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Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

2013-06-03T23:03:40Z

Brass:

[[Image:Daimaou_v01_cover.jpg|thumb|x400px|right|]]

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou (いちばんうしろの大魔王) is a light novel series written by Mizuki Shoutarou (水城正太郎) and illustrated by by Itou Souichi (伊藤宗一). As of 2013, it has 12 volumes published by Hobby Japan's HJ Bunko label. It has an anime adaptation as well as a manga adaptation.

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou series is also available in the following languages:
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou~Brazilian_Portuguese~|Português Brasileiro (Brazilian Portuguese)]]
==Story Synopsis==

"Future Occupation...Demon King."

Sai Akuto enters Constant Magic Academy to be useful to society and to become a top-ranked national magician. However, a horrible prediction is made on his first day. Thanks to this prediction, the class representative girl hates him, a girl with a mysterious power embraces him, a female artificial human is sent by the empire to observe him, and his school life is otherwise thrown into chaos...

== Translation ==

=== [[Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

Those who wish to contribute are asked to first notify a supervisor beforehand.

'''Translators are asked to [[Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on''' (see [[Format_guideline#Translators|the Guideline page]] for usage rules).

=== Format Standards ===
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
*[[Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou:Names_and_Terminology_Guidelines|Project-Specific Guidelines: Format, Names, and Terminology]] '''<Possible Spoilers>'''

=== Feedback ===
'''If you enjoyed the teaser, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5802 Feedback Thread]'''

== Updates ==
{{:Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou:Updates}}
For a full list of updates visit the [[Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou:Updates|Archive]].
==The ''Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou'' series by Mizuki Shoutarou==

===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou ([[Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou:Volume 1|Full Text]])===
[[image:Daimaou_v01_cover.jpg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Demon King is Born]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Chapter 2|Chapter 2: The Strange Observer]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The Slightly Frightening Upperclassman]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Chapter 4|Chapter 4: That Highly Assumption-Prone Girl]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Chapter 5|Chapter 5: The Menacing Optimist]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume1_Afterword|Afterword]]
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 2 ([[Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou:Volume 2|Full Text]])===
[[image:Daimaou_v02_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Chapter_1|Chapter 1: Do You Like Solitary Confinement?]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Chapter_2|Chapter 2: Who is that Girl?]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3: The Three Keys]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Chapter_4|Chapter 4: The Student Council President’s Rage]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Chapter_5|Chapter 5: The Cheerful Conspirator]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume2_Afterword|Afterword]]
 

===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 3===
[[image:Daimaou_v03_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume3_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 4===
[[image:Daimaou_v04_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume4_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 5===
[[image:Daimaou_v05_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume5_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 6===
[[image:Daimaou_v06_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume6_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 7===
[[image:Daimaou_v07_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume7_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 8===
[[image:Daimaou_v08_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume8_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 9===
[[image:Daimaou_v09_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume9_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 10===
[[image:Daimaou_v10_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume10_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 11===
[[image:Daimaou_v11_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume11_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Afterword
 
===Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Act 12===
[[image:Daimaou_v12_cover.jpeg|thumb|x200px|right|]]
*[[Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou:Volume12_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Afterword
 
== Project Staff ==

*Project Administrator:
*Project Supervisor:
=== Translators ===

'''ACTIVE'''
:*[[user:Js06|Js06]]

=== Editors ===

'''ACTIVE'''
:*[[user:Koakuma|Koala]]
:*[[User:Kory|Kory]]

== Series Overview ==
*いちばんうしろの大魔王 (1 February 2008, ISBN 4-89425-660-6)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT2 (1 May 2008, ISBN 4-89425-703-0)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT3 (1 September 2008, ISBN 4-89425-759-7)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT4 (1 December 2008, ISBN 4-89425-794-8)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT5 (1 March 2009, ISBN 4-89425-830-3)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT6 (30 June 2009, ISBN 4-89425-882-2)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT7 (1 September 2009, ISBN 4-89425-929-4)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT8 (1 December 2009, ISBN 4-89425-966-9)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT9 (1 April 2010, ISBN 4-7986-0029-1)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT10 (1 July 2010, ISBN 4-7986-0077-2)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT11 (1 December 2010, ISBN 4-7986-0150-2)
*いちばんうしろの大魔王ACT12 (29 September 2012, ISBN 4-7986-0460-2)

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5 The Fourth Question

2012-11-26T23:45:11Z

Brass: grammar. i still feel there's bit too many 'over's.

==The Fourth Question==

'''Please indicate the accented syllable of the underlined words in the English sentence below.'''

“Don’t mind. It's your imagination. He had stayed on business in New York yesterday.”

'''Himeji Mizuki’s answer:'''

"It’s your imaginátion."

'''Teacher's comment:'''

Correct answer. Normally, words that end with ‘tion’ will have the syllable before it, so it’s best to remember it.

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

"It’s your íḿáĝíńáťíóń."

'''Teacher's comment:'''

You won’t be necessarily correct if you accentuate every single letter.

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

"It’s your '''''imagination'''''!"

'''Teacher's comment:'''

Sometimes, I suspect if you’re really a genius, but that’s just a wrong impression.

[[Image:BTS5-Mizuki.jpg|thumb]]

I’m living together with that dangerous sister of mine under the same roof

Maybe it’s because of such a tense feeling that my senses became abnormally sharp, or is it that my precognition ability got sharper?

I suffered for an entire day yesterday, and I really felt tired because I studied, which I rarely do. However, for some reason, I opened my eyes before the alarm clock rang.

“…”

“…”

The moment I opened my eyes, I found myself holding onto a pile of cosmetics with both hands and exchanging looks with my sister.

“…Ah…erm…”

What is this person doing in my room so early in the morning?

“Good morning, Aki-kun.”

“Ah, yeah. Good morning.”

As she said good morning to me casually, I answered without thinking too much. Wait, now’s not the time to say good morning!

“Nee-san! Why did you come over to my room!? And what’s with the cosmetics? Are you thinking of bullying me again?”

Is she planning on doodling on my face while I’m sleeping!?

“What do you mean by bullying? That doesn’t sound nice. You should be saying pampering you or playing a little prank on you.”

“Ahh, whatever you say doesn’t matter! Fine, then tell me what kind of prank are you playing!?”

“Sexual related.”

“GET OUT!”

“I understand. Then treat it as revision for last night. I’ll leave if you can translate that into correct English.”

Damn it! A test at this moment? My sister’s too damned despicable! Anyway, I just need to get her out of my room.

“''Take off''!”

“Deduct 10 points.”

Damn it! Deducted again! Isn’t it like this? Let me see…’take’ has the meaning of ‘walk’ or ‘go’, and ‘out’ will have the meaning of ‘out’ here. If I match them up…

“''Take ou—''”

“Unfortunately, if you want to say ''‘take out’'', nee-san will have to take Aki-kun ‘back’ to her own room and dress you like a doll.”

“''Take ouch''!”

This is bad! Got to hurry up and get away—

“Did you say ''‘take ouch’''?...deduct another 10 points.”

—I failed again.

No no. What’s the English form of ‘get out’…what, what is it…

“Aki-kun, did you want to say ''‘take off clothes’''?”

Perhaps she couldn’t stand seeing me panicking as nee-san helped me out. This is great! I don’t know what that means, but I should be able to escape then!

“Tha, that’s right! That’s it! ''‘Take off clothes, hurry!’''”

“I understand that. If Aki-kun says so, nee-san can only give up on marriage.”

What! What does ''‘take off clothes’'' mean? Why did nee-san say that she can only give up on marriage!

“Alright, considering all the punishment from yesterday, that should be enough with the jokes.”

“Eh? Jokes? Then what about the point deduction?”

“I’m serious with that one.”

“YOU DEMON!”

In that case, I will have 240 points deducted. I’m doomed. It’s getting worse day by day…

“On a side note, ''‘take off clothes’'' is translated as ‘taking off clothing’. Really, our Aki-kun here is so perverted.”

“Ahaha, what are you saying. It doesn’t benefit me one bit even if I see nee-san’s naked body.”

“…Deduct 30 points from you.”

“YOU’RE THE DEVIL!”

There will be real problems if a younger brother is interested in his sister’s naked body.

“Speaking of which, while Aki-kun was sleeping in the morning, nee-san used the excuse of cleaning to check your room.”

“Excuse…that’s not something you can just say…”

“I found two more H-books.”

“HAAAAUUUU!!”

How did this person find those old books that even I've completely forgotten…

“So I’m going to deduct from you another 20 points.”

“Uu…so you’re deducting one book for 10 points, and two books for 20 points?”

“Nope, you’re mistaken.”

Eh? That’s not it?

“I found 6 books up till now, but none of them were about affairs with older sisters, so I deducted 20 points from you.”

“ISN’T THAT WAY TOO UNREASONABLE!?”

I already have a sister, how can I even go and buy those kinds of ero-books?! Speaking of which, since she’s my real sister, shouldn’t she feel disgusted if she saw such things?

“I might be a little bit too strict, but I hope that it will serve as a good lesson for Aki-kun. This is nee-san’s love for Aki-kun.”

“WHO WOULD BELIEVE SUCH A LAME EXCUSE AFTER YOU'VE CLEARLY SHOWED ALL YOUR PERSONAL INTERESTS?!”

“Alright, you should leave after having your breakfast. Nee-san has to go to work today.”

“Uu…I can’t stand such a life…”

How is it that living together with a relative under one roof can be such a pain?

<center>☆</center>

“That’s the case, Yuuji. So let’s have a happy study group later again!”

After school, I packed my bag at the fastest speed possible and hurriedly ran over to Yuuji’s seat.

“…Akihisa. These words sound really disgusting when they aren’t things you’ll normally say.”

“Whatever you say. I’m not bothered with thinking about what other people say.”

The more my points get deducted, the more I have nothing to do other than to try to improve my grades.

“What the heck, you got deducted again?”

“Well…nee-san tested my English early in the morning…”

Testing me just when I woke up; there has to be a limit to how despicable one should be! But I guess it doesn’t matter what the time was, since I just couldn’t think of the answer…

“Really? Then how much were you deducted?”

“In all, 290. This is bad.”

“290, huh. Looks like you have to get at least 1090 points for your end-of-term exams.”

“Yeah. Even if I’m in good condition, my maximum will be about 1000. If I can’t get more than 50 points more…”

If I can get 1100 points, it will be the average in E class. To be honest, I have no confidence in that.

“If it’s just that, you should be able to do it.”

“Eh? Really?”

“If you’re willing to work like crazy memorizing things that you have to remember, you should be able to improve your grades. In your case, world history should be your big chance. I remember it was only about 50, 60 points?”

“Un. You really remembered that.”

“I’m the class rep of F class after all.”

Yuuji would check everyone’s scores before starting a summoning war. As a commander, he definitely has to know his own class’ grades.

“It seems that the one responsible for the end-of-term test is going to be different than the one for the streaming exam - it's going to be Tanaka-sensei. This should be a good thing for you, right?”

“Tanaka-sensei…if he’s the one making the questions, it will be a lot easier to get points.

Tanaka-sensei, who’s in charge of world history, is a kind middle-aged man. As the questions he sets are very simple, he’s highly regarded amongst the students.

Normally, simpler questions wouldn’t determine how good or bad the grades are, and a test that doesn’t determine how good or bad the standard is would be meaningless.

But to me now, this is something I really need. Besides, the important thing isn’t to compete with the other classmates, but to get points.

“It should be easier to get points from subjects that only need memorizing than subjects you’re good at.”

“You're right. Even if I start studying math now, I probably won’t get any good grades.”

To me, the key to getting points on these end-of-term tests will be world history.

Just when Yuuji and I were discussing how to deal with the tests and things like that, Hideyoshi, who was holding onto his bag, came to us.

“What are you discussing about? Are we having another study group at Akihisa’s house?”

“My house? Well…nee-san’s out to work, so she won’t be around at night, so you can come along. But…”

“But?”

“It’s better to go to Yuuji’s house to study. It’s better to change places once in a while to one other than mine. And my house doesn’t have any reference books, so we can’t study if there’re things we don’t have.”

I immediately suggested that we study at Yuuji’s place.

It’s not a lie when I say that I don’t have any reference books at all, but the reason why I chose Yuuji’s place is actually because I want to drag him down. That Yuuji always has no interest in things he’s not interested in, so if I don’t do this, I will worry that he won’t teach me. He said that he would help me for the sake of the next summoning battle, but I have to be prepared.

“Can we, Yuuji? You did come over to my house forcefully yesterday.”

“Well, we did force our way to your house yesterday alright…”

Yuuji pondered for a while,

“Alright then, we’ll go to my house then. My mom’s going on a hot springs trip and isn’t at home now. That’s really lucky.”

I don’t know what’s worth being happy about Yuuji’s mother not being at home, but he agreed rather heartily. Now I can ask him to teach me today.

“In that case, can I join in too? It’s really hard to be motivated studying alone.”

“Of course it’s okay. Or rather, the same few will be gathered here, right? In that case, might as well gather them to save time.”

“You’re right. Oi, Muttsurini, Himeji-san, Minami!”

I hollered out to the other three who were waiting in the classroom.

“Yes, what’s the matter, Akihisa-kun?”

“What?”

“…Where’re we going?”

Having packed their bags, the trio carried them and walked over.

“Un. We intend to study at Yuuji’s house. If you guys are alright…”

Perhaps it was to prepare for the upcoming end-of-term exams as everyone agreed wholeheartedly.

<center>☆</center>

After a 15 minute walk from school, we arrived at Yuuji’s place, located in a corner of the residence district.

“““Please excuse us.”””

After taking off our shoes at the corridor, we entered the house one by one.

Unlike my house, Yuuji’s house is a 2-storyed bungalow and looks wider than mine. It should be easier to study here.

“Yuuji, isn’t anyone else at home?”

I walked forward and asked Yuuji who was about to lead us to his room.

“Ahh, my dad’s still working at this time, and my mom went off on a hot springs trip with her high school friends, so please don’t feel restrained and make yourself at home.”

“I see. The last time I came here, it seemed that your relatives weren’t at home, Yuuji.”

“Yeah. But it’ll be better if they’re not at home in more than one way.”

Yuuji smiled cheerily and opened the door leading to the living room, and then,

“……(Guchi guchi guchi guchi)!”

There’s a woman focusing on squeezing a bubble bag.

“…”

—BATAN!

Yuuji wordlessly closed the door.

“Yu, Yuuji? That person who’s squeezing the bubble bags that’s piled up like a hill is—”

“…Someone I don’t know.”

“Is, is that Sakamoto's mother…? Why is she squeezing so many bubble bags…”

“Ye, yeah. Aren’t there too many of them? If she wants to squeeze so many of them, it will take about 1, 2 hours.”

“…Such amazing concentration.”

“Is Sakamoto-kun’s mother's line of work squeezing bubble bags?”

All sorts of ideas appeared in everyone’s mind. What was that just now…

“Must be some patient with a psychiatric disorder. Don’t know how she got into my house, because my mom should be off on the hot springs trip.”

It’s really rare for Yuuji to make such a lie that anyone can see through. This Yuuji can cheat other people’s hearts like a professional con-man and I thought that such an evil Yuuji was no different from the devil, so I’m rather surprised by his response now.

Yuuji closed the door leading to the living room, and we could only stay in the corridor. At this moment, the voice of that so-called stranger could be heard.

“Oh my? I didn’t think it would be that late now. I remember Yuuji just went to school.”

Looks like the person inside the room has been squeezing bubble bags for almost 8 hours.

“I’ll finish the rest after I have lunch.”

And it looks like she wants to continue.

“DAMN MOM! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?”

Seemingly unable to stand this any further, Yuuji finally stepped into the living room. Really? That person’s really Yuuji’s mother…

“Oh my, Yuuji. You’re back.”

“TO HELL I AM! WHY THE HECK ARE YOU AT HOME!? DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT YOU’RE GOING OUT ON A HOT SPRINGS TRIP AND STAYING OUTSIDE!?”

“About this, it seemed that okaa-san here mistook the time. July and October look really easy to mix up on first glance. How troublesome.”

“HOW IS IT EASY TO MIX UP!? THE NUMBER’S DIFFERENT, AND ONE’S A SINGLE DIGIT WHILE THE OTHER IS A DOUBLE DIGIT! THEY’RE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!”

“Really, you, Yuuji, treating okaa-san like a naive female high school student.”

“STOP USING THAT SHAMELESS EXCUSE TO ESCAPE THE PROBLEM! YOUR GOLDEN AGE ENDED MORE THAN 10 YEARS AGO!!”

“Oh my, are these Yuuji’s friends?”

“ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?”

We were already stunned by such a crazy conversation. A, amazing…how should I describe it? Anyway…it’s amazing…

“Everyone, welcome here. Our Yuuji has bothered you a lot. I’m his mother. Just call me Yukino.”

Aunty Yukino smiled kindly at us and said gracefully. The gentle presence that she gave really made it hard to imagine that she would have any blood relation to Yuuji.

And also, after seeing her look, there’s one thing we’re all shocked by.

“Sa, Sakamoto? Your mother’s…way too young, isn’t she?”

“Yeah…I feel that Yuuji’s mom is so young that she never gave birth before…”

“…A beauty”

“I feel that she’s more like Sakamoto-kun’s sister~”

Just like what everyone said, she looked more like an older sister who was somewhat older than Yuuji than a mother. Speaking of which, how old is she anyway?

“Ever... everyone, just pretend that you never saw my mother and head to my room.”

“U, un. Pardon us for intruding then.”

After bowing to his mother, we head over to Yuuji’s room on the second level.

“Everyone, I’ll bring tea to you later.”

A voice came from the living room. It’s great to have a young and pretty and kind mom…even though it feels a little weird.

“My room’s here. Please enter.”

We entered Yuuji’s room as he led us in.

Once we went up the stairs, we arrived at Yuuji’s room. It’s rather neatly packed, which is surprising. For a one-person room, it’s rather wide.

“Speaking of which, it’s been a while since I came to Yuuji’s house.”

“I’d say so too.”

“…Me too.”

It seemed that after I came here last autumn with Hideyoshi and Muttsurini, we never entered Yuuji’s house again.

“Eh? Don’t you normally come for a visit?”

“Normally, they would come over to my house. We hardly go to Yuuji’s house, or even Muttsurini or Hideyoshi’s house.”

“The place’s great and it’s wide. Akihisa’s house is still the best.”

“That’s because Akihisa-kun’s being too luxurious living in such a large house.”

“Other than the three meals.”

Yeah yeah, but I will have to see the grades of these end-of-term tests to decide whether I can live my luxurious happy life of living alone.

“But…with so many people inside, my room will be too small, which is troublesome…”

There were 6 people altogether. If we were chit-chatting, it would still be alright, but if we open all our textbooks and notes, the place will be rather small and hard to move in.

“Can’t we go to your living room?”

“It’s not that we can’t, but my mom’s over there. With her around, we can’t possibly study.”

Yuuji showed a thoroughly irritated look. It may be my lucky day to know this guy’s weakness other than Kirishima-san.

“Really, how can you say that, Sakamoto-kun? Treating your own mother as a form of trouble.”

“Himeji, you’re saying that because you’re not living with such a mother. If you have to live with her for 24 hours a day under the same roof, you’ll find that there’s a lot of points you have to snark at her about—”

Prrr! Prrr!

Just when Yuuji was arguing back, a certain electronic sound suddenly rang inside the room. Someone’s handphone probably rang.

“Ah, it’s my phone. Sorry, I’ll take the call.”

Minami took the phone from her skirt pocket and put it next to her ear. It was not a message but a direct call. Is there something urgent?

“Hello? Ah, Mut—okaa-san. What is it? …Un…un. I see, got it then.”

This call lasted less than a minute as Minami put the phone back into her skirt pocket.

“Did something happen, Minami?”

“Un…my mom originally didn’t need to go to work and could stay at home…but it seems that the company suddenly got something urgent, so she has to go out.”

“Ah, is that so? Then Hazuki-chan’s the only one at home, is it?”

“Ya. Sorry everyone, looks like I have to go home today. Let’s work hard together next time.”

I see. It’s a pity, but it can't be helped. Besides, it’s too much leaving a primary school kid at home.

Minami then took her bag and got ready to leave Yuuji’s room. But at this moment, Yuuji called Minami.

“Wait, Shimada. In that case, why don’t we move the study group over to your house?”

“Eh? My house?”

Minami’s house. I see, that’s a good idea.

“That’s not a bad idea too. Shimada’s little sister knows us, and Yuuji’s room is so full of people that it’s a little cramped here..”

“And we can meet Hazuki-chan too.”

“…I can cook dinner for you.”

The rest of us agreed with this proposal. Most importantly, it looks like Yuuji, who proposed this, wants to change the place no matter what.

“If you’re willing, Minami, can we go?”

“U…you, you’re right…”

That’s weird? It sounds like Minami’s not willing. I do find this a good idea.

“The, then, let’s go to my house…”

After pondering for a while, Minami agreed in the end. That’s great, now Hazuki-chan won’t have to feel lonely, and everyone can gather together and study.

“But you absolutely must not enter my room!”

For some reason, Minami stared at my eyes as she said that. Do I look like someone who’ll enter a girl’s room on my own? And to think Minami’s more wary of me instead of Muttsurini. How regretful.

“Alright. Since it’s decided, let’s hurry up and leave! That pipsqueak will feel lonely if we leave her alone at home!”

After saying that, Yuuji pushed us from behind and hurriedly moved over to the corridor. Does he really hate having his mom at home while studying?

Yuuji entered the living room while we were putting on our shoes in the corridor to talk to Aunt Yukino.

“Mom, I’m going out. There are leftovers from yesterday in the fridge, so take it out and reheat it for dinner.”

“Oh my, are you going out? I just brewed tea.”

“Sorry, there’s a sudden situation…speaking of which, why are you holding onto that bottle of noodle sauce?”

“Noodle sauce? Oh my, I thought it was coffee.”

“Mom…I won’t ask you to take note of the color or taste, but at least you should read the label on the bottle…”

What’s going on? Why do I feel that Yuuji feels even more lethargic at home than at school?

<center>☆</center>

“I’m back. Are you here, Hazuki?”

Minami immediately called into the house once she opened the door to the corridor.

“Waa, onee-chan? You, you’re back?”

A little profile dashed out from the other side of the corridor.

The girl with the almond-shaped eyes that were twitching upwards and two ponytails tied in butterfly knots is Minami’s little sister—Shimada Hazuki.

“? Hazuki? Did you come out from onee-chan’s room?”

Looks like Hazuki-chan just came running out from Minami’s room.

“Ah, auu…actually it’s because…it feels lonely being alone, so Hazuki went over to onee-chan’s room…”

Hazuki-chan sounded like she really had something she didn’t want to say, and there seemed to be something hidden in the pocket of her parka.

“Did you go to my room to get the doll? Onee-chan won’t get angry over that.”

“Re, really? Thank you, onee-chan!”

Good good. Minami patted Hazuki-chan gently on the head. I saw that their conversation has ended, and took a step forward from behind Minami and said hello to Hazuki-chan.

“Hello there, Hazuki-chan.”

“Ah! Baka onii-chan!”

On seeing that I came over, Hazuki-chan leaped into me with her arms wide open without a second word. After hugging my waist, Hazuki-chan rubbed her forehead at my waist a few times. Un un, as expected of Minami’s little sister…her forehead precisely fits my solar plexus.

“Hello there, Hazuki-chan. We came along.”

“Waah. Even pretty onee-chan is here. There’re a lot of guests here today!”

It’s really lonely for a primary school kid to be alone at home, as Hazuki-chan immediately showed a smile the moment she saw that we came here and looked extremely delighted. Such an honest kid is really suited for the term ‘innocent’.

“Okay, Hazuki, let go of Aki, or else everyone else can’t enter the house.”

“Okay, I got it. Baka onii-chan, everyone, please follow me.”

“Okay okay, Hazuki-chan, you don’t have to pull me. I’ll follow—nn?”

As I was pulled over down the corridor by Hazuki-chan, I accidentally glimpsed the inside of a room whose door wasn’t locked. There are a few dolls inside, and at the middle is a familiar large doll. The doll looks like it’s holding onto something.

What’s in the grasp of that fox doll? It looks like…a photo frame…?

“Wa, wait a second, Aki!?”

“Houe?”

On hearing Minami call me, I consciously turned around. At that moment, my forehead, nose and chin were struck with a strong force. Just when I lost my balance, the joints on my wrists were twisted with such violent force that they were dislocated.

“What are you looking at?”

I suppose right now I'm looking into the pit of hell.

“Listen! This is the room that you’re not allowed to enter!”

Minami hurriedly closed the door, and at this moment, Muttsurini too joined me with dislocated wrists. Minami then turned around and furiously pointed at me. Un, relax, I definitely won’t open this door. I know clearly that this door leads straight to hell.

“Really, what in the world are you guys doing…how have you been doing, pipsqueak?”

“Hazuki’s doing well, muscular onii-chan.”

“Really? That’s good.”

Yuuji reached out and patted Hazuki-chan’s head twice before putting his hand on her head. It seems that Yuuji likes to put his hand on Hazuki-chan’s forehead because of the difference in height.

“Oh yeah, is your living room in this direction?”

“Yes, it’s this way.”

Yuuji looks like he regained his composure and attitude the moment he left his house. If I had known, I would have mocked him further.

“Find a place to sit then. I’ll move a table over.”

Minami walked over in front of us and got ready to move a table so that we could open our textbooks and read.

“? Onee-chan? Why do you need the table? Are you playing cards?”

Hazuki-chan tilted her head in a puzzled manner as she saw Minami’s actions.

Ahh, that’s right. We haven’t told Hazuki-chan the reason why we came over to her house.

“Hazuki. Onee-chan’s school is going to have end-of-term tests soon, so onee-chan brought her classmates over to study.”

On hearing Minami’s explanation, Hazuki-chan showed a lonely expression and looked down slightly.

“Auu…so you’re going to study…Hazuki can only go back to her room and not bother you…”

I should say she either really knows how to read the mood or is very cognitive. Hazuki-chan was ready to go back to her room without us saying a thing.

This is really a response a good kid should have, but…

“Wait a moment, Hazuki-chan. If you don’t feel bored, why don’t you study with us? You can do your homework or study.”

It’s not a good thing if a kid can really read people’s moods. She was already happy when she saw us come over. Wouldn’t it be really lonely if she were to hide back in her room alone like that?

“Eh? Hazuki can stay with everyone to study?”

Her expression immediately brightened.

“Of course you can. Right?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s teaching one or two people.”

“Yuuji, are you saying that I’m only on the level of a fifth-grader?”

“Hazuki-chan. Let’s study together.”

“I don’t think this me has anything to teach you, but I’d be willing to welcome you to study with us.”

“…If it’s health education, I can teach you.”

Muttsurini, those words of yours are just within the limit (it’s nearly an out there).

(Aki, are you really alright with that? Don’t you have to work hard for the tests this time?)

Minami kept her voice down to prevent Hazuki-chan from hearing that and whispered into my ear. She really seemed concerned with my grades.

(It’s alright. Hazuki-chan’s a good kid and won’t be a hindrance. Also, it's too pitiful if she stays in her room alone. I won’t be able to work hard then.)

Minami was really over-thinking things… of course that was my response.

(…Thank you, Aki.)

She whispered to me in a shy manner.

Minami will occasionally look at me in a gentle manner. After seeing her like this, I…well, about this…what should I say..

“Hazuki wants to study with everyone!”

“Very good. Bring your homework over then.”
“Got it!”

Tototo. Hazuki-chan scampered away. Even though she’s just studying with us, she looks really happy.

“Alright. We’re going to move the table. I’ll help.”

“Ah, there’s no need. I can do it myself.”

“Really? Yeah. If there’s a ‘photo of a certain person in the house’, of course you wouldn't wish that other people would go around, and I won’t insist on helping.”

“Wh-wha-what, what are you saying, Sakamoto!? Did you…see what’s inside that room!?”

“Nothing, I’m just joking…”

“To think that Shimada still has the heart of a girl.”

“…Sorry for using your generosity to help my business.”

Looks like Minami does go over to buy photos from Muttsurini. Muttsurini Company is really the real deal.

“Oh yeah. We can talk about the hidden things later. What about dinner?”

“…Should I cook something?”

“I don’t mind.”

It’s 5pm now. If we want to cook, we have to buy the ingredients, and we won’t be able to make it later.

“Why don’t we order pizza? It’ll take some time to cook something.”

“Yes. Akihisa-kun has to study quite a bit. We can’t waste time cooking.”

It’s great that the two girls were so kind. Besides, I do have some spare cash now, so it’ll be great if we can prioritize cooking.

“Well, I’d thought we would be able to see Shimada cook personally.”

“After last night, my confidence was so shaken thoroughly, so…”

“I see. I understand.”

“Everyone, find a place to sit. I’ll move the table over.”

Minami went away, and Hazuki-chan seemed to brush past her as her arms were full of textbooks while she came over.

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”

“You look rather motivated, Hazuki-chan.”

“Yes. Ah, baka onii-chan, please sit here.”

Hazuki-chan put the books in her hand onto the living room table, and then put a cushion on the carpet. Is she asking me to sit on it?

“Thank you, Hazuki-chan.”

“It’s nothing much.”

I obediently sat on the cushion, and then—

“Hazuki’s seat is over here.”

Hazuki-chan then sat on my knees. I see, so that’s how it is.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’ll put this table—hey, Hazuki, what are you doing?”

“Ehehe~ Hazuki wants to sit here and study.”

“No way. You’ll get in Aki’s way!”

Minami started lecturing in a way an older sister should be doing. It’ll be great if she just tells me off instead of taking action for real when she faces me…

“I’m fine here, Minami. Hazuki-chan’s small anyway.”

As compared to supporting a pile of stone slabs and being forced down hard, I don’t feel hurt at all when Hazuki-chan’s sitting on my legs.

“You’re so kind, baka onii-chan.”

It will be problematic if I have to take out my notebooks or start writing, but my main aim today is to memorize history thoroughly, so there won’t be any problems. I just need a memorization sheet to study unlike homework where I have to write.

“It’s alright if you’re fine with that…but Aki, don’t you feel weird somewhere?”

“Akihisa-kun, if there’s any strange feeling, something bad will happen!”

“Yes, ladies, I have no evil intent at all.”

With this, we’re finally able to finish our preparations. The few of us plus Hazuki-chan were finally able to start studying for the end-of-term tests.

<center>☆</center>

After about 2 hours of studying and a luxurious meal of pizza, we continued to study. It’s rare to have nothing troublesome, and time peacefully passed.

“Un? It’s so late already. Shouldn’t the study meet be over or something?”

Before I noticed it, the clock was showing 9.30pm.

“Wow, time sure does fly by fast.”

“…We were very focused.”

“It’s already pitch black outside.”

Once Yuuji said that, everyone put down their pens. I made quite a bit of progress because Himeji-san and Yuuji’s teaching methods were very easy. If I can continue on like this, I should be able to chase nee-san out back overseas, I suppose.

“That should be it for today. We should be going.”

“You’re right, thank you Minami-chan.”

“Ah, un, I should be the one thanking you. Hazuki, you should be—Hazuki?”

“Zzzz…”

“Ahaha, looks like she’s tired.”

Unknowingly, Hazuki-chan fell asleep on my lap.

“Really, Hazuki…sorry Aki. Can you help me move her onto the sofa?”

“Ah, okay, I was planning on doing so.”

Hazuki-chan was tugging at my shirt even when she was sleeping as she didn’t let go even when I carried her to the sofa. I won’t be able to go home like this.

“Oi, Hazuki, wake up. How is Aki going to go home if you continue to tug at him?”

Minami patted Hazuki-chan on the shoulder.

“Nu…”

At this moment, Hazuki-chan finally opened her eyes slightly.

“Don’t…go home…”

Hazuki-chan muttered and tugged harder at my shirt.

“Hazuki, onee-chan’s going to be angry if you say such stubborn things.”

Minami spoke with a heavier tone. At this moment, I can see that Minami is a kind and yet strict older sister to Hazuki-chan when it comes to it.

“…Onee-chan doesn’t understand…”

“Eh? What?”

“…Onee-chan can often play with baka onii-chan…but Hazuki can only be with baka onii-chan at such a moment…”

“““…”””

She’s all sleepy, which is why she said such things, but the few of us who were awake were stunned to actually hear Hazuki-chan’s true thoughts accidentally. So Hazuki-chan really admires me that much…

“Eh…Minami, if you’re not bothered, can I stay to study for a while longer?”

“Eh?”

“Yeah. Since the pipsqueak said so, Akihisa should stay behind.”

“It sure is thus. Akihisa, being a popular guy is tough.”

“…You're really popular.”

Everyone started to make fun of me as they jabbed at me, but this isn’t a bad feeling. I’m really happy to hear such words of goodwill that can ease my emotions, especially with that out-of-sorts sister of mine launching perverted attacks on me.

“Is, is that so…sorry Aki. Please accompany Hazuki for a while more.”

“Un.”

Since Minami allowed me, I should stay behind to study more. Besides, there’re some parts of the lesson today that I don’t really understand.

“Ah, well…in that case, I should…”

“Eh? Himeji-san, you can’t stay behind. It’ll be dangerous for a girl to go back home alone if it’s too late. Better get Yuuji to send you back home.”

“But I’m really worried, in many ways…”

“I understand your feelings.”

“No, you don’t understand what I’m worried about, Akihisa-kun!”

“???”

For some reason, Himeji-san seemed to be angry.

“I’ll send Himeji home. Muttsurini, bring Hideyoshi home.”

“…I accept.”

“I won’t really accept this, but this couldn’t be helped…”

As we continued to drag on, time continued to fly. Cute kids like Himeji-san and Hideyoshi will really be in danger if they walk back home alone at night. They were hounded by some malicious weird guys before in the Cool Summer Festival, so we have to take note.

“Then, I’ll…”

But even so, Himeji-san just wouldn’t agree. It’s not that I don’t understand that she’s worried about Hazuki-chan, but…

“But no matter how much you ask, no means no, Himeji-san.”

“But but…”

“No buts. There’s a lot of dangerous people outside, so you have to watch out for your own safety and go back home early!”

“Give it up, Himeji. No matter how much you say, Akihisa won’t change his mind.”

“…Uu…why did it end up like this…”

On hearing Hazuki-chan’s lonely words, kind Himeji-san definitely won’t leave her alone, but it’s very late now, so I’ll take over here.

“We’ll be going then. Thank you for today, Shimada.”

“I feel bothered for disturbing you for too long too.”

“…Thanks.”

“Thank you, Minami-chan…”

Including Himeji-san, who looked somewhat stressed out, everyone thanked Minami and headed off to the corridor.

“Everyone, see you tomorrow.”

My shirt was still being tugged at by Hazuki-chan, so I could only remain there and wait for everyone else to leave.

“Wait, I’ll send you off.”

Minami then got up and followed everyone out.

“Alright, I should be studying now.”

I sat in the living room that felt immediately empty, and reached out for the notes Himeji-san specially made. Himeji-san’s words are pretty, and it’s easy to read. The notes are really so good that I can grasp the important points of the exams. With these notes, my grades will definitely improve.

I took the highlighted notes and stuffed their contents into my brains.

“Suu…suu…”

A steady breathing sound could be heard at my knees.

Sleeping Hazuki-chan feels very warm, and it feels even more comfy with the air-con switched on in the room. No, it’s not because of the warmth, but it’s that her fawning over me like this made me really happy. Besides, nee-san’s been talking about exam grades and living lifestyles and nagging about all these recently, which made me feel that such a time is really precious.

I held onto the memorizing sheet and continued to memorize in a dazed manner, and time passed by just like that.

“Sorry for that, Aki, troubling you like that.”

Minami, who sent everyone off, soon came back.

“Uun, I don’t find it troublesome.”

“…Thank you.”

After thanking me in a shy manner, Minami sat beside me and gently patted Hazuki-chan on the head.

“Nyuu…”

“This kid’s really…”

Minami sat beside me and patted Hazuki-chan’s head, and Hazuki-chan, who was lying on my leg, seemed to twitch due to itchiness.

“Minami and Hazuki-chan are really close.”

“Yeah. It’s not bad.”

“Looking at you two, I really want to smile.”

“What are you saying? Don't you have good relations with your sister, Aki?”

“Eh? Since when! I’ve been watched by her, and everything family related ended up with me. She will even nag at me. There’s nothing good about it at all!”

“But didn’t you sister say ‘I love Aki-kun the most’?”

“…Please forget about that.”

“Uu, I feel that she was joking at the last bit.”

“Of course she is!”

Or rather, I’ll be really bothered if she wasn’t joking.

““…””

As we looked at Hazuki-chan’s sleeping face, Minami and I went silent.

[[Image:1212_169.jpg|thumb]]

“Well, Aki, that…”

“Nn? What is it?”

“That doll in my room…”

“Ahh, are you talking about the large fox doll in the room?”

“Un, that fox doll—Aki bought it for me, right?”

Nn?

Speaking of which, Hazuki-chan back then said that she wanted to buy the doll for her older sister, and Hazuki-chan’s sister is Minami…

“I see. So I helped Hazuki-chan buy the doll for Minami.”

“Eh? Don’t tell me you didn’t even realize this?”

Minami gave me a look as if she’s treating me like an idiot again.

How rude. It’s not that I didn’t notice it. I just didn’t think of it.

“Well, this can’t be helped since Aki’s like that.”

“Minami, are you actually secretly mocking me now?”

“Yeah, because you’re an idiot, Aki. It can’t be helped.”

“Minami, are you actually mocking me now?”

There’s no need to deliberately pick on it.

“After the Cool Summer Festival, I wondered how Hazuki knew about Aki, so I asked Hazuki about everything.”

“Ahh, is that so. Speaking of which, I don’t think we told you about that.”

It’s no wonder she would be wondering how her little sister who’s in primary school would know about her classmate.

“After hearing Hazuki explain it, I felt…really happy.”

“This is to be expected. You should be happy after knowing that your sister worked so hard to cheer you up.”

“…”

I’m so envious that Minami has such an understanding sister.

“Haa…really, you’re a blockhead.”

Minami sighed hard and said this to me.

Whether it’s the brain, looks or lifestyle, it looks like I have an inexplicable link to the word ‘lousy’.

“You saw that doll when you looked into my room earlier, right?”

“Ah, un. I only saw the large doll holding onto a photo frame or something.’

“That photo frame…”

“Un.”

“Don’t you want to know…whose photo I put on it?”

“Eh?”

What’s with this mysterious conversation? I suppose the photo frame has the picture of Hazuki-chan who gave her the doll, or a family photo or something like that, isn’t it...? If not, it should be the photo of someone Minami likes—

“Nyuu!”

““HYAAA!!””

At this moment, Hazuki-chan, who was all sleepy, suddenly sat on my legs. Tha, that scared me!

“Nyuu…”

And Hazuki-chan leaned back down again. Did, did she really fall asleep?

“A, ahaha…that scared me.”

“Ye, yeah. Me too.”

During this time, Minami and I could only laugh awkwardly.

To change this strange atmosphere that’s flowing between us, I suppose I should look for something else to talk about. Let me see…

“Ah, Hazuki-chan let go of my shirt when she moved.”

“Eh? Ah, really.”

Most likely, she let go when she got up. That’s good.

“I suppose it’s about time for me to go.”

I carried Hazuki-chan and laid her down on the sofa. It hasn't been long since Yuuji and the rest left, so if I walk faster, I should be able to catch up to those guys.

“Really…then see you tomorrow.”

“Un.”

I put my textbooks and notes into the bag and reached out for the door handle of the living room.

Just when I was about to open the door and got ready to step out of the living room,

“…Aki.”

“Nn?”

“…You can go over to my room…to look at that photo…”

Minami said to me.

“U, un…”

With such a ridiculous pressure, I could only nod my head.

Minami didn’t say anything much after that and silently turned her head away.

“I, I’ll be going then…”

After closing the living room door, I walked towards the corridor.

“…The photo in Minami’s room…”

Since she said so, I can’t go home directly without taking a look at it.

From the conversation just now, I can guess that the big fox doll is holding onto the photo of the person Minami admires, and there’s a chance—it’s my photo.

“…(Gulp).”

I reached out for Minami’s door with my sweaty and tense hand and peeked into the room. I checked the photo in that frame. I then put on my shoes and opened the corridor door to leave Minami’s house.

Is that so…so Minami—

“A, Aki should have seen it, right? That photo…if he sees it, even an idiot should be able to understand…in that case, I can finally…”

“Nyuu…”

“Ah, Hazuki? You’re awake?”

“I’m awake…”

“Since you’re awake, change into your pajamas and go to sleep. If you feel lonely, onee-chan will sleep with you.”

“No…Hazuki borrowed a photo from onee-chan’s room, so Hazuki won’t feel lonely…”

“Really? It’s good that you won’t…eh? Wait, photo? The photo from my room?”

“Hazuki went over to borrow baka onii-chan’s photo from onee-chan’s room, so Hazuki won’t feel lonely…”

“Eehh? The, then, the photo in my room is…”

“Hazuki replaced it with the Mr Ape that’s used as the theme for the arts lesson at school…”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

—So Minami likes apes…well, how to put it. it really shocked me in many ways…

<center>☆</center>

Being completely shocked by the shocking words of my classmate, I couldn’t help but hasten my speed. Less than 5 minutes later, I saw Yuuji and Himeji-san walking in front of me. Eh? They didn’t go far? Did they take the long way?

“Ex, excuse me. I think I left something at Minami’s house…”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t forget anything. I checked thoroughly before we left Shimada’s house.”

“Uu…no, well…I have some place I want to go to….”

“It’s too late now. Better go tomorrow.”

“Hau…the, then, I have something I have to say to Minami.”

“…That’s enough already, Himeji. You’re just wasting your time now.”

“B, but…”

“No buts. That sound came from your handphone, right? Your parents should be worried about their daughter who has been back late for 2 days, right?”

“I, I sent a message over to them. Sakamoto-kun, please, let me go back!”

“It’s not that I don’t understand your feelings. Of course I want to let you go back there if I could…”

I ran over to the duo who seemed to be talking about something.

“What are you talking about, Yuuji?”

“Kya!? A, Akihisa-kun!”

“Oh, Akihisa, you’re rather fast.”

“Yeah. Hazuki-chan woke up soon after you guys left.”

But I never expected that Yuuji and the rest hadn’t go far.

“Oh yeah, what were you two talking about?”

“Well…what do you think it is, Himeji?”

“We, well…”

Himeji-san looked around. That’s weird. Is it something that’s hard to talk about?

“Forget about that. Akihisa-kun, what did you talk about with Minami-chan alone?”

“Eh?”

The unexpected question came at me before I could even get prepared, causing me to make a weird sound.

I, I can’t say it! I really can’t tell everyone about that shocking secret thing about Minami…

“Wha, what happened?”

“Eh, erm, about this…”

Himeji-san continued to stare into my eyes, and it looked like any lies I try to make wouldn’t escape her eyes.

“Is it related…to someone she likes?”

“Ugh!”

I let out a surprised sound as she guessed correctly. Himeji-san, your sixth sense today seems to be really sharp.

“Can you please…tell me exactly what happened?”

“Ugh…”

Himeji-san’s expectant eyes really hurt me.

But no matter what she says, I can’t do it. Besides…how can I say that a girl in my class likes apes…

“Akihisa-kun…”

“Sorry…Himeji-san, I can’t say it…”

“Is that so…”

Himeji-san dejectedly lowered her head.

If possible, I really want to say it, but Minami’s too direct to say that she loves apes. I won’t talk about how people in this world will think, but no matter what, I can’t just reveal Minami’s secrets to others.

Just when I was thinking about that, it seemed that Himeji-san started thinking, and soon lifted her head with a certain amount of determination.

“Akihisa-kun!”

“Ah…yes!”

“I understand Minami’s feelings!”

“What are you saying?”

How can you understand such things?

“But I hope you listen to my feelings!”

“Ho, how can you do this! I, I’ll be troubled if you suddenly say that!”

Wha, what should I do…if Himeji-san suddenly tells me that ‘I understand that Minami likes apes, but I feel that gorillas are better’, that will definitely be more than what my brain can take! Speaking of which, why are these two people talking about such things? No matter how much they ask me, I can only introduce humans to them!

“I know you’ll be really bothered, but I hope that you can seriously consider this!”

“Se, seriously…?”

I have no idea what’s so good about such things, but since Himeji-san said so, I can’t just leave it alone. In that case, I have to seriously listen to her.

“Oi, Himeji, aren’t you thinking too much? This guy’s obviously thinking about some dumb things now.”

“Eh?”

“If it’s Japanese apes, I should be able to introduce some to you…n, no. even if gorillas are on the entertainment side, it will be tough if they’re together…”

“Akihisa-kun…why must you mention animals when I’m trying to summon my courage and say such things…”

“You’re just going to wear out your brain cells no matter how you think. Oi, Akihisa, wake up (knocks)!”

GACK! What did I do?

“Sorry, what were we talking about?”

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to think about it. Oh yeah, Himeji. Which side of this junction is your house at?”

“Ah, yes…my house’s on the right.”

“The right side? The same direction as Akihisa then.”

“Oh ya, Yuuji’s house on the other side.”

“That’s right, so I’ll hand the duty of sending Himeji home to you. Don’t think you can attack people in the middle of a peaceful night just because no one is around.”

“Understood. I’ll try my best to endure.”

“Oi, isn’t that answer kinda inappropriate…”

“I, I’ll endure too!”

“Himeji! You want to attack Akihisa too!?”

Yuuji continued to stare at both of us with a look of disbelief.

“Oh well, whatever. No amount of time will be enough to snark back at you two idiots.”

““?””

“Then, see you tomorrow.”

“Un, see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Sakamoto-kun.”

As we waved goodbye to Yuuji at the cross-junction, Himeji-san and I walked side by side with each other as we went home.

Maybe it’s because Yuuji, who’s always being so noisy, isn’t around, but the chirping all around became extremely clear.

“Oh yeah, is your house in this direction, Himeji-san?”

“Yes. My house is actually rather close to yours, Akihisa-kun. We even studied in the same primary school.”

“Is that so? That’s true. If our primary school is the same, it means that we’re living rather near each other.”

Recently, because of the assembly, there are a lot less chances, but there were about 3 primary schools nearby. Himeji-san and I studied at Mutsuki Primary school.

It sure was memorable. It’s been over 5 years since then…

“It’s really a rare chance to walk together with Akihisa-kun slowly.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah. Akihisa-kun’s always surrounded by so many people.”

“Ahaha. It’s really amazing to hear Himeji-san say that I’m really popular.”

Actually, I was being teased by those guys.

“Not at all. Akihisa-kun’s always been popular. There was a Valentine’s Day in primary school. I wonder if you remember it?”

“Valentine’s Day in primary school?”

“Yes. Almost every girl in class gave Akihisa-kun chocolates. From that point on, Akihisa-kun’s been the most popular guy amongst the girls.”

“Is that so? I didn’t know…I thought Valentine Day’s chocolates were nothing more than ordinary greetings…”

How did it end up like that…was I always just eating them…?

“Akihisa-kun’s been so dull since then.”

“Well, I was still young, so I didn’t understand then.”

“Akihisa-kun, your use of Japanese is wrong. It’s like you’re not dull now.”

“Eh? Ah, un, sorry.”

I’ll take note of those things I didn’t think through before. That’s what I actually wanted to say…

“But speaking of which, I’m really surprised that I was rather popular with the girls…I wouldn’t be wondering if we were talking about how Himeji-san is popular with the guys now.”

“Well, I can’t say that I became skinnier, but I was really fat in primary school and was often laughed at by the boys. I wasn’t popular at all.”

Himeji-san patted her stomach and grumbled.

“But don’t people normally say that boys in primary school love to tease the girls they like?”

“I suppose it’s not that they didn’t like me…and actually, they didn’t tease me to an extent. I remember they removed the ‘hime’ in ‘Himeji Mizuki’ to call me ‘plain lover’ [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References]. The boy who was the leader didn’t like it, and everyone didn’t call me that, right?”

Himeji-san smiled as she said to me.

Is that so? I don’t remember who was the leader of the class, and of course, I don’t remember that.

“It’s just that I was still bothered by the nickname they gave me after that.”

“The nickname after that…’Yuki-chan’?”

I searched my vague memory and recalled this nickname. But…why call Himeji-san ‘Yuki-chan’? I always called her ‘Mizuki-chan’, so I don’t really know how the ‘Yuki-chan’ nickname came about.

“Yes, it’s the ‘yuki (snow)’ from ‘yukidaroma (snowman).”

“Ah, so the ‘Yuki’ came from snowman. That’s rather cute.”

“It’s cute now that I think about it…but I was really bothered back then.”

“Eh? Why would you have been?”

“Wouldn’t anyone associate ‘snowman’ with white and fat?”

“Eh? Is that the reason why you were called Yuki-chan?”

“Ah, now. I guess it’s just the impression people have of me that created this nickname. But I was really bothered.”

Himeji-san waved her hand in a casual manner.

She’s saying it really casually now, but she must have been really bothered by such a nickname when she was young, right? Let’s forget about how it actually came about, since I definitely won’t feel happy if I imagine how the ‘Yuki-chan’ nickname came about.

“So I’m still rather bothered about my tummy even till now, especially after eating hi-calories food like pizza or biscuits.”

“Is that so? I feel that you don’t have to be bothered about it.”

OR rather, Himeji-san’s curves are way too perfect.

“This can’t do. I get fat easily.”

…If it’s just a certain point, such a figure will make people envious. Especially for girls like Minami.

“But Akihisa-kun, you’re different from me. You need lots of nutrition.”

“Don’t worry. I can’t say if it’s my normal life, but I’ve been having my meals regularly ever since nee-san came back.”

I even sacrificed my precious treasures.

“Really, how can you say such things…do you actually hate your sister, Akihisa-kun?”

“Hate? Uu…I never actually thought of such a question before.”

Coming back to meet me in a bathrobe immediately after flying back, and showing off my precious ero-books and my bathing photos in front of everyone, and even nagging away about exams and living attitudes everyone. It’s frustrating. And she will even pull all sorts of weird pranks on me…

“I suppose, Akihisa-kun, your sister must be worried about you, and she definitely likes you. If not, she wouldn’t be asking everyone about Akihisa-kun’s condition at school.”

“Nononono. There’s a reason why she would ask that…”

Himeji-san’s pure heart seemed to view nee-san’s impish attitude in a completely different manner. Himeji-san, don’t be fooled by that demonic sister of mine. She’s doing such checks to deduct points from me.

Just when I was about to explain everything to her, Himeji-san suddenly pointed at a corner.

“My house’s over there. You can just leave me here. Thank you to escorting me all the way here.”

“Hm? Ahh, don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

Himeji-san bowed at me, and I bowed back at her.

“See you at school tomorrow.”

“Nn, see you tomorrow.”

After saying that, Himeji-san scattered off with fleeting feet.

But after a few steps, she turned around as if she suddenly thought of something.

“I feel that you should notice the feelings of the people around you, Akihisa-kun. Like your sister, Minami…and me…”

“Heh? What does that mean?”

“Fufu. I’m not going to give you any more hints.”

Himeji-san gave a smile and immediately ran off to her house after that.

[[Image:1212_187a-1-.jpg|thumb]]

Speaking of which, what’s the significance of the three people she just mentioned? Nee-san, Himeji-san, Minami…

''“And Toshimitsu Kubo.”''

“What, why is there a completely unnecessary name being mentioned!? Is it the work of the devil inside me?

''“The four people mentioned here all have feelings for you. You should be able to understand now that I said so much, right?”''

So it’s really the devil, messing up my thoughts like that! What kind of common feelings would the four of them have? I have no idea at all. If there were 3, at least there’s a common point of them being the other gender…

''“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s the feelings for Akihisa!”''

That’s the angel in my heart now. Didn’t I tell you not to come out already?

''“No, the angel’s right this time…”''

LIAR! I WON’T BE FOOLED BY SUCH NICE WORDS!

Or rather, I should say that I would rather not believe such words with Kubo-kun’s name mentioned.

''“Really, how stupid can you get?”''

Why must I be treated like an idiot by my alter-ego?

A few minutes of talking to myself later, I reached home too. The lights in the house were already switched on, so nee-san should be back.

“I’m back~”

After opening the door, I shouted out to nee-san in the house.

Immediately afterwards, I saw nee-san walk out of the living room in an apron (!?), a rare feat at that.

“You’re back. You must be tired now, having came back so late.”

“Eh? Ahh, yeah.”

Nee-san’s different attire and tone from usual bothered me. What is she planning?

“Hand me your bag.”

Isn’t this a common scene in a serial?

“Ah…”

At this moment, I suddenly noticed something.

Wearing an apron and saying such things…is she imitating a sweet romantic couple? She did mention some doctor game or something. Nee-san’s probably thinking of playing with me, right?

Speaking of which, it’s rare of nee-san to come back, yet us siblings hardly had the time to talk with each other. If we talk a bit, it’ll immediately end up being about grades or how I live my life…in that case, is nee-san just thinking of teasing me affectionately by playing newly-weds to get rid of such monotony?

Alright. In that case, I’ll play with you then. It’s rare of nee-san to think about this.

“What is it?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Here’s my bag.”

I handed my bag to nee-san with the attitude of a man who’s the head of the house.

“Alright.”

Nee-san reached her hands out and grabbed onto my bag tightly.

“Ahh~ so tired today.”

“It’s been tough on you, being busy for the whole day.”

We walked towards the living room, continuing such a conversation.

“Do you want to eat? A bath first?”

Nee-san asked me with a kind voice.

I couldn’t help but smile at such a staple line in scripts.

This really feels like a real newly-wed couple dialogue, with kind smiles.

“Or do you want to do pervy things with me?”

And there’s some weird line in there.

Nee-san probably felt that I’d be bored if she follows everything according to the script, right? She even added some teasing words besides the basic conversation. I’m rather touched by the weird yet affectionate feelings.

In that case, I shouldn’t waste my strength snarking back at her, but continue on in a humored manner.

I pondered on how to answer, and then continued this act,

“No, there’s no need for a bath, meal or pervy things.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, because—”

I didn’t finish my words as I deliberately paused before smiling, saying to nee-san, word by word in a forceful manner.

“I’ve done them all outside.”

“Minus 50 points from you…”

Nee-san took out her judging notebook. Isn’t that too unreasonable!?

'''Current score [-340 points]'''

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

2012-11-26T09:45:16Z

Brass: unjapanized some 'un's, 'u-n's and 'fu-n's

==The Third Question==

'''Under the 76th line of the Japanese Constitution ‘The Independence of the Judge’[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#], 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!!

[[Image:BTS5-Minami.jpg|thumb]]

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 multiplication 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 multiplication 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. 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?”[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume5_Translation_Notes_and_References#]

“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 is 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?”

“A, ah, 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 is 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 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. Yes, 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’re a lot of guests here today, so the doctor game Aki-kun likes to play will have to be delayed 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!

“Also, 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.”

“Yup, 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?”

“Yup, that's right.”

“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, yeah, 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.”

“Yup, 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?”

“Yeah, 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?”

“Nope….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 consommé. That Yuuji can really do anything, talking and working at the same time.

“Un, thanks.”

I received the can and opened it, pouring the consommé 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 surge.

“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)”””''

[[Image:1212_119a-1-.jpg|thumb]]

“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 plate.”

“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 of, 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.”

“Hmph, 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…he 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?”

“Well, 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.

<center>☆</center>

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 HARASSMENT! 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. Alright, 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 with 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 owner 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 looks 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 school.”

“““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]'''

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Second_Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume5_The_Fourth_Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume4 The Sixth Question

2012-11-25T21:57:28Z

Brass:

==The Sixth Question==

'''Please imagine the scene below before answering.'''

“You are walking alone in a forest, and you realize that you are lost. You continue walking through the pitch-black forest, and you come upon a small hut beside a lake. You feel relieved as you enter the hut, and you notice that there is a chair, a bed and a portrait. What characteristics can you see from the person in the portrait? Please list three characteristics that you think of.”

'''Himeji Mizuki’s answer:'''

1.A cheerful expression
2.Tender eyes
3.A happy-go-lucky attitude

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

This psychology test can show ‘the characteristics of the person you like’. The dark forest represents an uneasy mind, and after noticing the hut, the portrait represents ‘partner that provides mental support’. Looks like you like a person who is tender, cheerful and can make you smile, Himeji-san.

'''Shimizu Miharu’s answer:'''

1.Sharp eyes
2.A manly chest
3.Ponytail

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

The last characteristic seems wrong.

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

1.Broken fingers
2.Knee bent in the wrong way
3.Dislocated wrist

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

All of the above are very wrong.

[[File:Mizuki_himeji_v9c2.png|thumb]]

☆

“We, Class D, declare war on Class F now!”

As the self-study session of the following day ends, the guys from Class D came to our class and declared war.

“Eh? What's wrong?”

Hideyoshi, who was standing near me, muttered in surprise. After what happened yesterday, it's understandable for him to be surprised.

“What? Didn't I hear you guys say that the plan to provoke Shimizu failed?”

Yuuji was also puzzled. I supposed that it’s different from what Hideyoshi told him on the phone, so they couldn’t comprehend what was happening in front of them. By the way, Yuuji called me too, but it seemed that he couldn't get me. I thought I'd need to pay for the phone service soon...

“Muttsurini, do you know what are the circumstances now?”

“……I’ve no idea what happened yesterday, but Shimizu has been very agitated since this morning.”

“Shimizu? If so, did our provocation succeed?”

“No, it isn’t possible for this to happen…...Akihisa, when Shimada ran away yesterday, did you say anything to Shimizu?”

“No, nothing at all. I didn’t say anything special. In contrast, the Summoner Test War is more important! Although our opponent isn’t Class B, Class D is not an easy target based on our current condition, so we should prepare quickly!”

I dodged Hideyoshi’s questioning stare. Under this condition, Hideyoshi’s acting talent is hard to handle.

“……That's right. Let’s put aside the truth for the time being, since the most important issue now is the imminent Summoner Test War. We’ve put in our effort for so long, so if we lose to Class D now, all our efforts will be in vain.”

Regardless of the process, we managed to get Class D declare war upon us. But things aren't over yet. We have to fight Class D head-on with our meagre marks after this. Yuuji will say that the truth doesn’t matter now, and I think he’s got his priorities right inside his mind.

“Yuuji's right, the number of Class F students that's able to fight is too low, to gain victory with this weak force is not easy, it’s obvious that we don’t have the extra time to clear things up.”

“……Let’s focus on defense.”

Hideyoshi and Muttsurini were clear on the current priorities, and they started planning that instant, getting into the stage of preparation.

Okay, I must work hard on the Summoner Test Exams!

“By the way, Yuuji, have you thought of any strategies yet?”

“Of course I do, but before that, I need to confirm the strength of my team. Other than Himeji and Shimada, I need to find out how many people we have that are able to fight.”

Once he finished speaking, Yuuji stood up and went up the podium.

“Comrades, pay attention! Just like those guys said, our Class F’s Summoner Test War against Class D will commence soon! First things first, I need to know how strong we are! Please write down your own marks on a piece of paper and pass it to me!”

The whole class, which was agitated by Class D’s declaration of war, suddenly calmed down, and they – proceeded to write down their current marks.

The recent peeping incident depleted much of our marks, but none were left with zero marks. Students would be chosen for remedial tests based on the amount of their marks.

“By the way, I notice that I didn’t lose any mark at all.”

“Eh? Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Thinking back, I don’t remember seeing Hideyoshi participating in that battle.

“Really? If so, there will be three people who can fully take part in the war, Himeji, Shimada and Hideyoshi, right?”

“Right. If they were to choose Integrated Subject, then we’ll fight first.”

While speaking, Hideyoshi took out a piece of paper and wrote his marks on it. Oh, I guess I need to write down my marks quickly and hand it in to Yuuji.

“Here, Yuuji.”

“Got it.”

After passing up the piece of paper with my marks to Yuuji, I returned to my seat.

Once all the students handed in their papers, Yuuji flipped the pages and called out names.

“The ten students with the lowest marks will take the remedial tests now. They’ll stay in the classroom, and there will be seven students who will be taking Mathematics tests and the other three will be taking World History, Chemistry and Health Education tests respectively. The battle formation will be decided once the marks are confirmed.”

While holding the papers under his arm, Yuuji returned to his seat.

Looking at Yuuji who was stacking the papers on his desk and thinking of how to balance the team’s force, I couldn’t stop myself and spoke to him.

“Eh, Yuuji…”

“What do you want?”

“Do the students picked for remedial tests have to be this precise? We should replenish our marks as fast as possible, so shouldn’t we all be taking the easiest remedial test at the same time?”

Let’s not talk about Chemistry and Health Education, although World History is easy to earn marks, the teacher who marks the papers is infamous for his slow marking speed, as for us now, it should be the most unsuitable subject.

“It’s because the main objective of this battle is to buy some time. Rather than using those strategies, we should consider using psychological warfare, and think of some plan to elongate the battle.”

“Oh, I get your idea.”

“We need to confuse the enemy, and if the Mathematics teacher was the only one to enter our class for point replenishment, what would the enemy think? It’s the same as telling everyone straightaway that we haven’t prepared our forces.”

“That's right……But, about us not replenishing our marks, doesn’t everyone know about it already? Even if we did this, I doubt that they’ll be alerted.”

I understood Yuuji’s point, but I doubt that this alone was enough to arouse the enemy’s suspicion, and getting control.

“Making them suspicious will be the key to this battle, just wait and see.”

Yuuji read through the papers with our marks while marking the battle positions on his notebook. Looks like this guy had already thought of the next battle plan.

I peeked at his notebook from beside, and found out that I wasn't in the group of point replenishing, but in the defensive group positioned at the corridor instead.

“Eh? I don’t need to replenish my marks?”

A lot of my marks were used up on that peeping incident; I thought that I would have to stay inside the classroom to take the tests.

“You've still got a few marks left that can be used, let those who lost all their marks replenish first.”

I see. I had only battled with Ironman that time, and won in the end, so I didn’t lose all my marks. Compared with those whose marks were reduced to zero, I’m still a capable fighter.

“Also, you are talented in a special way.”

“Saying that I’m special, actually I’m not that……”

As my marks aren’t that high from the beginning, what my summoned beast relies on to win during a battle isn’t on brute strength,but skill. Rather than letting me replenish my marks, it’d be better if I’m on the battlefield, and gain reinforcements at the same time by letting others students replenish their marks – was that what Yuuji's thinking? I’d never thought that Yuuji held me in such a high regard, it made me feel rather embarrassed,

“Your role is very important in this battle. Although it’ll be very difficult, you’ll have to hold on.”

“I understand. If that's the case, I’ll have to put in my best effort.”

The way Yuuji said it put a lot of pressure on me, but it feels good to have another’s faith in me.

It's 8.50am now, and the imminent war was scheduled to begin at nine, there were still 10 minutes left.

With moderate tension, I was already geared up waiting for the Summoner Test War to begin.

☆

“Everyone, listen up! Don’t underestimate our enemy just because we beat them once! We are at a disadvantage, and our enemy is a class two levels higher than ours,. The tables might be turned on us if we're overconfident!

Yuuji stood on the podium and gave his last instruction before we attacked.

“Therefore, even if we gain the upper hand, we must never rush recklessly! All of you must defend your positions with all you've got.”

If we rush recklessly, in a very short time our defense will be – broken. After all, we found out that our points, excluding Himeji-san’s, Minami-san’s and Hideyoshi’s, when added up, wouldn’t exceed ten thousand. But if we counted that of the girls of Class D, who had already finished replenishing their points to around 1500 points each; the total points of Class D’s girls were near forty thousand. And that’s not counting the boys of their class. The gap between both classes was huge; we cannot hope to fight them head-on.

“The enemy is advancing with their advantageous main force of girls who excel at their Combined Subject, so we’ll contend with them with Shimada and Hideyoshi leading the force! After reaching the limit, only then is retreating back to the classroom an option! That’s it! I hope that everyone will put in their best effort and fight to win!”

Once Yuuji’s speech finished, the clock on the wall pointed at the exact time of the beginning of the war with a “tick”.

Nine o’clock in the morning, the war was commenced.

“ “ “Look at our—“ “ “

Our side’s main objective was to secure the corridors and the stairs, and once the war began, the vanguard rushed onto the battlefield. Our opponent hoped to finish us before we put our plans into action, so they’d probably use flash raid tactics. To put it another way, this was a battle of speed.

As I was getting ready to leave the classroom, I noticed Minami walking to the door from the corner of my eyes. It’s been a day, is she still pissed off with me?

Fine, I’ll just try to talk to her.

“Good morning, Minami.”

“……”

No reply.

“Class D declared war on us, that’s very good.”

“……”

She wouldn’t even look at me.

“We’ll just have to win this battle, then all will be fine.”

“……”

She treated me as if I was just plain air.

Damn it, I won’t just admit defeat! I can’t give up; I must try harder to find topics to chat with her!

It must be that I was like talking to myself just now; I’ll try to start a conversation with her with a question.

“I’d say, doesn’t this remind you of the last Summoner Test War?”

“……Yes, I was abandoned and left alone by you the last time too.”

‘Digging your own grave’: idiom, a metaphor, meaning causing one self’s downfall.

“Minami, are you…….still angry at me?”

I asked her nervously. So far, I’ve angered her many times, but she would get over it in a day. She had never been angry for more than a day, this was the first time.

This time, Minami lowered her head and finally answered my question.

“……What do you mean by that?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

Damn, I thought I just said something that I shouldn’t.

“You must’ve thought that I’m ‘like a guy, so I’ll just forget about it in a day’ right? You big idiot!”

“Oh……”

“Didn’t I tell you not to talk with me? Stay away from me! Don’t care about me anymore!”

When she finished speaking, Minami took a step away from me instantly, and ran out the classroom.

I’m such a big failure……I really didn’t mean that at all, but it somehow made Minami ticked off……

Then, I sighed, and followed suit to leave the classroom. Never mind that, I must get to the corridor as soon as possible.

I ran along the corridor with light steps, running towards the corridor that connected the old and new school building.

“Class F, repent!”

“Takahashi-sensei, Tamano Miki of Class D requests permission for summoning!’

I’d just reached the long corridor when I heard the girls’ voices; I thought they brought Takahashi-sensei with them. Just as Yuuji predicted, Class D had planned to use Combined Subject against us all along.

Since our opponent has already engaged us in battle, if we don’t summon our beast, it’ll mean that we deserted the battle, and it’ll also be counted as being KO-ed in a battle. No matter how we are at a disadvantage, we still have to fight them.

“Come if you dare! Let me see how powerful Class F is!”

“Fukumura, are you okay?”

“Leave it to me! I’ll let her know what suffering is!”

“ “Summon!” “

The Class D girl and Class F boy summoned at the same time, as a familiar magical seal started to appear in front of them. Appearing in the middle of the magical seal, was a beast that shares the same look with the summoner.

Class D Tamano Miki VS Class F Fukumura Kohei
Combined Subjects 1543 points VS 118 points

“Damn it! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Fukumura? Didn’t you just summon a few seconds ago?”

The difference between their power is 1300%, this is worse than expected.

“Take this!”

The summoned beast of Class D’s Tamano Miki brought down the huge blade in its hand.

“Oh……If so……”

At the same time, Fukumura-san’s summoned beast decided to discard its weapon, then took a different stance. Is he trying to fight the enemy bare-handed? That's just plain suicide!

“You, what are you……”

“You mustn’t underestimate Class F!”

Ignoring Tamano-san’s bewilderment, his eyes focused on the enemy’s sword edge, Fukumura-san’s summoned beast suddenly raised its hands.

Ah, that's –

As the spectators watched in suspense, both hands of Fukumura-san’s summoned beast made a loud clapping sound.

“Heh,hehehehe…….Catching a blade with bare hands, succeed……”

Fukumura-san declared proudly.

It’s true; this is a deadly bare-handed move to use against the opponent – catching a blade with bare hands. Unfortunately, his summoned beast’s head is already split in half.

“Didn’t you just screw up?”

“Id, idiot! That’s, that’s not true! This is exactly what I expected!”

Fukumura-san then declared loudly: “This move is called – Using both sides of the brain to catch the blade bare-handed.”

“Fukumura Kohei, KO-ed!”

Fukumura-san’s quibble was just plain nonsense anyway as he was declared killed.

Although we knew this all along, the differences between our strength still frightened us.

“You actually made Fukumura-san……This time I’ll fight instead! Summon!”

I glanced at Fukumura-san’s desolate figure being dragged into the remedial classroom from the corner of my eye, while the battle raged on.

Looking around the scene of the battle in front of my eyes, I noticed something.

“Eh? Their number seems very low……”

It’s very suspicious that Class D’s main force consisted of just nine girls. If we were to beat Class D, we needed to get past this corridor, but their force seemed so weak, something’s wrong no matter how you saw it. If Class D want to win this war by rushing, they should be putting more force into it.

“……Himeji-san isn’t here as expected……”

“She isn’t at the stairs too.”

“Seems like their aim is to buy some time, it can’t go wrong……”

When I heard the Class D’s girls say that, I noticed two of them left the group of nine.

Fewer opponents is better for us, but what was really happening?

“There are few enemies around! Surround them, and don’t let them move an inch!”
Hideyoshi commanded loudly.

We had twenty students on our side, three-fold that the opponent had. Although our points were inferior to theirs when compared one-on-one, we could equalize our strength with theirs, there’s still a battle waiting for us. Hideyoshi and Minami were leading our small force, the other students were – taking up supporting positions.

“Shimizu got a report for us. She said: ‘I’ve received suspicious reports, just put up your guard. Before trying to find out our opponent’s plan, continue to battle with a team of six!’”

“Understood.”

A boy from Class D came to deliver the message, and another girl left the frontline shortly. The condition seemed to be more and more favorable, but I still had no idea what was actually happening.

“Oh, never mind. Just follow Yuuji’s instruction – Summon!”

I followed those around me and summoned by beast. The instruction that Yuuji gave me was: “ Summon your beast, fight for a while, then pretend like everything’s in the bag and leave the frontline instantly. Let them think that ‘you don’t have any points left’.” I had no idea what Yuuji was actually planning, but this must be a part of his main plan, I’ll just follow his instructions
obediently.

Class D Tamano Miki VS Class F Akihisa Yoshii
Combined Subjects 1019 points VS 311 points

I locked on to Tamano-san whose points is slightly depleted, controlling my summoned beast to advance and meet hers in battle.

“A- Aki-cha – No, Yoshii-kun! You, you actually……”

At that instant, I thought Minami called my name out affectionately, but this was not the time to think about it, I must finish this battle.

I dodged the opponent’s slash with a sidestep, at the same time rushing at the opponent.
Good, like this, it’ll be my turn to attack –

“So obedient eh!”

But, I didn’t attack, and tapped the opponents head softly. Yuuji said to ‘act as if it is in the bag’, like this?

“……Eh?”

Tamano-san who was expecting me to attack and had taken a defensive stance, stood there dumbfounded.

Good, I think my actions fulfilled the instructions.

“Good, Hideyoshi. It seems that there won’t be any problem here, I’ll return first.”

“OK, I understand.”

I passed my authority to Hideyoshi, and then left the scene of the battle. Passing the task onto someone else like this isn’t considered deserting the war.

“But, anyway……the battle this time has too many parts that I don’t understand.”

I thought about it while running back to Class F.

Yuuji said that his aim is to buy some time, but the aim changed to adjusting my side’s force, letting Class D feel threatened, and finally making them form a truce with us.

I understand this part, what I don’t understand is what just happened?

Why did our opponent just send out a small team? What is the suspicious report that Class D mentioned? And what was the aim of my actions just now?

Oh……No idea, I couldn’t understand anything, I'll just clear things up with Yuuji.

Once I left the chaos, and stepped into Class F –

“Ah, Akihisa-kun, you’re back.”

“Yeah, I’m back.”

Himeji-san hurried to my front. The look of her rushing towards me made me really happy……But is a powerful fighter such as Himeji-san staying back at class a good idea?

“Himeji-san, did Yuuji give you any instructions?”

“He did…….About this; I’m not very clear about it, Sakamoto-kun only told me: ‘you must not leave Class F no matter what’.”

“Eh? He only said that?”

“Yes, only that.”

Oh hmm……I’m getting more confused, what is Yuuji really thinking?

“Akihisa, you are back.”

As I was discussing with Himeji-san about that matter, Yuuji walked towards us.

“How is the plan going?”

“Oh uh, hmm, I did as you told……But isn’t it about time you made clear your real intentions?”

Other than the ten students staying in the classroom for remedial tests, there are five hand-picked students to hold the last line. Other than that, there are a few students who are preparing their force.

“About that……Sakamoto-kun, I’d like you to explain to us too.”

“Himeji, you have any questions?”

“I can really stay here and do nothing?”

Himeji-san slightly inclined her head and let out a confused expression.

Himeji-san can be considered our Class F’s main force, and also her points are fully replenished long ago, hence, she should be the most needed fighter at the corridor and the stairs.

“That’s right, Yuuji. Why did you decide to position Himeji-san in the classroom? If we let Himeji-san join the fight, wouldn’t this war become easier for all of us?”

When I said that, Yuuji let out a ‘I knew you’d say that’ attitude, then said: “Yes, the enemy will also think this way.”

“Oh, the way you say it, seems like you are hiding something.”

Yuuji just wouldn’t answer nicely what others asked, he is really an annoying bastard.

“Our enemy will think this way: “Class F put a lot of their force at the corridor and the stairs, but why isn’t Himeji anywhere? Don’t they want to secure the corridor and the stairs?’ I think, that’s the way they’ll feel.”

“But, aren’t we aiming to hold the corridor and stairs?”

“Even if I want to, but is it really worth it to focus all of our force there? Our main objective isn’t to suppress, but to buy some time.”

“Oh, so that’s why you decided to increase our force until it match our enemy’s”

“To match our force with theirs, strengthening ourself isn’t the only way, letting them use their smallest force is also a way.”

Hearing Yuuji’s explanation, a scene that happened not long ago suddenly flashed through my thoughts.

Like he said, when those Class D guys noticed that Himeji-san wasn’t anywhere nearby, a few of them retreated……

“To put it another way, they feel threatened by Himeji-san’s absence, so they’ll put more of their force to guard their class representative right?”

“That's so.”

I see, so it’s this way.

True, by just weakening our opponent's force, our casualties will be at a minimum. If we can retain Himeji-san’s strength, it’ll benefit once our force breaks through the corridor and the stairs, it’ll also let Himeji-san whose body is frail rest more. This is a good idea.

“Class D’s representative Hiraga was beaten by Himeji once, so they are very worried.”

“I see, so this is your plan all along.”

If it’s in a normal situation, luring them wouldn’t be this easy, but these circumstances benefit our battle plan by a lot. Just like what Yuuji said, we made our enemy suffer once, and their class representative is a guy, this also benefits us.

If we want to win this battle, then we should not strike upfront, we must rely on a plan that would go unnoticed easily to defeat them. Under this condition, because Class D’s representative got most of his points depleted during the last peeping incident, and during this critical time they couldn’t find our Class F’s main force – Himeji-san’s figure anywhere. Like this, nine out of ten would think that Himeji-san was waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack, taking down class representative Hiraga, so they’ll have to replenish their points, and then cut a portion of their main force to be their class representative's personal bodyguards.

“So that’s why those girls rushed back……”

“But this alone isn’t enough. In order not to let our enemies turn the tables on us, I had to use another wicked plot.”

“Another wicked plot?”

“It’s controlling their intelligence. Just because of this, I didn’t let Muttsurini replenish his points.”

The Health Education teacher Oshima-sensei was busy in the classroom giving a few students tests, but Muttsurini wasn’t included. I was guessing why that Muttsurini who by replenishing just his Health Educations points could replenish his total points wasn’t taking tests in the classroom, he couldn’t have been sent out for a mission, could he?

“Muttsurini is currently spreading that ‘Class F really wished for the battle with Class D’ to Class D. If they didn’t have any informant all along, they’d find it strange if they received this report suddenly, but their class has Shimizu. For Muttsurini, using a bug to spread this information couldn’t be any easier."

I just remembered, while battling at the corridor, a guy from Class D came to deliver an order.
“Oh right, the students from Class D did mention about ‘receiving a suspicious report’ or something like that.”

The Class D guy said that it was a message from Shimizu-san, if so, Muttsurini must be pretty successful in using the bug to spread information.

“Counting in that negotiation with unclear intentions yesterday, Class D’s Shimizu and representative must be suspicious with many things, this time they’ll easily fall for our next trick.”

“I see. Just by spreading this message, it’ll make Class D more cautious towards us. ‘They won’t hope to fight a hopeless Summoning War, Class F must’ve got something up their sleeves.’ – You want them to think this way right?”

Hmm, like this, they’d be more and more careful of us who had nearly no chance of winning, and wouldn’t be taking any rash actions.

“Ah! Right! Yuuji and me hanging out at Class D’s corridor last time, it really was for……”

“Hmm, most of them are correct. That time I only wanted them to think that ‘Class F is not replenishing their points’, but now things have changed. In their eyes, they’d probably feel: ‘Sakamoto and Yoshii who obviously have classes at a different building hanging out here is really suspicious, are they pretending that way to let us take the initiative and declare war upon them?’ This way I planted the seed of suspicion. A coincidence happening more than twice won’t be regarded as a coincidence; this is the way human thinks. I think they aren’t harboring any intentions – so it’s normal for them to think this way.”

This guy Yuuji……I didn’t expect him to have already thought this far by that time. Just by connecting the dots, this guy’s thinking speed would speed up, that’s really scary. Is this what they meant by a prodigy’s reincarnation? It looked like he’d already considered everything carefully……

“They must be starting to regret declaring war on us, since winning this war won’t benefit them much, and losing will cause them to face the risk of having their classroom downgraded into the worst possible one. So if they are given an opportunity, they’ll surely agree to form a truce with us.”

“If they are given an opportunity……That means, we’ll still have to deal them a telling blow right?”
Even if we are done regulating our forces, there's no good opportunity, so it would be hard to propose a truce……I guessed that Yuuji thought this way.

It’s not wrong, if there’s no good opportunity, it’s highly impossible for both sides to want to form a truce.

“Right, the last blow will be by taking out their head.”

“Their head……you mean the Class D’s representative Hiraga-san? But, if we can deal with their head, what do we need a truce for?”

“We can’t do anything to Hiraga. Class D is already alerted to us, Hiraga surely won’t come personally. And in this battle, their head isn’t just Hiraga alone.”

After hearing Yuuji’s explanation, Himeji-san clapped her hands once suddenly.

“I know, you’re talking about Shimizu-san right?”

“Correct. If we finish off Shimizu, the main force of Class D won’t dare to take any action. If we want to form a truce with them, making an example out of Shimizu will create a good opportunity.”

Thinking back, the one who was actually calling the shots and commanding the army wasn’t Hiragi-san, but Shimizu-san. So if we could take Shimizu-san out, it’d be easier for us to form a truce with Class D.

“That’s just it, so Akihisa, it’s you who’ll be going to the empty classroom beside this one alone, and face Shimizu in a solo battle.”

“Eh? I need to go?”

If we want to beat Shimizu-san, there should be another candidate more powerful and suitable.

“I didn’t replenish my points because I needed to be ready to give orders at any time. Muttsurini also shared the same fate with me. Moreover, we can’t let others find out Himeji’s whereabouts, and if something unexpected happens, she’ll need to join the defensive army. So, this mission can only be completed by you.”

Minami and Hideyoshi are currently on the frontlines, the other students have their own duties respectively. And also, I’m more skilled in handling my summoned beast than anybody, so that makes me the best candidate.

“And don’t forget, you’ll be the best to provoke Shimizu. I heard the whole story from Hideyoshi, but after that, didn’t you successfully provoke her?”

“Oh……That, that's…..How should I put it……I, I’m not clear about it myself……”

Let’s not talk about how the provocation went, but I’m the person that Shimizu-san wants to get rid of the most.

“Ah, so this is how the choice is made.”

Himeji-san who was listening to our conversation silently pointed to the stack of paper on Yuuji’s desk, as if she just understood something. She meant that only one person is deployed into the empty classroom, and that's the part that I play.

“As expected of you, Himeji; you are really sharp with your eyes.”

“……Sorry, and what does that mean?”

By the way, I’m the one who doesn’t understand anything they just said.

“To put it……For example, if I give Sugawa that position, and you’ll be his opponent. Seeing Sugawa stand here, what would you think?”

[[Image:BTS vol 04 219.png|thumb]]

“Will I even be thinking anything……I will just feel that it’s rather meaningless.”

The empty classroom that Yuuji referred to doesn’t have a leader inside it that needed to be closely guarded, and taking the positions into account, it’s not a location that needs to be fought for. That way, even if we threw any random guy into that empty classroom, the enemy may be suspicious, but they wouldn’t be thinking too much about it.

“Right, most people would think this way. But, what if I put in another condition?”

“Condition?”

“Right. If at that time, you are fighting Sugawa for Himeji, like this, how would things look like?”

“That, that, for me…….”

Oh……Me and Sugawa-san fighting over Himeji-san, and there’s a Summoner Test War? If so, to me, getting Himeji-san is something very important, even if there isn’t a Summoner Test War, I’ll try my best to finish Sugawa-san off, and to think that Sugawa-san thinks the same way…….Under this condition, if Sugawa-san waited in an empty classroom alone –

“I’d think that he’s waiting for me there. For Himeji-san, we’ll have to settle things the hard way.”

“Right, things are like this.”

As if he’s saying ‘you answered nicely’, Yuuji nodded with approval.

“To put it another way, to another’s eye, Akihisa who is waiting in an empty classroom is just a small pawn, but to Shimizu, it’s different. She’ll think that you’re trying to battle with her, and you are waiting in an empty classroom for her. To let others think this way too, I let you join the frontline at the beginning, to let them know you’re here.”

So that's why Yuuji told me to go show myself at the frontline. Although I still have enough points to continue battling, I did not fully participate in the frontline fight just to make my attitude and actions clearer, as if I am telling Shimizu-san “I’m waiting for you”.

“Sakamoto-kun's telling him ‘you can retreat to the front of our classroom’ just now is to…….”

“If I didn’t do it this way, they wouldn’t know that Akihisa is here waiting for her. Because of that, while waiting for them here to finish replenishing their points so that we can negotiate a truce with them, we need to break through their defense at the corridor and stairs, and let Shimizu know that Akihisa is waiting for her in an empty classroom, we also couldn’t let the enemy know that we are the one at a disadvantage. On how to solve this problem exactly, it’s really hard for me to anticipate.”

Yuuji is right, if we can lure out Shimizu, maybe we can propose a truce with them before we are defeated. But……

“Will things go that smoothly?”

I’m still worried. Especially under these conditions, I really can’t anticipate whether Shimizu-san will appear to challenge me one-on-one.

“All I can say is, just wait and see.”

Yuuji is still full of confidence.

“Oh……Since Yuuji dared to say that, then there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“Good! Now that everything’s clear, Akihisa should get into the empty classroom as soon as possible; I’ve no idea when both defensive lines will be broken through.

“Understood, I’ll go there now.”

I nearly grasped my mission. Now I’ll just follow Yuuji’s words, and then enter the empty classroom and wait for Shimizu-san.

☆

“Before Shimizu-san appears, we’ll just standby here.”

“I’m fine with that……hehe.”

“Himeji, what's up with you? It’s actually rude of you to smile at me that way.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Then what did you mean to do?”

“No, I just feel that no matter how you put it, Sakamoto-kun really understands Akihisa-kun.”

“Ah? Wh-why are you suddenly saying something so disgusting?!”

“It’s irrelevant, you don’t have to be shy about it.”

“I’m not shy, I just feel that it’s really disgusting……”

“Because, if you don’t really understand Akihisa-kun, you can’t carry out that plan you've mentioned just now, can you?”

“You mean the one about luring Shimizu out?”

“Yes.”

“……Oh, let’s not talk about understanding him, all I have to do is think about Akihisa’s personality, and then I can guess what Akihisa said to Shimizu when Hideyoshi left yesterday. To Shimizu, that must be something that's really infuriating.”

“Me too……I don’t know why, but I can guess what Akihisa-kun said.”

“That guy is stupid, so it’s easy to grasp the way he thinks.”

“It’s because he’s honest, it must be so.”

“I don’t agree.”

“Hehe, Sakamoto-kun is very untruthful.”

“Tut, whatever you say…….But, you really don’t mind?”

“Uh? What do you mean?”

“No, this matter seems bad for you…….”

“About this……..I guess so…….It does make me unhappy, but—“

“But what?”

“……But, this is why I find Akihisa-kun attractive.”

“Uh? Pardon, I didn’t hear you very well just now.”

“Ah, nothing, I didn’t say anything.”

“Really? But, still……Thanks for the info.”

“I, I hate you, I think you heard it very clearly!”

☆

While waiting in the empty classroom, I felt really bored as I had nothing else to do. I felt like playing my handheld gaming console or reading a book just to kill time, but if I do this, it won’t look like I’m getting ready to challenge others, and if a teacher find me here, my handheld gaming console will be confiscated. Since I have no choice, I’ll just daydream here.

Then, Minami’s figure suddenly appeared unexpectedly in my thoughts.

Was my attitude towards Minami unacceptable?

Is Minami really hurt because I was not considerate enough?

Am I hated down to the core by her?

Such questions came into my thoughts one by one. I thought about it a lot, but the more I think, the more chaotic my thoughts got. I knew that I’d face this problem beforehand; I should’ve trained myself to handle my thoughts.

I felt frustrated by my pathetic brain, but I was still trying hard to ponder the answer for these questions.

I couldn’t tidy up my messy thoughts, and I also could not find a trace to the answer. Because of that, I decided to continue thinking.

Just when I fell deep in thoughts, I heard something coming from the corridor, and it seemed to be getting closer and closer.

“……It’s about time she comes.”

I cleared my thoughts instantly, and changed what I was thinking. After all this was a crucial moment, the Summoner Test War was still going on. Was it going well for the bodyguards at the classroom? I closed my eye forcefully, and tried to swallow down the uneasiness, because I still had a mission to complete.

I could hear the ruckus caused by the defensive battle, and I felt that someone from the enemy that passed by noticed me.

I continued waiting.

“It’s great that you are waiting here alone, Miharu has something to say!”

After waiting for a while, I suddenly heard the voice of the person that I’m waiting for.
Great, she’s finally here.

I let out a sigh of relief, and slowly opened my eyes to see the person who was standing in front of me.

“You have something to say to me? What is it about?”

I walked slowly to her as I said that.

Although I’d been waiting for her for a while, I had nothing worth telling her.

“It’s nothing much. In a nutshell – Miharu just wants to clear things up.”

While saying that, she stared at me with pure hatred. It seems like she really detests me.

“It’s fortunate that there’s a Summoner Test War going on, I can take this opportunity and settle things once and for all.”

Standing behind Shimizu-san was Fuse-sensei, it looked like she’s fully prepared for the occasion.
If I escaped from this battle, it would be counted as deserting the battle and is the same as being KO-ed. So, I’d have to accept her challenge.

Since Shimizu-san had already engaged me in battle, other than agreeing, there’s nothing else that I could do. Or…… did she think that I wouldn’t reject her challenge, believing that I wanted to settle things with her once and for all too?

-- All I can say is, the way she thinks is really scary.

“I understand, we’ll fight this out, Shimizu-san.”

We I said that, Shimizu-san turned to Fuse-sensei and said: “Teacher, permission for summoning.”

“I know.”

Once we received Fuse-sensei’s permission, Shimizu-san and I summoned our beast with Chemistry as the battle subject.

“ “Summon!” “

We shouted at the same time, and some kind of magical seal appear at our feet. Following that, appearing in the midst is our alter ego the summoned beasts.

Both of us let our summoned beasts take a ready stance, staring at each other.

Shimizu-san is pretty experienced with Summoner Test War, but we aren’t fighting with brute force this time. Therefore, she won’t be an easy target, I’ll have to fight with caution.

Both of us were trying to find openings on our body, this continued for a while.

“……Right, before fighting, I’ve something that I want to confirm with you.”

In such a tight atmosphere, Shimizu-san who was keeping a close eye on the summoned beasts suddenly said something to me.

“About what?”

I replied, undoubtedly without letting my eyes off the summoned beasts too.

“It’s about what you said yesterday.”

“Uh…….”

“Did you say that just to instigate this battle? Miharu meant at the negotiation yesterday, the words you said before leaving."

She meant the report about “Class F wants to battle with Class D all along”. Shimizu-san must had seen through the real intention of the negotiation yesterday, I guess that's why she had such inquiries.

“That’s……”

I couldn’t answer her instantly, and stayed silent for a while.

Even if I told her the truth, would she believe me?

No matter how I answer, she treats all of my words as lies. From everyone’s point of view, it was us that used Minami…...But we really did use Minami, it’s true that we wanted to provoke Class D at the negotiation yesterday.

“Then?”

Shimizu-san asked again, but I still didn’t have the answer.

“If so……”

She treated my silence as if I was admitting it, Shimizu-san didn’t continue her inquiries, and kept her mouth closed instead.

“……”

“……”

The summoned beasts didn’t move an inch, staying that way silently.

We didn’t stare at each other. It’s because Shimizu-san lowered her head, not focusing on the summoned beasts any more.

A few seconds passed, and she stayed that way.

Suddenly, Shimizu-san muttered with a trembling voice.

“……She cried.”

That tone might be soft but it was filled with fury.

“……When onee-sama ran away yesterday……She cried……”

Hearing these words, I recalled the scene.

Shimizu-san is right; Minami’s tears were flowing when she rushed out of the classroom.

“She cried because of Miharu’s words……But, the reason she cried…….the real reason she cried was—“

Shimizu-san slowly raised her head, from the pair of eyes that was staring at me, I thought I saw a burning inferno of hatred.

“ – was you! Because of a guy like you! Hurt her and made her cry!”

That line was like a tip, Shimizu-san’s summoned beast rushed at mine.

She chose to attack directly, I hurried to dodge that attack.

“Oh!”

My body felt a burst of pain.

I wasn’t hit by her directly, what was the meaning of such strength? Was it because of our difference of points?

Class D Shimizu Miharu VS Class F Yoshii Akihisa

Chemistry 112 points VS 22 points

I squinted to confirm the difference between our points; the difference was approximately five-fold. Such a huge gap, putting me overwhelmingly at a disadvantage.

“Why is it that a pathetic guy like you can stay at onee-sama’s side! Why does a person like you who only knows how to play with other’s feelings dare to talk to onee-sama! “

The opponent slashed like a child throwing a tantrum. Getting attacked once again, the heavy strikes made my hands start to feel numb.

It’s true I made Minami cry.

It’s also true that we used Minami.

But—

“Just to use Minami, you guys lied to her inconsiderately, and purposefully became close to her as friends! Why is it so!”

--Ha!

I raised the wooden sword to block the opponent's slashing sword.

But, even so, I’m still…...

“……I did not……lie!”

I pushed her blade away forcefully.

“What, what did you say!”

It’s true that I did many cruel things.

I hurt her, and made her cry.

That’s why my words are so despicable that others find it hard to believe.

But, even so—

“My words, are not lies!”

With the blunt sounds of battle around us, my summoned beast blocked the opponents blade again.

“What?”

That’s right, that's not a lie.

Even if that part about being in a relationship was just acting, even if the kiss was just a misunderstanding, but my words to Shimizu-san weren’t lies, they were spoken truthfully from the bottom of my heart.

After all…...Under those conditions, I’m not smart to tell a lie with a straight face.

“Even if I’m an idiot, I still know how to differentiate on what kind of lies I’m allowed to say! And those words that I said to you yesterday are really from the bottom of my heart!”

After blocking her blade upfront, my wooden sword broke with a crack.

Fighting head-on with an enemy who is five times stronger than me, I’d lost a considerable amount of points.

Under this condition, I had got no chance of winning.

“But……I still won’t run away!”

Frankly speaking, this whole commotion was caused by me. I had to be responsible for those people that I had involved!

Looking at this from a different angle, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If the mission of challenging Shimizu-san alone was given to Himeji-san or Yuuji, then I’m just the one to blame for all this commotion, and also an irresponsible piece of trash who only knows how to run away. Since I was given the chance to shoulder the responsibility, I must thank Yuuji—

“ “ “Summon!” “ “

“ “Eh?” “

The unexpected shout of summon was heard. Squinting, Yuuji led group of Class F students that had finished replenishing their points here, and he stood not far from me. He must’ve used Himeji’s power to get past the chaos in front of Class F and here.

No, that's just a trivial matter. The problem was, why were they stepping into the battle between me and Shimizu-san?

“It’s an ambush……You actually did something so despicable!”

Shimizu-san stared at me with fury. What ambush, can it be—

“Yuuji! No matter how important it is to win this battle, you can’t do this!”

We agreed that this would be a one-on-one battle, but him bringing so many students, did he plan this to be an ambush? Of course I understand that this battle is very important to Class F, but doing it this way is just too despicable!

“I’m sorry, this is not just about winning, this is a war. My duty is to protect the whole class.”
Yuuji said these words coolly, then hinted at the students behind him with his eyes.

The summoned beasts that received their instructions—raised their weapons, then took a ready stance.

“Don’t, don’t do this—“

“Attack!”

I couldn’t stop them in time, the summoned beasts surrounding us stabbed with their swords and spears.

-- Aiming for my summoned beast.

“…...Eh?”

At the turn that things have taken, my mind went blank for a moment.

When I started to realize what was happening around me, my body started to feel something.

“It hurts alottttttttttttttt! Eh, what is it now? I’ve never felt such pain before! And my whole body hurts at the same time! The pain is killing me from my toes to the top of my head!”

“Shimizu, I’ve already taken care of the person who is responsible for all these troubles, so, are you willing to let this go?”

“Wahhhhhhhhhh! Did somebody just throw a blunt weapon at me? The pain of being stabbed and hit mixed together brings the pain to a whole new level!”

Shimizu-san gaped at me who was rolling on the floor in pain.

Then, she sighed deeply.

“……that's so, although doing this can’t quench Miharu’s anger……”

Sha shoof--- A sound filled with strength resonated in the classroom.

“Shi, Shimizu-san! Hasn’t the winner of the battle decided? Why are you still attacking me with such fury! It hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts! The pain of being stabbed through from my leg to my stomach then to the top of my head!”

“Wait until Miharu cuts him into eight parts, and if you agree to force this swine to stay in the remedial classroom until school ends, Miharu will agree to form a truce.”

“I promise. Akihisa will be sent to the remedial classroom immediately when he is KO-ed. Before school ends, he’ll have to replenish all of his points in that classroom; while he’s doing that, he’ll be Ironman’s food.”

How, how did it become such an evil trade! My whole body was hurt, and I still had to go through Ironman’s hellish tuition until the end of school?

“Hmmph! What does that hateful expression of yours mean? You should blame yourself for lying to onee-sama! You swine should take this chance and reflect on your wrongdoings!”

Stab stab stab stab stab—While Shimizu-san was speaking, she stabbed my summoned beast a few times.

“I, I I I do reflect on my mistakes! About hurting Minami, I’m really sorry! It hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts!”

The pain that Minami felt when I hurt her is now repaid to me, on my body.

Stop fussing, if it’s someone who can’t take this much pain, he would’ve already died from fear.

“……Hmmph, if what you said yesterday were lies, Miharu wouldn’t have forgiven you this easily.”

This time she raised her foot and stomped at the wounds her sword made.

Damn! This is a heartless devil!

“This time, Miharu will stop here and let you live!”

She didn’t even want to let me live! It hurts a lot! It just hurts a lot! It hurts until I can’t think of anything!

After that, once Shimizu had done kicking me, I finally got a chance to rest for a few minutes, I’d been through hell for real.

“Good, since the negotiation is successful, we should return to our class. Guys! Let’s return!”

“ “ “Oh—“ “ “

All of them walked out of the empty classroom together, leaving me, who was covered with cuts and bruises until I couldn’t stand up, here alone.

“Too, too pathetic……”

I endured the excruciating pain and managed to sit on the floor, and suddenly I felt a hand clasped on my shoulder, this alone scared me so much that I nearly let out a scream.

It’s not easy to stop myself from screaming, I turned my head slowly—

[[File:BTS_Ironman.jpg|thumb]]

“Welcome to my world.”

The person that appeared in front of me was Ironman, smiling sinisterly with obviously evil intentions.

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4 The Fifth Question|next=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4 The Final Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume4 The Sixth Question

2012-11-25T21:54:59Z

Brass: excited -> agitated (shimizu is probably more angry than enthusiastic). thanks for the food -> thanks for the info (i guess the original reads 'gochisousama'-- 'thanks for the info' works better here, since yuuji is referring to himeji's verbal slip)

==The Sixth Question==

'''Please imagine the scene below before answering.'''

“You are walking alone in a forest, and you realize that you are lost. You continue walking through the pitch-black forest, and you come upon a small hut beside a lake. You feel relieved as you enter the hut, and you notice that there is a chair, a bed and a portrait. What characteristics can you see from the person in the portrait? Please list three characteristics that you think of.”

'''Himeji Mizuki’s answer:'''

1.A cheerful expression
2.Tender eyes
3.A happy-go-lucky attitude

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

This psychology test can show ‘the characteristics of the person you like’. The dark forest represents an uneasy mind, and after noticing the hut, the portrait represents ‘partner that provides mental support’. Looks like you like a person who is tender, cheerful and can make you smile, Himeji-san.

'''Shimizu Miharu’s answer:'''

1.Sharp eyes
2.A manly chest
3.Ponytail

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

The last characteristic seems wrong.

'''Shimada Minami’s answer:'''

1.Broken fingers
2.Knee bent in the wrong way
3.Dislocated wrist

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

All of the above are very wrong.

[[File:Mizuki_himeji_v9c2.png|thumb]]

☆

“We, Class D, declare war on Class F now!”

As the self-study session of the following day ends, the guys from Class D came to our class and declared war.

“Eh? What's wrong?”

Hideyoshi, who was standing near me, muttered in surprise. After what happened yesterday, it's understandable for him to be surprised.

“What? Didn't I hear you guys say that the plan to provoke Shimizu failed?”

Yuuji was also puzzled. I supposed that it’s different from what Hideyoshi told him on the phone, so they couldn’t comprehend what was happening in front of them. By the way, Yuuji called me too, but it seemed that he couldn't get me. I thought I'd need to pay for the phone service soon...

“Muttsurini, do you know what are the circumstances now?”

“……I’ve no idea what happened yesterday, but Shimizu has been very agitated since this morning.”

“Shimizu? If so, did our provocation succeed?”

“No, it isn’t possible for this to happen…...Akihisa, when Shimada ran away yesterday, did you say anything to Shimizu?”

“No, nothing at all. I didn’t say anything special. In contrast, the Summoner Test War is more important! Although our opponent isn’t Class B, Class D is not an easy target based on our current condition, so we should prepare quickly!”

I dodged Hideyoshi’s questioning stare. Under this condition, Hideyoshi’s acting talent is hard to handle.

“……That's right. Let’s put aside the truth for the time being, since the most important issue now is the imminent Summoner Test War. We’ve put in our effort for so long, so if we lose to Class D now, all our efforts will be in vain.”

Regardless of the process, we managed to get Class D declare war upon us. But things aren't over yet. We have to fight Class D head-on with our meagre marks after this. Yuuji will say that the truth doesn’t matter now, and I think he’s got his priorities right inside his mind.

“Yuuji's right, the number of Class F students that's able to fight is too low, to gain victory with this weak force is not easy, it’s obvious that we don’t have the extra time to clear things up.”

“……Let’s focus on defense.”

Hideyoshi and Muttsurini were clear on the current priorities, and they started planning that instant, getting into the stage of preparation.

Okay, I must work hard on the Summoner Test Exams!

“By the way, Yuuji, have you thought of any strategies yet?”

“Of course I do, but before that, I need to confirm the strength of my team. Other than Himeji and Shimada, I need to find out how many people we have that are able to fight.”

Once he finished speaking, Yuuji stood up and went up the podium.

“Comrades, pay attention! Just like those guys said, our Class F’s Summoner Test War against Class D will commence soon! First things first, I need to know how strong we are! Please write down your own marks on a piece of paper and pass it to me!”

The whole class, which was agitated by Class D’s declaration of war, suddenly calmed down, and they – proceeded to write down their current marks.

The recent peeping incident depleted much of our marks, but none were left with zero marks. Students would be chosen for remedial tests based on the amount of their marks.

“By the way, I notice that I didn’t lose any mark at all.”

“Eh? Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Thinking back, I don’t remember seeing Hideyoshi participating in that battle.

“Really? If so, there will be three people who can fully take part in the war, Himeji, Shimada and Hideyoshi, right?”

“Right. If they were to choose Integrated Subject, then we’ll fight first.”

While speaking, Hideyoshi took out a piece of paper and wrote his marks on it. Oh, I guess I need to write down my marks quickly and hand it in to Yuuji.

“Here, Yuuji.”

“Got it.”

After passing up the piece of paper with my marks to Yuuji, I returned to my seat.

Once all the students handed in their papers, Yuuji flipped the pages and called out names.

“The ten students with the lowest marks will take the remedial tests now. They’ll stay in the classroom, and there will be seven students who will be taking Mathematics tests and the other three will be taking World History, Chemistry and Health Education tests respectively. The battle formation will be decided once the marks are confirmed.”

While holding the papers under his arm, Yuuji returned to his seat.

Looking at Yuuji who was stacking the papers on his desk and thinking of how to balance the team’s force, I couldn’t stop myself and spoke to him.

“Eh, Yuuji…”

“What do you want?”

“Do the students picked for remedial tests have to be this precise? We should replenish our marks as fast as possible, so shouldn’t we all be taking the easiest remedial test at the same time?”

Let’s not talk about Chemistry and Health Education, although World History is easy to earn marks, the teacher who marks the papers is infamous for his slow marking speed, as for us now, it should be the most unsuitable subject.

“It’s because the main objective of this battle is to buy some time. Rather than using those strategies, we should consider using psychological warfare, and think of some plan to elongate the battle.”

“Oh, I get your idea.”

“We need to confuse the enemy, and if the Mathematics teacher was the only one to enter our class for point replenishment, what would the enemy think? It’s the same as telling everyone straightaway that we haven’t prepared our forces.”

“That's right……But, about us not replenishing our marks, doesn’t everyone know about it already? Even if we did this, I doubt that they’ll be alerted.”

I understood Yuuji’s point, but I doubt that this alone was enough to arouse the enemy’s suspicion, and getting control.

“Making them suspicious will be the key to this battle, just wait and see.”

Yuuji read through the papers with our marks while marking the battle positions on his notebook. Looks like this guy had already thought of the next battle plan.

I peeked at his notebook from beside, and found out that I wasn't in the group of point replenishing, but in the defensive group positioned at the corridor instead.

“Eh? I don’t need to replenish my marks?”

A lot of my marks were used up on that peeping incident; I thought that I would have to stay inside the classroom to take the tests.

“You've still got a few marks left that can be used, let those who lost all their marks replenish first.”

I see. I had only battled with Ironman that time, and won in the end, so I didn’t lose all my marks. Compared with those whose marks were reduced to zero, I’m still a capable fighter.

“Also, you are talented in a special way.”

“Saying that I’m special, actually I’m not that……”

As my marks aren’t that high from the beginning, what my summoned beast relies on to win during a battle isn’t on brute strength,but skill. Rather than letting me replenish my marks, it’d be better if I’m on the battlefield, and gain reinforcements at the same time by letting others students replenish their marks – was that what Yuuji's thinking? I’d never thought that Yuuji held me in such a high regard, it made me feel rather embarrassed,

“Your role is very important in this battle. Although it’ll be very difficult, you’ll have to hold on.”

“I understand. If that's the case, I’ll have to put in my best effort.”

The way Yuuji said it put a lot of pressure on me, but it feels good to have another’s faith in me.

It's 8.50am now, and the imminent war was scheduled to begin at nine, there were still 10 minutes left.

With moderate tension, I was already geared up waiting for the Summoner Test War to begin.

☆

“Everyone, listen up! Don’t underestimate our enemy just because we beat them once! We are at a disadvantage, and our enemy is a class two levels higher than ours,. The tables might be turned on us if we're overconfident!

Yuuji stood on the podium and gave his last instruction before we attacked.

“Therefore, even if we gain the upper hand, we must never rush recklessly! All of you must defend your positions with all you've got.”

If we rush recklessly, in a very short time our defense will be – broken. After all, we found out that our points, excluding Himeji-san’s, Minami-san’s and Hideyoshi’s, when added up, wouldn’t exceed ten thousand. But if we counted that of the girls of Class D, who had already finished replenishing their points to around 1500 points each; the total points of Class D’s girls were near forty thousand. And that’s not counting the boys of their class. The gap between both classes was huge; we cannot hope to fight them head-on.

“The enemy is advancing with their advantageous main force of girls who excel at their Combined Subject, so we’ll contend with them with Shimada and Hideyoshi leading the force! After reaching the limit, only then is retreating back to the classroom an option! That’s it! I hope that everyone will put in their best effort and fight to win!”

Once Yuuji’s speech finished, the clock on the wall pointed at the exact time of the beginning of the war with a “tick”.

Nine o’clock in the morning, the war was commenced.

“ “ “Look at our—“ “ “

Our side’s main objective was to secure the corridors and the stairs, and once the war began, the vanguard rushed onto the battlefield. Our opponent hoped to finish us before we put our plans into action, so they’d probably use flash raid tactics. To put it another way, this was a battle of speed.

As I was getting ready to leave the classroom, I noticed Minami walking to the door from the corner of my eyes. It’s been a day, is she still pissed off with me?

Fine, I’ll just try to talk to her.

“Good morning, Minami.”

“……”

No reply.

“Class D declared war on us, that’s very good.”

“……”

She wouldn’t even look at me.

“We’ll just have to win this battle, then all will be fine.”

“……”

She treated me as if I was just plain air.

Damn it, I won’t just admit defeat! I can’t give up; I must try harder to find topics to chat with her!

It must be that I was like talking to myself just now; I’ll try to start a conversation with her with a question.

“I’d say, doesn’t this remind you of the last Summoner Test War?”

“……Yes, I was abandoned and left alone by you the last time too.”

‘Digging your own grave’: idiom, a metaphor, meaning causing one self’s downfall.

“Minami, are you…….still angry at me?”

I asked her nervously. So far, I’ve angered her many times, but she would get over it in a day. She had never been angry for more than a day, this was the first time.

This time, Minami lowered her head and finally answered my question.

“……What do you mean by that?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

Damn, I thought I just said something that I shouldn’t.

“You must’ve thought that I’m ‘like a guy, so I’ll just forget about it in a day’ right? You big idiot!”

“Oh……”

“Didn’t I tell you not to talk with me? Stay away from me! Don’t care about me anymore!”

When she finished speaking, Minami took a step away from me instantly, and ran out the classroom.

I’m such a big failure……I really didn’t mean that at all, but it somehow made Minami ticked off……

Then, I sighed, and followed suit to leave the classroom. Never mind that, I must get to the corridor as soon as possible.

I ran along the corridor with light steps, running towards the corridor that connected the old and new school building.

“Class F, repent!”

“Takahashi-sensei, Tamano Miki of Class D requests permission for summoning!’

I’d just reached the long corridor when I heard the girls’ voices; I thought they brought Takahashi-sensei with them. Just as Yuuji predicted, Class D had planned to use Combined Subject against us all along.

Since our opponent has already engaged us in battle, if we don’t summon our beast, it’ll mean that we deserted the battle, and it’ll also be counted as being KO-ed in a battle. No matter how we are at a disadvantage, we still have to fight them.

“Come if you dare! Let me see how powerful Class F is!”

“Fukumura, are you okay?”

“Leave it to me! I’ll let her know what suffering is!”

“ “Summon!” “

The Class D girl and Class F boy summoned at the same time, as a familiar magical seal started to appear in front of them. Appearing in the middle of the magical seal, was a beast that shares the same look with the summoner.

Class D Tamano Miki VS Class F Fukumura Kohei
Combined Subjects 1543 points VS 118 points

“Damn it! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Fukumura? Didn’t you just summon a few seconds ago?”

The difference between their power is 1300%, this is worse than expected.

“Take this!”

The summoned beast of Class D’s Tamano Miki brought down the huge blade in its hand.

“Oh……If so……”

At the same time, Fukumura-san’s summoned beast decided to discard its weapon, then took a different stance. Is he trying to fight the enemy bare-handed? That's just plain suicide!

“You, what are you……”

“You mustn’t underestimate Class F!”

Ignoring Tamano-san’s bewilderment, his eyes focused on the enemy’s sword edge, Fukumura-san’s summoned beast suddenly raised its hands.

Ah, that's –

As the spectators watched in suspense, both hands of Fukumura-san’s summoned beast made a loud clapping sound.

“Heh,hehehehe…….Catching a blade with bare hands, succeed……”

Fukumura-san declared proudly.

It’s true; this is a deadly bare-handed move to use against the opponent – catching a blade with bare hands. Unfortunately, his summoned beast’s head is already split in half.

“Didn’t you just screw up?”

“Id, idiot! That’s, that’s not true! This is exactly what I expected!”

Fukumura-san then declared loudly: “This move is called – Using both sides of the brain to catch the blade bare-handed.”

“Fukumura Kohei, KO-ed!”

Fukumura-san’s quibble was just plain nonsense anyway as he was declared killed.

Although we knew this all along, the differences between our strength still frightened us.

“You actually made Fukumura-san……This time I’ll fight instead! Summon!”

I glanced at Fukumura-san’s desolate figure being dragged into the remedial classroom from the corner of my eye, while the battle raged on.

Looking around the scene of the battle in front of my eyes, I noticed something.

“Eh? Their number seems very low……”

It’s very suspicious that Class D’s main force consisted of just nine girls. If we were to beat Class D, we needed to get past this corridor, but their force seemed so weak, something’s wrong no matter how you saw it. If Class D want to win this war by rushing, they should be putting more force into it.

“……Himeji-san isn’t here as expected……”

“She isn’t at the stairs too.”

“Seems like their aim is to buy some time, it can’t go wrong……”

When I heard the Class D’s girls say that, I noticed two of them left the group of nine.

Fewer opponents is better for us, but what was really happening?

“There are few enemies around! Surround them, and don’t let them move an inch!”
Hideyoshi commanded loudly.

We had twenty students on our side, three-fold that the opponent had. Although our points were inferior to theirs when compared one-on-one, we could equalize our strength with theirs, there’s still a battle waiting for us. Hideyoshi and Minami were leading our small force, the other students were – taking up supporting positions.

“Shimizu got a report for us. She said: ‘I’ve received suspicious reports, just put up your guard. Before trying to find out our opponent’s plan, continue to battle with a team of six!’”

“Understood.”

A boy from Class D came to deliver the message, and another girl left the frontline shortly. The condition seemed to be more and more favorable, but I still had no idea what was actually happening.

“Oh, never mind. Just follow Yuuji’s instruction – Summon!”

I followed those around me and summoned by beast. The instruction that Yuuji gave me was: “ Summon your beast, fight for a while, then pretend like everything’s in the bag and leave the frontline instantly. Let them think that ‘you don’t have any points left’.” I had no idea what Yuuji was actually planning, but this must be a part of his main plan, I’ll just follow his instructions
obediently.

Class D Tamano Miki VS Class F Akihisa Yoshii
Combined Subjects 1019 points VS 311 points

I locked on to Tamano-san whose points is slightly depleted, controlling my summoned beast to advance and meet hers in battle.

“A- Aki-cha – No, Yoshii-kun! You, you actually……”

At that instant, I thought Minami called my name out affectionately, but this was not the time to think about it, I must finish this battle.

I dodged the opponent’s slash with a sidestep, at the same time rushing at the opponent.
Good, like this, it’ll be my turn to attack –

“So obedient eh!”

But, I didn’t attack, and tapped the opponents head softly. Yuuji said to ‘act as if it is in the bag’, like this?

“……Eh?”

Tamano-san who was expecting me to attack and had taken a defensive stance, stood there dumbfounded.

Good, I think my actions fulfilled the instructions.

“Good, Hideyoshi. It seems that there won’t be any problem here, I’ll return first.”

“OK, I understand.”

I passed my authority to Hideyoshi, and then left the scene of the battle. Passing the task onto someone else like this isn’t considered deserting the war.

“But, anyway……the battle this time has too many parts that I don’t understand.”

I thought about it while running back to Class F.

Yuuji said that his aim is to buy some time, but the aim changed to adjusting my side’s force, letting Class D feel threatened, and finally making them form a truce with us.

I understand this part, what I don’t understand is what just happened?

Why did our opponent just send out a small team? What is the suspicious report that Class D mentioned? And what was the aim of my actions just now?

Oh……No idea, I couldn’t understand anything, I'll just clear things up with Yuuji.

Once I left the chaos, and stepped into Class F –

“Ah, Akihisa-kun, you’re back.”

“Yeah, I’m back.”

Himeji-san hurried to my front. The look of her rushing towards me made me really happy……But is a powerful fighter such as Himeji-san staying back at class a good idea?

“Himeji-san, did Yuuji give you any instructions?”

“He did…….About this; I’m not very clear about it, Sakamoto-kun only told me: ‘you must not leave Class F no matter what’.”

“Eh? He only said that?”

“Yes, only that.”

Oh hmm……I’m getting more confused, what is Yuuji really thinking?

“Akihisa, you are back.”

As I was discussing with Himeji-san about that matter, Yuuji walked towards us.

“How is the plan going?”

“Oh uh, hmm, I did as you told……But isn’t it about time you made clear your real intentions?”

Other than the ten students staying in the classroom for remedial tests, there are five hand-picked students to hold the last line. Other than that, there are a few students who are preparing their force.

“About that……Sakamoto-kun, I’d like you to explain to us too.”

“Himeji, you have any questions?”

“I can really stay here and do nothing?”

Himeji-san slightly inclined her head and let out a confused expression.

Himeji-san can be considered our Class F’s main force, and also her points are fully replenished long ago, hence, she should be the most needed fighter at the corridor and the stairs.

“That’s right, Yuuji. Why did you decide to position Himeji-san in the classroom? If we let Himeji-san join the fight, wouldn’t this war become easier for all of us?”

When I said that, Yuuji let out a ‘I knew you’d say that’ attitude, then said: “Yes, the enemy will also think this way.”

“Oh, the way you say it, seems like you are hiding something.”

Yuuji just wouldn’t answer nicely what others asked, he is really an annoying bastard.

“Our enemy will think this way: “Class F put a lot of their force at the corridor and the stairs, but why isn’t Himeji anywhere? Don’t they want to secure the corridor and the stairs?’ I think, that’s the way they’ll feel.”

“But, aren’t we aiming to hold the corridor and stairs?”

“Even if I want to, but is it really worth it to focus all of our force there? Our main objective isn’t to suppress, but to buy some time.”

“Oh, so that’s why you decided to increase our force until it match our enemy’s”

“To match our force with theirs, strengthening ourself isn’t the only way, letting them use their smallest force is also a way.”

Hearing Yuuji’s explanation, a scene that happened not long ago suddenly flashed through my thoughts.

Like he said, when those Class D guys noticed that Himeji-san wasn’t anywhere nearby, a few of them retreated……

“To put it another way, they feel threatened by Himeji-san’s absence, so they’ll put more of their force to guard their class representative right?”

“That's so.”

I see, so it’s this way.

True, by just weakening our opponent's force, our casualties will be at a minimum. If we can retain Himeji-san’s strength, it’ll benefit once our force breaks through the corridor and the stairs, it’ll also let Himeji-san whose body is frail rest more. This is a good idea.

“Class D’s representative Hiraga was beaten by Himeji once, so they are very worried.”

“I see, so this is your plan all along.”

If it’s in a normal situation, luring them wouldn’t be this easy, but these circumstances benefit our battle plan by a lot. Just like what Yuuji said, we made our enemy suffer once, and their class representative is a guy, this also benefits us.

If we want to win this battle, then we should not strike upfront, we must rely on a plan that would go unnoticed easily to defeat them. Under this condition, because Class D’s representative got most of his points depleted during the last peeping incident, and during this critical time they couldn’t find our Class F’s main force – Himeji-san’s figure anywhere. Like this, nine out of ten would think that Himeji-san was waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack, taking down class representative Hiraga, so they’ll have to replenish their points, and then cut a portion of their main force to be their class representative's personal bodyguards.

“So that’s why those girls rushed back……”

“But this alone isn’t enough. In order not to let our enemies turn the tables on us, I had to use another wicked plot.”

“Another wicked plot?”

“It’s controlling their intelligence. Just because of this, I didn’t let Muttsurini replenish his points.”

The Health Education teacher Oshima-sensei was busy in the classroom giving a few students tests, but Muttsurini wasn’t included. I was guessing why that Muttsurini who by replenishing just his Health Educations points could replenish his total points wasn’t taking tests in the classroom, he couldn’t have been sent out for a mission, could he?

“Muttsurini is currently spreading that ‘Class F really wished for the battle with Class D’ to Class D. If they didn’t have any informant all along, they’d find it strange if they received this report suddenly, but their class has Shimizu. For Muttsurini, using a bug to spread this information couldn’t be any easier."

I just remembered, while battling at the corridor, a guy from Class D came to deliver an order.
“Oh right, the students from Class D did mention about ‘receiving a suspicious report’ or something like that.”

The Class D guy said that it was a message from Shimizu-san, if so, Muttsurini must be pretty successful in using the bug to spread information.

“Counting in that negotiation with unclear intentions yesterday, Class D’s Shimizu and representative must be suspicious with many things, this time they’ll easily fall for our next trick.”

“I see. Just by spreading this message, it’ll make Class D more cautious towards us. ‘They won’t hope to fight a hopeless Summoning War, Class F must’ve got something up their sleeves.’ – You want them to think this way right?”

Hmm, like this, they’d be more and more careful of us who had nearly no chance of winning, and wouldn’t be taking any rash actions.

“Ah! Right! Yuuji and me hanging out at Class D’s corridor last time, it really was for……”

“Hmm, most of them are correct. That time I only wanted them to think that ‘Class F is not replenishing their points’, but now things have changed. In their eyes, they’d probably feel: ‘Sakamoto and Yoshii who obviously have classes at a different building hanging out here is really suspicious, are they pretending that way to let us take the initiative and declare war upon them?’ This way I planted the seed of suspicion. A coincidence happening more than twice won’t be regarded as a coincidence; this is the way human thinks. I think they aren’t harboring any intentions – so it’s normal for them to think this way.”

This guy Yuuji……I didn’t expect him to have already thought this far by that time. Just by connecting the dots, this guy’s thinking speed would speed up, that’s really scary. Is this what they meant by a prodigy’s reincarnation? It looked like he’d already considered everything carefully……

“They must be starting to regret declaring war on us, since winning this war won’t benefit them much, and losing will cause them to face the risk of having their classroom downgraded into the worst possible one. So if they are given an opportunity, they’ll surely agree to form a truce with us.”

“If they are given an opportunity……That means, we’ll still have to deal them a telling blow right?”
Even if we are done regulating our forces, there's no good opportunity, so it would be hard to propose a truce……I guessed that Yuuji thought this way.

It’s not wrong, if there’s no good opportunity, it’s highly impossible for both sides to want to form a truce.

“Right, the last blow will be by taking out their head.”

“Their head……you mean the Class D’s representative Hiraga-san? But, if we can deal with their head, what do we need a truce for?”

“We can’t do anything to Hiraga. Class D is already alerted to us, Hiraga surely won’t come personally. And in this battle, their head isn’t just Hiraga alone.”

After hearing Yuuji’s explanation, Himeji-san clapped her hands once suddenly.

“I know, you’re talking about Shimizu-san right?”

“Correct. If we finish off Shimizu, the main force of Class D won’t dare to take any action. If we want to form a truce with them, making an example out of Shimizu will create a good opportunity.”

Thinking back, the one who was actually calling the shots and commanding the army wasn’t Hiragi-san, but Shimizu-san. So if we could take Shimizu-san out, it’d be easier for us to form a truce with Class D.

“That’s just it, so Akihisa, it’s you who’ll be going to the empty classroom beside this one alone, and face Shimizu in a solo battle.”

“Eh? I need to go?”

If we want to beat Shimizu-san, there should be another candidate more powerful and suitable.

“I didn’t replenish my points because I needed to be ready to give orders at any time. Muttsurini also shared the same fate with me. Moreover, we can’t let others find out Himeji’s whereabouts, and if something unexpected happens, she’ll need to join the defensive army. So, this mission can only be completed by you.”

Minami and Hideyoshi are currently on the frontlines, the other students have their own duties respectively. And also, I’m more skilled in handling my summoned beast than anybody, so that makes me the best candidate.

“And don’t forget, you’ll be the best to provoke Shimizu. I heard the whole story from Hideyoshi, but after that, didn’t you successfully provoke her?”

“Oh……That, that's…..How should I put it……I, I’m not clear about it myself……”

Let’s not talk about how the provocation went, but I’m the person that Shimizu-san wants to get rid of the most.

“Ah, so this is how the choice is made.”

Himeji-san who was listening to our conversation silently pointed to the stack of paper on Yuuji’s desk, as if she just understood something. She meant that only one person is deployed into the empty classroom, and that's the part that I play.

“As expected of you, Himeji; you are really sharp with your eyes.”

“……Sorry, and what does that mean?”

By the way, I’m the one who doesn’t understand anything they just said.

“To put it……For example, if I give Sugawa that position, and you’ll be his opponent. Seeing Sugawa stand here, what would you think?”

[[Image:BTS vol 04 219.png|thumb]]

“Will I even be thinking anything……I will just feel that it’s rather meaningless.”

The empty classroom that Yuuji referred to doesn’t have a leader inside it that needed to be closely guarded, and taking the positions into account, it’s not a location that needs to be fought for. That way, even if we threw any random guy into that empty classroom, the enemy may be suspicious, but they wouldn’t be thinking too much about it.

“Right, most people would think this way. But, what if I put in another condition?”

“Condition?”

“Right. If at that time, you are fighting Sugawa for Himeji, like this, how would things look like?”

“That, that, for me…….”

Oh……Me and Sugawa-san fighting over Himeji-san, and there’s a Summoner Test War? If so, to me, getting Himeji-san is something very important, even if there isn’t a Summoner Test War, I’ll try my best to finish Sugawa-san off, and to think that Sugawa-san thinks the same way…….Under this condition, if Sugawa-san waited in an empty classroom alone –

“I’d think that he’s waiting for me there. For Himeji-san, we’ll have to settle things the hard way.”

“Right, things are like this.”

As if he’s saying ‘you answered nicely’, Yuuji nodded with approval.

“To put it another way, to another’s eye, Akihisa who is waiting in an empty classroom is just a small pawn, but to Shimizu, it’s different. She’ll think that you’re trying to battle with her, and you are waiting in an empty classroom for her. To let others think this way too, I let you join the frontline at the beginning, to let them know you’re here.”

So that's why Yuuji told me to go show myself at the frontline. Although I still have enough points to continue battling, I did not fully participate in the frontline fight just to make my attitude and actions clearer, as if I am telling Shimizu-san “I’m waiting for you”.

“Sakamoto-kun's telling him ‘you can retreat to the front of our classroom’ just now is to…….”

“If I didn’t do it this way, they wouldn’t know that Akihisa is here waiting for her. Because of that, while waiting for them here to finish replenishing their points so that we can negotiate a truce with them, we need to break through their defense at the corridor and stairs, and let Shimizu know that Akihisa is waiting for her in an empty classroom, we also couldn’t let the enemy know that we are the one at a disadvantage. On how to solve this problem exactly, it’s really hard for me to anticipate.”

Yuuji is right, if we can lure out Shimizu, maybe we can propose a truce with them before we are defeated. But……

“Will things go that smoothly?”

I’m still worried. Especially under these conditions, I really can’t anticipate whether Shimizu-san will appear to challenge me one-on-one.

“All I can say is, just wait and see.”

Yuuji is still full of confidence.

“Oh……Since Yuuji dared to say that, then there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“Good! Now that everything’s clear, Akihisa should get into the empty classroom as soon as possible; I’ve no idea when both defensive lines will be broken through.

“Understood, I’ll go there now.”

I nearly grasped my mission. Now I’ll just follow Yuuji’s words, and then enter the empty classroom and wait for Shimizu-san.

☆

“Before Shimizu-san appears, we’ll just standby here.”

“I’m fine with that……hehe.”

“Himeji, what's up with you? It’s actually rude of you to smile at me that way.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Then what did you mean to do?”

“No, I just feel that no matter how you put it, Sakamoto-kun really understands Akihisa-kun.”

“Ah? Wh-why are you suddenly saying something so disgusting?!”

“It’s irrelevant, you don’t have to be shy about it.”

“I’m not shy, I just feel that it’s really disgusting……”

“Because, if you don’t really understand Akihisa-kun, you can’t carry out that plan you've mentioned just now, can you?”

“You mean the one about luring Shimizu out?”

“Yes.”

“……Oh, let’s not talk about understanding him, all I have to do is think about Akihisa’s personality, and then I can guess what Akihisa said to Shimizu when Hideyoshi left yesterday. To Shimizu, that must be something that's really infuriating.”

“Me too……I don’t know why, but I can guess what Akihisa-kun said.”

“That guy is stupid, so it’s easy to grasp the way he thinks.”

“It’s because he’s honest, it must be so.”

“I don’t agree.”

“Hehe, Sakamoto-kun is very untruthful.”

“Tut, whatever you say…….But, you really don’t mind?”

“Uh? What do you mean?”

“No, this matter seems bad for you…….”

“About this……..I guess so…….It does make me unhappy, but—“

“But what?”

“……But, this is why I find Akihisa-kun attractive.”

“Uh? Pardon, I didn’t hear you very well just now.”

“Ah, nothing, I didn’t say anything.”

“Really? But, still……Thanks for the info.”

“I, I hate you, I thought you heard it very clearly!”

☆

While waiting in the empty classroom, I felt really bored as I had nothing else to do. I felt like playing my handheld gaming console or reading a book just to kill time, but if I do this, it won’t look like I’m getting ready to challenge others, and if a teacher find me here, my handheld gaming console will be confiscated. Since I have no choice, I’ll just daydream here.

Then, Minami’s figure suddenly appeared unexpectedly in my thoughts.

Was my attitude towards Minami unacceptable?

Is Minami really hurt because I was not considerate enough?

Am I hated down to the core by her?

Such questions came into my thoughts one by one. I thought about it a lot, but the more I think, the more chaotic my thoughts got. I knew that I’d face this problem beforehand; I should’ve trained myself to handle my thoughts.

I felt frustrated by my pathetic brain, but I was still trying hard to ponder the answer for these questions.

I couldn’t tidy up my messy thoughts, and I also could not find a trace to the answer. Because of that, I decided to continue thinking.

Just when I fell deep in thoughts, I heard something coming from the corridor, and it seemed to be getting closer and closer.

“……It’s about time she comes.”

I cleared my thoughts instantly, and changed what I was thinking. After all this was a crucial moment, the Summoner Test War was still going on. Was it going well for the bodyguards at the classroom? I closed my eye forcefully, and tried to swallow down the uneasiness, because I still had a mission to complete.

I could hear the ruckus caused by the defensive battle, and I felt that someone from the enemy that passed by noticed me.

I continued waiting.

“It’s great that you are waiting here alone, Miharu has something to say!”

After waiting for a while, I suddenly heard the voice of the person that I’m waiting for.
Great, she’s finally here.

I let out a sigh of relief, and slowly opened my eyes to see the person who was standing in front of me.

“You have something to say to me? What is it about?”

I walked slowly to her as I said that.

Although I’d been waiting for her for a while, I had nothing worth telling her.

“It’s nothing much. In a nutshell – Miharu just wants to clear things up.”

While saying that, she stared at me with pure hatred. It seems like she really detests me.

“It’s fortunate that there’s a Summoner Test War going on, I can take this opportunity and settle things once and for all.”

Standing behind Shimizu-san was Fuse-sensei, it looked like she’s fully prepared for the occasion.
If I escaped from this battle, it would be counted as deserting the battle and is the same as being KO-ed. So, I’d have to accept her challenge.

Since Shimizu-san had already engaged me in battle, other than agreeing, there’s nothing else that I could do. Or…… did she think that I wouldn’t reject her challenge, believing that I wanted to settle things with her once and for all too?

-- All I can say is, the way she thinks is really scary.

“I understand, we’ll fight this out, Shimizu-san.”

We I said that, Shimizu-san turned to Fuse-sensei and said: “Teacher, permission for summoning.”

“I know.”

Once we received Fuse-sensei’s permission, Shimizu-san and I summoned our beast with Chemistry as the battle subject.

“ “Summon!” “

We shouted at the same time, and some kind of magical seal appear at our feet. Following that, appearing in the midst is our alter ego the summoned beasts.

Both of us let our summoned beasts take a ready stance, staring at each other.

Shimizu-san is pretty experienced with Summoner Test War, but we aren’t fighting with brute force this time. Therefore, she won’t be an easy target, I’ll have to fight with caution.

Both of us were trying to find openings on our body, this continued for a while.

“……Right, before fighting, I’ve something that I want to confirm with you.”

In such a tight atmosphere, Shimizu-san who was keeping a close eye on the summoned beasts suddenly said something to me.

“About what?”

I replied, undoubtedly without letting my eyes off the summoned beasts too.

“It’s about what you said yesterday.”

“Uh…….”

“Did you say that just to instigate this battle? Miharu meant at the negotiation yesterday, the words you said before leaving."

She meant the report about “Class F wants to battle with Class D all along”. Shimizu-san must had seen through the real intention of the negotiation yesterday, I guess that's why she had such inquiries.

“That’s……”

I couldn’t answer her instantly, and stayed silent for a while.

Even if I told her the truth, would she believe me?

No matter how I answer, she treats all of my words as lies. From everyone’s point of view, it was us that used Minami…...But we really did use Minami, it’s true that we wanted to provoke Class D at the negotiation yesterday.

“Then?”

Shimizu-san asked again, but I still didn’t have the answer.

“If so……”

She treated my silence as if I was admitting it, Shimizu-san didn’t continue her inquiries, and kept her mouth closed instead.

“……”

“……”

The summoned beasts didn’t move an inch, staying that way silently.

We didn’t stare at each other. It’s because Shimizu-san lowered her head, not focusing on the summoned beasts any more.

A few seconds passed, and she stayed that way.

Suddenly, Shimizu-san muttered with a trembling voice.

“……She cried.”

That tone might be soft but it was filled with fury.

“……When onee-sama ran away yesterday……She cried……”

Hearing these words, I recalled the scene.

Shimizu-san is right; Minami’s tears were flowing when she rushed out of the classroom.

“She cried because of Miharu’s words……But, the reason she cried…….the real reason she cried was—“

Shimizu-san slowly raised her head, from the pair of eyes that was staring at me, I thought I saw a burning inferno of hatred.

“ – was you! Because of a guy like you! Hurt her and made her cry!”

That line was like a tip, Shimizu-san’s summoned beast rushed at mine.

She chose to attack directly, I hurried to dodge that attack.

“Oh!”

My body felt a burst of pain.

I wasn’t hit by her directly, what was the meaning of such strength? Was it because of our difference of points?

Class D Shimizu Miharu VS Class F Yoshii Akihisa

Chemistry 112 points VS 22 points

I squinted to confirm the difference between our points; the difference was approximately five-fold. Such a huge gap, putting me overwhelmingly at a disadvantage.

“Why is it that a pathetic guy like you can stay at onee-sama’s side! Why does a person like you who only knows how to play with other’s feelings dare to talk to onee-sama! “

The opponent slashed like a child throwing a tantrum. Getting attacked once again, the heavy strikes made my hands start to feel numb.

It’s true I made Minami cry.

It’s also true that we used Minami.

But—

“Just to use Minami, you guys lied to her inconsiderately, and purposefully became close to her as friends! Why is it so!”

--Ha!

I raised the wooden sword to block the opponent's slashing sword.

But, even so, I’m still…...

“……I did not……lie!”

I pushed her blade away forcefully.

“What, what did you say!”

It’s true that I did many cruel things.

I hurt her, and made her cry.

That’s why my words are so despicable that others find it hard to believe.

But, even so—

“My words, are not lies!”

With the blunt sounds of battle around us, my summoned beast blocked the opponents blade again.

“What?”

That’s right, that's not a lie.

Even if that part about being in a relationship was just acting, even if the kiss was just a misunderstanding, but my words to Shimizu-san weren’t lies, they were spoken truthfully from the bottom of my heart.

After all…...Under those conditions, I’m not smart to tell a lie with a straight face.

“Even if I’m an idiot, I still know how to differentiate on what kind of lies I’m allowed to say! And those words that I said to you yesterday are really from the bottom of my heart!”

After blocking her blade upfront, my wooden sword broke with a crack.

Fighting head-on with an enemy who is five times stronger than me, I’d lost a considerable amount of points.

Under this condition, I had got no chance of winning.

“But……I still won’t run away!”

Frankly speaking, this whole commotion was caused by me. I had to be responsible for those people that I had involved!

Looking at this from a different angle, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If the mission of challenging Shimizu-san alone was given to Himeji-san or Yuuji, then I’m just the one to blame for all this commotion, and also an irresponsible piece of trash who only knows how to run away. Since I was given the chance to shoulder the responsibility, I must thank Yuuji—

“ “ “Summon!” “ “

“ “Eh?” “

The unexpected shout of summon was heard. Squinting, Yuuji led group of Class F students that had finished replenishing their points here, and he stood not far from me. He must’ve used Himeji’s power to get past the chaos in front of Class F and here.

No, that's just a trivial matter. The problem was, why were they stepping into the battle between me and Shimizu-san?

“It’s an ambush……You actually did something so despicable!”

Shimizu-san stared at me with fury. What ambush, can it be—

“Yuuji! No matter how important it is to win this battle, you can’t do this!”

We agreed that this would be a one-on-one battle, but him bringing so many students, did he plan this to be an ambush? Of course I understand that this battle is very important to Class F, but doing it this way is just too despicable!

“I’m sorry, this is not just about winning, this is a war. My duty is to protect the whole class.”
Yuuji said these words coolly, then hinted at the students behind him with his eyes.

The summoned beasts that received their instructions—raised their weapons, then took a ready stance.

“Don’t, don’t do this—“

“Attack!”

I couldn’t stop them in time, the summoned beasts surrounding us stabbed with their swords and spears.

-- Aiming for my summoned beast.

“…...Eh?”

At the turn that things have taken, my mind went blank for a moment.

When I started to realize what was happening around me, my body started to feel something.

“It hurts alottttttttttttttt! Eh, what is it now? I’ve never felt such pain before! And my whole body hurts at the same time! The pain is killing me from my toes to the top of my head!”

“Shimizu, I’ve already taken care of the person who is responsible for all these troubles, so, are you willing to let this go?”

“Wahhhhhhhhhh! Did somebody just throw a blunt weapon at me? The pain of being stabbed and hit mixed together brings the pain to a whole new level!”

Shimizu-san gaped at me who was rolling on the floor in pain.

Then, she sighed deeply.

“……that's so, although doing this can’t quench Miharu’s anger……”

Sha shoof--- A sound filled with strength resonated in the classroom.

“Shi, Shimizu-san! Hasn’t the winner of the battle decided? Why are you still attacking me with such fury! It hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts! The pain of being stabbed through from my leg to my stomach then to the top of my head!”

“Wait until Miharu cuts him into eight parts, and if you agree to force this swine to stay in the remedial classroom until school ends, Miharu will agree to form a truce.”

“I promise. Akihisa will be sent to the remedial classroom immediately when he is KO-ed. Before school ends, he’ll have to replenish all of his points in that classroom; while he’s doing that, he’ll be Ironman’s food.”

How, how did it become such an evil trade! My whole body was hurt, and I still had to go through Ironman’s hellish tuition until the end of school?

“Hmmph! What does that hateful expression of yours mean? You should blame yourself for lying to onee-sama! You swine should take this chance and reflect on your wrongdoings!”

Stab stab stab stab stab—While Shimizu-san was speaking, she stabbed my summoned beast a few times.

“I, I I I do reflect on my mistakes! About hurting Minami, I’m really sorry! It hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts!”

The pain that Minami felt when I hurt her is now repaid to me, on my body.

Stop fussing, if it’s someone who can’t take this much pain, he would’ve already died from fear.

“……Hmmph, if what you said yesterday were lies, Miharu wouldn’t have forgiven you this easily.”

This time she raised her foot and stomped at the wounds her sword made.

Damn! This is a heartless devil!

“This time, Miharu will stop here and let you live!”

She didn’t even want to let me live! It hurts a lot! It just hurts a lot! It hurts until I can’t think of anything!

After that, once Shimizu had done kicking me, I finally got a chance to rest for a few minutes, I’d been through hell for real.

“Good, since the negotiation is successful, we should return to our class. Guys! Let’s return!”

“ “ “Oh—“ “ “

All of them walked out of the empty classroom together, leaving me, who was covered with cuts and bruises until I couldn’t stand up, here alone.

“Too, too pathetic……”

I endured the excruciating pain and managed to sit on the floor, and suddenly I felt a hand clasped on my shoulder, this alone scared me so much that I nearly let out a scream.

It’s not easy to stop myself from screaming, I turned my head slowly—

[[File:BTS_Ironman.jpg|thumb]]

“Welcome to my world.”

The person that appeared in front of me was Ironman, smiling sinisterly with obviously evil intentions.

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4 The Fifth Question|next=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4 The Final Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume4 The Fourth Question

2012-11-25T20:56:25Z

Brass: minor grammar changes

==The Fourth Question==

'''Please fill in the correct answer into the blank provided.'''

''“The force that combines molecules in liquids and solids is called ( ).”''

'''Mizuki Himeji’s answer:'''

“(Van der Waals) force.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

“Correct. It is also known as intermolecular force. Please mind that Van der Waals force is easily confused with Coulomb’s force.”

'''Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:'''

“(Wandervogel)[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4_Translation_Notes_and_References#The_Fourth_Question] force.”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

At least you still have some idea what the answer sounds like. Unfortunately, the answer is not the force of climbing mountains, but the force between molecules.

'''Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:'''

“(Work) force”

'''Teacher’s comment:'''

I don’t hate your answer.

[[Image:BTS ShinobiMuttsurini.jpg |thumb]]

“You failed even at such a good moment, you useless garbage”

I felt like crying.

“Sakamoto-kun, what did you mean by "you failed"?”

Once we were back in class F, we gathered around Yuuji’s seat. Yuuji, the main organizer of the Summoning War against Class D, seemed to have finished his job. And he was just sitting there, sighing while shaking his head.

“You still dare to talk?! Because you idiot ran away at the last minute, all our efforts are in vain now. After witnessing such a scene, no one in their right mind would believe that Shimada and Akihisa are in a relationship.”

Then, Yuuji hit my head with a rolled-up script.

Muu......I was thinking about my beet red wrist at that moment, and didn’t even know what happened. Did my acting skills really suck?

“I’d say, the only good news is that Shimada looks as if she harbors affection for Yoshii…… but this alone won’t be enough to cause that Shimizu to freak out.”

Hideyoshi, who was standing beside Yuuji, let out a sigh. If it was just Yuuji alone saying it, I wouldn’t have minded, but now that even Hideyoshi said that, then it must be true. Damn it, we failed again……

“Even if you want to have another go, Shimada is still quite pissed off, and you even happily came back to class together with Himeji......”

I turned my head to look at Minami’s seat, which was pretty far from Yuuji’s, but Minami just let out a “Hmmph” and looked away when she noticed me. It’s over for me; she looks mad.

“I…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone back to class together with Akihisa-kun, it would have been weird if Minami-chan and Akihisa-kun were having a relationship for real……”

“Actually, there shouldn’t be any problem since both of you are classmates....I’d think that the real problem was that Akihisa dumped Shimada, and then you two came back for now. Ignoring what others think, Shimada’s thoughts are obvious, right?”

Although it was all just an act, I, who was acting as Minami’s boyfriend, came back to class with Himeji-san instead, so this must’ve hurt Minami’s pride. I never meant for that to happen all along……

“Never mind that, Akihisa, you should apologize to Shimada.”

Yuuji pointed at her direction with his chin.

Yuuji’s right. Minami was angry at me all along. She agreed to act with me even though she was reluctant, and I embarrassed her in the end. This must’ve been very unreasonable to her. I should really apologize to her.

“You’re right. I’ll apologize to her now.”

I stood up and walk towards Minami’s seat.

Although my intentions were good, it still couldn’t change the fact that I hurt her.

“Minami, about that……”

I stuttered to Minami, who was unhappy and gazing outside the window.

“……What do you want?”

She might have replied, but she still wouldn’t look at me. She stared at me from the corner of her eye for only a moment.

“About that, I’m really sorry.”

I still couldn’t raise my head even though I knew that she was looking elsewhere. She still wouldn’t look at me, not even once.

“I don’t want to bother you anymore. Don’t you prefer hanging out with Mizuki?”

“No, it was just a coincidence that I met Himeji-san at the corridor.”

“I don’t want to listen to your excuses.”

“Uu……”

Damn, I’m already out of ideas.

It has to be done like this; I can only use Hideyoshi’s lines to convince her.

“But, if it continues like this, Himeji-san will……”

She might be forced to transfer – I wanted to say it, but Minami suddenly stared at me sharply.

“……It’s always Mizuki, Mizuki, why are you always like this?”

“Mi…Minami?”

“Why do you always treat her like a princess?! Then what am I? Do you treat me as a guy? Why do you always treat me like this?!”

I’ve never seen Minami this angry before, and she even said so much in one shot.

“I, I never meant that……”

“If Mizuki really needs to transfer out, then I’ll talk to her parents myself. Stop bugging me now, I don’t want to see you anymore!”

After saying this, she turned her head away.

Seems that no matter how hard I try, she wouldn’t look at me again.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

I bowed down to apologize again, and I then returned to where everyone was.

They looked at me, their faces implying “even you can’t do anything.”

“She’s really pissed off……”

“I’d feel the same way.”

Hideyoshi and the gang must’ve heard my conversation with Minami.

“I’m sorry, I’ll apologize to her again……”

“……Wait until her anger recedes first.”

“Uh huh, Muttsurini is right. If Akihisa and Himeji aren’t careful, it’ll make Shimada even angrier.”

“Really, you……wait for her to calm down, Akihisa. You have to settle the problem between you and Shimada.”

“Yeah, I will.”

I really did a lot of cruel things to Minami today….

“Let’s put this matter aside for now. If this continues, Class D won’t declare a Summoning War with us no matter how long we wait. That’s why we have to improvise.”

After changing the topic, Yuuji’s expression is as attentive and cool as ever. Leaving Minami’s rage aside for now, our Class F is at a disadvantage.

I’m really concerned about how Minami’s feeling now, I should pay attention to Yuuji’s question.

“Muttsurini, what is the situation report of Class B”?

“……Three quarters of their class have already replenished their points, and a small portion have prepared for declaration of war.”

“I see……They’re faster than expected. I think they’re serious this time.”

“……They were replenishing their points even during their breaks.”

They even used their noon breaks and other breaks to do the tests. This means that they’re going to finish replenishing their points. It’s just a matter of time before Class B declares a Summoning War against us.

“We need to buy ourselves more time before setting the trap for Class D. Muttsurini, please deliver the false reports with Sugawa.”

“……What will it be about?”

“Just say that Class D is getting ready for a Summoner Test War and they’re targeting Class B.”

“……Understood.”

After seeing Muttsurini nod, I still couldn’t understand Yuuji’s real intentions. How would we benefit from this if we deliver false reports of Class D’s imminent declaration of war against Class B?

“Yuuji, why are you doing this?”

“It’s just to buy us some time. If Class B realizes that they're getting attacked by Class D, they'll try avoiding other upcoming battles. They’ll think twice before declaring war on us.”

I see. If Class B declares war against us, it means they’ll be hard-pressed to participate in the next battle, so they’ll have to keep a tight watch on Class D’s movements. The preparations they made to fight against us might be wasted on their war against Class D.

“My actual plan was to let Class C attack them.”

“But Class C lost their last Summoner Test War against Class A.”

Unfortunately, Class C shared the same conditions with us, so they couldn’t declare Summoner Test Wars. Thus, it can’t be helped.

“Oh, Muttsurini, you can just spread a little part of the false reports. Leave the rest to Sugawa since I have another important mission for you.”

“……Understood.”

Muttsurini finished speaking and walked towards Sugawa. Sugawa has experience with delivering false reports, so both of them can probably accomplish their mission perfectly.

“Good, next is Hideyoshi.”

“Oh, what do you want me to do?”

“I’d like you to lure out Class D's Shimizu for negotiations. Can you do this?”

“I don’t mind…..but what are the negotiations for?”

“Just do as you see fit. Our only aim is to provoke Shimizu and increase their enmity towards our class. If she falls for it, we’ll be successful and the other way around if she don’t, it’s this simple.”

Shimizu-san is the core figure of Class D. Although Yuuji didn’t say much, this negotiation is crucial to Class F’s future plans.

“Oh, and to lure out Shimizu……I have to bring Shimada with me, right?”

“Right, it’s easier to provoke them this way. And mind you, things may go awry if they're to meet face-to-face, but you can leave that to me.”

I glanced at Minami again, and she’s still looking out the window with the same pose. I couldn’t see her expression from here, but I could feel the anger seeping out from her.

In this situation, I don’t think I can provoke them with Minami. But, Yuuji probably has another idea to get this done.

“Oh, in that case, I’ll just have to try my best. I don’t think it’s realistic to assume that things will be back to normal, but it won’t be impossible to ask her to come with me to provoke Shimizu.”

I feel rather sorry that I'm unable to do things right because of my impulsiveness……

“You can leave this to me. So, the negotiation will be held in an empty classroom after school, is that alright?”

“Do it then. Before that, we’ll have to delay Class B from declaring war.”

“I understand.”

Hideyoshi stood up and left the classroom. Of course, he’s probably thinking of convincing Minami to hurry up and negotiate with D class.

And so, only Yuuji, Minami and I were still in the class.

I was trying to come up with a plan, but Yuuji interrupted me with an irrelevant question.

“By the way, Akihisa……”

“Yeah?”

“What did you have for breakfast?”

What did I eat? Time is running out, so how can Yuuji still have the time to chat about breakfast?

“Yuuji, do we even have time to chat?”

“Never mind about that, just answer my question, it’s very important!”

My breakfast is important? What is he trying to say? I really can’t understand that guy.

I don’t think there’s anything to hide about this, so I answered him truthfully.

“Just water as usual.”

After hearing my answer, Yuuji suddenly gave an exaggerated expression like one of those foreigners on those night shopping channels.

“Just water? How can that do, Akihisa?! You're the key to this battle; you need to replenish your energy with real food. Right, Himeji?”

“Oh? That’s right. I was worried that Akihisa-kun never had an actual meal.”

What’s happening? This bastard Yuuji is suddenly concerned about my eating habits; that’s a little suspicious. I think there is an evil intention hiding behind that kindness, so I’m not being paranoid, am I?

“Perfect timing Himeji.”

“Huh?”

My sixth sense is telling me-- THIS GUY IS TRYING TO MURDER ME.

“Is there any food that you can give – ”

“As I was saying, I had toast and fried eggs for breakfast! Ahhh~ It really feels different when you have breakfast, I feel really energized.”

I chose to lie to avoid an imminent disaster. Himeji-san’s food cannot be eaten no matter what!

But unexpectedly, Yuuji’s ignoring my anxiousness as he even smiled at me and said,

“No, no, no, I understand your manly attitude of not wanting to let Himeji worry, but you shouldn't ignore her intentions, just tell her the truth.”

I don’t want to die. (This is the truth.)

But, I can’t bear to say such a painful truth; I remain silent with my mouth wide open. As I was thinking what to say next, Himeji-san talks before I can do so.

“I’m sorry. Lunch break is over, so I don’t have any food left for Yoshii-kun.”

Himeji-san apologized a lot to me. To me, her reply made me really happy. This is great…..Damn great!

Although I didn’t know what Yuuji was planning, I managed to foil his plans. Thinking of this, I’d like to see the frustration on that bastard’s face, as I was turning my head to look at him –

(Akihisa, you are too naive.)

Unexpectedly, he hinted at me with his eyes. What? What is this?

“Really? I guess you ran out of food then. I hope it isn’t too much trouble……but can you make some simple food for Akihisa?”

What’s next was Yuuji basically opening the door to Hell with his bare hands.

“……”

“Hey, Akihisa. Why am I the only one hearing you whispering ‘cook for me, cook for me’? You're a rather weird guy.”

You infidel!

What now? Is this my punishment? A death sentence? You are trying to take revenge on me with this evil trick just because of my failure just now?

“It’s ok, but about the ingredients……”

“Don’t worry, I borrowed (illegally) the culinary classroom’s key, the ingredients there are complete.”

Yuuji took out a key from his pocket while speaking.

This is an organized sin! Does he really hate me that much!?

“I understand. Akihisa-kun, what do you want to eat?”

Oblivious to my current emotions, she asked me with a smiling face.

What do I want to eat? Yes, if I make the right choice, the probability of me dying from food poisoning will be lower. I’ll just limit the ingredients. What dishes are there that can’t be poisoned……Then, I’ll choose omelette (Ingredients : Just eggs)!

“Erm, I’d like to eat……”

“You can have jelly then.”

Jelly (Ingredients : Not specific).

“……”

“What happened, Akihisa? You don’t have to look at me with such teary eyes like a Chihuahua that has been abandoned.”

“DON'T ABANDON ME! PLEASE, DON'T ABANDON ME, YUUJI!”

My one and only, precious life!

“Jelly? Ok then, I’ll put effort into making it!”

“Sorry for the trouble, it’ll be better if you can pack the jelly like a nutrition packet drink, I think the sports team should have some drink packets left inside the culinary classroom.”

The sports team frequently uses the culinary classroom to make nutrition drinks. I think that's what Yuuji meant. But I never wanted things to be this way.

“I’ll go prepare it now.”

“Ok, thanks again.”

“Sure.”

After taking the key from Yuuji, Himeji-san left the classroom.

“……Yuuji, what are you trying to do?”

I watched Himeji-san disappear from my sight, then glared at Yuuji who was standing still.

“I have no evil intention at all; a part of my plan needs Himeji’s food to be involved.”

“Huh? Needs her food?”

“That’s right.”

“What, if that was it, you should have told me sooner.”

I still don’t know what's happening, but since Yuuji’s intention wasn’t to punish me, this is great!

“Hey, that might be, but I can’t guarantee that Himeji won’t force you to eat it.”

Correction, it’s simply bad news.

“I, I CAN’T LET HER DO THIS TO ME!”

I hurriedly stood up and tried to chase her down.

“Akihisa, where are you going?”

“To chase her down, of course! I must see for myself what she's making at least!”

I have no idea what ingredients she's going to use. I thought I should have an ambulance ready.

“If so, I’ll go with you, I’m also curious to find out how Himeji cooks.”

Yuuji had been endangered by her food more than once before. He must be curious about how she prepares those murderous foods.

“Hahaha! Yuuji, you don’t have to be so courteous. You don’t actually just want to see it, you want to eat it too, right? It’s not too late; I’ll ask her to make your share.”

“Oh God, I don’t want to die yet.”

I don’t want to die either.

“Hahaha, thanks but no thanks……I’m serious.”

“Hahaha, there’s no need……I’m also serious.”

While chatting happily with Yuuji, we hasten our footsteps to catch up with Himeji-san.

We finally reached the culinary classroom after awhile. Himeji-san is probably preparing the ingredients inside.

“I’ll open the door then.”

“Open it.”

We pushed open the door stealthily to avoid being noticed by Himeji-san, trying to find out what was happening inside.

Himeji-san could be heard walking around the culinary classroom. I focused my eyes to confirm what was happening at the cooking station.

Her preparations at the beginning seemed rather normal to me.

Himeji-san took two bowls from the cupboard, and then added a few ingredients. One of them was gelatin, and the other should be sugar.

(What the hell, everything seems rather normal.)

(True. If she’s making jelly with these ingredients, there shouldn’t be any problem.)

(If so, I’ll be troubled.)

As I was thinking what there is to be troubled about, I heard Himeji-san muttering something to herself.

“I think……I’ll mix the cocoa powder with corn bisque powder first……”

And then something unbelievable happened.

(Hey, Yuuji! What is Himeji-san trying to do? What she is making now is far from jelly!)

(Akihisa, just shut up, or you’ll be caught by her.)

My idea of food is starting to collapse. So horrifying, this is too horrifying.

“Should I add in mandarin or leek? I wonder which one Akihisa-kun prefers.”

(STOP CONFUSING YOURSELF! DON’T BE CONFUSED BY THESE TWO CHOICES, HIMEJI-SAN!)

(I’m guessing that she’s making something very nutritional for you who can’t even afford bentos……She has completely ignored how bad it would taste.)

(HOW CAN THIS BE!? SHE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE CONCERNED, JUST NORMAL FOOD IS ENOUGH!)

She’s always thinking of making something like a feast, but that’s what makes us miserable.

“Then, the seasoning will be taba –”

(Akihisa, you can stop listening. You won’t dare to eat it.)

(Wait! At least let me know whether she added in “tobacco” or “Tabasco”[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4_Translation_Notes_and_References]!)

Please! If you really want to add something, just add the spicy Tabasco to kill me with spiciness!

(There’s no time left, you don’t have to be stubborn at this point.)

(THIS CONCERNS MY LIFE AND DEATH HERE!!)

My resistance was in vain as Yuuji pulled me away by my collar.

This bastard! I’ll have him eat this murderous meal somehow!

“Now, we’ll go to the third floor of the school’s new building, we need to act like we're carefree and messing around there.”

“Huh? I thought you said that there wasn’t any time left? Now you want me to act carefree?”

Yuuji then said something that confused me even more. Maybe this is about starting the war.

“This is to convince Class B and D that we are oblivious to what is happening. If our act isn’t seen through, we’ll be able to buy some time from Class B and let Class D declare war on us.”

Classes A to D are all located at the third floor of the new school building. We’re acting carefree to let them think that Class F isn’t replenishing their points. Class B will think that we don’t know anything, and will thus continue to replenish their points; and Class D will think that this is a free win. As a result, both classes will fall for our trap, and we’ll be at advantage. I see, Yuuji’s planned everything carefully.

“Once Muttsurini spreads the false reports of Class D’s enmity with Class B, Class B will decide to declare war on Class D. Providing that, Class B will think that we are oblivious, and will continue replenishing their points before declaring war on us. D class will probably think that this is an easy battle for them once they know that we’re not replenishing our points. In that case, both classes will fall into our trap, and the situation will greatly benefit us.

Even though this was what Yuuji said, I still thought that this chaotic situation was hard to grasp. I tried to sort out his explanation in my head.

First is Class B. Their intention is to declare war on Class F, but since they lost to us once, they’re most likely more wary about us and are replenishing their points now. They won’t do anything before the Shoukanjuu Summoning System is repaired or until they've finish replenishing their points. Class B still hasn’t declared war on us because they want to let us think that they don’t have any intention to fight us. While we’re in the dark, we won’t be hard pressed to replenish our points, and it can also mean an easy win for them. On the other hand, if they were to find out that we knew of their planning all along, they’ll declare war on us that instant.

Then Class D. Their class is divided into two teams against us, one offense, one defense. The leader of the offensive team is Shimizu Miharu-san, and the leader of the defensive team is none other than their class representative, Hiraga Genji-kun. Under Shimizu-san’s pressure, the offensive team is to get ready, but things are different now. Shimizu-san is jealous of my relationship with Minami, but she is calm at the moment. In this case, they won’t declare Summoner Test War on us. They’ll just sit it out.

And now, our Class F. In terms of our current condition, we are defenseless against Class B. To prevent this from happening, we’ll have to let Class D declare war on us before they do. If that happens, we’ll have plenty of time to replenish our points after finishing the war with Class D – This is our side’s idea. We'll wait until we finish replenishing our points, and Class B will think twice before declaring war on us. They should’ve learnt their lesson after the last war.

Finally, I’ll analyze the current condition. We are trying to provoke Class D’s Shimizu-san, but we failed, it’s harder to provoke them into declaring war on us now. On the other hand, Class B is replenishing their points smoothly now, they’ll declare war on us soon. To prevent them from doing so, Muttsurini is spreading the news “Class D wants to attack Class B” in the dark, but we still don’t know how effective it's going to be. Although we can’t wait for Class D to declare war on us, at this point, we still have no idea about how things will turn out.

[[Image:BTS vol 04 149.png|thumb]]

I guess this is how the situation's like. It may seem complicated, but in a nutshell, our current priority is only to buy some time, or we’ll be in huge trouble.

“About your last question, this will also make Class D declare war on us……But you still can’t understand, no matter how I explain it.”

What Yuuji is implying should be about our carefree attitude at the third floor – It may be so, but will Class D declare war on us just because of this? Frankly speaking, I still don’t understand. Unlike Yuuji, my head isn’t full of evil ideas, since I’ve wasted lots of energy trying to understand the current situation.

“You’re right. Tell me later. As I was saying, what you meant by hanging out, is it just walking around for no reasons?”

Although it is just to put our enemies off guard, I still don’t know how to do it right. It might be self-studying time, classes are still going on, it will be unnatural if we’re just hanging around.

“It’ll be boring if we just hang around, so why don’t we play a game?”

“Hmm, ok.”

Playing games is better than walking around with nothing to do.

“Then, we’ll just play a game of English words. I’ll ask about an English word, you’ll give me the definition. Of five questions, it will be considered a loss if you can’t answer one."

Ah, a game of English words……A game that is impossible for me to win.

But, there shouldn’t be a problem. After all, nothing is at stake here. We’re just killing time.

“Ok, give me your best shot.”

“Good, the penalty is that ‘the loser will heed the winner’s instruction without any question’.”

“Eh?”

I thought he'd just added a weird condition.

“Wait, just wait a sec, Yuuji!”

I tried to stop him nervously, but Yuuji didn’t listen as he started the game anyway.

“‘astronaut’“

Astronaut…Ah, what? Great, I think I’ve heard it before. This shouldn’t be a problem, I’ll just calm myself down before answering.

I’m thinking, astronaut, astrout……asront……

(asphalt):The black material used to pave a road, main composition is carbohydrate.

Should be something like this.

“Akihisa, do you know the answer?”

There’s a smile on Yuuji’s face as he probably thinks that I don’t know. Hmmph. You are too naive, I’m not an idiot all the time.

“Of course I do.”

In order to contend with him, I let out a smile. It’s my win this time.

“Oh? Why don’t you say it then?”

I didn’t say the answer directly in order to rattle Yuuji.

“It is mostly used on road, right?”

“I won.”

Yuuji declared himself as the winner instantly as if I were an idiot – I, I still haven’t given the answer.

“How can you make such conclusions when you haven’t heard my answer?! The winner will only be decided when the game ends!”

“Hehe, not giving up eh? Think about it, how can the term ‘astronaut’ be used for roads?”

“……”

(astronaut) : Asphalt? Nope, it’s astronaut.

“……I made this mistake because I was careless……”

“Wait! I think this word is too simple to be mistaken carelessly!”

Such a shame; just one more step. I could only blame myself for letting my guard down too soon.

“I guess a loss is a loss……I’ll just admit defeat then, Yuuji.”

If results can only be classified in circles and crosses, my answer will get a cross this time. Even so, I am a man; I should be brave enough to admit my mistake.

“If you won’t admit your mistake no matter what, then you aren’t fit to be human……”

Yuuji looked at me with frustration. What, what'?

Yuuji’s turn has ended, and now it’s mine. –

“Now it’s Kirishima-san’s turn to ask the question.”

“……I’ll do my best.”

Kirishima-san, who was standing behind Yuuji, nodded. She looks mature on the outside, so she looks cute when she does something slightly childish like this.

[[Image:BTS vol 04 159.jpg|thumb]]

“Ack! Sho, Shouko?! When did you……”

Yuuji panicked and turned his head hastily. Huh? He really didn’t notice her?

“I thought……she was there all along when we started this game.”

“……I came over instantly when Yuuji said ‘the loser will heed the winner’s instruction without any questions’.”

I see. Kirishima-san immediately came over once she heard that line. I guess she’s not only smart and beautiful, but also has good hearing.

“Ok, then it’s Kirishima-san’s turn to ask and Yuuji’s turn to answer.”

“……I understand.”

“Wait, wait a moment! Why wasn’t I told that she's also joining us?”

“I don’t think it’s good to say this when we’ve come this far. Or maybe you’re a guy who uses those kind of excuses to escape, Yuuji.”

That’s what Yuuji had said. If I were to repeat his lines, I didn’t think he can do anything.

“Oh…..I. I’m fine with that! I’ll answer it correctly no matter what the question is!”

Luckily, Yuuji’s easily manipulated in this situation; I don’t have to waste so much effort.

“That’s more like it. Kirishima-san, you can start now.”

“……Ok, let me think –“

Shouko was holding her jaw, as if thinking what she should ask.

“……’betrothed’.”

Ta! (Yuuji turned around and tried to run.)

Ka! (I grabbed his shoulder.)

“Yuuji, where do you think you’re going?”

Yuuji tried to escape the scene once Kirishima-san asked the question. Trying to run away because you can’t answer? Too naive, just too naive.

Even so, it’s not that I couldn’t understand Yuuji’s feelings. I did find it a little boring that he got the death penalty at the first question.

“Kirishima-san, I think it’s too cruel to just kill him, why don’t you change your question?”

“……Okay then.”

Nodding silently, Kirishima-san accepted my advice. I guess she’s still got a good heart.

“’prize’……it’s ‘prize’ right[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4_Translation_Notes_and_References#The_Fourth_Question]?"

This time Yuuji answered rather fluently. Shouko said “Correct” naively then proceeded to the next question.

“……’as’”

“’as’”

“……’engagement ring’.”

“’engagement ring’.”

“……’get’.”

“’get’.”

“……’betrothed’.”

Ta! (Yuuji turned around and tried to run again.)

Ka! (I grabbed his shoulder again.)

“As I was saying, where do you think you’re going, Yuuji?”

“Akihisa, let me go! Please I beg you, let me go quickly!”

Oh, trying to run away just because you can’t answer, that’s just too sly.

“You bastard! After hearing those English words, you should know how scared I am by now.”

Let me think, if those English words form a sentence – “get” “engagement ring” “as” “prize” which I guess means, if Kirishima-san win this game, she hope Yuuji will buy her an engagement ring?

“Hahaha, Kirishima-san was just fooling around. We are still underaged, so how can we afford an engagement ring……”

“……Ah.”

A jewelry shop catalogue fell from Kirishima-san’s hand accidentally.

“……Just joking.”

After muttering these words, Kirishima-san then picked up the catalogue from the floor embarrassedly.

“……”

“Hahaha, Yuuji. I feel worried because you keep whispering ‘I’m dying, really dying’ into my ear.”

I will never forget those blank eyes.

“Alright, Yuuji, hurry up and answer.”

“’betrothed’ ah……’betray’ is ‘betray’, so does ‘betrothed’ means ‘betrayed’?”

“Kirishima-san, what is the correct answer?”

“……It’s Yuuji.”

“Does it mean a death row convict?”

“……It means ‘fiance’.”

I see, so “betrothed” meant a fiancé.

“I guess Yuuji lost for saying the wrong answer. As promised, you’ll have to follow whatever Kirishima-san says.”

Yuuji’s expression is becoming gloomier. It’s really rare to see such a blissful moment.

“Shouko, you just said that……it’s a joke, right?”

“……Yeah, the engagement ring was a joke.”

To even prepare the catalogue just for a joke, Kirishima-san is so mischievous.

“Just say it, what do you want me to do?”

“…….I want –“

Kirishima-san lowered her blushing head and spoke softly,

“……I’m too shy, I can’t say this in front of others……”

“What? What do you really want me to do?”

A request too shameful to be said in front of others? Although it seems unlikely, I still feel that this is related to what Muttsurini likes best.

“……You actually wanted me to say it in front of everyone, Yuuji? You’re so perverted.”

“GO TO HELL, YUUJIIIII!!!!”

“Why are you attacking me? I didn’t even say anything!”

“Shut up! Explain everything, including the “kissing Kirishima-san who was asleep” you mentioned this morning!”

“Wait! I don’t remember saying that this morning. Actually it’s……”

“……Not just a kiss.”

That line released the first seal in my body.

“I’ll let you have a taste……of the rampage I can unleash by combining my envy and hatred!”

“Uh oh! I can’t see Akihisa’s movements!”

“……After kissing, we even slept together.”

Second seal released.

“Ugh! How, how can it be….I’m actually losing to Akihisa in terms of strength……”

“……It was so comfortable.”

Last seal released.

“And there’s a clone of you – No, is it an afterimage!? You are not human anymore!!”

“My heart that is ‘so envious that I want to kill you’ can do the impossible!”

“Consider yourself lucky! Since things have become like this, I guess I have to get serious too!”

The 3rd floor of the new school building was filled with a burnt smell caused by the friction of shoes soles at this point.

<center>☆</center>

“Haa, haa, haa……Nearly lost my life there……”

“Did, didn’t think that Ironman……would, would actually appear at that kind of place……”

We’re back in Class F. Yuuji and I were having a life and death battle at the 3rd floor of the new school building. We never expected Ironman to appear suddenly, and we barely escaped from him before returning to our class.

“But, our, our objective……can be considered……accomplished……”

“That’s, that’s right……the, the other students should’ve seen it……right……”

Before the long chase with the muscular, evil looking Ironman, students from Class A to D came out to the corridor to see what all the ruckus was about. Just like this, Yuuji’s goal is accomplished.

“Hoo……I think we wasted a lot of time, but we are still right on schedule. Is Muttsurini back?

“I’ll take a look……”

I looked around the classroom, and Muttsurini happened to return as his profile came in sight.

“Oh, so you’re back. How’s the mission of the false reports?”

“……Everything is going according to plan.”

Not showing off deliberately, Muttsurini gave us a straight answer.

How should I say though? He looks rather professional now.

“…….Just say what is needed to be done next.”

“Good. Let’s wait for Himeji to return, and then we’ll take the next step.”

Himeji-san was nowhere in the class, so she must still be busy making that jelly. If I could help it, I really hope that Himeji-san will be merciful.

“As I was saying, Yuuji, you actually thought through so much just to make her cook. What do you actually want to do?”

You still want Himeji-san to cook in such a critical situation. I don’t think it's just to get back at me, is it? I think Yuuji probably got some trick up his sleeves.

“Himeji’s food will be our assassination weapon.”

If the person herself personally heard such an explanation, she’d be really hurt.

“Assassination weapon? On who?”

“That B class guy, of course.”

“But, will Nemoto-kun eat what we give him? He will be suspicious of our movements.”

Due to Nemoto-kun’s personality, it wouldn’t work, even if it’s someone else other than us. I couldn’t think of any way to make him eat it easily.

“No, our target isn’t Nemoto. Even if we assassinate him, we can’t stop Class B’s operation.”

I thought about the intel that Muttsurini brought. Nemoto-kun already gave the order for war by that time, so even if he’s down now, it wouldn’t stop anything.

“Our actual target is the messenger sent by Class B to Class D. I think Class B is trying to form an alliance with Class D.”

“Alliance?”

“Once the false reports Muttsurini spreads reaches their ears, Class B will commence their counter. At that time they’ll really find Class D to start an alliance. If just sending a messenger can prevent a war from happening, I think they’d do it.”

I see. Class B will try to negotiate secretly with Class D just to evade an upcoming war.

“Eh? Wouldn’t it be worse this way? If the Class B messenger were to start an alliance with Class D, wouldn’t our false reports of ‘Class D impending attack on Class B’ be found out?”

If they were to find out about the false reports that we spread, our plan to buy time will fail. The guys from class B have nearly finished replenishing their points. Won’t we be waiting for our deaths?

“That’s why I need Class B’s messenger assassinated. If that messenger is down for the count, Class B will acknowledge the hostility of Class D towards them. If so, they can’t form an alliance, and it’ll also increase the suspicion towards each other.”

How can this guy think of such treacherous ideas? From this day on, I’ll be careful not to become his enemy.

“But, if you are to assassinate him, why not with a taser? I don’t think you have to trouble Himeji-san to cook just to poison him.”

“If we use a taser, his cries will be heard, and we’ll be caught.”

“Just cover his mouth then.”

“Are you a moron? If we do it that way, we’d be electrocuted too.”

“But……”

Even without using Himeji-san’s food, there should be other methods to assassinate that messenger.

“Don’t think too much. I chose Himeji’s food just to fulfill my personal interest.”

Just when Yuuji’s saying this line that totally inhumane and lacks empathy for my life—

“Eh? Sakamoto-kun, you really like my food?”

Himeji-san accidentally overhears his words.

“Hi,hihi……Himeji……”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>screech**screech**screech*, Yuuji turned his head slowly and clumsily like a robot to look at Himeji-san.

“That’s good, to hear you say that, I feel really happy. But if Kirishima-san were to know about it, I think she’d be angry.”

Himeji then smiled happily.

“Ha,haha,ha……”

I silently put my hand on Yuuji’s shoulder to console him.

“Welcome to my world (thumbs up).”

“You damn bastard, what's with that hearty smile of yours that pisses me off?!”

Just like this, I have someone to accompany me. For this trip to hell, the more the merrier.

“I've also prepared Sakamoto-kun’s share. We’ll eat together if you guys don’t mind.”

Himeji gave us the jelly drink in packets while smiling.

“So, so uh……thanks for the trouble, I’ll keep it until I’m hungry.”

“Me, me too, thank you, Himeji-san.”

“No problem, it’s no big deal.”

Himeji-san is just so innocent, which is why I can’t bear to say ‘hope you’ll cook something that tastes good’. I wouldn’t mind if it doesn’t taste really good, I just hope that she won’t make any more of those horrifying foods that make us stand on the line between life and death.

“If so, Akihisa, Muttsurini, let’s go.”

“Understood.”

“……Sure.”

We carried our weapons in our hands and headed to the new school building where Class A to D are.

<center>☆</center>

(Wow, he really comes.)

(Seems that way. Guess I was right.)

In order to stay unnoticed, we hid near the stairs to observe Class B. Soon after, we finally saw a guy came out from Class B.

(There’s only one enemy. Did you predict that too?)

(Ya, Class B is still busy replenishing their points, they don’t have many messengers to send out. Considering the situation they are in, I guessed that they’d just send one guy to start the alliance.)

That’s why we need to assassinate him.

That’s right. If the enemy is a crowd, they’ll be hard to assassinate.

(Will the assassination be smooth?)

(If we dispatch Muttsurini, this assassination will be absolutely successful. Just watch with your eyes.)

I stared harder as I saw that Class B guy walked towards Class D.

There weren’t many people, but there were still at least three or more students passing by him each moment. How do we complete this assassination stealthily without alerting the crowd?

The messenger only needs to walk a short distance from Class B to Class D. In less than 30 seconds, he’d be knocking on Class D’s main door, and I was starting to get nervous because of this……Muttsurini, aren’t you intending to make your move?

The messenger is only 5 meters away from Class D.

(Yuuji, are you sure there aren’t any problems?)

As I asked Yuuji, the messenger didn’t slow down.

There’s still 3 meters.

(Don’t worry, just believe in Muttsurini.)

Two more meters, and Muttsurini still hasn’t done anything.

(But, the distance is……)

But, just before the messenger was 1 meter away from the main door of Class D, something passed by my sight out of a sudden.

Ke!

(Huh?)

A ‘ke!’ sound came from the wall not far away from the messenger. What’s going on?
I stared harder, and saw a utility knife was stuck into the wall……No; it’s not just a utility knife. There’s a photo stuck on the wall with the knife. Is this just a different version of an arrow with a message?

“What is that?”

“Something seems to be stuck on it.”

“Isn’t it a photo?”

Everyone was focused on the photo and utility knife, and those students walking around the corridors gathered under the utility knife – Eventually, even the Class B messenger walked towards the crowd.

“……(Sha! Sha!)”

Muttsurini silently approaches the messenger. Right now, the surrounding stares are all gathered at the utility knife and the photo. No one’s noticing what’s going on behind.

“……(Ke!)”

“—Ugh! Ack!”

The messenger who was unaware of his impending death craned his neck to take a peek at the photo, and the next second, he was choked from behind by Muttsurini with both hands as his mouth was covered. His eyes immediately bulged, clearly stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Then, Muttsurini’s hand is holding the weapon – There’s no mistake, that is Himeji-san’s jelly.

“……*squeezes*”

“—Ugh!—Ack! Ugh!”

Through the gaps between his fingers, Muttsurini squeezed out the jelly through the mouthpiece. The messenger was struggling, trying to stop Muttsurini.

Just as everyone was looking at the photo stuck on the wall, they were oblivious of a fight between life and death that just took place behind them.

Yuuji and I watched this scene while holding our breath as the fight between Muttsurini and the messenger was coming to an end.

Glug, glug……

The lethal poison slowly entered the messenger’s throat, accompanied by cool sound effects.

“Ha……Ha…You……You are……Muttsurini…….”

“……(squeezes harder)”

Facing the vengeful glare of a dying person, Muttsurini emptied the contents of the packet into his mouth mercilessly.

The messenger’s hand suddenly jerked – and he wasn't even able to move in the next moment.

Showing no mercy when facing an enemy, an assassin is a synonym of ruthlessness.

[[Image:BTS vol 04 169.jpg|thumb]]

(……Assassination complete.)

Muttsurini walked towards us while holding the guy's limp body.

(Awesome, your nimble wrist amazes me, Muttsurini.)

(……There’s no need to mention such a small thing.)

Muttsurini remained unmoved as Yuuji praised him, and then threw the body into Class B with his nimble arms into a corner B class can see, but Class D cannot.

(……With this, Class B will immediately find this corpse.)

(Very good. There is nothing left to be done, let’s go back to class.)

(Right, I’m thinking about what to do next.)

We pretended to know nothing of what just happened as we turned around and headed for our Class F.

“The girl in the photo who was wearing a sailor uniform looks rather cute.”

“Agree. But, don’t you think that she resembles a certain idiot from Class F?”

“So what? I think it isn’t too bad, being cute is enough.”

What’s going on? I’m rather bothered by the conversation behind me!

[[Image:BTS_DelinquentYuuji.jpg|thumb]]

<noinclude>
{{BakaTest Nav|prev=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume4 The Third Question|next=Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume4 The Fifth Question}}
</noinclude>

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume4 The Second Question

2012-11-24T14:19:14Z

Brass: calligraphy pen -> calligraphy brush. though it's called a "pen" in japanese, i think "brush" makes more sense in english since japanese calligraphy pens are more akin to brushes than western calligraphy pens.

==The Second Question==


'''Please answer the question below:'''

"Please write the full name of the person who discovered the American continent in AD1492."

 
'''Himeji Mizuki's answer:'''

"Kurisutofaa Koronbusu (Christopher Columbus)."

'''Teacher's comment:'''

"Correct. He is a famous noble person in the story of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus Egg of Columbus]. Even though Columbus is a famous name, surprisingly, his first name is not known to many. This was supposed to be a trick question, but it seems like this does not concern Himeji-san at all. Well done."

 

'''Shimizu Miharu's answer:'''

"Koron Busu (Colum Bus)."

'''Teacher's comment:'''

"Don't understand the meaning of 'full name'? 'Columbus' alone is his family name, and 'Colum Bus' does not make it a full name. Please remember that."

 
'''Shimada Minami's answer:'''

"Busu (Ugly Woman)"

'''Teacher's comment:'''

"What a thing to do to a historic noble person."

[[Image:BTS ButchMiharu.jpg|thumb]]

----


What is this. This strange atmosphere.

The classroom was filled with an unprecedented silence. It seemed so unreal for the usually noisy F class.

My classmates who had not uttered even a single line of idle talk. The writing sound of Sensei’s chalk on the blackboard reverberated.

“......hn?”

Abruptly, I felt someone’s eyes on me and turned around.

As I did that, there was a person who seemed to have caught my glance and she frantically lowered her face.

--- Minami.

What, what’s that. Could she have been looking in my direction all this while? Doesn’t that seem like...... the behavior of a person towards someone she likes......

As I considered that, a ‘don’, ‘don’, throbbing began escalating to a rapid rate.

Uw, uwah...... Somehow, even I'm feeling embarrassed......I can feel my cheeks burning. That kiss, could it be that Minami, towards me......? But, up till now, I’ve only been beaten severely by her; it didn’t seem like an element of love......

“Now, Sugawa-kun. What chemical is needed to yield 3 mole of ammonia?”


“Pour hydrochloric acid into Yoshii’s eyes.”

“Wrong. Well then, Asakura-kun.”

“Pour hydrochloric acid into Yoshii’s nose.”

“It’s meaningless if you pour it into the wrong place. Well then, Udou-kun.”

“Pour hydrochloric acid into both Yoshii’s eyes and nose.”

""That’s it!""

“That’s not it. And when you’re answering, don’t look in the direction of Yoshii-kun, but look in the direction of Sensei here.”

With that kind of atmosphere that was different from usual, the chime rang to signal the end of the first period.

“Eh.........., that’s all for today.”

Sensei let out a large sigh and left the classroom.

“That damn Yoshii had made eye contact with Shimada......!”

“That damn bastard had the eyes that were aiming for Shimada......!”

“Bastard......! Following Himeji and Kinoshita, if he were to have Shimada as well, then doesn’t that mean that the only hope of this class is no one else but Aki-chan......!”


As the killing gazes shot me in turns, I could see someone making her way to my seat.

''Swing'', ''swing'', like the tail of a horse, approaching me,

"Mi, Minami?"

"Aki. Good, good morning......"

Greeted Minami with her eyes downcast.

"Uhn, good morning."

For some reason, I couldn't look at her as well. There were many times I couldn't look at her straight in the eye when she was seething with anger, but this occasion was a first.

"Erm, you know, Aki. I have two requests, will you hear them......?"

"Request? What is it, I wonder?"

Without looking at each other, our conversation continued.

"Erm, regarding the first one, I would like to use the same [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabudai chabudai] as you......"

"Huh? Chabudai?"

"Yeah. Last week, because of various things that happened with Miharu, my chabudai has become a little difficult to use."

On hearing that, I took a look at Minami's chabudai, and it appeared pretty roughed up. The tabletop was full of scratches and one of the legs were broken. I didn't think anything could be more difficult to use than that.


"Aki. Is it ok?"

"Erm, yeah. I don't mind."

"I see. Thanks."

She broke into a smile like a flower bursting into bloom,

"Then, I'm sitting down now......"

Minami took a seat beside me.

Right. While I don't really mind......

"............"

"Wh-what's wrong Aki. Why are you keeping quiet?"

"No. Erm, nothing......"

Was that my imagination...... Isn't she a little too close......?

"And, you know, Aki. About my second request...... if you don't mind, shall we...... have lunch together today?"

The second request was an invitation to lunch. Up till now, everything seemed normal and routine, but, today, there was something different.

"Erm, y-yeah, sure. Then, let's go to the place where I drink water......"

Even though I was merely replying, I was abnormally nervous somehow.


"No. Not that, since I've made Aki's portion as well......"

Just as Minami was about to take out something from the bag she was holding,

"Onee-sama! What are you doing!? Why are you sticking so close to that pig-head!?"

A strained voice, which sounded close to a shriek, rang out in the classroom suddenly.

"Mi-Miharu!? Did you come to interfere with me!?"

"Of course! How can I keep quiet after seeing that pig-head stick so close to you!"

The girl who was glowering at me with bitter tears flowing was Shimizu Miharu-san from D-class. As the name implied, she is a girl, though for some strange reason, she likes girls more than guys and is carrying a torch for Minami.

"I-It can't be helped for us to stick close together right!? Since there's no substitute chabudai, and it's a little small, it won't do if we don't stay close together......"

It would be spacious if she had sat opposite me, but, in order to pay attention to the lessons, she would have to sit beside me. To say that it couldn't be helped to sit close together, was something that couldn't be helped.

"Onee-sama. If that's the case, you could have sat beside Himeji-san right! Why would you have to sit beside that pig-head!"

"Th-That's...... Because it's not good for me to become a bother to Mizuki's studies right? And by the same point, at any rate, even if I don't become a bother to Aki's studies, his results will still be bad......"


"Minami. I kind of felt that you were talking bad about me in a subtle way though."

But yet, it felt kind of soothing for some reason. How used was I to such verbal abuse, I wonder.

"Erm, Minami-chan. I don't think of you as a bother, so please come over here. Besides...... there are a few things I'd like to talk to you about......"

Himeji-san, who had heard the exchange, called out to Minami in a timid manner. It seemed like her earlier distraught mode was finally over.

"I'm really happy about that though...... But, Mizuki, since you're kind, you'll probably bear with it even if I prove to be a bother right?"

"N-No. Really, you won't be a bother."

"That's right Onee-sama! Change your seat, and let's eat your handmade [http://www.google.com.sg/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=wiki+bento bento] together! After I caught sight of you yesterday buying ingredients for a handmade bento, I didn't eat anything and came with a totally empty stomach!"

"But, I made this for Aki."

"The fried food seasoned with handmade [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tare_sauce Tare-sauce] that Onee-sama had taken the trouble to wake up at four in the morning to prepare, the hamburger made from extravagant minced meat, and the potato salad made from specially selected local potato produce; just by thinking about that makes me, makes me......!"


"Wait a second Miharu! How did you know all that!?"

"And a heart-shaped pattern on the rice!?"

"Miharu ---!?"

Minami yelled with a totally flushed face. She was probably greatly embarrassed.

"Erm, say, Miharu. Listen to me carefully. Although I've been patient with you till now, I'm requesting you to not go on any further. Because ---."

With a red face, Minami announced it clearly to Shimizu-san.

"--- because I'm going out with Aki."

"[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami Tatami] reversal!"

''Shukkakakaka.''

Numerous razors came flying towards me, who had erected a tatami shield in an instant. That was dangerous. If this classroom uses a wooden floor, I would have lost my life.

"""--- tch."""

Flicking tongues could be heard throughout the classroom. Making a count of the razors on the tatami, it seemed like there were more than two per head. Strange. Normally, bringing just one razor to school should be more than enough.

"O-Onee-sama......? You must be joking about that right......?"


Shimizu-san staggered, as if grief-stricken. Minami quietly turned her head to the side and replied.

"I'm not joking. It's true."

"Th-Then, Onee-sama. Was this morning's kiss that Miharu thought was a hallucination real......?"

Minami, appearing to have recalled something, stopped moving for an instant, and then,

"...... yeah."

She nodded slightly.

I see. That was indeed neither a dream nor a hallucination.

"So, Miharu. From now on."

"...... things such as men."

"As much as possible, continue to be friends with me."

"...... it's because of things like men, that Onee-sama......"

Shimizu-san was trembling.

"Miharu, are you listening?"

"It's because of things like men, that Onee-sama has been led astray!"

Immediately after that, she started pouncing forward. And the target of her aim was --- me!?

"I shall exterminate this pig-head! And I shall become the Yoshii Akihisa number two and tie the knot with Onee-sama!"


"Wa-wait a minute, Shimizu-san!? Aren't you getting confused!? I think it's a little difficult to eliminate me and take my place though!?"

Before that, am I going out with Minami!?

"After eliminating you with utmost care in order not to inflict a wound onto your body, I shall carve your skin out and wear them to become Yoshii Akihisa!"

"That's damn gross! And you're actually seriously considering that!"

"It'll be fine! The raccoon dogs from the old stories of Japan did that too!"

"Besides, the original story is surprisingly cute!"

The movements of the attacking Shimizu-san was abnormally fast. Even though I frantically tried to escape, it was a matter of time before I get caught.

There was only one person who could deal with these movements.

"Save me, Muttsuliini! Stop Shimizu-san!"

The ninja of the modern society, Tsuchiya Kouta, a.k.a Muttsuliini, would be able to keep up with such movements. I shall leave this to you, Muttsulini......!

"............ right now, I'm busy using eraser residue to make a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kneaded_eraser kneaded eraser]."


'''(Kneaded Eraser) > (Life of a Friend)'''

My life seems to be a rather cheap thing.

"Damn, I really hate the Muttsulini who's pretending to make a kneaded eraser while taking this chance to peek under the skirt of the bustling Shimizu-san."

"............!! (dang dang)"

While adopting a pose of denial, his eyes didn't flinch away. Isn't his nickname Mr Stylish?

"Men can just disappear from this world! What Onee-sama needs is me!"

"Wait Shimizu-san! Don't you also have a father? Don't say sad things like 'men can disappear from this world'!"

"That man should disappear before any others!"

The thought of a berserker fleeted across my mind.

What should I do now. I can't find a counter argument.

"Er, erm...... did something happen?"


"...... I don't want to remember."

Shimizu-san's body shook as if she just recalled something repulsive. What's that, I wonder. Was she forced into the bath with him, I wonder.

"Anyway, I must erase the pig-head! And I shall marry Onee-sama, and our daughter shall take a character from Onee-sama's 'Minami' and be named 'Mirai'[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4_Translation_Notes_and_References]!"

"Wait a minute Shimizu-san! What if you give birth to a boy!"

"If it's a boy, then 'Namihei'[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Baka_to_Tesuto_to_Syokanju:Volume4_Translation_Notes_and_References] is more than enough!"

"That's too much!"

"The two of you! Before that, realize that there's no way Miharu and I can have a child duh!"

But even so, the fact that she could still take a character from Minami's name was praiseworthy. As expected of a D-class member, there's no opening at all.

"Now, I'll give you five seconds. Say your prayers to God."

"Ku......!"

Shimizu-san approached slowly. Is this the end......?

''Slide.''

"Alright, class is starting. Today, Endou-sensei is out because of some other matter, so I'll ---? Well well...... Shimizu-san again...... Class is starting so get back to your own classroom."


The door opened at the right timing, and Ironman appeared. He looked at Shimizu-san and sighed.

''Again'', for Ironman to have said that, something must have happened during our suspension last week.

"To-today is different from last week. It's a matter of utmost importance! Nishimura-sensei, please overlook this for once!"

"A matter of utmost importance? What would that be? Don't tell me it's something like last week's ''I want to attend lessons with Onee-sama in the classroom where the obstructions are not around'' huh?"

What a simple-minded fella she is.

"Noo! The matter of utmost importance is about ''eliminating all the men in this classroom'' ---"

"From now onward, you're banned from this classroom."

''Bam''.

Ironman drove Shimizu-san out of the classroom and slammed the door shut.

''"O-Onee-sama! I still have something to say to you! At the very least, sit away from that pig-head and protect your chasti ---"

''Bang Bang Bang'', Shimizu-san knocked on the door loudly.

"Shimizu. Recently, your actions have been too much. ...... do you really want a life counseling session so much?"


Abruptly, the knocking sounds stopped.

Ironman's life counseling. Even me and Yuuji who have been a regular at that hellish session have yet to become used to it. Not to mention for a person who lacks the necessary resistance, there's no place that can be more scary than that.

"Onee-sama......! If you are using the chabudai as a reason for getting close to the pig-head, I won't be just keeping quiet about it...... !"

After peering through the window and glaring at me, Shimizu-san spouted something inappropriate and without further aggression, she put our classroom behind her.

"Now, everyone take your seats. Turn to page 86 of your textbook. Today's lessons ---."

Without any other eventful thing happening, the lesson started. It seemed like Endou-sensei had to go invigilate the exam of another class. Because of that, the fact that Ironman became our relief was the worst possible thing that could have happened.

" --- ''''I wish I were a bird.'''' This is a special use of past tense to express [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjunctive_mood subjunctive mood] ---"

That being said, it was a fact that I was saved thanks to Ironman's arrival. After what he said, I doubt that Shimizu-san will be coming to this classroom anytime soon.

" --- In other words, if we translate it directly to Japanese, it becomes 'I wish I were a bird' --- "

However, I can't imagine that she will just give up on Minami so easily. No, before that, she has misunderstood that Minami and I are going out ---


''Brush''.

"Hya!"

A breath was squeezed out of my lungs as I felt something brush across the back of my neck amid my thoughts.

(Ah, sorry Aki.)

Minami apologized softly as she held down her hair with her hand. So that was Minami's hair huh......

(Er, well, don't worry about it......)

My hand went to the back of my neck which was still feeling ticklish. So this is what it meant when the girls often talk about how undesirably ticklish the neck can get with hair which has been grown to a half-ass length. Indeed, this might be quite unbearable ---

''Brush''.

"Hya!"

It came again. As I turned to look, Minami was looking at me playfully with her hair in one hand.

(Aki, I say, your 'Hya!' sounds weird.)

That was on purpose huh. Ku......! Don't make fun of me!


If she did it on purpose, then there's no way I will take it down lying. I will teach her that she's not the only person sitting at a range where she could carry out her attacks.

Even though I said that, my hair is short so I couldn't do the same to Minami. While it'd be good if I have something that resembles a brush, I wonder what can I use?

I only pondered for a few seconds. Quite readily, I remembered the thing I had placed inside my pencil box previously. I didn't recall clearing it out before, so it should probably be still there......

I rummaged through my pencil box to search for the thing I wanted.

(...... Aki, what are you doing?)

(I'm of course preparing something to take revenge on you. With this, I'd be able to do the same to you ---)

''Brush''.

"Hya!"

This was the third time.

(N-not fair, Minami! It should be my turn to attack this time! Don't interfere!)

(It's only obvious that I'd interfere if you're preparing something like that right!? Isn't it full of ink!)

My hand got pressed down by Minami, and I ended up dropping the calligraphy brush in my hand. My means of attack......!


(Damn! If that's the case, I'd have to use your hair!)

(Wa-wait a minute!?)

I stretched my hand towards the head of Minami, who was holding onto me as well as her hair. The tight space between us meant that she wouldn't be able to resist.

Before long, Minami's tied-up hair was gathered in my hand. Alright. With this, I can strike back with full force, with full force ---

(............)

(...... A-Aki? What's wrong?)

As a result of the sudden stop in my movements, Minami peered at me doubtfully.

(No, erm......)

I said in a faltering tone involuntarily.

Something's strange. This isn't the hair that I know of. The hair I know of, that is my own hair, doesn't feel so nice to touch; it doesn't have such a nice smell; and needless to say, it doesn't make my heart race. In other words, this is something foreign to me I guess. From its appearance, it looks just like normal hair similar to those on top of my head, but, this hair-like thing is not hair. Which means, this is ---


(I see. It's a wig......)

(What the heck are you talking about!?)

In order to not cause an unexpected incident as a result of over-pulling it, I let go of my hand. Even Minami has her own problems huh......

(Heyyy! Don't let go of your hand and leave such an incredible misunderstanding alone! Touch it properly and ascertain it yourself!)

Minami reached to the back of her head and ''whish'', she pulled out something. Following that, her bundled up soft hair spread out in the air. As the flowing hair received the rays of the sun, like elegant silk, they were dazzling like silverware and jewelry.

(This is the well groomed hair that I'm proud of, you know! Don't mess with me by calling it a wig! Touch it and ascertain it yourself!)

Minami handed me a bunch of her hair that had been released from her hair rubberband.

But, I didn't touch it to ascertain it.

(Sorry, Minami. I misunderstood.)

(? That's suspicious. Do you really get it?)

Minami threw me a doubtful gaze. But I really got it. Because,

(Of course. Even if it's me, I won't make a mistake about this............ thing.)

[[Image:BTS_vol_04_049.jpg|thumb]]

(This, what?)

(Th-that is......, this, beautiful......)

(...... huh......?)

That's right. Even if it's me, I'm not so stupid as to mistake such a beautiful thing for an imitation thing. This is a genuinely made article ---

"""We can't take this anymore --- !!"""

At that moment, all of a sudden, an angry roar was heard in the classroom.

As I looked up frantically, I saw my classmates facing me with their razors raised. What in the world!?

"We've been watching you for a while, you dare flirt openly to show off!"

"We'll kill you. Seriously. Most definitely. We'll kill even your soul."

"...... to touch Onee-sama's hair...... even if you are torn to eight pieces, I can't forgive you......!"

"Reinforce the exit! Let's kill him here!


Everyone started going into throwing motion together. That! If my tatami reversal is breached ---

"All hands, after throwing your razors, with lightning speed, strike him with your chabudai! Make sure you guys don't hit Onee-sama in the process!"

"""Roger."""

Damn......! What precise instructions! Stopping my movements with the razor blades and then delivering the finishing blow with an overwhelming number of chabudai. Faced with attacks from every direction, there's nowhere I can run. Bastard, as expected of Shimizu. Just by being in D-class, she has good thinking---

A stinging, uncomfortable feeling.

"Onee-sama! Quickly retreat to here! It's dangerous to stay with that pig-head!"

"Shimizu-san, when did you get there!? And why is everyone listening to Shimizu-san and preparing your chabudai!? You should treasure your classmate!"

"Miharu, you still haven't given up on me? If you keep this on, it will just make things difficult for the both of us though......"


"Onee-sama, you are just deceived by that pig-head! The only person who truly cares about you is me---"

"You all! We're in the middle of a lesson you know!!"

At last, Ironman bellowed at us while we were engaged in our heated arguments.

The classroom fell silent all of a sudden. The bellow of Ironman was extraordinary.

"Shimizu. What happened to your lesson?"

"Th-this is not the time for that......! Onee-sama."

"Shimizu."

Ironman called out her name softly, and with just that alone, Shimizu-san kept quiet.

"This is the second warning. Behave yourself and get back to your own classroom. I'll say this again, but you are banned from coming to this class. Understand?"

"...... understood."

Reluctantly, Shimizu-san left the classroom. During then, as she was leaving, she once again glared at me as if I were an enemy of her parents.


"You guys, don't play around during lesson time. Do that during your breaks."

On hearing that, my classmates put away their razors and put back their chabudai.

With that, thanks to Ironman this time, things had come to a close --- it seemed.

<center>☆</center>

Break time. After having gone through the experience of razors and chabudai hurtling towards me, as I returned from the toilet, the usual three --- Yuuji, Hideyoshi, Muttsuliini, those three --- were sitting at Yuuji's place, facing one another and talking about something. What is it, I wonder.

"What's up with you guys. Making such serious faces."

"Mu, Akihisa huh. You came at the right time."

Hideyoshi made some space for me and I sat down, cross-legged.

"What's up? Is there trouble?"

"............ (nod)."

"Yeah. Thanks to you, trouble seems to be brewing."

Yuuji said with a sigh. I see. Trouble again. This class really can't take a breather with the various bothersome stuff......


"So, what's the trouble you're referring to?"

"............ D-class seems to be preparing for a Summoner Test War."

"Summoner Test War? D-class?"

The Summoner Test War where summoned beasts, whose strength are determined by the test scores, are used in fighting. The outcome of the war will decide the facilities of the classes, making it a matter of grave importance but,

"Even if D-class were to attack B-class, it won't really concern us right? At any rate, our class has yet to regain the right to wage a summoning war anyways."

We've already applied for a Summoner Test War in April and after our loss, as a penalty to F-class, we won't get the right to apply for another war for 3 months. Since we couldn't apply for a war, how the other classes were moving shouldn't be a matter of concern for us.

"Like what you said, if D-class were aiming for B-class, there wouldn't be a problem but......"

Hideyoshi trailed off.

"Eh? It's not that? In that case, are they aiming for A-class?"

By the way, C-class lost to A-class in a Summoner Test War previously, and now has the same type of facilities as D-class. Given that, D-class should not be aiming for C-class.

"Are you an idiot? If there were the case, we won't be feeling troubled right?"

"Then, don't tell me......"

"............ D-class is aiming for this very F-class."


"Eehhhh?"

How can that be! Impossible!

"But, isn't it that we have yet the right to have a Summoner Test War?"

"Yeah. Indeed, F-class does not have the right to apply for a Summoner Test War against another class. However, it doesn't mean that Summoner Test Wars do not concern us at all. Even if we can't initiate a war against another class, we can't afford not to fight back one that is initiated against us."

According to the rules of the Summoner Test War, the losing class is unable to apply for a Summoner Test War for 3 months. This is a rule to prevent the Summoner Test Wars from getting drawn out, but, nowhere was it written in the rule that a class which has lost cannot participate in a Summoner Test War, it seems.

"But, we are the F-class which should have the worst facilities, and there shouldn't be anyone who would come attack us right?"

There is plenty of merit for a lower ranked class in winning against a higher ranked class. Since that means they can swap their facilities. However, even if the higher ranked class win against the lower ranked class, the higher ranked class wouldn't be able to upgrade their facilities so there is no merit for them. Only the lower ranked class which has lost would get their facilities downgraded.

"That's why like I said earlier, it's thanks to you that we got ourselves into such a troublesome situation."

Thanks to me? What did I do?

"Akihisa I say. The opponent is D-class. Isn't there something that would ring a bell in your mind?"


Erm, the opponent is D-class. What comes to my mind would be ---

"...... don't tell me, it's Shimizu-san?"

"............ (nod)"

Muttsuliini gave a small nod.

"You've done it Akihisa. Thanks to you flirting around with Shimada, the heated up Shimizu got the fellas in D-class involved and is planning to take it out on us."

"N-no way! I've never planned for that to......"

"But still, even if you didn't intended that, Shimizu-san would think otherwise."

"Besides, didn't Shimizu say it as well? I'll do something about the chabudai, she said. It seems like in order to separate you and Shimada's seat, she plans to turn our desks back into orange carton boxes."

If we were to lose the Summoner Test War, our desks will turn back to orange carton boxes. If that were to happen, indeed, we won't be able to share the same seat. It seems like that's the true purpose of Shimizu-san.

"B-but, there's no way the whole of D-class would buy this right? I doubt that the class will get involved in a war with such a purpose behind it. Won't the representative of D-class object to this as well?"

The D-class representative is a male student called Hiraga-kun who we've battled out with previously. He owed it to us to be able to retain his class facilities, and he had cooperated with us at the strengthening training camp, acting together for the sake of a single objective. It was quite unthinkable that he would agree to a war for the mere sake of backstabbing us.


"That's where the problem is. Right now, we are the prime perpetrators for the mass peeping incident. A normal girl will not hold any feelings of affection for us. Rather, they might be thinking about meting out punishment with their own hands perhaps."

"You already know this, but the D-class representative is a guy. In his current situation of being treated as a peeping tom, he would have no say in the matter. I doubt he can suppress the girls who are riled up from their anger, and Shimizu, who's riled up from her jealousy."

"N-no way....."

The way things are going, we'll end up going back to using those terrible facilities, the orange carton boxes. No, they are already pretty terrible right now......

"Yuuji, if they attack, are you confident in us winning?"

"Tough. Thanks to the ruckus the fellas in our class caused since morning, we couldn't replenish our points, and our girls numbered merely two. Even if our circumstances were perfect, we wouldn't be able to cross swords without a strategy, but still, if we only have Himeji and Shimada who still have points remaining, unless something extraordinary happens, there is no chance of us winning."

All the male students had exhausted their points during the strengthening training camp and had been suspended after that. If we don't replenish them today, our fighting strength is equivalent to zero, I guess. The girls should have been able to replenish them while we suspended so there is no problem there.


"In short, in our current situation, our only fighting strength are the girls. Our F-class has two girls, while D-class has over twenty of them. Even with Himeji, the difference in fighting strength is clear."

For example, even if Himeji is equivalent to ten people, the difference is about one time more. That's a pretty rough situation.

"In other words, it'd be wise to avoid the Summoner Test War this time. Even if we win, we'll just get D-class's facilities which holds no merit, and it'd be senseless to go through the trouble of making a class which has a debt to us our enemy."

"Eh? Can we avoid it?"

"It depends on you and Shimada though."

After saying that, Yuuji turned his head left and right to look around him.

"Is something wrong, Yuuji?"

"Yeah. I'm checking to see whether Shimada is nearby."

"If you're looking for Minami, she left for someplace together with Himeji-san just now."

When break time started, while I wasn't sure who initiated it, but Himeji-san and Minami left the classroom together. They had a pretty serious look on their face, and probably had something important to talk to each other.


"A scene of carnage I guess."

"A scene of carnage yeah."

"............ a scene of carnage."

"Eh? Are those two fighting?"

Speaking of that, those two were behaving strangely today. I wonder what had happened between them during the week when we weren't around.

"That aside, Akihisa, there's something I need to verify."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Are you going out with Shimada?"

That sentence which came out from Yuuji pierced through me.

That's right. Due to the ruckus since morning, I didn't really think too deeply into it, but, I have to make it clear. According to Minami, we are going out it seems, but I don't remember saying anything of that sorts.

"According to my memory, I think we aren't going out though......"

If we are really going out, then I'm probably the worst for saying that.

"But, Shimada's behavior is clearly that of a person who's dating isn't it?"


"Yeah. That was probably due to a mail which I sent out by mistake ---"

He explained the incident that had taken place at the strengthening training camp to the three of them. He had sent out a mail which appeared to be a confession, but it was actually a misunderstanding.

"I see. Akihisa being Akihisa but...... Yuuji, you really picked a wonderful timing to do that......"

"Really Yuuji. You should gut yourself as an apology."

"Uwu...... Well, it was indeed my fault. Sorry Akihisa."

"............ but, it's not enough for just Akihisa to verify the root cause."

"Yeah. That's right."

Like what Muttsuliini said, the point is even if we knew it's totally Yuuji's responsibility, the mess can't be cleared up just like that. The original cause was not due to anyone else but me. Blaming it on Yuuji is like barking up the wrong tree. Besides, I did get back at him.

"However, if this was a misunderstanding then it makes things easy."

"Eh? About what?"

"About the Summoner Test War with D-class. If we resolve the misunderstanding with Shimada and return the both of you to the previous state of things, then Shimizu will probably stay quiet. If that were to happen, then even if D-class remained dissatisfied with us, without the igniting core behind this Summoner Test War, they will probably let things slide. This means that we can have everything resolved and go back to our daily routine."


After Yuuji, like his usual self, suggested the solution, the door suddenly burst open with someone dashing in.

"Er-erm, Akihisa-kun! I have something to ask you!"

Himeji came to where I was sitting as she was catching her breath.

"Eh? Wh-what is it?"

I was somewhat surprised at the usually gentle Himeji-san, who was having a rare menacing look on her face.

"Er-erm......! Did Akihisa-kun...... confess to Minami-chan......?"

Himeji's voice gradually tapered off as she spoke. However, I could clearly understand what she was trying to say.

"Eh, erm...... about that......"

It was a little difficult to say it out. It seems like I'm doing something bad to Minami.

"Himeji, regarding that, it's probably better to include Shimada. Do you know where she is?"

Yuuji cut into our conversation. Thanks for the help.

"Minami-chan was together with me on the rooftop a while ago though......"

"Alright. In that case, let's all go to the rooftop. This isn't such a good place to talk."

Rooftop huh. It'd be easier to talk there with less people.


"That's right. I'm sorry to make Himeji-san go back up there."

"Ah, no. I don't really mind."

"Well then, let's go."

"Right."

We stood up and headed to the rooftop. While we were moving, Yuuji called out to Muttsuliini.

"Muttsuliini. Will you be able to ascertain whether that fella's eavesdropping devices are present?"

"............ probably, there will be. They were set up in F-class as well."

That fella was probably referring to Shimizu-san.

"What happened to those in the F-class?"

"............ I've already removed them during the lessons."

As expected of Muttsuliini. As usual, he does his job fast.

"I see. That means, Shimizu-san is unaware of our earlier conversation right?"

"............ (nod)."

In that case, we needed another way to let her know that our relationship was a misunderstanding. If there are eavesdropping devices on the rooftop, then Shimizu-san can probably use them to ascertain that --- which also means that what we say will be recorded right. In that case,

"Say, Muttsuliini. If there are eavesdropping devices on the rooftop, can you make them unusable for just a short while?"


It's already bad enough to have caused her to misunderstand, if this were to be recorded, I would have done her too much wrong.

"............ understood."

Just at the time when Muttsuliini agreed, we reached the end of the stairs and could see the door leading to the rooftop.

Subsequently, Yuuji, who was leading, pushed open the door. There, under the bright blue sky on the other side of the door, was the figure of Minami, standing there quietly.

"Ah, Mizuki --- you guys as well? Why are all of you together?"

Minami looked at us in surprise.

"Muttsuliini."

"............ (nod)."

With a piercing look in his eyes, Muttsuliini looked around him and following that, with a small device in one hand, he walked about the area. While I don't know what kind of device that was, it should be something that allows him to search for installed eavesdropping devices and cameras and such.

"............ okay."

Not even a minute had passed before Muttsuliini was done. With that, Shimizu-san would not be able to record our conversation. It seems like I can talk without reservations.

"What's wrong, Aki?"


"Ahh, erm......"

Upon meeting Minami's gaze, I started to falter as an image of my brutally killed corpse surfaced in mind. Since I was about to say to her, ''"The confession mail was a joke"'', something which could be regarded as the lowliest thing that we could do to her. There was no way Minami wouldn't be mad.

"God, I seek your divine protection......"

"? What are you doing, Aki?"

"Uhn. I'm just offering a prayer."

After making a sign of the cross to bless myself, I steeled myself and walked towards Minami in earnest.

"Minami. The truth is, there's something I want to tell you."

"Ah, right. What is it?"

"You know, it's about the mail that I sent during the strengthening training camp......"

"M-mail, you say, that mail?"

For some reason, Minami's face turned red.

"Yeah. About the mail, the truth is."

I could tell that I was starting to sweat from the guilt-arisen fear. It's ok. It's ok. Whatever happens, it shouldn't be at the extent of losing my life. ............ probably.

"The truth is?"


Looking into Minami's eyes as she returned the question, I announced clearly.

"The truth is --- it's a misunderstanding."

"............ eh?"

With her face flushed, Minami stiffened.

"No, rather than to say it's a misunderstanding, it's probably more correct to say that I got the forwarding address wrong."

This may be despicable, but even if it's not like I have any bad intentions, I have to tell that to her. For the sake of my life.

"G-got it wrong, you say, so who was the one......"

Inquired Minami with her body stiffened up.

As to whose address did I mix up with hers, it was the person who I was texting then......

"Sugawa-kun I guess."

""Eehh!?""

For some reason, even Himeji-san exclaimed together with Minami.

"Th-then, Aki's confession was not to me but to Sugawa!?"

"N-no way! Even when others say otherwise, Akihisa-kun, I'd think you like girls, but, as you really guys instead, and to top if off, it's neither Sakamoto-kun nor Kinoshita-kun nor Kubo-kun, but Sugawa-kun......!"


What's this? It's like the misunderstanding just deepened.

"No, it's not like this. If I remembered correctly, a mail like <nowiki>'</nowiki>''Are you really interested in girls? Isn't Sakamoto or Kinoshita more preferable?''<nowiki>'</nowiki> came from Sugawa-kun, and when I replied, I made a mistake in the address and it was sent to Minami."

Speaking of that, did Sugawa's misunderstanding of me continued, I wonder. Jeez, Why am I misunderstood to be a gay? I don't get this at all.

"But, the mail content can't be thought of as any thing other than a confession ---"

Minami took out her cellphone from her pocket and started operating it. She's probably ascertaining the mail I sent.

"Eh? Huh? Somehow, after looking at it now, the mail is a little strange for a confession though......"

"Is that so? Minami-chan, can I take a look at it as well?"

"Y-yeah......"

Minami turned the display towards Himeji-san.

"Erm...... what's this sickle mark attached to the head of the mail?"

"D-don't worry about that! It's just a decoration!"

Sickle mark? Did I make such a mark when I sent the mail?


"Akihisa, do you still remember what you sent?"

"Yeah, but I can't remember the details well though......"

As a result of my cellphone getting broken by Yuuji, I have no records of my mails, and in addition, I don't have a head that can retain the small details of the contents of a mail which I sent more than a week ago.

"What was written in Aki's mail was <nowiki>'</nowiki>''Of course, there's no doubt that I love it right! Much more than someone like Yuuji!''<nowiki>'</nowiki>."

That was some mail, I thought. If it were really a confession, I would want to word it a little more properly.

"Hm. Didn't it occur to you that the mail was a strange one for a confession?"

"I didn't think much about it when I got it though...... But, if I read it again more calmly, it does seem a little strange perhaps......"

"If you have realized it earlier, things wouldn't have come to this."

"Shimada is a returnee. It can't be helped."

Yuuji and Hideyoshi smiled wryly. Indeed, if the other party was Himeji-san, the misunderstanding would have been resolved at a much earlier stage.

On hearing that, Minami undauntedly argued.

"B-but, anyone would have misunderstood it when he said that he loved it more than Sakamoto!?"


"No way! I'm a straight who likes girls!"

Somehow, I feel that the point of debate is off!

"So good for you, Minami-chan...... I would also like to be told that......"

"Himeji-san, you are weird too!? That sounded like it's a fact that I'm in love with Yuuji right!"

"A-Akihisa...... How should I reply to you......?"

"Just normally duh!"

Right before me, after Yuuji made a jab at me by mimicking Hideyoshi's reaction, ''gahaha'', he laughed in delight. Damn! Damn the lowlife who is getting a kick out of other people's misery!

"Well, anyway, because of that, there was a mistake in that mail."

"I see. I've misunderstood. I also thought that it was a little strange, but now, it's finally clear."

"Ah-haha. Minami, you got careless."

"Jeez. I don't want to be told that by you, Aki, when you got the sending address wrong."

We both laughed cheerfully.

And after we laughed for a short while.

"What are you going to do about it!? That was my first kiss!!"

[[Image:BTS_vol_04_069.jpg|thumb]]

With lots of vigor, Minami grabbed hold of my collars.

"S-S-S-Sorryyy! I didn't have any bad intentions!"

"This isn't something you can brush off with just an apology right!?"

Indeed, it wasn't. Erm, what should I say......?

"You know, Minami."

"What!?"

"Erm --- it was my first time as well, so it's a tie, isn't that enough......?"

"Of course not!"

The shrewd Yuuji jabbed in. That's right huh. Even I thought so.

"Eh......? I-is that so...... In that, case...... erm...... thanks for the treat......?"

"Oiy! Are you fine with that Shimada!?"

Notwithstanding, Minami gave a reply that was out of our expectations.

Speaking of that, there is one thing which I really wanted to know. I shall take this chance to ask.

"Say Minami. I'd like for you to answer this without getting angry though."

"Eh? What?"

"It's regarding the matter of us going out, could it be that, Minami actually...... erm, likes me......?"


"Ah......! Th-that.......!"

Frantically, Minami waved her hand in a flapping manner.

What had bothered me were Minami's actions. Minami's actions resulting from the misunderstanding from the mail was 180 degrees different from what I expected. I would have thought that I would definitely be rejected, but yet, Minami acted in a way that was completely opposite of that.

That's why, I really wanted to know. Perhaps, there was also a possibility that I wasn't really hated by Minami ---

"Ah, that, you see. Miharu was getting really persistent, so I thought she might give up if I have a boyfriend, and then it was just good timing that Aki's confession came along......."

Minami explained while her hands and eyes were fidgeting restlessly.

"Aah, I see. That's how it was huh."

I see, no wonder she did those various things openly without reservation. I had jumped to the wrong conclusion huh.

...... hn? Somehow, I could feel a large sense of regret......!

"Well well. What a painful excuse. Everyone can see through it except for one person."

"That's right. Well, after being told that the confession was a misunderstanding, it's not like I can't understand why you want to put up a deception."


"............ you're not being honest."

"I-It's not like I'm making an excuse of any sort, really......! Wh-Who would like such an idiot!"

See through, they said, it was probably referring to the matter of me and Minami dating. What the hell. Everyone had realized that it was a lie? I was the only one who didn't realize it huh.

"Jeez......, in that case, you should have told me earlier. I ended up thinking Minami really likes me."

"Uwu...... Th-That can't be possible right!"

"Yeah. I also thought it strange. It's unthinkable that Minami will fall for me, besides ---"

"B-Besides what?"

"Besides, it's weird that Minami could act so gentle and meek right?"

"...... that's right. Good grief, it's just like what you said......!!"

"Mi-Minami!? I thought I heard an awful sound coming from my shoulder joint though!?"

Even when it's already fragile because of a lack of calcium, but yet!

"Anyway, the misunderstanding has been resolved. What's left is to tell this to Shimizu and everything will be resolved, right?"

"Yeah. With this, Shimizu will probably accept it."


"............ I will relay this properly."

For now, one thing has been settled. F-class can relax, I guess.

"Eh? What are you talking about? Mizuki, did anything happen?"

"No, I'm also clueless though...... Did anything happen?"

"Aah, that's right. You guys are out of the loop with regards to the matter with D-class. The truth is ---"

As I listened to Yuuji's explanation to Himeji-san and Minami, I stared blankly up at the sky.

Was Minami really fine with kissing me just for the sake of deceiving Shimizu-san? I wonder.

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