NEED, THE GIRLS JUST NEED TO SIT QUIETLY AND WAIT!”””

“Ah, haa…I see…”

Thus, we decided to deal with dinner first, and everyone will then study to prepare for the exams.

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“Oi, Akihisa, is there a wok that’s of better size?”

“Hehe~, actually, that rack has a paellera on it.”

“When you say paellera, are you talking about the wok used to cook paella? I didn’t think that your house would have something so special. Even my house doesn’t have it.”

“…Mine neither.”

“That’s something my mom gave in the house. What I’m saying is that since our house had such a thing, I used it to cook paella, and it was rather nice. Since then, paella became one of my favorite dishes.”

“So that’s how it is.”

In the kitchen where I was most proud of at home, Yuuji, Muttsurini and me were ready to prepare dinner for tonight.

My house was one that was bought for a family of 4 to live in, so it is rather spacious. It’s so spacious that I would feel somewhat lonely when living alone, and it’s difficult to clean up. There’s not really much benefit to say…but with three guys in a kitchen, I do feel relieved that the house’s spacious enough. However, I do still feel restrained having 3 big boys packed in a kitchen.

“But are you really going to cook paella? I thought your sister would prefer Japanese cuisine…”

“…Nee-san said that she’s fine with anything.”

“…These ingredients are obviously meant to cook paella.”

“Yeah. If it’s just prawns and clams, we can still think that it’s spaghetti, but with saffron,”

“Yeah. I can’t think of any dishes that uses saffron other than paella…arre? What’s this bottle of tomato sauce used for?”

Amongst the ingredients nee-san bought, she actually added a bottle of tomato sauce. Is this really an ingredient for cooking paella? I never heard of it before.

“…There’s also paella that’s made from mixed celery, onions, garlic and tomato sauce.”

“Eh? Tomato sauce?”

“(Nods head)… it’s a tomato sauce called soffritto in Italy.”

“Heh~so that’s how it is. I never used tomato sauce when I made it before.”

Muttsurini actually knows about such things. Is there something related to sex in Spanish restaurants for Muttsurini to be this interested?

“Akihisa, don’t tell me you actually did such a troublesome dish like paella so many times.”

“Un, I like it very much, so I do make it often.”

However, the last time I actually made paella on my own was more than a year ago. I didn’t have enough money to cook something good ever since I started living alone.

“Since you did it so many times, why did she buy some unrelated ingredients? Isn’t this weird?”

“Really? I think it’s my sister who bought the wrong thing. Normally, I would be the one in charge of buying ingredients and cooking.”

“Really? Oh well, maybe she did buy the wrong thing.”

Yuuji was still puzzled about the ingredients, but still agreed with what I said. Does he feel that something’s wrong? There shouldn’t be any problems if it’s just the ingredients, right?

“Oh yeah, Akihisa, I just thought of something.”

“Hm?”

“You didn’t let your sister know what kind of life you lived, right?”

“…You’re rather sharp about it.”

“Anyone sharp enough can tell whether you’ve been well off or not, you idiot.”

Yuuji removed the intestines of the prawns and said to me.

“…Will you be scolded if she knew?”

Muttsurini, who was using the scrub to wash the clams, asked.

“It would be alright if it was just a tantrum.”

I’ll leave those horrifying punishments of being kissed on the lips aside.

“Is there anything else other than throwing a tantrum?”

“Un, if I don’t live properly or that I can’t get enough marks during this end-of-term exams, my sister will continue to stay over at home.”

I said that as I sliced up the onion, red peppers, asparagus and stuff and put them into the big bowl.

“Enough marks?”

“It’s just like what my sister said, about deducting 150 or 200 points or so.”

“She did seem to mention it, but I didn’t hear it clearly. What’s about that marks?”

“Besides the marks, I have to get more marks than the previous streaming exam during this end-of-term exams…”

“I see, so that’s why you thought of studying hard. So that’s how it is.”

“…Understood.”

I was only deducted 20 points yesterday, and in a short moment, it became 220. If the situation is better, my recent scores will be about 1000 points…but it will be bad if this keeps up. So no matter what, I have to prevent further loss of points.

“So I just want to say, please don’t say anything in front of my sister, like grades at school, my real living habits…and also, that incident with Minami…”

“That one you’re referring to is the kiss with Shimada—Mm!”

I frantically covered Yuuji’s mouth.

Yuuji’s really a loudmouth. The voice can even reach nee-san in the kitchen!

“That’s really bad too, so you can't say it! Nee-san’s very insistent on forbidding me from having any illicit sexual relationships!”

I kept my volume down, explained it to Yuuji, and slowly took back the hand covering his mouth.

“I see. Since you’re living alone, it’ll be easier for me to disturb you at home, so I’ll just shut up this time.”

“…I’ll help too.”

“Thanks guys.”

After explaining things, they were willing to help me out. Now, we’ll continue our preparations. Let me think, the next step is…

“Yuuji, can you help me get the consommé? It’s about time to boil the soup.”

“Hm? Don’t you intend to cook that soffritto?”

“U~n….I can try it if I’m living alone, but since everyone’s waiting for dinner, I guess we should follow the recipe I’m familiar with.”

“Is that so? Since you say so, let’s do this.”

Yuuji stopped slicing the octopus into slices and took a can of consummate. That Yuuji can really do anything, talking and working at the same time.

“Un, thanks.”

I received the can and opened it, pouring the consummate into the wok Yuuji just heated up by turning on the fire. The saffron will need some time to show more of its color, so it was added in the beginning, and the soup base that’s used to increase the flavor was soon completed. Did we prepare it well beforehand, or is it that they’re skilled with their hands…? I really have to take my hats off of those two.

Let alone Muttsurini, I didn’t expect Yuuji to be good at cooking. Does this guy cook normally? My curiosity started to sutge.

“I say, Yuuji, do you cook at home every day?”

“Ahh, no, not everyday. My mother does know how to cook…”

“That’s great, having such a mother.”

“…But if I leave her alone, I really can’t tell what kind of horrible thing she’ll cook…”

Yuuji looked far away. A slight indescribable melancholy surrounded him as if there was a dish served with a mix-up between crayfish and lobster.

“Oh yeah, isn’t it time to put the rice in?”

“Ahh, put it in. Muttsurini and I will prepare the salad and the dessert.”

“…Leave it to me.”

I put the vegetables and rice in, and turned on the fire. I’ll add in the soup once it’s fried somewhat.

“Akihisa, watch the wok when you pour the soup in, or else it will get burned.”

“Don’t worry. I know what to do.”

After a while, it seemed that the color of the food in the wok was almost there, and I poured the soup in. I just need to shake it occasionally and wait for the paella to be done.

Finally, we have nothing to do and can only wait silently. Just when I was staring at the wok and spacing out, I suddenly heard Himeji-san and the rest talking. What are those people talking about?

''“Do you want to see the photo album? These are all photos of Aki-kun when he was young.”''

''“Eh? Can we?”''

''“Sounds interesting.”''

''“Aki’s photos when he was little. How does he look like?”''

''“I’ll go get it. Please wait for me.”''

Uu…my photos when I was young…feels embarrassing…if possible, I really want to stop nee-san, but my eyes can’t leave the wok, and Himeji-san said that she wanted to see it…

''“Sorry to keep you waiting.”''

Just when I was thinking randomly, it seemed that nee-san got the photo album and came back.

Haa…can’t be helped. I can only grit my teeth and endure so that everyone can pass the time, no matter how shameful it can be…

''“This is Aki-kun’s bathing photo at two-years-old.”''

''“H, how cute!”''

''“Muu, I find this expression cute too.”''

''“Looks so honest, so cute~”''

''“Next, it’s Aki-kun’s bathing photo when he was four.”''

''“Ahaha, really, Aki, falling asleep in the middle of a bath.”''

''“Probably feels nice bathing in warm water.”''

''“That sleeping face looks so pure.”''

''“And this is Aki-kun’s bathing photo when he was 7.”''

''“Should be in elementary school at this point. How memorable.”''

''“He grew quite a bit.”''

''“He really grew a lot.”''

''“And this one’s Aki-kun’s bathing photo when he was 10.”''

“WAIT A SEC, NEE-SAN! WHY ARE THESE ALL BATHING PHOTOS OF ME!? WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT PHOTO ALBUM HAVE!?”

I had to watch the wok, so I could only stand in the kitchen and shout at the living room, but didn’t get any response at all. Really, even if these are photos when I was young, why are these all bathing photos—

''“—And this is Aki-kun’s bathing photo from yesterday.”''

''“““…(Gulp)”””''

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“THAT IDIOT SISTER! WHEN DID YOU TAKE THAT PHOTO!? WHEN I WAS CHANGING!? WAS IT WHEN YOU TOOK MY CHANGE OF CLOTHES FOR ME!?”

“Akihisa, didn’t I tell you not to look away from the wok? The rice will burn.”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER THE RICE GET BURNED OR NOT! THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO GET A FRYING PAN AND WHACK THAT IDIOT SISTER OF MINE ON THE HEAD!”

“I won’t let you look down on the importance of cooking! Watch the pot!”

“LET GO OF ME! YUUJI! YOU BIG IDIOT!”

No, it’ll definitely be alright. Himeji-san and Minami are different. They’re girls with common sense, wisdom and good decision making ability. They definitely won’t look at those kinds of photos!

—Time passed just like that—

“Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting. Dinner’s ready.”

“Thank you. Sorry to make you cook with Aki-kun even though you’re guests.”

“No, please don’t worry about that. I don’t hate cooking.”

We lined another table with the table in the living room, and the dinner that was finally finished was served. Un, it looks really good.

“Than, thank you…(blushes).”

“It, it looks good…(blushes).”

“Himeji-san, Minami, why are you blushing the moment you saw me?

You two didn’t see it right? You two definitely didn’t see the photo nee-san talked about, right?

“Oh yes, Aki-kun, why do you look extremely anxious? You were yelling and shouting, and I could hear you from the living room.”

“THAT’S BECAUSE I HAD TO YELL BECAUSE OF YOU!!”

And she even dared to tell me off when she didn’t mention what she did!

“See, you’ve been shouting again…do you like calcium?”

As she said that, nee-san moved away my plate of paella and put a plate with a deeper base. Hm? What’s with this plate?

“Everyone, put your leftover shells in this palte.”

“WHAT’S WITH THIS!? DOES MY DINNER ONLY CONSIST OF SHELLS? YOU SAY THAT I LACK CALCIUM, BUT THAT’S JUST SIMPLY ABUSE, RIGHT!?”

Such a beautiful relationship called family caused my tears to continue flowing no matter what.

At the same time, I vaguely realized something…

“Nee-san…do you actually, actually hate me, nee-san…?”

Beating me hard the moment she got back home, and showing embarrassing photos of me in front of the girls in class. If I combine these facts, I can’t think of anything other than being hated by her.

As she faced my doubts, nee-san gave a ‘you surprised me’ reply, and casually answered.

“Aki-kun, what are you saying, child? How can nee-san hate you?”

If you don’t hate me, the way you treat me is way too much.

“Or rather, on the contrary.”

“Eh? Isn’t the opposite of hate…”

“Nee-san loves you.”

“Is, is that so…”

“Yes, nee-san really loves you.”

I couldn’t help but shy off. I’m happy that nee-san said that, but I’m still somewhat awkward. Saying ‘love you’ in front of everyone is really—

“—As someone of the opposite gender.”

THIS IS THE WORST!!

“WAS THOSE LAST WORDS A JOKE? I’LL BE HAPPIER IF YOU SAID THAT YOU HATED ME!”

THIS PERSON’S DEFINITELY TRYING TO FORCE ME TO MY GRAVE! THAT’S RIGHT! SHE MUST BE THINKING ABOUT THIS! SHE DEFINITELY HATES ME!

“Doesn’t a Japanese saying say it?”

“What? What are you trying to say?”

“The dumber the child, the more adorable he is.”

“Akihisa, you better give up. There’s no one else you loves you more in the world than your sister.”

“WAIT A SEC! ARE YOU SAYING THAT I’M THE DUMBEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!?”

“I, I think that Aki’s the dumbest person in the world too!”

“Me, me too! I definitely believe that there’s nobody else dumber than Akihisa-kun in this world!”

“DON’T SAY IT! PLEASE STOP HURTING ME!!”

Why is it that everyone wants to trample on my heart mercilessly…

“Oh well, we’ll just leave this alone.”

“It, it doesn’t matter now…such a conversation is only a part and parcel of my life…”

Oh yeah, did Yuuji mean that it doesn’t matter what happens to my life?

“Anyway, let’s tuck in before it gets cold.”

I turned my eyes to the food that was giving off hot air. It’s not that everyone can’t eat whenever they want to, but it’ll be a waste if the food we spent so much effort to cook goes cold. Nee-san’s right. It’s better to tuck in.

“““Itaidakimasu!!”””

Everyone clapped their hands together and attacked the food in front of them.

“Muu, this is really good.”

“Really? It’s great that it fits your taste.”

“Now that you say that, it seemed that our efforts in making this dish is somewhat worth it.”

“…(Nods head).”

Hideyoshi smiled as he ate the paella, and the way he looked was so cute that I really want to take a photo and archive it. On the other hand, Himeji-san and Minami looked lost like they didn’t know what they were tasting.

“Arre? Do you two not like paella?”

“Uu…no, it’s not that we hate it. it’s really good…”

“It’s more like it’s depressing because it’s so good…”

I really couldn’t understand what they were saying. Girls’ feelings are really complicated.

“…As expected, I have to cook more to practice more! I have to make more unique and personal flavors to win this battle!”

I’ll just pretend that I didn’t hear Himeji-san’s muttering.

“It’s really good, but I deliberately bought ingredients different from the menu Aki-kun knew off, yet the flavor’s no different from before. Nee-san’s rather disappointed in that here.”

Nee-san said that as she put the prawn and clam shells on my plate. She’s probably still angry that I brought girls back if she’s using such an immature manner to bully me.

“Stop yapping over there. You don’t know how to cook at all, nee-san, and you dare to tell me off!”

In fact, before Himeji-san appeared, this person’s number two in the ranking of those who don’t know how to cook. On a side note, my mom’s ranked first.

“Aki-kun, what are you saying? Nee-san’s growing in ways Aki-kun doesn’t know of.”

“Fu~n, growth…in what aspect have you grown?”

“My bust size is now E.”

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD SHAME!? THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COOKING AT ALL!”

I couldn’t help but retort back at my sister who showed her chest proudly.

What should I see? When hearing my sister say this, I would be happy for her but worried about her.”

“Of course I worked hard in terms of cooking.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes, I can finally understand the difference between a sea urchin and a scrub.”

“To me, it’s more amazing that you couldn’t understand the difference between a sea urchin and a scrub…”

For some reason, Yuuji, who was beside me, actually muttered ‘I’m so jealous’ or something like that.

“But speaking of which, it’s amazing that you manage to buy ingredients like red peppers when you’re like that.”

No matter how much I think about this, I just feel that nee-san will mistake red peppers for green peppers.

“I won’t make that mistake. That’s because I handed the list directly to the shopkeeper and asked him to put it into the bag.”

“AND YOU NEED SOMEONE’S HELP IN THE END!”

She didn’t grow at all. No, she wouldn’t even do anything before, and now that she would prepare a list, I suppose it’s some form of improvement…

“Oh yes, I have something I want to ask everyone.”

It seemed that we finally entered the main point as nee-san suddenly said cheerily. What does she want?

“I want to know how’s my stupid brother doing a school, like school grades or ‘illicit sexual relationships’.”

Why must she deliberately emphasize on those last words!?

Ku…! Damned despicable…! So she’s been planning this when she invited everyone to stay behind for dinner!

But it doesn’t matter. After that explanation in the kitchen, and the supposedly biggest threats, Yuuji and Muttsurini are standing on my side.

“Well, I find that Akihisa-kun’s very hardworking. It seemed that his grades improved.”

“Tha, that’s right. He would sometimes be so serious that it’s scary.”

As expected of Himeji-san and Minami, they’re different from Yuuji in that they won’t say anything bad in front of the person involved or the family members. They’re really good girls who know how to back off.

“Really? Then, what about illicit sexual relationships?”

“Eh, erm, well, I’m not, too certain about this…regarding Akihisa-kun’s ‘relationships with the opposite gender’.”

“That, that’s right. I’m not too certain about this…regarding Aki’s ‘relationships with the opposite gender’.”

For some reason, both of them seemed to emphasize on the ‘illicit sexual relationships’.

Luckily, Himeji-san and Minami didn’t say anything. in that case, the only one left is—

“Akihisa’s relationships with the opposite gender, huh…”

Only Hideyoshi was left as he used his hand to support his chin.

Hideyoshi probably won’t mention about what happened between Minami and me, right? But…be may say something explosive with a half-joking tone. I have to find some way to prevent Hideyoshi from talking rubbish.

I took my fork and picked up the mushroom on the plate,

“Does Hideyoshi-kun know something?”

“Well…if there’s something.”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Nnu? Ahh-n”

I passed the fork in my hand to Hideyoshi before he said something ridiculous. On seeing my action, Hideyoshi didn’t show any suspicion and immediately ate the food I fed him. Naturally, he can’t talk when he’s chewing.

If he’s chewing, he shouldn’t open his mouth. That’s why nee-san waited for Hideyoshi to swallow the mushroom and ask,

“Hideyoshi-kun. About that—”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Ahh-n”

Chew Chew.

“Hideyoshi-kun. About just now—.”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Ahh-n”

Chew chew.

“Hi—”

“Hideyoshi, ahh-n”

“Ahh-n”

Crack.

What is it? It seemed I heard something unnerving.

“UWAHH!! MY JOINT! MY JOINT! MY ELBOW’S TWISTED IN THE OPPOSITE MANNER! IS THIS THE NEXT GENERATION OF HUMANS!?”

“Aki-kun, please don’t bother me. Or else nee-san will do something terrible to you, you know?”

“YOU’VE DONE IT! YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING REALLY CRUEL TO ME!”

“Alright, what’s the situation like, Hideyoshi-kun?”

“Un, about that…”

Ignoring me while I was struggling on the ground in pain, nee-san continued her conversation with Hideyoshi.

“Akihisa himself didn’t mention it, so I don’t think I can say anything.”

Hideyoshi still smiled as nee-san asked him and said an answer to end things. Such an answer doesn’t state what exactly happened, but it does prove that something happened. Besides, Hideyoshi doesn’t know my situation and felt that saying this would be alright. Uu…it’s a grave mistake on my part not to inform Hideyoshi first…

“Arre, so that’s a secret? In that case…I’ll have Aki-kun explain things thoroughly next time.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Nee-san, what do you actually mean by ‘explain things thoroughly’? Normally put, it should be like ‘thoroughly’ or ‘slowly’ explain things!”

I can clearly feel her malice and killing intent from her tone. I think it’s best that I replenish my calcium for the sake of the crisis that was about to occur.

“I’ll just cook fish tomorrow…”

“You’re already thinking of tomorrow’s dishes when we haven’t finished dinner today? You’re really gluttonous, Aki-kun.”

“No, I don’t mean that.”

That’s to prevent my bones from being snapped.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you. From tomorrow on, you don’t have to prepare dinner for nee-san.”

“Eh? I don’t have to prepare your share?’

“Yeah, I have some work to deal with. From tomorrow until the weekend, I think I would be going home late.”

The work nee-san’s talking about should be related to helping out at dad’s company. As the head office’s shifted back to Japan, it seems that there’re still some processes to deal with or some deals. I don’t know what kind of company my dad’s running, so I don’t know of the specifics.

Anyway, it’s great that nee-san’s coming home late. In that case, I can get some breathing room from nee-san’s wanton desposition…

“Aki-kun, you look happy.”

“Eh! No, not really, that’s not true. Nee-san came back home and yet has to go home late. I’m really finding it a pity.”

“Say it in English then.”

“Happy.”

“…”

“AH! OUCH! NEE-SAN! DON’T SLAP ME WHEN WE’RE EATING!”

My mouth’s already bleeding inside, and the dessert I ate inadvertently had a slight tinge of blood.

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After dinner, we quickly cleared the plates. Everyone was gathered in the living room, and Himeji-san spoke up to say the biggest reason why we’re gathered here.

“Then, isn’t it about time we should study?”

“Yeah. It’s not good to go home too late.”

Maybe it’s because we ate dinner early that it’s now only 7pm. Right now, there’s a lot of time we can use to study. I don’t want to work hard, but this is for my own freedom. I have to force myself to work hard!

“In that case, please teach me about some lesson related questions.”

“…Me too.”

It’s really hard to imagine us as F-class members with such serious attitudes. I really want to show Ironman this.

“Yeah. Studying’s not about preparing for exams. Let’s start reading ‘like usual’!”

I held off nee-san’s response to prevent her from guessing.

“Is everyone going to study together? In that case, I have something good here, you know?”

“Something good?”

“Yes. I found it when I was cleaning the house. I’ll bring it over.”

Nee-san walked out of the living room, and the sound of rummaging could be heard. Soon after, nee-san came back to the living room.

“These aren’t really considered reference books, but it’ll be great if it can benefit everyone.”

Nee-san put the book in her hands onto the table. That’s weird, I seemed to have seen them before…

<<Female high school student: Lustful bold collection.>>

“I found them in Aki-kun’s room.”

“Isn’t that my top secret—!!”

What in the world did this person take out!? Does she feel happy to force her brother to the edge?

“Please take it as health education reference.”

“NOT! HOW CAN SUCH A THING BE USED AS REFERENCE! AND DIDN’T YOU ENTER MY ROOM ON YOUR OWN!? DIDN’T I TELL YOU MANY TIMES NOT TO ENTER MY ROOM!?”

“I didn’t enter on my own will, Aki-kun, you did say that I can enter your room.”

“ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE TIME WHEN YOU WENT TO MY ROOM TO GET CLOTHES!? IS THAT YOUR METHOD TO ACHIEVE SUCH AN AIM!? THIS UNDERHANDED TACTIC IS WAY TOO DESPICABLE!”

“I, in that case, I’ll use it as reference material…”

“Tha, that’s right, I’ll just take a peek then…”

“HIMEJI-SAN, MINAMI, WHAT’S WITH YOU!? YOU DON’T HAVE TO PLAY ALONG WITH NEE-SAN’S SEXUAL HARRASSMENT! OR RATHER, I BEG OF YOU, DON’T LOOK!?”

Wouldn’t you know of my fetishes in that case?

“Aki-kun, nee-san has checked through all the ‘reference books’ under your bed. Looks like your focus in studying are more towards big breasts and ponytails.”

“DON’T SAY SUCH THINGS SO CALMLY!? DIDN’T YOU JUST REVEAL MY FETISHES NO MATTER HOW YOU TRY TO TWIST THINGS!?”

“Ponytail…”

“Big breasts…”

Himeji-san and Minami stared at a certain part of each other’s body, and then both of them showed a pondering look.

“I’d say, aren’t you people going to study?”

“Tha, that’s right, Hideyoshi’s right! Alright, we should be studying!”

I snatched the book from Himeji-san’s hands and stuffed a textbook into her hands. Alrigh, time to study hard, we should be studying seriously.”

“Tha, that’s right. We should start studying. Nn…”

“Mi, Mizuki? Why are you tying your hair out of a sudden?”

“No, nothing? I’m tying my hair so that it won’t affect my mood.”

“I’ll help you tie then! I’ll tie it into buns!”

“No, that’s not it. I want to tie it into a ponytail.”

“No! You must tie it into buns!”

“Minami-chan, you’re so evil…”

Minami said that and immediately went behind Himeji-san to tie her hair into buns. They look youthful and eye-catching…

“What’s with you, Muttsurini? I’d say, you look rather quiet.”

“ah, yeah.”

Even if such a book put on the table, Muttsurini didn’t show any interest at all. This really isn’t like Muttsurini. Has he already died from too much nosebleeding?”

“…(Looks around).”

“? What’s wrong, Muttsurini?”

I look at him in a rather worried manner, but Muttsurini still looked calm and continued to look around as if he was searching for something.

“…Akihisa.”

“Nn?”

“…Where’s the remaining 1,999 books?”

“Ehh!? You actually thought that I really had 2,000 ero-books!?”

Amazing! As for what’s amazing, it’s that Muttsurini actually believed that there’s 2,000 ero-books here!

“…I have no interest in ero-books.”

In stark contrast to what he said, Muttsurini obviously looked disappointed as he lowered his shoulders. He looked like a puppy who was begging its own to bring it out for a walk, only to be rejected. Though pitiful, Muttsurini may be rather cute like this.

“Let’s just leave Akihisa’s ero-books aside for now. If we want to study, we better do so fast!”

Yuuji spoke in a reluctant manner. One can tell how scary these guys are when an idiot like Yuuji look like one with common sense.

“If you want to study, I can teach you.”

“Eh? Onee-san, you will?”

Nee-san’s suggestion caused Himeji-san and the rest to widen their eyes.

Having seen nee-san’s weird actions, it’s obvious that they would show a shocked look.

“Yes. I finished my degree in a certain school in Boston, America, so I should more or less be able to help you out.”

“Bo, Boston university…don’t tell me it’s that world famous Harvard University!?”

“You really do know it. Yes, it’s that cschool.”

“““EHHH!!!???”””

The strange thing is, nee-san’s abnormally good at studying, but is overwhelmingly lacking in common sense.

“I see, so the good ones were taken…”

“Yuuji, may I know what do you mean by that?”

The sad expression he showed me was really frustrating.

“In that case, please don’t hold back in your questions, like traditional English or things that the Japanese teachers can’t teach us. Nee-san seem to know a lot.”

“…Very reliable.”

“I understand. We’ll start from English then.”

“““We’re in your care!”””

After that, we continued to listen to nee-san’s lessons until 10pm before we disbanded and ended the study group today.

'''Current score [-220 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Second_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Fourth_Question}}
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Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T07:03:29Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, we would be able to start the summoning war immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current situation is such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it, Yuuji. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how much she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be really great news for me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll do things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:59:20Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, we would be able to start the summoning war immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current situation is such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it, Yuuji. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter much she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be really great news for me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll do things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:58:42Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, we would be able to start the summoning war immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current situation is such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it, Yuuji. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter much she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll do things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:43:48Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, we would be able to start the summoning war immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current situation is such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it, Yuuji. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter much she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:41:25Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, we would be able to start the summoning war immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current situation is such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:24:06Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, we would be able to start the summoning war immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:21:59Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:19:56Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:11:11Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
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Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:10:23Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:08:52Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T06:07:05Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:59:19Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:56:23Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return to Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:53:49Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
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Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:42:02Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring his own bento. But it looks like he brought his own bento from home today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:39:46Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding at that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring his own bento. But it looks like he brought his own bento from home today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:35:34Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! I’ll make a move first!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding at that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring his own bento. But it looks like he brought his own bento from home today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_First_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Third_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:28:37Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF PURPOSELY!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! I’ll make a move first!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding at that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring his own bento. But it looks like he brought his own bento from home today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Second Question

2012-04-09T05:23:08Z

89.178.79.221: /* The Second Question */

==The Second Question==

'''Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.'''

“Die Musik gefällt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

'''Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:'''

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“ <-Invisible Ink”

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinoshita Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you have some instant income and got a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really can’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attentioned was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll make a move first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.”

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa. Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa. It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked to be extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really...feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran by me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“..Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

[[Image:1212_057.jpg|thumb]]

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before.”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF PURPOSELY!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! I’ll make a move first!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

<center>☆</center>

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said 7 times to me during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really regretful that the teachers would feel like this as I kept my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’s a whole lot of reasons…”

If it was Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding at that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring his own bento. But it looks like he brought his own bento from home today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

It’s true that what they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide about this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’s too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji summoned the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like I didn’t hit at all. I’m rather familiar to controlling a summoned beast, but I never had this feeling before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from beside. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot putt tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast at will other than the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break became like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I WILL FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to be a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use this specialities of obstacle clearing to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came hiding here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came hiding here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal liked to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

<big>““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””</big>

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?[http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will have some malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, the summoning war we would be able to start immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you, is it?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current’s situation such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how many she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

'''““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””'''

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”{

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying hard seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explainjed it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.”

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.”

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exist in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t this great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be of really great news to me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll deal things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scream.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

'''Current score [-20 points]'''

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