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Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2012-03-17T09:25:05Z

68.34.58.191:

==Chapter 2==

However, I was still a member of the Gardening Club after a week when December began; that was because Ayaka captured me after school every day for club activities. Why must she keep bothering me? I don't even know, and I thought my head was going to burst open.

As I did not have any knowledge about gardening, I still had to stick to the railings while blankly looking at the streets as usual. That day, the brilliant blue skies trailed across the horizon. There were only two or three clouds in the skies like stickers stuck onto the sky, dazzling anyone who dared to stare at it for a long period of time.

I had always wanted to ask Ayaka: "Why did you say all that on the day when we were on the way home from the ramen shop?" However, since I could not think of a suitable question to ask, I could only continue looking at the view opposite to the railings.

“Seriously, you should really give me a hand!”

Ayaka said while puffing out her cheeks and holding a pair of scissors used for pruning.

“…… I don’t even know what to do, and the flowers have already been watered.”

“Then help me use the ampoule on the trees, one for each plant.”

Ayaka handed the ampoule fertilizer to me. The ampoule was like a small bottle of soy sauce that comes with a sumptuous bento, just that there weren't soy sauce inside, but a yellowish-green liquid.

“Opening an ampoule is quite hard! If the opening is too big, the fertilizer would spill out too quickly; the ones that I open are actually done with professional-level skill.”

Ayaka said triumphantly while using her scissors to cut off a little of the the tip of the ampoule.

“I’ll be in charge of cutting, while you just stick them into the pot.”

“I hate work.”

I mumbled complaints while turning the ampoule over to stick it into the pot.

“You probably don’t hate work, just that you can’t imagine yourself working!”

“Hime-sama, why are you so sharp about these things?” I got flustered and accidentally blurted out honorifics.

“Because my brother has said similar things before. He said that he doesn’t know why we must work if we want to live, so he left school halfway through high school. He didn’t even find a job, and just went here and there without an objective.”

Don’t know why we have to work if we want to live… Indeed, I feel so too. If such a day would come upon me, would I really accept the fact that I need to work in order to continue living? Or would I become one of the guys behind Hanamaru Ramen?

I shuddered, denying the horrendous imagination of my future, and shifted my attention to sticking the ampoules into the pots. It was already past flowering season; many dry leaves and branches could be found lying on the ground. Now is the time to prepare for the next flowering season.

“If I misunderstood, I apologize now to you first. But I think that you and my brother probably have an illness that is worse than hating work.”

“Eh?” So this is an illness?

“For instance, some people hate to eat carrots or celery when they are little, but they eat them as adults! But if I tell you to eat boots or diamonds, that can’t be achieved for eternity. This isn’t a problem of liking or hating: they cannot be eaten even as an adult.”

“Do you mean to say: ‘I cannot imagine myself eating carrots or celery,’ huh?”

“Exactly.”

“Your analogy makes me feel down.”

“Cheer up!” Ayaka patted my back. Oh please, the person who made me feel down was you in the first place!

“The people at ‘Hanamaru’ seems to like Fujishima-kun a lot, probably because you guys give off same the aura! Tetsu-senpai told me take you there again.”

“I had already decided to never go there again.” If I continue to go, I would definitely become one of them sooner or later.

“Please go! Everyone’s waiting for you!”

Which quality in me do they admire? I almost never spoke to others willingly, so my social skills is quite poor!

“You are not as introverted as an armadillidium like you thought!”

“Really?” I didn’t say that I’m like an armadillidium.

“That’s right, and you keep talking to yourself.”

I accidentally stuck the ampoule onto my shoes.

“Do…… Do I often talk to myself?”

“Oh yes, I think that’s why you could communicate with them. Are you okay? You look terrible!”

I probably couldn’t function anymore.

“But if you don’t speak your mind, nobody would understand you!”

“I always forget how to communicate.” I answered randomly. But when I think about it, things are indeed so. Ayaka stared at me for awhile, and sighed.

“Then you should practice! Right?”

<center>*</center>

In the end, I still couldn't refuse her, and could only follow Ayaka to the ramen shop. That day, there weren’t anyone behind "Hanamaru’s" kitchen door. Although it was already evening, there weren’t any customers there.

“So you’re here again, Narumi?”

A surprised expression appeared on Min-san’s face, and she said so while cutting cabbages, glaring at me as well. As I saw before this, she wore a vest while her breast was covered up with a sarashi, her appearance looked as if people could easily take advantage of her.

“Forget it, I thought that you would turn out like that the last time we met.”

“Turn out how?”

“It’s still not too late!” Min-san said just that. What does she mean by not too late?

“If you just practice your communication skills, you probably would not become a NEET.”

After saying that, Ayaka went into the kitchen and put on an apron. I sighed, and sat down on a gas tank. Say whatever you want!

“Oh yeah, do you want to work part time here too, Fujishima-kun?”

Min-san replied immediately: “Narumi looks like he doesn’t know how to do anything, the shop doesn’t need these type of people.”

Discouraged, I took a spoon and stirred my coffee ice cream. Min-san took a bowl and poked her head out of the kitchen.

“That’s right, there’s still something that you can do.”

“What is it?”

“Take this to Alice.”

It was Japanese styled Dan Dan Noodles filled with vegetables, but this time, some noodles could be seen in the sea of vegetables.

“The last time you delivered it, Alice ate them all. Before that, she usually doesn’t finish them, so please help today too. If there’s anything left in the bowl, I’ll beat you up!”

<center>*</center>

“What is this? I ordered Dan Dan Noodles, but without noodles, carrots, mushrooms or meat.”

Alice puffed out her cheeks, eyeing the food in the bowl in displeasure.

That day, the air-conditioning in the detective agency was still very cold, but Alice was just wearing pajamas with teddy bears on it. Won’t she be cold like this?

“But there are obviously noodles, meat and other stuff in it! Please tell me a reason for me to eat this.”

“Min-san is worried that you will have malnutrition.”

“Oh, so there’s a standard for malnutrition? Then please enlighten me about this standard of yours. Let me make this clear, having lived for over ten years on only Dr. Pepper, I will not listen to unreasonable excuses, and don’t try to use a bad excuse to convince me. I will eliminate your arguments completely.”

I sighed. Although I wasn’t sure if Alice was a detective or not, but this little girl really had a lot to say. I’ve already known that I couldn’t convince her, so I quickly used the secret technique that Min-san taught me.

“Min-san said that you can’t have ice cream if you don’t finish them.”

Alice’s froze, and her lips started to tremble.

“…… So-so despicable…… According to Act 222 of the penal code, this can already be count as a threat, and violates the Competition law for refusing to sell as well.”

The teary-eyed Alice waved her hands, listing out one suspicious law after another. As I found it interesting, I watched Alice’s actions silently temporarily.

She probably gave up, huh? Alice picked up her chopsticks while pouting.

“Get me some Dr. Pepper! Three cans of them!”

“Do you want to drink them after eating?”

“I want to eat while drinking! How can carrots and meat be eaten directly?”

Alice, who was holding a dark red can in one hand while eating Dan Dan Noodles teary-eyed, was really worth watching.

“Stop scrutinizing me!”

Alice swiftly finished her first can of Dr. Pepper, picked up the empty can and threw it at me, while I could only hold in my laughter while turning my back on her. But Alice really is a picky eater! Is she really from Earth?

“What do you do when eating nutrition lunch at school? Didn’t you get scolded?”

I suddenly thought about that and asked Alice.

Alice was silent for awhile, and then she answered me:

“I have never been to a school.”

“Eh?”

"Although I know what is a nutrition lunch, I have never entered any educational institutions from birth.”

I didn’t think that Alice had a normal life, but I never would have thought that she haven’t even went to primary school.

“According to Tetsu, the NEETs who haven’t even graduated from primary school are on the highest level of them all. Hmph, I am completely uninterested in these rankings.”

Even so, I have this faint feeling that if Alice went to school like other people do, she would think that a normal life is very uninteresting as well.

“No such thing, I will not look down on normal things.”

I was startled and turned my head over. It looks like I accidentally spoke my inner thoughts again.

“I was really determined to finish primary school and middle school. Even though I hate ignorance, it is completely irrelevant to normalcy. Going to school is an experience that I never had, and that is also my regret. But when people who are the same age as me are going for mandatory education, what do you think I was doing?”

Alice paused to put a piece of noodle in her mouth, soured her face and gulped it down with some Dr. Pepper. It looks like she is asking for my opinion.

“Learning how to be a good wife?”

Alice nearly spat the food out of her mouth.

“…… Your sense of humor is indeed perplexing, it’s no wonder that you are excluded from other people. I pity you very much.”

I’m now pitied, but what Alice said was the truth.

“So what’s the correct answer?”

“Eh? Ah, the answer is as you see——opening windows in the network world, observing the limited and twisted world.”

Alice’s gaze fell on the black machines that covered up the whole wall behind her.

“…… Every day?”

“The ‘every day’ that I meant is worse than you imagine. My life consisted of only saving information into my body, and washing away my helplessness by drinking Dr. Pepper. I kept searching for the meaning of my existence. Do you know this? On Earth, a child dies because of poverty every 3.6 seconds, and actually all of this is ''‘my fault’''.”

“…… Ah?”

I couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. What nonsense is she spouting?

“This is purely a hypothetical problem. Listen, if I have enough resources and ways to produce food, I can save the starving children. I am not worried about poverty, and I am not a holy person. I repeat, this is purely a hypothetical problem. If I have enough power, I can save the children who are gradually dying, so the death of the children is due to the fact that I do not have enough power to save them. Similarly, when a plane is kept hostage by terrorists and hits a building, it is because I do not have the power to stop it; The harm that is caused due to earthquakes or tsunamis is because I do not have the power to predict them.”

Purely a hypothetical problem.

But in that case, wouldn’t that mean everything that happened is Alice’s fault?

“That is how I passed my days, using my time to confirm my helplessness. To be exact, it should be about eight years or so, huh? I want to know what a powerless person like me can do for this world, for instance, to do something for the people who died hopelessly, or I cannot do anything for them at all.”

Using eight years. It's just too stupid.

“Because I felt some limitations, I ran away from home. I sealed myself in a new fortress, and continued to open windows in this world. Hehe, actually I’m now in pursuit by my family, so I have no choice but to open a window in the real world.”

Alice laugh self-deprecatingly, and looked at the countless cubical monitors at the right side of her bed. Although the monitors were small, I could not see what it was. It was not until the curtains of ‘Hanamura’ appeared on the monitor that I realized that it was the view of the surroundings of the building. There were six live videos that were taken from surveillance cameras, including the space between this building and the next, and also their interiors.

“Being pursued…..?

“As the people in my family aren’t stupid, they probably know where I am hiding already. This is just as a precaution for them from using unorthodox methods to look for me! I ran away from home, running away from my helplessness and from the world that is gradually lost because of my powerlessness…… But even so I couldn’t find the answer to that, so……”

I looked at Alice’s face, taken aback.

This girl is serious, although I thought that the things that she said was just a joke.

“So I chose to become a detective.”

“…… Sorry, your words confuse me, I don’t get it.”

“You don’t understand? In this world, there are only two jobs that can help those who are dead or have lost something, a novelist and a detective: A novelist can revive them in their dreams, detectives can dig out the real message from their graves. This is what leaders of a religion, a politician, a burial agency or the firefighters can’t do.”

I could not say anything that moment. Alice lowered her head in loneliness, using her chopsticks to swirl the food in her bowl.

“But sometimes I still feel somewhat queasy. A detective can only take action on things that have already been lost, right? They cannot solve the things that have not happened, or dig a grave that has not been made yet. So for people who might be hurt in the future, I am still powerless.”

After that, Alice became silent and shifted her attention to the food left in her bowl. Ashamed, I turned away from her yet again. The sound of Alice chewing the cabbage sounded sorrowful, for some reason.

After a very long time, Alice finally cleared away the food in the bowl. I silently handed her the vanilla ice cream that I kept hidden for some time, but Alice just placed it on the table, not even touching it, but raised her head to look at my face.

“Eh…… Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing, I just felt inconceivable, to why I would tell you so much.”

I felt mystified too, never have I thought that Alice would tell me so much about herself, making me feel a bit worried about the future of this pajamas clad girl—— even though I am absolutely not qualified to be worried for other people.

“You can just tell me what you think! I don’t mind.”

“Okay.” Although I hesitated, I still spoke my mind honestly, because I know how hurtful a white lie can be. “What you said was too abstract, I have absolutely no idea what you said.”

I thought Alice would throw a second empty can at me, but instead she laughed out loud. Alice, with her long, black hair that has become unruly, said while wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes:

“What an interesting fellow you are. Just listening to Ayaka’s description of you, I thought that you were a hopeless person! It seems that it is not so.”

“Ayaka…… said something about me to you?”

“Hmph, so you mind? That’s surprising. I thought you have absolutely no interest in other people.”

Alice started to laugh mischievously.

“Of course I don’t mind.” I couldn’t help but retort.

“Really? Then I don’t have any reason to tell you.”

I bit my lower lip, finding that I was starting to get restless. Of course I mind how Ayaka see me. As if she had seen through my thoughts, Alice finally answered.

“…… Ayaka said that you are similar to Toshi.”

“Toshi? Who is that?”

“He’s Ayaka’s brother! He’s also a drop out who always hangs out with Tetsu and the others, but he’s not here lately. Which reminds me, useless, doesn’t speak when he’s in a bad mood, always talking to himself and always giving trouble to Ayaka, these qualities of his are extremely similar to you.”

What Alice said is really too over. When I thought about the situation when Ayaka was describing her brother, a complicated feeling came upon me. So it was because Ayaka was worried of me, who is similar to her brother, which compelled her to invite me into the Gardening Club? I couldn’t help but think that the things that I think about is quite silly.

“You don’t need to worry, you’re not that much alike, and also you’re not a NEET.” Alice said to me, who was silent. “Toshi is not as stubborn as you, at least……”

Alice suddenly stopped talking, her eyes glued to the monitor beside her bed.

“…… Is something the matter?”

“Well, speak of the devil. Here’s Toshi.”

“Eh?”

“Why did he come out from inside?”

Following Alice’s lead, I stared at the monitor, which was showing a skinny silhouette at the third box from the right. The surroundings of the gas tanks that could be seen at the bottom left corner of the screen was filmed from above, where the NEETs like to gather. The silhouette wearing a dark blue hoodie was standing at the gap between the buildings, not even moving an inch.

“Narumi, go catch that fellow for me. He probably just wants to go back like this.”

“Why……”

“Because Ayaka is worried of him. Don’t ask anymore, just hurry!”

<center>*</center>
When I walked down the ladder, the silhouette was walking further into the gap with his back to me. I pushed away the hill of garbage bags while running towards him.

“Hey!”

The silhouette donning a sports jacket shook for a moment, and then turned his head over. He had a thin, pale face, and had a nervous expression behind his spectacles that wandered here and there. It was obvious that he was Ayaka’s brother, as their eyes were identical. Seeing as he was so nervous, I, who originally wanted to talk to him, could not think of anything to say.

“Onii-chan?”

Ayaka’s voice rang in the alley. I turned around, and saw Ayaka, who was wearing an apron, poke half of her body out of the kitchen.

Ayaka’s brother —— Toshi sighed, as if he has given up on something.

“You could just give us a call before you come here.”

“My phone service has been cancelled, because I didn’t pay up.”

Ayaka dragged Toshi out of the gap between the buildings, and stealthily took some cash out of her wallet and handed it to him. Whoa, there’s actually such a useless brother, I could only pretend not to see anything.

Toshi, who went back to the ramen shop, sat on the ladders and said towards the kitchen: “Min-san, give me an ice cream! I’m parched.” Min-san, who walked out of the kitchen, knitted her brows, peered at Toshi and said: “You probably ate some strange stuff again, didn’t’ you? If you eat cold things you’ll throw up.” She returned to the kitchen after saying that.

Ayaka said: “ Onii-chan, wait for me awhile, I’ll make something hot for you to eat.” And she returned to the kitchen after saying that too.

Toshi smacked his lips, and then took out a small plastic bag out of his pockets, broke the pills in the plastic bag into half and crushed eat, then swallowed it down without even a drink of water, and he stared at me after he finished eating the medicine.

“Ayaka told me about you some time ago, so you’re in the same club?”

Toshi finally said to me, and I nodded a bit nervously.

“Oh really, so you’re Narumi.”

I thought to myself, what did Ayaka say to Toshi?

“She’s very dumb, being together with her is hard, isn’t it?”

I shook my head. Toshi looked at the winter sky that was full of clouds and gave a hollow laugh, his laughter felt like someone using a cold metal stick to scratch his back.

After that our conversation came to a stop. Toshi hunched his back, and then stuck his hands into the pockets of his sports jacket. His eyes wandered while starting to shake his legs. I secretly observed Toshi from the side.

Is he really that similar to me?

I dunno, maybe it really is that similar? He was older than me by about one or two years, but his skin looked dry, coarse and pale. No wonder Ayaka would be worried about him.

“Oh? How rare for you to turn up here!”

A voice suddenly sounded behind us. I turned my head around, and saw Tetsu-senpai wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt as usual, Hiro-san was wearing a leather jacket, while Major wore what seemed like clothes for the Siberian garrisons. The three walked into the gap between the buildings together.

“Toshi, what were you doing before this?”

“Nothing, I’m just busy with a lot of things.”

Facing Tetsu-senpai’s questions, Toshi averted his gaze and answered mysteriously.

Tetsu-senpai looked at me and then looked at Toshi, and said:” Narumi’s here again! That way, the three drop outs are all here, NEETs who graduated from middle school are truly the best!”

“I haven’t dropped out yet, don’t group me together with you guys!”

My objections were completely ignored.

“It’s because Tetsu-san say things like this, NEETs-in-waiting would increase! We can’t wait until he drops out, we must figure out a way for him to drop out willingly!” “The one who graduated from high school, you’re too noisy! Wanna have a fight?” Major and Tetsu-senpai started to argue for some reason.

“It’s rare that Toshi is here, since we haven’t gone to the arcade for a long time, lets go together!” Hiro-san suggested. “I learnt a new chain technique, and can use a new killer technique, so I can defeat Toshi now!”

“Eh, I don’t want to, aiyo!”

Toshi was unwilling to go, but his arms were held by Tetsu-senpai, and was forced to stand up.

“Will you come with us, Narumi?”

“To where?” Ayaka flew out of the kitchen in a hurry.

Hiro-san smiled and said: “The arcade.”

“Is Onii-chan going too?”

“Let’s go quickly!”

As if he found the situation hassling, Toshi looked at Ayaka for a moment and then quickly walked to the main streets.

<center>*</center>

**I was brought to the arcade at the shopping centre of the station. The first floor was filled with crane games and sticker making machines, while half of the second floor was occupied by large music game machines, online games and racing games. The older games were all squeezed in a corner.

Toshi was really good in fighting games, Toshi-senpai and Hiro-san challenged him in turn, but still can’t defeat him.

Major dragged Toshi to a Gundam fighting machine and challenged him with brimming confidence, but was also completely defeated. Toshi, who was controlling Sac II, had superhuman-like senses, making people think that he had another pair of eyes behind his back. Toshi did not want to play at the start, but his eyes became somewhat eerie after winning a few matches, and he also made strange noises. Having a six time winning streak while playing with Major, I originally thought that Toshi would again make the annoying laugh again, but his face suddenly turned green, said ‘I’m going to the washroom for awhile’, and left his game that was playing halfway.

“…… That guy, seems like he’s in trouble again.” Tetsu-senpai said worriedly.

“In trouble?”

“He once bought legal medicine from the Internet before. (Note: Legal medicine- drugs. Is not legal at all, and is said to be legal by the sellers who are doing promotions)”

I recalled the pills that Toshi swallowed just now, would that be the legal medicine that Tetsu-senpai said? I started to get a bit worried.

“I’ll go check out Toshi’s condition.”

Toshi walked out of the washroom with a sickly expression on his face, the corner of his lips were wet, and smelled somewhat sour. He probably threw up.

Toshi said: “I’ll go outside to get some fresh air.” I was still worried, so I followed him out.

Under the setting sun, the road was full of cars, Bing Crosby’s Christmas song and the red green lights of the decoration could be seen and heard in the sidewalk that was full of people. Toshi sat down on the stone steps outside the arcade, and drank the Fanta carbonated water that he bought from the automatic vendor. Toshi’s eyes wandered again, making people feel queasy.

“…… Are you okay?”

“They look as if they’re not moving.”

“Eh?”

“The people looks as if they’re not moving. It’s true, I can even see the movement of a dot. Even if I close my eyes, and just listen to the noise, I could win.”

After saying that, he laughed, giving no thought to the people walking around.

“Do you always hang out with Tetsu and the guys?”

Toshi said while having hiccups.

“No…… I only came to know them recently.”

“But you look like you’re very close to them.”

Toshi laughed again. Do I look like I’m very close to them?

“…… It was because I often skip school to go to the arcades, then I gradually became closer to them. They taught me a lot of things, so why don’t you go play fighting games too! I can teach you the next time.”

I felt a bit shy, and dropped my gaze to look at my knees. If I can play like this everyday, even if I’m kicked out of school, even if I become a NEET, then —— it isn’t really a bad thing.

“Toshi, would you still come to ‘Hanamaru’ after this?”

“Eh? Ah….. Hmmm, yes, right, I’ve already……”

Facing my questions, Toshi looked like he was looking far away.

“Forgot, because I didn’t meet them for quite a long time already……”

Toshi suddenly stopped talking, and started to cough violently. After he stopped coughing, his was still breathing heavily, his hunched back rocking up and down. I didn’t know what to do, and can only rub his back covered by the sports jacket.

Toshi used his trembling hands to take out a plastic bag from his pockets, this time he swallowed a pill with a gulp of Fanta. I tried to stop him, but it was too late. The carbonated drink spilled onto Toshi’s jeans, but he doesn’t seem to mind. The people passing by stared at us.

Toshi’s body finally stopped trembling.

“…… Angel Fix.”

“What is that?”

“This! Great name, isn’t it!? It brings you to heaven.”

Toshi pressed the remaining two pills left in the bag to my face. I could see a picture of wings and the letters A.F engraved on the small pink pills.

“Do you want it? I could sell it to you for a discount.”

“No thanks…… That isn’t normal medication, is it?”

“That doesn’t matter. It isn’t a drug, the others are just making a big fuss out of nothing, this is just a legal medication.”

I swallowed my saliva in anguish.

“Why? This type of medicine……”

“You ask me why? You, you……” What Toshi is saying started to get muddled up. “Why do you think humans live in this world?”

I don’t know what Toshi meant by suddenly saying this, so I could only remain silent.

“In a human’s brain, there is a type of thing called the compensation nervous system, which is what we call the A10 nervous system. When we eat tasty stuff, we are praised by other people or have bought something that we want, the system would synthesize neurotransmitters, and change it into signals so that we would have a blissful feeling. In contrast, schizophrenia or depression is usually caused by a decrease in dopamine. In short, no matter how hard we try to pursue happiness, if the brain does not synthesize neurotransmitters properly, we would not feel happy, so the reason we continue to live is to stimulate the A10 nervous system.”

I didn't say anything, but only stared at Toshi’s face. I could see that Toshi was not focused on me anymore, does he know who he is talking to? It was as if he was a different person from the Toshi just now, and has become very garrulous.

“That is why, we could just depend on medication! It’s straightforward, easy and you could feel pleasure straightaway. You don’t need to work hard to earn money, and don’t need to look for girls to marry, we can achieve the same results just depending on the medication. But The process is not the same, no pain and not time-consuming. Medication is perfect. For instance, people like me, kicked out of high school, fired at work, has only graduated from middle school and could not find any work, but I don’t really feel like looking for a job anyway. Only angels would not look down on me, that’s what this is all about.”

Toshi raised the plastic bag containing the pink pills to cover the glaring streetlights in the night. I couldn’t help but take hold of his shoulders and start to shake him.

“I’m alright, it hurts, stop shaking me.”

I’m alright, I’m alright, as if following a beat for a song, Toshi kept repeating this sentence.

“That’s right, I have something to ask you, did you see some yakuzas that are about the same age as us at the ramen shop recently?”

“…… Do you mean Yondaime?”

I told Toshi about Yondaime visiting Alice’s room.

“What the heck, so you even know about Yondaime and Alice! That’s good, I just wanted to know about this thing. Hahaha, you’ve completely become one of them now!”

Toshi strolled towards the sidewalk, laughing maniacally at the night skies. The people passing by knitted their brows and walked far away from us, forming a space shaped like a half circle.

“Does Ayaka get along with the others?”

I nodded.

“Isn’t she somewhat lonesome at school?”

"Although she’s a bit eccentric, Ayaka isn’t the same as me, she can happily talk to our classmates naturally."

“Is that so? Why is that, I wonder? She once refused to go to school when she was in middle school, why is that? When did she become a normal person again? And she even wanted to drag me to school too. I just couldn’t do it, it’s not that I like not going to school. She flew into a temper when I said that I wanted to drop out, really, nagging me should have its limits.”

After listening to this, I, who was sitting down, froze. While laughing boisterously, Toshi walked into the crowd, going towards the main road. Seeing Toshi disappear in the sea of people, I could only stare at the view in a daze.

In the din of the crowd, Toshi’s scary, screeching laughter could still be heard. I hastily stood up, pushing away the crowd and went after him. This is not good. Although I don’t know why, I felt that a problem is going to arise.

The people nearby also seemed to sense what I have felt from the laughter. Toshi walked unsteadily on the road, and a circular space formed beside him, as if he was wearing a large, invisible float. The crowd stopped moving, causing me to be unable to get close to Toshi.

It was like Toshi was enclosed in an inexplicable membrane, springing towards the zebra crossing while the lights were yellow. The yellow light changed to red in a flash, and the drivers started sounding their horn at Toshi. He unsteadily walked to the other side of the zebra crossings while laughing, and I, who was standing at the other side, could not do anything but keep my eyes on him.

The crowd who was waiting for the light to change to green made a small noise, but Toshi’s silhouette vanished in only a moment in the impatient horns and the cars that were passing the junction. As soon as Toshi’s silhouette disappeared, everyone seemed to have forgot about the scary laughter. The people in this city is very tolerant of oddballs, because things will be endless if they care about each and every one of them.

Even so, a man kept staring at Toshi with a smile on his face, until Toshi vanished. The man was very young, and was waiting for the lights to change by my side. He donned a high class Kashmir wool coat, has thin cheeks, and had a pair of frameless glasses on his face with a sharp chin.

Our gazes locked for a moment, and that was enough for me to shiver. I don’t know why, but I could feel that there is something hidden deep in his eyes that makes me feel queasy.

Music rang from the pockets of the man’s coat, it was a steady sound of a plucking guitar. He took out his phone and answered it: “Hello…… Yes, I’ve found Shinozaki, I’ll go back as soon as I pick him up. Hmm? Keep the distillation locked up first, and wait for me to go back.. Continue to put them in separate packs, you know that our stocks aren’t enough, don’t you? That’s right, yeah……”

The voice that could never be forgotten even though it is only heard once, gave people an unpleasant feeling like thorns. The man started to walk while talking on the phone, while I was pushed by the people at the back, and nearly fell down on the streets.I hurriedly caught hold of the railings at the side of the sidewalk. The traffic light changed to green when I didn’t notice, so the crowd rushed out to the zebra crossings.

But I could not move. The man’s words left an unforgettable impression on me, causing my legs to tremble, unable to move even one step.

The man indeed said: “Shinozaki.” Does he know Toshi? But who on Earth is he?

A bad premonition flashed across my mind.

“Hey! Where’s Toshi? Where has he gone?”

A voice spoke to me, who was standing at the end of the street, not knowing what to do. Turning my head to the voice, Tetsu-senpai, Hiro-san and Major were all there.

“…… I don’t know where he ran off to.”

I finally said. After telling them about Toshi’s condition, a dumbfounded expression appeared on Tetsu-senpai’s face, and he scratched his head.

“Don’t go crazy on the streets after taking drugs, that idiot……”

Major said: “Should we go find him?”

Hiro-san shook his phone: “But I can’t get to his phone!”

Almost at the same time, the three looked at the street that was full of people. It was impossible to look for anyone on this street. Even so, Tetsu-senpai lightly patted my head.

“Narumi, you go back to ‘Hanamaru’ first and deal with Ayaka.”

“B- But……”

“Don’t make her feel too worried. We’ll go look for Toshi.”

I didn’t even have enough time to answer him, then the three vanished in the crowd, looking for Toshi.

<center>*</center>
After returning to the ramen shop, I found that the shop was pitch dark, and there were not even one customer, while Ayaka could not be seen anywhere as well. Min-san was stirring the butter in a large bowl.

“I told Ayaka, since there’s no customers today, she could go home first. But she said that Toshi might come back, so she’s waiting upstairs.”

“Upstairs as in Alice’s agency?”

“Yeah.”

Ayaka sat on the mattress of the agency, and she let Alice sit on her thighs, combing Alice’s long hair.

“Is Onii-chan gone already? Where is he?”

“Ayaka, it hurts, you’ve pulled my hair.” Alice moved her neck in protest.

“Ah, so sorry.”

Ayaka wasn’t really tall, but in comparison you could see that Alice was very petite, almost like a real doll.

“Did Onii-chan say where he lives right now?”

“…… I’m not really sure.”

I couldn’t answer her properly. Getting delirious after taking drugs, and then disappearing, it was really hard to tell people about this kind of stuff.

“What a headache, he should at least tell me how to contact him!”

But it seemed like Toshi found Ayaka troublesome. Is that what he really thought? Or is it some nonsense that he said after taking drugs?

“Ayaka, just don’t care about that specky, ignorant guy who suddenly disappeared. Blood relation is the first stupid cornerstone of belief that humans should break.”

“Alice, don’t turn around!”

“(sobs)”
Alice wanted to turn her head around to face Ayaka, but Ayaka held Alice’s head, so she could not move her head, causing Alice to look terrible.

“And if you would also not care about my hair, I would be very happy.”

“That wouldn’t do! You have such beautiful, luscious long hair, if you don’t comb it properly, it would become unruly very soon. The shampoo and conditioners that I gave you, did you use them?”

“Really, there should be a limit to being a busybody!

Alice made a disgruntled noise, but still sat on Ayaka’s thighs. There is a type of person in this world that are busybodies, and could not leave other people alone. Ayaka was one of them. That would probably be it.

When I was about to walk out of the agency, Ayaka said that she wanted to go home too.

While walking down the ladder, the ringtone of a phone rang from Ayaka’s bag.

“…… Hello?”

“Hello, Ayaka? It’s me……”

Toshi, who was on the phone was very loud, so loud that even I can hear him. The effects of the drug is probably still there, his voice sounded inexplicably cheerful.

“Onii-chan?”

“This is Hakamizaka-san’s phone, so I can’t talk to you so long. I’m at his place right now, so help me to tell mother.”

“Ah, but Onii-chan……”

He hung up suddenly, just like when he called just now. Ayaka silently looked at her phone, and then looked at me, showing me a troubled smile. I turned my head away.

“Was it Toshi?”

“Yeah. It seems like he’s at Hakamizaka’s.”

Hakamizaka?

“Yeah—— I’ve only seen him two or three times, so we’re not that close. He’s probably a university student. He’s very knowledgeable about poppy flowers, so probably he’ll become a scholar, huh?”

“So do you know where they are right now?”

“No, I don’t know and the phone number was private too…… I couldn’t call him again. Onii-chan is too over.”

Ayaka sadly knitted her brows, placing her phone back into her bag.

“He’s like this everytime, always disappearing without saying a thing.”

I thought to myself: "That’s probably because he thinks that you’re troublesome." Ayaka looked at me and cocked her head.

“What did you say just now?”

I faked a ‘ididn’tsayanything’ expression. I’ve probably let slip my inner thoughts again.

“…… Onii-chan probably said something to you, didn’t he? I know that you’re hiding something from me.”

I silently lowered my head.

“Really, why won’t you tell me?”

I swallowed, and raised my head.

“…… I’ve heard that you refused to go to school when you were in middle school.”

Why did I ask this question? Ayaka’s expression froze, and an anxious, unnatural smile appeared on her face, showing that she wanted to hide something.

“A- About me, huh? Eh, um, that is……”

Toshi can’t be helped now, but if it was me——

“Do you think that I could still be saved?”

“…… What do you mean by that?”

I turned my back to Ayaka and walked quickly down the ladder. Even I do not know what I was talking about, why would I say such a thing?

“Fujishima-kun!”

I ignored Ayaka’s shouts and ran out of the building. On the way home, Ayaka and Toshi’s words muddled together, swirling in my mind.

<center>*</center>

The next day, I planned to skip the fifth and sixth period of Chemistry and go home straightaway. That was because I wasn’t ready to speak to Ayaka alone.

But when break time started, the guys nearby started to come and chat with me, causing me to lose my chance from escaping the classroom.

“Fujishima, I saw you at the arcade yesterday. You were with Ichinomiya-senpai, aren’t you?”

“Erm, hmm?”

Lately, my classmates kept chatting with me, but I’m still not used to it. To be exact, I haven’t remembered their names yet, so I feel as if I did something wrong when I talk to them. But I still answered them:

“Are you talking about Tetsu-senpai, Right? Do you guys know him?”*****

“Of course, Ichinomiya-senpai is extremely famous, I’ve heard that some boxing centers tried to recruit him for their team.”

“That’s right, he’s a legendary person. Didn’t he do a lot of great things before this? I’ve heard that the reason that the P.E teacher’s restroom is turned into a storeroom was that Ichinomiya-senpai ruined it.”

“It was also said that the back door is kept closed because Ichinomiya-senpai broke it, so it’s become crooked and couldn’t be opened.”

“The Principal is bald because of Ichinomiya-senpai.”

Te- Tetsu-senpai is that famous?

“How did you get to know Ichinomiya-senpai, Fujishima?”

That is because……

“Is it because Ichinomiya-senpai always goes to the place where Ayaka is working part time? Isn’t that right?”

The girls joined the conversation too.

“It’s a ramen shop, right? I went there once.” “The shopkeeper’s very pretty.” “Really? I want to go next time.” “Is it tasty?” “Their ice cream is the best.” “Why is it that the ice cream is tasty? Isn’t it a ramen shop?”

But Ayaka as the person that they were talking about did not say anything, or join the conversation. Our classmates ignored Ayaka and I, chatting away happily. Just when we were starting to get rowdy, the bell marking the fifth period rang, and the Chemistry teacher walked into the classroom.

That caused me to be unable to skip the class, and so I was forced to stay until school ends. Usually, Ayaka would immediately drag me to the Gardening Club, but today she just looked at me for a moment, and walked out of the classroom while putting on her armband.

“Did you guys have a fight?”

The guy who sat in front of me asked me casually, and I shook my head. The focus of my classmates were on me. If I were to go home just like that, it seems like the atmosphere would get worse. I was forced to leave my bag in the room and went to look for Ayaka in the courtyard.

Ayaka was holding a spade while squatting at the side of the garden. I sat on the bricks beside the garden, watching the plants that we tended, as I did not know what to say.

The one who spoke first was Ayaka.

“You still don’t remember the names of our classmates, right?”

“…… How did you know?”

“I sensed it from the way that you spoke.”

But is there a problem with that?

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember their names, it’s just that you seem very guarded when talking to the others, like you’re talking at two sides of a brick wall. You were like that yesterday too……”

Ayaka still minded what had happened yesterday…… Actually I mind it too. The words that Toshi have said is still lingering in my ears.

“…… Why do you butt in my business so much? Are those people who can’t fit in school life such an eyesore?”

After I said that, I felt that I’ve been too harsh. From yesterday, I had been trying to control my temper. Ayaka looked dumbfounded, with her jaw open. After about three seconds, she suddenly blushed.

“Why are you asking such a thing?”

She actually asked me why.

“I can only speak to the others through a wall, does that bother anyone?”

“…… It bothers me!”

Ayaka answered with her face red.

“…… You’ve bothered me!”

Ayaka’s tone became harsh, and she repeated it again. With my mouth half-open, I could only stare at her lips in a daze. What is she talking about? What does she man by that?

“You don’t need to know the others in class better, but can’t you lower your guard when talking to me? It makes me feel very lonely.”

“…… Why?”

“Why? You asked me why? Don’t you know?”

Ayaka stood up and said loudly. Quite a few students in the courtyard shifted their gaze to us.

“I…… Eh? Ah, wh- why?” My muddled thoughts made me seem as if I’m raving. I stood up.

“…… I really don’t know!”

“Forget it, never mind if you don’t know.”

Ayaka, whose face was dyed a sunset red, bit her lips and shook her head. I froze, and Ayaka took her bag that was on the bench beside the garden, turned around and ran away.

“…… Wait!”

I don’t know why I wanted to catch hold of Ayaka, but she roughly flung away my hand.

Bzzzzzzt.

The sound of something tearing rang out loud. My whole body suddenly became cold.

A yellow object fell onto the soil.

The armband of the Gardening Committee have become a torn, yellow piece of cloth.

“Ah……”

Ayaka turned around, used her hands to cover her mouth, and lowered her head to look at the armband for awhile. When I picked it up to say something, Ayaka hurriedly turned around and ran away, disappearing out of the school gate in a flash.

I was left behind. I squatted down and went into a daze in the winter sun, thinking repeatedly about the things that Ayaka have just said. I thought for many times, but I still couldn’t understand the reason for Ayaka’s tears, and have no idea what to do now.

I stood there for awhile, and resignedly picked up the spade and the armband. I originally thought that Ayaka might come back immediately, but I as a member of the Gardening Club should still do my job. But I only know how to water and weed, after I finished doing them, it was as if there was a hole in my heart.

Until the sun have set, Ayaka still haven’t come back.

I walked into the computer lab that I didn’t enter for a long time, tried to sit in the seat by the windows, but I couldn’t find the energy to turn on the computer. So the computer lab that has only one person is actually so quiet.

I placed the torn armband on the table. Why? Why did Ayaka get angry? I got more and more angry thinking about it. She didn’t even explain properly but started to cry, it gave me a headache too. I don’t even know if it’s my fault. No, it is probably my fault. If I cannot continue to be silent, what should I do?

Then I thought of something.

Doesn’t this mean that I’ve returned to the days when I’m alone?

But the silence in the room was suffocating. I couldn’t stand it, stuffed the armband back into my pocket and walked out of the computer laboratory.

<center>*</center>

When I think about it, it’s the first time that I went to the station by myself. Around the station were a lot of people waiting to cross the road, sometimes the crowd rushed out as if a gate suddenly opened.

On the road, there was an orchestra of the sound of exhausts, footsteps of hundreds of people, people selling phones and music of Christmas songs. Walking in the crowd, my back and my shoulders kept getting pushed, so I could only continue to walk unsteadily. Suddenly I had an illusion that I was alone at a barren place in the winter.

I shook my head, crossed the zebra crossings and went to the arcade at the street center.

I remember using a few coins to play, but didn’t really remember what game I’ve played. After I used up all the coins, I sat on the chair with my back to the wall and stared at the end screen of the game.

Before I met Ayaka, how did I pass my time alone? I actually could not remember it, it’s really unbelievable. I don’t know how to apologize to Ayaka if I went to the ramen shop and met her there, so I could only stay in the arcade, depressed. Because Ayaka doesn’t even want to speak to me.

That was how I tiredly leaned against the wall, and did not leave until the arcade played the ‘Goodnight Song’.

<center>*</center>

It was already past midnight, the streets that were further away from the station were already in darkness. I walked near Hanamaru Ramen shop and peered inside the shop from between the buildings. The curtains were already taken down, and a dim light could be seen faintly in the dark kitchen. There weren’t anyone else except Min-san, as it was already time for the shop to close.

What am I doing?

I squatted beside the air-conditioner to hide myself. Everything has already become messed up. I really feel like digging a hole to hide in it. When I sat down, the cold air passed through my thin coat. Maybe I should just sleep here? I might be able to freeze to death like this.

“Narumi, what are you doing here?”

Suddenly I heard a voice from above me. Shocked, I stood up and banged my head on the exhaust pipe. The pain made me see stars.

“…… It hurts.”

“Are you an idiot……”

A surprised expression appeared on Min-san’s face.

“How……” How did you know that I was here?

“Alice called me to say that someone was loitering over here. Why did you come? Ayaka has already gone home!”

“Ah……”

It’s the surveillance cameras. How annoying, wasting these high-tech machines on this useless place. I could not face Min-san, but felt her gaze on me.

I couldn’t say anything for a moment.

Finally, I heard her sigh.

“Do you want to enter the shop? There are some new dishes for the winter.”

I raised my head. Min-san has even took off her vest, wearing an apron on the lower half of her body, while only a sarashi was bound to the upper part of her body.

Min-san took hold of my arms and dragged me into the shop. I just came here yesterday, but now I still feel that the smell in Hanamaru Ramen Shop is very nostalgic. The large pot that was used to cook soup in the kitchen was still being heated up, with white fumes wafting out of it. Even if it’s winter, the soup that is prepared for a long time would still be steaming hot, wouldn’t it? It’s just that the way that Min-san was dressed: showing her stomach, was too hot for a teenager like me. I could only look away from her.

[[Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 096.jpg|thumb|Min-san took two paper cups and sat down beside me.]]
Min-san took two paper cups and sat down beside me. Hello? You’re just wearing a sarashi for your upper body! Why don’t you at least wear a shirt? I tried very hard not to look at her and focused my attention on the ice cream. The ice cream this time was sprinkled with cocoa powder. Eating just a spoonful of it, I could taste the sweet flavor of cheese and the fragrance of orange wine, this is a flavor that even I know.

“…… Tiramisu?”

“That’s right, sometimes I would try to make something mainstream too. Does it taste good?”

I nodded. Compared to the ramen here, saying that the ice cream is good isn’t really just being courteous. I remember that tiramisu in Italian meant ‘give me a pull’, is my depressed feeling that clearly shown on my face? I fell into deep thought, and accidentally let my tongue slip.

“You can make such delicious ice cream, then why did you open a ramen shop?”

Whoops!

I cautiously took a peek at Min-san’s expression, but could only see a melancholic expression on her face.

“This shop was originally my dad’s.” Her expression suddenly returned to normal and said: “I have wanted to open an ice cream shop, so I became an apprentice at an ice cream shop. But one day my dad suddenly disappeared without a trace, so I came back to inherit the shop.

“So that’s it……” I don’t know what to say and could only lower my head in apology. “I’m sorry, asking these strange questions.”

“You don’t need to be sorry.” Min-san said while smiling.

“Haven’t you ever thought of remodeling the shop into an ice cream shop?”

“Yeah, I did. But I like this shop, the customers and the atmosphere here. These are only present because of the ramen shop. If I remodeled the shop, these will disappear, so I chose to continue.”

Min-san looked around the dark shop. There were menus that were splattered with drops of oil, autographs of artists(probably) stuck onto the wall, a cracked counter and an old but brightly polished kitchen ceiling and wall.

“Those who doesn’t have a job claimed the back of the ramen shop as their territory, it’s because they don’t have any other places to go. I don’t mind that!”

While saying that, Min-san patted her apron that had ‘Hanamaru’ printed on it. This is the symbol of the shop and the shop is what Min-san got for giving up on her dream of selling ice cream.

“Is…… that so?”

I again thought of meaningless stuff, and accidentally blurted out.

“But your father might be missing because he hated the ramen shop and may not have wanted you to inherit the ramen shop.”

“I know.”

Min-san slapped my shoulders roughly while laughing loudly.

“I don’t care what other people think of, I just do it because I feel like doing it, and that’s enough. People live by forcing others to accept other people to accept their own way of living.”

I blankly stared at Min-san’s face.

“We don’t even know what they’re thinking about anyways, so we can only assume that they are the same as us!”

…… Ah, so that’s how it is.

I finally understood the reason for Ayaka’s anger.

She was the same as me. I , too, was depressed and angry because Ayaka went away without saying a thing.

Because the only person by my side was Ayaka.

Ayaka was the only person who talked to me.

Why did I find out about such a simple matter only now? Why now?

After a long silence, I suddenly found that my forehead was on Min-san’s bare shoulders, then I hastily backed away.

“Ah, err…… So- sorry.”

Min-san laughed, patted my head gently and showed a ‘it’s all right, don’t you mind’ kind of smile.

Things are probably alright now, right? Although I still don’t know what to do. Probably because I was now relieved, my stomach started to grumble. Min-san did not miss that.

“There’s a ramen with a new flavor, do you want to try it?”

“Err….. Erm…..” I hesitated for awhile. It seemed that Min-san has noticed something, then she squinted while coming close to me.

“……Hmmm, I feel that you often tell people of your true feelings, so I have something to ask you.”

“Ah?” Do I look like this kind of person? Do I talk to myself so frequently?

“…… How is my ramen? Are they good?”

Min-san’s expression became very sincere. Her hands held both of my hands, wet eyes looking at me coquettishly, making me unable to keep silent.

“Err……”

“You can just tell me the truth, I won’t hit you.”

“Sometimes the soup just feels a tiny bit sweet……”

“You can just tell me honestly, is it good or is it bad?”

“If you really want me to say, then of course it’s bad. Ouch! That hurts, didn’t you say you won’t hit me?”

“Shut up, idiot!”

I was kicked out of the shop.

“I WILL make a soup that will make you say that it is tasty and touch you to tears, remember that!”

Like a child screaming at me, Min-san closed the grille door. I was the only person at the bottom of this building.

Will things turn out alright even now? How should I apologize? ‘It’s simple…..” Ayaka’s words replayed in my mind. ‘Shout when you’re angry like the others, and laugh when you’re happy like the others, speak your mind when you want something, you could do it too.’

If things were that simple, I wouldn’t be here right now. Then what on Earth could I do? I thought fuzzily while walking towards the cold, night streets.

<center>*</center>

I skipped classes for two days. It was not because I was sick or hurt. Although I, myself, thought that this is stupid, I still felt: I can’t face Ayaka before I’m mentally prepared.

On Friday, I went to school after it had ended. I haven’t gone to the rooftop after school for quite some time now, but Ayaka was nowhere to be seen. Crossing over the railings and looking at the campus, I could not see Ayaka at the garden.

I thought—— maybe it’s already too late, maybe I have already lost everything, but is still comically turning around in circles, trying to make amends. That couldn’t be helped, because I’m an idiot.

After pondering for a while, I thought of a place that I haven’t searched for yet.

The greenhouse was at the interior of the school, near to the walls surrounding the school. At the other side of the wall is a graveyard, so not many people goes there. Entering the Gardening Club for a month or so, this is still the first time that I’ve come to the greenhouse. As taking care of greenhouse plants requires special skills, Ayaka have always handled them alone.

Through the foggy glass, I could only faintly see the greenery inside, its interior should be about as big as a classroom.

When I was about to extend my hands to the high class rustless handle, the door opened from the inside.

“…… Fujishima-kun?”

Suddenly I came face to face with Ayaka, who looked shocked after giving out a scream. I was shocked too, and could not immediately accept the fact that Ayaka suddenly appeared before my eyes.

“I- I just sprayed some herbicide inside, so you can’t go close to it!”

Ayaka regained her cool and pushed me out of the greenhouse by the chest.

“Why did you come here?”

Ayaka sounded as if she was still angry.

“…… Well, I’m also a part of the Gardening Club.”

“You don’t need to force yourself again. It’s all my fault, dragging you into the Gardening Club against your will. Let’s just be a ghost member in each other’s clubs.”

Ayaka said angrily, which was out of character for her.

“……That wouldn’t do.”

I said with a voice that got smaller and smaller. Maybe Ayaka would never forgive me ever again. Thinking of this, my whole body shivered.

“Why? Aren’t you…….”

“…… If things go on like this, won’t the things that we’ve done painstakingly go to waste?”

“—— Eh?”

I took out a plastic bag from my pocket, took out one of them and stuffed it into her hands. She opened her hands and raised it to eye level. It was a piece of black cloth —— an armband, and on it was printed a round, orange shape.

Ayaka stared at the armband for awhile, and raised her head.

“…… Pervert, Repelling, Machine? (Note: Pervert, repel, and machine in Japanese are ‘Chikan’, ‘Genkitai’, and ‘Machine’ respectively. Their initials CGM is the same as the badge)”

“I think it’s better if you return that to me!”

“Whoa, I’m just joking, sorry.”

“You read it from the middle letter —— M High School Gardening Club.

“…… It means us, right?”

[[Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 104.jpg|thumb|The expression on Ayaka’s face went through complicated changes, looking as if she’s both crying and laughing.]]
I shifted my gaze and nodded. The expression on Ayaka’s face went through complicated changes, looking as if she’s both crying and laughing.

“How did you make this? It wouldn’t be because you wanted to make this that you took two days off, would it?”

“Yeah, I designed it using a computer, and made it at a shop.”

Ayaka looked relieved. She carefully wore the armband and then showed it to me, her stiff expression is gradually gone too.

Ayaka looked at the plastic bag in my bag and said: “Did you make one for yourself, too?”

“Yeah, you need to order at least ten if you want to make it there.”

I thought up a lot of things as an apology, but my mind was blank right now.

“I never thought that you were that bad at negotiating with other people.”

Ayaka laughed delightedly, while I was completely embarrassed, and could only lower my head.

“But you made the armband for me, I’m really happy.”

She said to me. I raised my head, clumsily returned her smile and said with my voice that sounded like it was going to vanish at any moment: “Uh, I’m sorry……” That was the best that I could do at that moment.

“Hey, let’s make a bigger one! Like a flage or something. We can use it during the school festival for the club relay race.”

Who would take part, then? There’s only two people in the club.

“That’s right, we can make a webpage! We can let this logo take the stage on the website. Do you know how to do these things?”

What can you put on the website? But I did not have enough time to answer before Ayaka continued: “Then I’ll go borrow the keys to the rooftop!” and then ran away.

While looking at her silhouette, I thought to myself: it’s okay if things are like this.

I might be clumsy, but, it would be enough if I do the things that I know how to do bit by bit.

<center>*</center>

But all of this is too late. At a place that I do not know of, my small world is quietly but truly corroded by drugs. At the corner of the evening paper that night, there was a report of the death of a young man who was sent to the hospital because of overdose of medication.

The ‘Angel Fix’ incident made a mess of my sixteen year old life in that winter, and the first person who died in that incident was that person.

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| Forward to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2012-03-17T06:14:57Z

68.34.58.191:

"It's a primitive response to gratitude. To give pleasure. You see, our normal hosts are quite mindless; they can be thanked only by physical sensation."

"Thank you for agreeing to transport me. Thank you very much."

* "The Only Neat Thing to Do" by James Tiptree, Jr.

¬
==Chapter 1==
During the winter when I was sixteen, I met many different types of people –a boxer, a soldier, a gigolo, a detective, and a yakuza member. They were all NEETs – just different kinds. The term ‘NEET’ occasionally finds itself on the news or in the newspapers, and I thought it merely referred to unmotivated and unemployed youths, but in reality there are actually many different sides to them. There is no all-encompassing reason as to why they remain jobless or fail to attend school.

“The term ‘NEET’ refers to neither ‘useless people’ nor ‘lazy people’.” That is what the detective said to me. “The only difference lies in the rules. While everybody else uses the board to play checkers, we play chess instead.”

“I don’t get it. Doesn’t that mean you’re just getting in the way?” I questioned naively. The detective thought for a moment, pursing her cherry-like lips which eventually gave way to a silent smile.

“I suppose that it would seem that way to those who just want to rush ahead. I understand that society wishes to just group us together and label us; flinging us out into a rubbish dump. I also understand that they wish to point and laugh at us mockingly. Let them laugh all they want. No matter how you argue it, the fact that we are a negative influence on society at large is undeniable."

The detective gazed at her opened hands before raising her head again. This time, her smile was not one of sarcasm and bitterness – but one that was comparable to the rays of sunlight on a freezing day of winter. “We will never laugh at ourselves. Just as earthworms do not fear darkness and penguins are not ashamed of their inability to fly. That is the meaning of living, is it not?”

I couldn’t give her an answer, because I had never thought so deeply about such matters before. Regardless, no matter how many metaphors you use, isn’t the fact that you are all useless people the main point?

However, it was also in that very same winter when I saw my first dead corpse, and when I first assaulted another person. It was the first time in my life that I contemplated about what it means to be alive. I suppose anybody who has witnessed another person forfeit his life and seek death will feel the same way as I have.

Yet, that is a story for much later. For now, I would like to talk about the winter when I first met all these people, and the story of a normal, non-NEET girl.

<center>*</center>

Near the end of November, I met Ayaka for the first time.

After school ended on Tuesday, I sat on the water tower on the roof of the southern campus, and stared blankly at tall buildings far away. Normally once school ends, I would go to the computer lab and focus on club activities that only need one person. But on afternoons with computer lessons, there are a lot of students remaining to play on the computers that they usually don’t have access to. I am unable to bring myself to walk in just like that, so I end up coming up to the roof to waste time every Tuesday and Thursday. Staring at the computer lab on the second story of the northern campus, I gave off a lot of "Get lost already!" waves, and sighed as I looked at the streets below.

The streets of the city I currently live in can be divided into two colors, while the long thin river that flows like the artery of a patient is the divider of the colors. The side closer to me has rusted roofs of factories, cheap apartments lying side by side, and then there is the high school. I am not sure why, but there are a lot of shrines and graves in this area; My house is also on this side. On the other side is a tall flyover bridge with a highway leading to the capital, a gigantic train station with countless railways, tall buildings packed along complicatedly interweaving roads on the slope, shopping malls and television stations. On sunny days, you can even see the shadow of the government building far away. Tokyo is an amazing place to let boring housings that can be found anywhere in Japan and tall modern buildings co-exist peacefully here.

Looking down from the roof, the train station is like a scene in an advertisement on TV, without realism. Perhaps it's because I don't want to get close to that area? As we can wear our school uniform and straightaway go out to play immediately after school, I heard that our school is rather popular in Tokyo; If the sailor costume has bright colors, it might even increases the attractiveness by around 40%.

That day was a cloudy day, just nice enough that you can closely examine the glass panels of the tall buildings that are normally unclear due to their piercing reflections. Speaking of which, they are just a bunch of glass windows that are cut using similar methods. I always filled those glass squares with colors in my mind, as though I was sketching pixel art.

I've gotten used to killing time like that. I think it's because I'm always transferring schools due to my dad's work. At the beginning of October, when I transferred into my current high school, I joined the Computer Club just because there was no one else active there, and went about my school life without getting noticed by anyone. I've often thought that there's no point in me going to high school, while I couldn't follow the lessons as well.

As I was gazing at the building, I suddenly heard a clattering sound below me, and thus I leaned my upper body outwards to have a look. The water supply tower was set on top of the stair room jutting out from the roof while the sound was that of someone who had climbed up the stairs and opened the door.

"Eh? He's not here?"

I heard a girl's voice. When I carefully leaned forward and peered directly below, she turned around, meeting my gaze.

She had short hair, and strong-spirited eyebrows, in contrast her eyes, which gave off a cute, friendly impression. I felt like I'd seen her before. As I moved to get up, she made an extremely surprised face, letting out a "Wah!", causing me to tumbled down from the water supply tower.

It was lucky that I fell from my feet, but as the backs of my hands scraped roughly against the concrete wall, the first thing she did when we met was to wash my wounds with water from the watering can she had.

"Why would you climb up a place like that, it's dangerous!"

She said while applying plasters on my wound. Being asked such a question, I couldn’t answer her.

“……idiots and something likes high places, after all.”

“You have to play down the ‘idiots’ part when you say that!” <ref>Japanese idiom, idiots and smoke like high places. </ref>

She calmly replied. Although I wanted to escape, I couldn’t do so as my hand was held tightly.

“There, I’m done. Remember not to climb to high places again.” She lightly tapped my right hand that was full of plasters, just like a caretaker who was scolding small children. Then, she said while smiling, “Even though I said all that, I actually climbed it before myself. Seeing the ladder over there really gives you an urge to climb it, doesn't it?”

Anyway, who on earth is this girl? As I can’t recall neither faces nor names of anyone in school, I cannot think of any girl who would talk to me with such a friendly tone.

Suddenly, I saw the yellow badge on her left arm. Although it was quite old and was already somewhat faded, the words ‘Gardening Committee’ could still be seen on it. At that moment, I finally noticed the large number of flower pots arranged by the railings. Does our school even have a Gardening Committee?

“Ah, so you have to climb that high to see the computer lab! Are you that type of person, Fujishima-kun? Those who can’t concentrate when someone else is in the room? The type that people call the artistic type?

The girl held on to the railings, saying all that while looking at the school building opposite of us. I was taken aback.

“——How do you know about that?”

I let out a shout that startled even myself. She turned around to look at me with a look of shock on her face.

“Well, our class is on this side of the third floor, so that's why the computer lab can be seen from there. Besides, Fujishima-kun always sits beside the windows.”

I was found out. Color drained out of my face. How much does this girl know? She doesn’t know that I was drawing naughty pictures on the computer, does she? Wait, that’s not the main point…

“Why do you know my name?”

She raised her arms like a baseball pitcher who was getting ready to pitch the ball. It seemed my question surprised her..

“Don’t you remember me? We’re even in the same class!”

“Huh?”

I started to become anxious. From the time when I transferred to this school, I practically avoided all contact with other people, which is why I can’t remember the names of my classmates.

“It was I who told you where the canteen is and also collected information of World History for you. Even when you were changing clothes during P.E class, I have helped you out!”

“Wa- Wait a minute!”

“That last comment was just a joke~”

Ugh, this girl…

“Although that I thought that you might have forgotten about me, I didn’t really believe that it would really be true…..”

Seeing the girl with tears glistening in her eyes, I can’t help but feel somewhat guilty.

“My name is Ayaka Shinozaki, and I sit just beside you in class. How can you forget about me even like this?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Fujishima-kun, you don’t think that you are a part of class 1-4, do you? You even skipped school during the school festival.

But the school festival was held just a week after I transferred, so I had no other choice but to skip it!

“And you aren’t even wearing the class badge. It's rare for public high schools to have class badges, so it would be a pity if you don’t wear it!”

I didn’t really think it’s a pity, so I lied to her: “ I lost it.”

“Then I’ll lend you mine then, I have some to spare at home.” Said Ayaka while she took off her class badge from her sailor uniform.

“Huh? No, there’s really no need to.”

“Seriously, don’t move.”

She caught me from the back when I was trying to escape. I couldn’t help but freeze and pause my breathing for a moment. She moved her hands to the front of my blazer and put on the class badge on the collar of my blazer. Looking at this from another angle, wouldn’t it seem like she was hugging me from behind? No, wait, I have to calm down.

After what seemed like a very long time, the warmth of her body finally faded from my back.

“Hmm, that’s better.”

She turned me around and nodded with a satisfied look on her face. With a complicated feeling, I lowered my gaze and gazed at the blue and green badge. It was as though an alien thing appeared on my neck. Why did she help me until this extent? I saw many other people who take very good care of transfer students, but it was the first time I saw someone who was ''that'' helpful.

“It is a requirement of the school rules that one must wear a class badge, so don’t you take it off.”

“Why do the schools in Tokyo have so many odd rules…..”

Actually, isn’t it my fault for feeling that Tokyo is a very free place in the first place? One of the many annoying rules is that students must join at least one club. It was all because of these rules that I got into these kinds of troubles.

“If it weren’t for the school rules, you probably would have been in the Going-Home-Club, wouldn't you?”

So? So what?

“But isn’t the Computer Club going to be abolished next year?”

“……Huh?”

“You see, the Third Years are going to graduate soon. I heard that they are going to abolish clubs that have less than two members when they decide the club budgets next April.”

It was the first time that I’ve heard of such an important matter. I thought of the pale, tomato-shaped face of the Computer Club advisor. That guy wants to let the Computer Club close down without saying a thing, huh? No wonder my club activities are so relaxing.

“As I was saying…”

Ayaka suddenly raised her voice, startling me into stepping back half a step.

“I have something to discuss with you. If you accept my conditions…..” Her expression was that of one who made a strong resolution. “I agree to join the Computer Club!”

“……Conditions?”

“Actually, I’m the only member left in the Gardening Club as well.”

Ayaka, who had a triumphant look on her face for some reason, placed the armband on her left arm on my palm. Gardening Club? Isn’t it the Gardening Committee?

“The committee was closed down ages ago. I found this lying around in a cupboard. Isn’t it cool?”

“Not at all.”

“Why do you always say things like that!”

Her whole face flushed red. Why do you have to be so agitated, I don't understand at all.

“Small clubs have to help each other out, isn’t that right?”

<center>*</center>

In the end, I succumbed to Ayaka’s threats and accepted her conditions. We went to the staff room to hand in our application forms, and things were supposed to end just like that. Realizing that I cannot stay at the rooftop alone anymore, I could only find another place to while away time after school. On the way home, I thought to myself: Is the library better or is the restroom exclusive for teachers better?

However, Ayaka walked by my table right after school.

“I’m going to borrow the keys to the rooftop, so you can get the gardening tools first! You know where they are , right? You can find them in the cupboard with “Gardening Committee” on it.”

My classmates’ gazes fluttered between Ayaka and I, who was busy putting away my books.

“Am I not just a ghost member?” I started to say.

“…..A ghost member?” With her face pale, Ayaka turned away and covered her mouth. “Th- That’s right, I’m so sorry. I- I was just too excited, and that confused me for a moment.”

It looked like tears could pour out of her eyes at any moment. My classmates’ gazes pierced through me, as though it was I who made Ayaka cry…… No, it ''was'' I who made her cry. Anyhow, this situation is just terrible.

“Erm, uh, wait a sec!”

“Fujishima-kun, you’re busy with your activities at the Computer Club, right? I’m really sorry for bothering you.”

“O- Of course not——”

“Aren’t you going to complete your drawing of the girl on the computer soon? You just haven’t added the dress yet, right?”

“UWAAAAAAHHHHH!”

I hastily covered Ayaka’s mouth.

“Alright, alright! I got it. I’ll help you then.”

“…… Really?” The tears vanished from her face in a flash. “Thank you so much!”

She stuck out her tongue, as though it was just a prank just now. Arrggh, this girl…

“Aya-chan, there's a new member in your club?”

A female classmate asked while giving me a suspicious look.

“Oh, yes. That’s why we have more horsepower now. You can ask him anything about plants!”

My classmates exchanged looks.

“Oh, yeah!” a male classmate raised his hand. “There’s a lot of mold on the washroom sink, please think of something to help.”

“Mold isn’t even a plant!” exclaimed Ayaka.

“No, it should count as a plant, shouldn’t it?” “Differentiating organisms by animals or plants is already outdated!” “Aren’t the ones in the washroom moss?” “Lichen are definitely not plants!” “The ones in the Biology Club, shut up.” “But it's growing really quickly.” “Looks like a person's face.” “Seriously?”

The guys started to discuss the topic with vigor. What is wrong with this class? After about twenty minutes of discussion, Ayaka ended up getting a mold spray to clear it away. I hastily stopped Ayaka, who was about to dash into the men’s washroom.

“……Allow me!”

My classmates probably feel sorry for me for having to clear away the mold that have spread on the whole wall. A few of them came in to give me a hand. The washroom soon stank of the pungent odor of chlorine.

“Fujishima, it was hard on you……”

They started to pity me.

“Of course, Shinozaki is not bad too.” “Not a bad person.” “Yeah.”

I nodded tiredly while scrubbing the wall vigorously with a sponge.

I suddenly noticed that it was the first time my classmates called me by my name. Even so, I just stammered, unable to even answer them properly.

<center>*</center>

“Let’s have a welcome party! My treat!”

She said that evening as we were carrying the orchid plants indoors.

“I work part time at a ramen store, so I can give you a discount.”

I thought to myself: How rare for high school girls to work part time.

“As I often went there, I became a part time worker in the end. There are many interesting customers as well. Do you want to go with me?”

“Why——”

Thinking that I would have to see Ayaka’s tearful face if I refuse her, I nodded reluctantly. After keeping the tools in the cupboard and returning the keys to the staff’s office, I walked out of the school entrance with her.

After learning that I haven’t even gone across the Shuto Expressway, she was astonished.

“But don’t you live just nearby?”

“Well, I’ve just moved here recently, and there’s a lot of people at the station, so I didn’t really feel like going. Besides, I don’t even have a reason to go there.”

“Don't you usually go to bookshops or record stores?”

I nodded. Usually, I would just buy books or records that I want online, as I might not find the things that I want even if the actual shops are big.

“Is that so? But the shop that I’ve just mentioned is very far from the station. The ramen isn’t really that good, but the ice-cream there is extremely delicious, so it’s still very famous.”

“Then just start an ice-cream shop instead…”

“Try not to say that to Min-san, or you’ll get ramen served with ice cream.”

Min-san would probably the owner of the ramen shop. Is he Chinese?

Ayaka walked a bit faster than me. Seeing her happily prancing around, I was extremely mystified. Where did it went wrong? How did it turn out like this? Why is she so nice to me?

When we were crossing the bridge, a large delivery truck passed by, spraying dust on us. After entering the streets, we walked passed the Shuto Expressway viaduct and towards the station. Then, we went along with the crowd and entered the south side of the underpass and exited it through the east side.

We walked back to the surface in the direction of the railways. After we passed by a tramp’s tent in a park, we found the ramen shop in a dark alley unreached by streetlights. On the first floor of the building that had both shops and lodgings, only the signboard that says ‘Hanamaru Ramen’ had any light on it. The customers gathered around the shop looked like bugs attracted to a bug zapper.

The interior of the ramen shop was very cramped. Most of the space in the shop was taken up by the kitchen, while only five tables were in the shop. The other customers could only dine outside on a steel chair. There were even some customers who were sitting on turned over beer crates, eating their ramen while holding the bowl.

“You can just sit wherever you like.”

After saying that, she entered the shop. Although she told me to sit wherever I like, the problem is the chairs and beer crates are already fully seated.

I saw a man sitting on the emergency staircase between a building and another one that Ayaka just went in, located by the entrance of the kitchen. Beneath the stairs, there were stacks of worn tires, small gas tanks and some cardboard boxes full of stains.

When he raised his head, I couldn’t help but take a step back. The man was about twenty and had darkish skin. It was already November, but he was just wearing a T-shirt, completely showing off his bulging biceps. On the moment that he stared at me, I even thought that I would get killed.

“Are you a student of M High School?”

“Nonono, I’m still in middle school. Do I look that much like a high schooler?” I lied for no reason at all. He put down his bowl and said:

“Really? There's a teacher teaching Maths, Fukumoto-sensei. Does he still have any hair left?”

“No, a lot of his hair has already dropped o……AHHH!”

He approached me and flicked my forehead. The pain made me feel as though it bore a hole on my forehead.

“…… Uuuuuu…… That’s too despicable of you. Since you’ve graduated from our school, why don’t you say so in the first place!” I, myself, don’t understand why I feel that he is despicable (It was obvious from my school uniform that I’m from M High School, its my problem for lying). I covered my aching forehead and crouched down while moaning. On that moment, a voice rang behind me:

“He didn’t graduate. This guy was kicked out of school: a drop out. Here, eat this.”

When I turned my head, I saw a young lady in a gray, sleeveless vest standing behind me. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and you could see a white sarashi<ref>A cloth used to bind one's chest</ref> around her chest. She looked just like a laborer. It was only because of the black apron with ‘Hanamaru’ printed on it in white that I realized that she was from the shop. Does that mean that she is Min-san? So she’s a woman!

The thing that Min-san just stuffed into my hands was a paper cup filled with ice cream.

“Master, I’ve told you many times already, I was not kicked out. I dropped out myself.”

“Say that after you’ve clear your tab, you bum.”

“Babies are jobless when they are born too! It’s just that they are tainted in the large bathtub called life after that!"

That would be colorless, not jobless. <ref>In Japanese, jobless and colorless have the same pronunciation (Mushoku)</ref> But Min-san doesn’t seem wanting to reply him, but instead turned around and went back into the kitchen that was filled with white smoke. I held the paper cup with the ice cream and just stood there in a daze for quite some time.

“Hey, you there!” the person who was kicked out of school called me. As soon as I turned around, I hastily covered my forehead.

“What are you so nervous for! So you’re in first year now, huh?” He said while looking at my class badge. “How many fails did you get in your test?”

“Huh?”

Why on earth are you asking me something like this?

“Fujishima-kun, don’t chat with Tetsu-senpai for too long, you’ll get the NEET virus!”

Ayaka, who wore her black apron over her school uniform, said while walking out of the kitchen with a tray full of bowls. The dark skinned guy —— Tetsu-senpai gnashed his teeth, but only pretended to flick Ayaka’s forehead. This is just plain preferential treatment! Ayaka stuck out her tongue, and started to serve the customers outside the shop.

“Oh, just answer me already! Your face is that of one who fails a lot since first year.”

Although I thought that he was a busybody, what he said was still the truth. I could only answer in a small voice: “ I need to retake my English and Japanese History.” Tetsu-senpai caught hold of my arms while beaming, forcefully dragged me to a gas tank and made me sit down.

“Actually, the seats here are specially for NEETs. You have the potential to be a NEET, so if you drop out, feel free to come here! We will always welcome you.”

“No, please don’t expect that of me.” We? Are there anyone else who’s with him?

“Why? I can start from teaching you how to choose pachinko machines! Also, I know some of the employees quite well, so I know which one has the highest frequency of hitting the jackpot!”

When I had a closer look, I saw some magazines about pachinko gambling stashed in Tetsu-senpai’s hind pocket. Whoa, so this guy is a professional pachinko player. What a useless person. I averted my gaze, and started to eat the ice-cream using a wooden spoon. Basking in the evening sun of this late autumn and savoring the delightful aroma of the ramen soup while eating ice cream is indeed exceptionally scrumptious.

The second person of the ‘we’ that Tetsu-senpai spoke of appeared when I was eating roast pork noodles. He suddenly pressed a hard object against the back of my head and said: “Don’t move. Throw away your weapon, raise your hands, declare your name and unit.” I almost spitted the roast pork out of my mouth.

“Erm…… Err…… But……” If I raised my hands, the roast pork will fall down!

“Major, you are so slow. Stop doing idiotic stuff and sit down.”

Tetsu-senpai said while stirring his vanilla flavoured ice cream and caramel sauce.

“But he’s sitting on my seat! Who is this fellow?”

“Narumi. He’s in the same club as Ayaka.”

“Hiro-san said that he’s coming later too, there won’t be enough seats then.”

“Hiro can just sit on Narumi’s thigh.”

“Oh, I see.”

What do you mean you see?

The guy called Major then walked into my field of vision. He wore a dark green and coffee-coloured camouflaging sports attire, a sturdy looking helmet, and a pair of sunglasses shaped like goggles. He was somewhat thin and his skin was a beautiful shade of pink that belongs to primary school students. He actually looked about my age. While putting away the model gun (Well, I think it might be a model gun, but what if it’s a real gun?) into his khaki backpack, he looked at me and said:

“But isn’t this guy a high schooler? He doesn’t fit the description of a NEET.”

“Don’t worry, he’s my kouhai. He’ll become a great NEET after a year or two.”

“I definitely won’t become a NEET!” I protested hastily. Through his goggles, Major glared at me and sat on a cardboard box.

“In this era when there are about a billion NEETs in our country, NEET-in-waitings like you are necessary, are they not? The future of our country sure is dark.”

“……in waiting?”

In bewilderment, I asked him what did he mean by that. Major pointed at me and started to chatter enthusiastically:

“Speaking of which, do you know the how a NEET is defined? The term ‘NEET’ was originally used on people who are between the ages of 16 and 18 and are not in education or employment. When the word came to Japan from England, its meaning changed to include people from 15 to 34. As a lot of types appeared after that, they were even classified into an active type and a passive type, a sudden type, challenged type, caveman type and hesitating type. Besides that, there were also some attempts to classify them using three-dimensional coordination to divide them into eight quadrants, but they are actually just meaningless classifications to me.”

“Mukai-san, sorry for the wait.”

Ayaka served Major his salt-flavoured ramen. It looks like Mukai is Major’s real name.

“I’m so sorry, Fujishima-kun, there would be less customers after a while.”

I tried to give Ayaka a ‘justfindanexcuseformetoleavethisseat’ signal, but she didn’t get it. Major sipped some soup and continued:

“NEETs were originally just a cultural illness of reliance, and will only appear in a prosperous country like ours. We should be more proud of NEETs! Love the country that strives to produce NEETs, for world peace, we must stand up! We must find more non NEET-in-waiting elites, learn from each other , form a new Japanese Party, and bravely challenge the evil! Grow, NEETs! Grow like blazing fire! NEETs!”

“So noisy! Just shut up and eat your noodles!”

Min-san’s furious outburst echoed from the kitchen, and a small frying pan flew out of the kitchen soon after, landing on Major’s head.

“Huh? What’s with that guy?”

A male voice rang in the alley, and a tall silhouette appeared at the end of the alley.

A young man daringly wearing a brightly colored coat with khaki jeans was standing at the end of the alley. His occupation was a mystery, but he radiated the aura of a professional person. His aura was different from what Tetsu-senpai had, but they have the same imposing manner. That man approached, almost causing me to fall off the gas tank.

“He’s Ayaka’s friend. See, he’s from M High School.” Said Tetsu-senpai. “Oh? Oh——”That man patted my shoulders and said:

“There was a time when Tetsu was wearing this uniform too!”

He shot a look at the narrow kitchen back door and sat down beside Tetsu-senpai. I started to get confused. Aren’t the seats here just for NEETs?

“Hi, nice to meet you. Here’s my card.” He took a piece of card out of his pocket and handed it to me. He ''is'' a working person! While thinking so, I took the card, on the card it was printed:

‘NEET - Hiroaki Kuwabara’

…… Huh? I nearly fainted at that moment.

To reconfirm the world that I live in, I breathed in deeply and looked at my surroundings. Tetsu-senpai was eating ice cream, Major was eating salt-flavored ramen. Ayaka was busy washing bowls in the smoky kitchen, Min-san was having a battle royale with flames. Looking at the night skies in this autumn, the only person who found something wrong was me.

“Is…… Is your job a NEET?”

I asked cautiously. Hiro-san showed me a smile worthy of a toothpaste advertisement while saying:

“What are you talking about? A NEET isn't an occupation!”

Well, that’s true. As I was about to nod, Hiro-san’s next comment completely devastated me.

“Being a NEET is a lifestyle.”

He actually said that it was a lifestyle? I almost cried. Hiro-san, with his eyes narrowed while pushing back his hair, was meaninglessly handsome. What on earth is with these people?

“Did you make these cards before this, Hiro?”

“Well, its quite convenient while flirting. People always laugh when they see it.”

“Didn’t I tell you that you’ll make your girlfriend angry like this, and that you shouldn't flirt with other people so much?”

“Ah, I broke up with her already. I’m now living at the house of a lady working at a night club. Making it clear that I’m jobless from the start makes my life much easier!”

So Hiro-san is a gigolo! Well, he did say that it was a lifestyle.

I listened to their conversation at the sidelines while drinking the ramen soup, but I didn't really notice its taste. From their conversation, I gathered that they were about 18 to 19, and are supposed to be teenagers who have bright futures.

I vaguely thought to myself: would Tetsu-senpai’s words that I’ll turn out like them soon come true? I could only hope that this won’t be true.

After we finished eating the ramen, and were enjoying the ice creams (Tetsu-senpai was already eating a second), extremely noisy rock music suddenly blared in this narrow space. It was ‘Colorado Bulldog<ref>Song by the band Mr. Big</ref>. The three immediately sprang up, took out their cellphones that were almost simultaneously playing the same ringtone.

Tetsu-senpai picked up the call first, then Major and Hiro-san’s phone immediately stopped ringing. An expression that looked very much like regret appeared on their faces.

“Min-san, Alice has an order for you! Onion ramen, without ramen, roast pork and egg.”

Doesn’t that mean that there's only leeks left? I thought to myself. After three minutes, the bowl that Min-san took out did look like there was only leeks and soup.

“Tell this to her clearly, we sell ramen.” Min-san said with a sour expression on her face.

The leeks floating in the soup looked like islands in a sea of soup. Tetsu-senpai, Major and Hiro-san looked at each other.

“The problem is, who’s gonna take it to her?” said Tetsu-senpai.

“Does Alice seem like she’s in a bad mood?” asked Hiro-san.

“Definitely.”

“Are you guys taking it to her?” me asking this question was a sign of doom. Tetsu-senpai nodded, and then slapped his kneecap.

“Since there’s four people here, lets decide by a Yamanote Line game<ref>Originally, it’s a game where the each player tells the name of a station that the Yamanote Line can reach. Here, they will say things that are related to the topic given</ref>, the one who loses sends it.”

Four people?

“So what’s the topic?”

“Lets use “Brochures commonly found at employment agencies” then.”

“Okay, but there’s only one chance when you can’t answer.”

“Wa- Wait a minute, did you count me in?”

“Okay, lets start from me. ‘ Guide to a Laborer’s Insurance’.”

“ ‘Searching for your Dreams from Thirty-two’.”

“ ‘Discover your Talents in Two Minutes’.”

“Ah, uh, erm……”

“Narumi, that’s your first loss. ‘How to Resign Favorably’.”

“ ‘Starting Your Business From A Computer’!”

“ ‘Guide for Blending in your New Workplace’.”

“…… How on earth would I know any of those!”

“Ah, getting angry are you? Narumi, as long as you’re a NEET, you’ll have to know about these! Going to an employment agency but coming back without doing anything, this is a route that all of us must take.”

No, the problem is I’m not a NEET.

“If you lose you’ll have to admit it, loser.”

“Don’t mind it, Narumi, it isn’t embarrassing that you don’t know about these.”

“Well, of course! Don’t console me!”

“But you still have to send over the ramen!”

Unable to retort, that was how I fell into their trap.

The place that I was supposed to send the ramen was in the same building as the ramen shop, but on the third floor, room 308. As they said: “You’ll know when you go.” There was a large signboard on the door.

‘NEET Detective Agency’

The words were written with a somewhat cute handwriting, and there were a row of mystifying English words.

It’s the only NEET thing to do

My mind had already gone numb after the events that I’ve gone through today, so I won’t be surprised even if I see a NEET being a detective. I used the corner of the tray that held the ramen to press the electric bell, and the side camera modified into the electric bell flashed blue. According to Tetsu-senpai, that was the sign for ‘Come in’.

After opening the door, I saw that it was a long single room. As the air-conditioner was going strong, it was even colder than outside. Walking past the fridge, kitchen and washing machine in the corridor, a narrow room could be seen. As there were not any partitions in the room, a computer rack could be seen even from the entrance, while countless monitors filled the walls of the room.

“Your ramen is here……”

“Please enter.”

The voice of a young girl rang from inside of the room.

While holding the tray,I walked into the room. This room is really quite something. Three sides of the walls were covered with unknown machines, liquid plasma monitors and electric cables, while the small space left —— the floor in the middle of the room, was filled with a mattress. As though she was buried in dolls, the silhouette wearing pajamas turned around.

[[Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 037.jpg|thumb|''She looked just like a doll.'']]

She looked just like a doll. She had a small face, a pair of large eyes that were in contrast with her face, unbelievably white skin, thin limbs, sleek hair flowing on the sheets, and was wearing pale blue pajamas with pictures of cartoon bears on it. I held the tray and stared at the girl.

The girl shifted the table that the keyboard was on aside, and pulled to her bed another long table that was just like those small tables that were used with the mattresses in a hospital.

“What are you standing there for? I ordered leek ramen. I don’t remember ordering a high school student-shaped ornament.”

“Ah, um…… Where should I put the ramen?”

“Since you're standing so far away, do you think that my arms seem like they’re long enough that I can take the bowls from your hands?”

I was scolded by her. But I do not even feel angry or surprised anymore. I placed the tray on the table in front of the girl. She took the disposable chopsticks, looked at it for awhile and breathed in deeply. Her small face was full of determination while the hands holding the tip of the chopsticks were applying force on it. But when the chopsticks were dragged into a ‘人’ shape, it just shook but did not separate. How little strength does this girl have?

“…… Would you like me to give you a hand?”

The cute girl wearing the pajamas was visibly glaring at me.

“It seems that you’re the type that sees a frail bird that couldn’t fly, tosses them upwards and sink in your own satisfaction after that, are you not? These type of people are the most useless of them all. When you walk away triumphantly, the bird would fall back down on the asphalt road and die, but you won’t even know that. Being dumb really should have a limit.”

It’s just a pair of disposable chopsticks, why am I scolded like this? But I did not retort her. Again, she breathed in deeply and applied force to separate the chopsticks.

Thwack.

The chopstick on the right has split into two. This is the most common result. She emotionlessly stared for awhile at the chopsticks with unequal length, and then started to cry. Hey, don’t cry!

She used the back of her hand to wipe away her tears, and started to eat the leek ramen(that pretty much has only leeks in it). As I was thinking of this, she started to glare at me again and said: “Your interests are really out of my comprehension. Does silently watching people eat make you happy?”

“Ah, so- sorry.”

When I was about to walk out of the room, this time she said: “Where do you think you're going? If you are gone, who will dispose of the bowls? You should really think about this.” I scratched my head, and having no other choice, I squatted down at the entrance with my back to the mattress.

While listening to the girl wearing pajamas eating the onions, I mulled over the things that happened today. I'm just here because I couldn’t refuse Ayaka’s request…… Then, I encountered a lot of stuff. I'm really tired. As I was about to drift into sleep, the girl’s voice rang out yet again.

“Narumi, I’m done. Get some beverages for me from the fridge.”

Startled, I turned back to face the girl.

“Eh, huh?”

“I said, get me something to drink from the fridge. Falling asleep even in someone else’s house, you really are shameless.”

Who are you to say that about me? But still, I followed her instructions as I did not have the energy to retort. After opening the fridge, I found that it was stuffed full of 350ml red cans, and nothing else. I thought that all of them were Coke, but they were actually all [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_Pepper Dr. Pepper]. I don’t even have the energy to say anything anymore. The girl drank all of the Dr. Pepper that I brought her in one breath, and happiness welled out from her face. Seeing that expression made me feel that I could forgive everything.

“When God was creating the world, it was because He drank Dr. Pepper that He took a rest on the seventh day. If Dr. Pepper does not exist, there would be twelve days in a week instead of seven.”

“Is that so?”

“Narumi, you should drink it too! I can’t give you the ones in my fridge, but I can tell you where you can get them.”

So you're not giving them to me?

“…… Wait!” That was when I realized: “Why do you know my name?”

Was it when she was talking to Tetsu-senpai on the phone? No, at that moment Alice was just ordering her leek ramen, and she hung up right after she ordered. There wasn’t any time for them to say my name.

“Fujishima Narumi, sixteen, male, 164cm tall, weighs 51kg, in class 1-4 of M high school……” She fluently spoke of all of my personal information —— address, phone number, educational background, and family background. I was speechless.

“Ayaka said that there was a new club member, so I just did a little investigation. There is so much information in your school, but so little protective measures, so it’s better if you be more careful.”

At a loss of words, I looked at the wall formed of computers.

“…… Are you a hacker?”

“I’m not a hacker.”

The girl smiled while shaking her head.

“I’m a NEET detective.”

The detective said, Alice was partly her real name, and partly an alias.

“Yuuko can also be read as Alice <ref>有子is read as Yuuko, but 有can be read as ari, 子 can be read as su</ref>. The name Alice was taken from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tiptree,_Jr. James Tiptree's] real name.”

“Who is she?”

Alice sat on the mattress while hugging her knees, looking at me as though she was looking at an idiot.

“She’s a novelist! Didn’t you see the signboard at the door? Although I changed a letter, it was quite a famous quote! Haven’t you read of it before?”

I cocked my head, thinking of the English words on the signboard.

“The detectives that you speak of…… Don’t they just accept other people’s requests and investigate various cases?”

“I am not an ordinary detective, but a NEET detective. They are as different as Chofu and Den Enchofu, mind you. An ordinary detective asks around for information, monitors other people, all in all going here and there to search for information and find their target. NEET detectives, on the other hand……”

Alice puffed out her chest, turned around to the wall covered with machines and waved her hands.

“Do not need to leave their rooms even a step, but can search the whole world to find out the truth. You probably just think that I’m just a hikkikomori who’s overly reliant on the Internet, huh? You don’t need to lie.”

“Erm….. Yeah.”

“Hmph, that’s because the common man cannot understand the work of a detective. A detective is the messanger of the deceased, looking for the words lost from their graves, hurting the living for the sake of protecting the honor of the deceased, and condemning the dead for the sake of consoling the living. That is why this is such an unpopular and misunderstood occupation……
Is your expression questioning that why am I, as a hikkikomori, am saying all these?”

“No, my expression shouldn’t be that obvious.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But you look like you have something to say. Don’t worry, just ask! Because of my occupation, I am already used to never ending questions. And I will let you fall into despair very quickly.”

…… Despair?

I don’t really have anything much to ask, just that I’m a bit shocked by the endless chatter of this strange girl, Alice. But in this situation, it seems that I need to ask a question. Looking around the room that looks like a control room, I asked the question that was the most confusing to me.

“You…… What do you usually eat? Do you always eat those stuff?”

Alice’s round eyes became even rounder.

“This trivial matter is the first thing that you thought of?’’

“…… I think that what we eat is very important.”

“Yes, you are correct. You are also an oddball, different from what Ayaka has said.”

Alice narrowed her eyes while looking at me, as though she was smiling.

“To obtain the nutrients essential for my body, drinking Dr. Pepper would suffice. But Min-san is very persistent, so sometimes I eat some vegetables as well.”

“So that’s why you don’t grow……”

“Where did your biased opinion that only tall people are good come from? I can list out fifty advantages for being a shorty and disadvantages of being tall, if you are willing to have a debate, I am always ready to accept the challenge.”

“No, sorry.”

I was just thinking about her height, which resulted in me mumbling to myself and getting heard.

“So do you depend on Min-san for your daily life?”

Alice raised her eyebrows.

“You’re really impolite, you know. I’ve already said that I’m a NEET detective, a NEET detective is an occupational detective! I have an actual income, and pay her for everything.”

“Eh, eh, but aren’t you a NEET?” aren’t all NEETs jobless?

“You misunderstood NEETs from a fundamental level. The second E in NEET is Employment, being employed by someone. My occupation is a personal enterprise, so I’m not employed. How other people view that depends.”

How other people would view.

“…… Lifestyle huh?”

“In Hiro’s life, that is so. Turgenev might say call it the ending of an illusion, Dostoyevsky might call it hell, William Somerset Maugham might call it reality, while Haruki Murakami might call it self. I use another name for it, but anyhow it’s unrelated to the matter of income.”

I have absolutely no idea what she is talking about, but the fact that the pajamas-clad girl earned money by being a detective is somewhat unbelievable. Which reminds me, she seems to be familiar with the usage of computers and the Internet.

“Your expression tells me that you don’t believe me. No matter, another man would come here in a moment to request for my investigation, you’ll probably believe it after you’ve heard it.”

“…… Huh?”

At that moment, the doorbell rang as she had predicted. I turned around and looked at the door.

“Open the door.”

“Me?”

“It would be nice if the agency adds some other way to welcome guests besides the blue lights.”

As I walked to the entrance to open the door, I froze as there were three men outside the door. The young man in the middle was wearing a leather coat and looked slightly older than me, but his expression was like that of a wild wolf. Among the other two who were flanking his sides, one was a man having muscles like a rocky mountain, the other was tall like an electric pole. Both of them were wearing the same gray hoodie.

“Who is this guy? Where’s Alice?”

The wolf said. It was as though I was pierced by his sharp gaze, my lips trembled and I was unable to speak. At this moment, Alice’s voice came from inside the room:

“Oh, Yondaime, please come in.”

The two people behind the man who was called Yondaime said: “We’ll wait here.” And then I was dragged into the room. After the door was closed, the two men disappeared from my field of vision. At the moment when I was closing the door, I felt as if I was glared at, and my hands holding the door handle trembled.

“Narumi, get another can of Dr. Pepper.”

Alice’s voice finally peeled my hands off the door handle.

“Hey, who is that guy? Aren’t we going to talk about the job?”

When I handed the Dr. Pepper to Alice, Yondaime who was sitting beside the matress used his chin to point at me, and then turned around and said to me: “You, get out for a moment.”

“Eh?”

Telling me to go outside the room to become best friends with the two bear-like bodyguards, and wait for you to finish discussing? What are you talking about!

“Yondaime, just imagine that there’s a high school student-shaped ornament here, relax and start the discussion.”

“Hey, Alice, are you joking? You should know that this isn’t something that you can let outsiders know!”

“It doesn’t matter, Narumi is only my assistant for today, I can guarantee that he will not speak of this to anyone else.”

I don’t even know when I’ve become an assistant.

“That's not the point.”

“If you’re so insistent, why don’t you talk so that outsiders wouldn’t understand? Your job has a lot of jargon anyway. If you would not want then, you can just give the request to some other people.”

An awkward expression appeared on Yondaime’s face and he used his foot to kick the bedstead. Finally, he sighed and started to talk.

Indeed, I could not understand a thing, it was all a bunch of unknown nouns and verbs that you couldn’t understand. The ones that I could barely understand “deal with him when we catch him”, are the ones that I really don’t want to understand.

“Hmm.”

Alice finished listening to Yondaime’s explanation and finished drinking her second can of Dr. Pepper.

“I understand. Narumi, do you understand what he just said?”

I hastily shook my head.

“Is that so? Basically, someone is doing unknown drug dealing behind Yondaime’s back, so he requested me to help find out about the ways that they deal drugs.”

“What is the use of me talking like that when you explain it to him!” Yondaime flew into a rage. That was quite understandable. I felt somewhat happy and thought: Great, finally someone would teach her a lesson…… “What is with that happy look on your face!” Yondaime’s changed his target of anger to me. I could only retreat to the corridor and hid behind the fridge.

“Well, as I had a big headache this morning, I wanted to enrage the first person who came in to vent my annoyace, whoever it was. Although Narumi was the first person to come in, but for some reason he is quite tolerant of it, and didn’t get angry at all.”

So she did all that on purpose!

“Coincidentally, the next person was you, so I vented my annoyance on you, so don’t mind it. If I did anything wrong, you’ll always get angry, and that’s why I like you the most.”

Alice stretched her legs out of the blanket and smiled sweetly. At this moment, I was totally defeated (Yondaime probably was, too). Yondaime hammered the blanket for some time, tried to say something but then stopped, and then he stood up.

“So are you willing to accept the request?”

“I accept it, so just leave it all to me!”

“I will mail the details to you, goodbye.”

Yondaime walked to the corridor and dragged me out from the fridge. He caught hold of my left shoulder and applied force on it until his thumb almost sank into my body.

“Ah, ouch…….”

“I’ve remembered your face, and will find out your address immediately. Listen closely, you didn’t hear anything just now. Is that clear?”

The wolfish eyes came closer to my eyes, while I could only nod while trembling.

“Answer me!”

“I…… I didn’t hear anything.”

Yondaime tossed me to the ground and walked out of the room.

“Are you alright?”

Alice came over and asked as I was huddled up on the floor in exhaustion. So she can walk? I thought that she had an illness that causes her to die if she leaves her bed.

“I just feel very tired.”

The words popped out of my mouth. That would be my feelings about what occurred the whole day.

“If I didn’t do so, I’m afraid you’ll still think that I’m a hikkikomori who’s over-reliant on the Internet. Don’t mind it!”

“No, I already understand clearly.”

Because of Ayaka, I stepped into an unbelievable world. Drug dealing, detectives and hackers, I had always hoped that these only exist in worlds that I don’t know of.

“You just wanted me to understand your work, so you said nonsensically that I’m your assistant and that I’m tight-lipped……”

“That is not nonsense. You are indeed tight-lipped, I am sure of it.”

I raised my head to look at Alice and saw that she was smiling. Since this is the first time that we’ve met, why does she dare to say so?

“Hey, Narumi. The people who met me, each and every one of them would ask: ''‘Are you really a NEET? Why did you become a NEET?’'', and you are the first one who did not ask me this question.”

Adjusting to my eye level, Alice squatted down.

“Although it might be because you’re thoughtless or uncaring, but I -- we NEETs would be extremely happy. Instead of pitying us, ignoring us would have been better. 'Why did we become NEETs?', this question shouldn’t even be asked. Because there is only one reason – it is written on our page of God’s notebook: ‘We lose when we work.’ There is no other reason.”

“…… God’s notebook?”

“Isn’t this statement so irresponsible that it’s great?”

Placing her hands and chin on her knees, Alice said while smiling:

“What the word NEET really means, is actually not ‘Someone who doesn’t know how to do anything’, and not ‘Someone who doesn’t want to do anything’.”

<center>*</center>

Holding the empty bowl on the plate while walking out of the NEET Detective Agency, I saw that it was already completely dark outside. The starlight could not be seen as it was hidden by the piercing lights on the earth. The ramen shop below had become extremely crowded. Laughter and angry shouts coming from there could be heard even from here.

After I walked down the emergency backstairs, I found Yondaime sitting on the seat exclusively for NEETs that I was sitting on just now. Tetsu-senpai, Major, Hiro-san and Yondaime surrounded the wooden table, and looked like they were doing something together. The clear tinkle of a bell-like sound could be heard even from far away.

“Sou-san! Didn’t you say that you are only playing for five minutes!?”

The bodyguard, Rocky, who was standing behind Yondaime was shouting angrily by Yondaime’s ears.

“Shut up, how can I go back when I’m in a losing streak! Tetsu, hurry up and throw already!”

“Okay, four five and six.”

“Impossible!”

A large bundle of money was on the bowl. So they’re playing a game of dices. Do these four know each other?

“Fujishima-kun, Min-san made a flavored ice cream, do you want to try some?”

Ayaka ran out holding an ice cream cone. While licking the ice cream which was giving out a fragrant aroma, I listened to the dice tinkling along in the bowl. Yondaime was shouting with his whole face red, throwing his cash onto the bowl like a ninja throwing knives. Looking at this situation, I couldn’t help but feel – somewhat happy.

<center>*</center>

On the way home, the streetlights on the street was very dim. Walking in front of me, Ayaka turned around and said:

“I’m so sorry, I did say that I wanted to have a welcome party for you, but coincidentally the shop was busy……”

Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve talked much with Ayaka today at the shop. There were so many customers that even I helped to deliver.

“Oh yeah, did you see Alice?”

“Yeah…… She’s an oddball.” I couldn’t say anything else about her.

“But it was really unbelievable today. There are indeed a lot of interesting people behind the ramen shop, but its rare that all of them were present like today! You’re so lucky, Fujishima-kun.”

“Does that count as lucky?”

Indeed, the people that I met and the faces that I’ve seen today has far exceeded my brain capacity, but I still remembered all of them. Tetsu-senpai, Min-san, Major, Hiro-san, Alice and Yondaime.

“It would be even better if Onii-chan could come.”

Onii-chan?

“After my brother left school, he became a NEET. He usually goes to the ramen shop to hang out with Tetsu-senpai and the others. But recently he didn’t even go home or to the shop. I couldn’t even reach his phone.”

“You can’t really say that all of those who hang out there don’t have a job……?”

A horrible illusion came upon me. Would I turn out like them when I　leave school someday?

Ayaka turned around and said: “Did you ever think of leaving school?”

“Every day.”

Under the streetlight, an inscrutable expression appeared on Ayaka’s face.

“…… Even now?”

I was momentarily speechless. Being unable to immediately answer this question is indeed strange.

Ayaka gazed sincerely at me.

I averted her gaze and lied: “Now…… I don’t want to……. Probably!”

“Is that so.” A gentle smile appeared on Ayaka’s face.

“But I think you have no need to lie right now.”

I stopped walking, speechless, and Ayaka stopped too. Coincidentally, we were standing in the middle of two streetlights, while our shadows interlaced on the asphalt road.

“…… Why?”

I could only say this one word. Why? How did she know that I was lying?

“Because…… That place originally belonged to me.” Ayaka said. “It was because there were no other members that I entered the Gardening Club. So in this case, I’m your senior for about half a year!”

I pondered the reason why Ayaka can smile while saying such a thing. Because she is different from me, and can chat with the other students in our class as if nothing had happened, it seemed as natural as breathing.

Hearing me speak of my true thoughts, she showed me a glass-like small that was even more transparent.

“It’s really simple, you can do it as well. Shout when you’re angry like the others, laugh when you’re happy like the others, and speak your mind when you want something.”

I lowered my head, and thought repeatedly about what Ayaka meant by her words. I still don’t get it. I just felt that her words was like that of a busybody, although its contents completely suits my current situation.

After we crossed the bridge, Ayaka and I said goodbye to each other.

Looking at the silhouette of Ayaka running towards the station, I thought of a scene when she was shouting or laughing like the others. Wasn't she just pushing herself? Does she mean that I should do that as well? Forcing myself to talk to the other students, forcing myself to smile.

I wish that she would not care about me anymore. I just couldn’t do what she said anyhow.

<references/>

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Kamisama no Memochou|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai:Volume5 Amusement Park ~ Vomit Chapter ~

2012-02-25T11:22:14Z

68.34.58.191:

===The Amusement Park ~Vomit Chapter~===

It was 11:30 a.m. when we'd all gathered up again and decided to go get some food at one of the restaurants in the park.

Every single place to eat in here was pretty expensive, and I would've rather just made my own lunch, but it would've been a waste of time, since you aren't allowed to bring any food or drinks in with you.

Anyway, Yozora, Maria, and I decided to get curry, Sena wanted yakisoba, Kobato wanted a hamburger patty set, Yukimura picked plain udon, and Rika ordered mabodofu.

"Hey, what'd you guys all ride while we were gone?"

I asked, to which Yozora replied, "...Nothing," with an unhappy look on her face.

"Nothing?"

"I was reading a book on the bench the whole time."

"Again!?"

"...Shut up. I like reading alone."

Yozora said, as though she were pouting a little bit.

If this is how she was gonna end up, I should've done something with her instead...

"Rika rode the merry-go-round about ten times."

I was surprised as to why Rika would do that.

"T-ten times...? Did you like the merry-go-round that much?"

"No. Honestly, it's a little weird. The feeling you get when you ride it isn't anything special, but it slowly builds up, and right as you think to yourself 'Ah, I can cum like this! Here it comes―― I'm about to cum!' the ride ends. Just three more minutes is all I needed..."

"Just what the hell were you trying to accomplish!?"

"Rika was testing to see whether or not she could use it the same way she uses her adult merry-go-round."

T-this girl is so...

"I managed to get pretty close on my last ride... but in the end, I couldn't do it. As a result, Rika is currently quite sexually frustrated. That is to say, I'm incredibly horny."

All I could do was get creeped out by this gigantic pervert.

"Umm, so Maria, what'd you and Yukimura do?"

"I ate hot dogs!"

Maria answered, full of energy.

"Oh? Did Yukimura buy them for you?"

"Yeah!"

Maria nodded, and then added,

"Also, also~ I had popcorn~, and a crepe~, and a hamburger~, and shaved ice~, and takoyaki~, and ice cream too!"

Just how much did she eat, for God's sake?

"...Was it good?"

"Yeah!!"

I couldn't say anything to that big smile on her face.

"I see... Sorry Yukimura, for making you pay for all that..."

"Do not be absurd. It is an honor to be given the task of accompanying your little sister."

Yukimura said, in his normal tone of voice.

A silver haired little girl eating food from all over the park accompanied by a maid―― I wonder if people who saw them thought Maria was a princess or something.

"Little girls and hot dogs certainly make for a sexy combination, don't they?"

"You can be quiet now."

I quickly retorted to Rika without a moment's delay.

We spent the next few moments talking like that, and before long our food was brought to us.

We all ordered a bunch of different stuff, but I'm glad they brought it all out at once.

"Yay~ curry~! Ahaha, the curry looks just like a pile of po――"

"I may have to kill you depending on how you finish that sentence."

"Po... Poerfectly cooked meat and vegetables!"

"...Good."

After that little exchange, Maria and Yozora began eating their curry.

"Ahaha, this curry is so good! It's so weird how good it tastes when it looks like a pile of poop~!"

"...Maria, I'm going to kill you later."

I followed their lead, and scooped some curry into my mouth.

...It didn't taste good or bad; it was just your typical pork curry. I can't believe this cost me 1,000 yen.

"Kodaka-senpai, you're making a scary face."

Said Rika, dumping tabasco sauce onto her mabodofu.

"Ah, sorry, it's nothing... Wait, isn't that a little too much sauce!?"

The mabodofu Rika had ordered already looked like it was on fire the way it came.

Putting tabasco sauce on top of that gives me the chills.

I looked at her, dumbfounded, and before long Rika's forehead broke out into a sweat.

"Hafuuuu~~ Rika loves a good hot and spicy lunch. Did you know, Senpai? Spiciness isn't a taste, it's actually a form of pain. Ah, the double pain of heat and spiciness! Hawah, it's so hot, it hurts, please give me more pain! Gahh Gahh Haa Haa..."

Rika ate her ridiculously spicy mabodofu with a look of ecstasy on her face.

Sena and Kobato, on the other hand, were fully devoted to devouring their yakisoba and hamburger patty respectively.

Yukimura was expressionless even when eating, slurping each noodle one by one.

...Now that I think about it, this is actually the first time all seven of us have gotten together and eaten out at a restaurant like this.

Although we did eat together over summer break at the training camp.

It kinda feels like we're a group of friends who stopped by a fast food joint or something on the way home from school.

"What is it, Kodaka? That grin of yours is disgusting."

Yozora said, looking at me with one eye half-open.

"I-it's nothing. Anyway, what do you wanna do after we eat?"

"I know!"

Maria threw her hand up energetically.

"Go for it."

"Everything!"

"That's impossible. Let's start with what you want to do the most."

"Ehhh? Ok, let's go to the crepe stand then!"

"That's what you want to do most!? Wait, how much have you eaten today anyway!?"

I was seriously taken aback by her gluttonous appetite.

"? But crepes are really good. Don't you think so too?"

Maria tilted her head in confusion.

"...You can have another snack after three. We've got these free passes, so let's use 'em."

"Hmmm... Ok, then I wanna ride The Black Dragon!"

"Uu..."

I'm guessing everyone remembered the fear from earlier, because they all cringed.

"Let's give The Black Dragon a rest for today... It's too scary. Ok?"

I was looking for some support from the rest of the club members, when all of a sudden,

"W-well, you might've been scared, but I was totally fine! I could ride it one more time no problem! Rather, I want to go ride it again! But I guess I'll skip it if you're all too scared~!"

Sena said, trying to act tough.

...Why can't you ever just be honest about this stuff...

"Hmph... Quit bluffing, Meat. You looked like you were about to die earlier."

A bitter smile rose to Yozora's face, and Sena's stiffened in return.

"Haa? You're the one who was so scared you were shaking like a leaf."

"Wha...!? I-I did no such thing! I was completely fine!"

Now even Yozora's trying to act tough.

"Hmph, I wonder about that. I know you were crying like a little girl when we rode it before!"

"What nonsense... You're the one who was crying, fish meat."

"'Kyaaa.'"

Sena imitated Yozora screaming in a monotone voice, causing Yozora's face to go bright red.

I certainly do think I heard Yozora go "Kyaaa" when we rode The Black Dragon in a normal, girly high pitched voice you'd never have thought would come from her, considering how deep her voice usually is. 

It was so normal for a girl her age, I would've thought it was just one of the other female passengers if it weren't for her and Sena sitting up in front.

"I can still hear your scream perfectly in my head. Your crying voice as you went 'Kyaaa' - 'Kyaaa' - 'Kyaaa!’ - 'Kyaaa, Mommy~' Ahaha, Yozora-chan, you're so c~u~t~e~ when you cry for mommy like a widdle baby! Gyahahaha!"

Sena tried to rile Yozora up with a strangely provocative expression and tone of voice.

"Gh... A-are you sure your memory isn't mistaken? Hmph, I guess that's what you get when you're dealing with a zombie meat woman who's got crap for brains..."

Yozora launched a counterattack, but it's a bona fide fact that she was screaming and crying before, so it didn't have much force behind it.

"Pfffft! Look evwybody, widdle crybaby Yozora-tan is trying to say something! Bhyahya!"

"Kgghh...! Y-you cried too, you stupid Meat!"

"I-I-I-I-I-I didn't cry. What are you talking about!?"

"Hmph, don't lie. Your eyes were red after crying so much when we fell. And besides, I know that you didn't just cry... you also wet your pants a little!"

"W-w-w-w-why do you kno-... A-a-a-as if I did that! Are you retarded!?"

Sena denied it with a beet red face.

Why did she stutter there...?

"Eh... Meat, did you really...?"

Yozora made a seriously creeped out face.

"O-o-o-o-o-of course not! That stupid little roller coaster wasn't scary at all! In fact, it was so boring I wanted to fall asleep! Actually, how do we know that you didn't wet your pants!?"

"Hmph, it hurts watching you make all these excuses, you rotten piece of ammonia-smelling Meat!"

"'Kyaaa.'"

"Agh...!!"

Yozora started trembling all over.

"T-then prove it! Ride The Black Dragon again without getting scared at all!"

"Fine with me! And you're coming with! I'll be so bored on it I'll even have time to take a picture of you bawling your eyes out! You can't make any more excuses once I've got it on film, now can you!?"

"Hmph, very well. That thing is as easy for me to ride as the train to school. I've got no reason to cry on something like that at all!"

"Yozora, weren't you really bad at riding the train when it's crowded?"

I shot out a quick quip at Yozora.

"What was that!?"

"...Nothing at all, ma'am."

I wonder if I can get Yozora and Sena to stop scaring people into silence with that look of theirs.

"...That aside, Meat, did you even bring a camera with you?"

"Heheh, I've been hiding it in this pocket all along."

"? Why would you go out of your way to hide it...?"

"W-who cares about that? It doesn't matter..."

"...?"

Sena hurriedly tried to change the subject as Yozora stood there, honestly confused.

That Sena, she couldn't have been taking peep shots of Yozora today too, right...? ...No, what am I saying, she probably was...

Anyway, that's how we ended up where we are now.

Yozora and Sena both agreed to go ride The Black Dragon again after lunch.

By the way, I firmly refused to join them on their trip, and even Maria, who wanted to ride it again said, "I want to ride it again, but I'd rather be with Onii-chan!" and so, ended up coming with me.

Rika, Yukimura, and Kobato were also tagging along with me.

...I remembered the time we all went to karaoke together while eating my neither good nor bad curry.

☺

The five of us went off to do our own thing after we all finished eating lunch, leaving Sena and Yozora to ride The Black Dragon.

We figured we'd just go with whatever we saw nearby that looked fun.

The first thing we rode was a thrill ride called "The Viking" modeled after a pirate ship. It was pretty big, like everything else in this park, and went up fairly high too.

That said, a big ship that just rocks back and forth is nowhere near as abusive as The Black Dragon. In fact, it actually feels kinda refreshing.

"Ahahahaha~! We're so high up! Look how high up we are~! Being up high is so much fun~!"

Maria was in just as good a mood as she was on The Black Dragon.

"...Senpai, I don't feel too good."

Next to me was Rika, whose face had gone pale.

"Wh- What's wrong!?"

"I... It feels like I'm sea... sick."

"H-how can you get seasick when we're on land!? A-anyway, just hold it in! It's almost over!"

"Uuuu..."

............

......

...Rika managed to hold it in until the ride ended.

...Phew... That was one thrill I didn't see coming...

☺

Next we decided to ride the free fall.

The main idea is simple really, all you do is go up and then it drops you, and honestly speaking, this is the second worst ride for me after The Black Dragon, but I had to ride it since Rika, Maria, and Kobato all said they wanted to.

"Aniki, I wish you the best of luck."

I got strapped in to the seat, and then the lift started to bring us up. 

By the way, there are only four seats per ride, so Yukimura had to go without us on the next one.

We got farther and farther away from the ground, along with an unsettling vibration coming from the lift.

It feels like I'm about to be executed or something.

"Ahahahaha~! We're so high up! Look how high up we are~! Being up high is so much fun~!"

Maria was enjoying herself, as usual.

...So you don't care what it is, as long as you get to go up high, do you?

After we reached the top of the lift, our seats were pushed out away from it―――― and then we fell.

"Nuowamuahhhhh!?"

I let out a pathetic shriek.

"Ahahahahaha!"

Maria was exploding with laughter.

".........!"

Kobato had her eyes shut tight.

"Fuck you, gravity! Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck!!"

Rika switched into her other weird personality I saw back on The Black Dragon.

By the way, the “fucks” above ↑ were all said within about a second.

As we waited at the exit for Yukimura, Rika murmured something with a dead look in her eyes.

"...This isn't something civilized people enjoy. The only ones who can ride that thing and enjoy it are savages."

"Ahahahaha, that free hole was super fun~! Going up high and then falling was so fun~! Hey~ hey~ Onii-chan, wanna ride it again!? Do you!?"

"Shut your mouth, you damn dirty savage!!"

"Gyaahhhhh!?"

Rika looked pissed as she opened her eyes wide and shouted at Maria.

If I had to say, Rika looks more like the real savage here.

"......Rika is going to live in space when she grows up. Gravity can go eat shit."

"I see. I hope you're happy up there."

"Senpai, come live with me in space."

"No thanks."

"Ehhh~ Come on, let's purge the world of all these Neanderthals and their precious gravity~ We could drop a space colony on them or something~"

"Maybe, if I feel like it."

Yukimura came out of the exit just as I'd finished dealing with Rika spouting nonsense in a voice that sounded like a kid begging his mom for some candy.

He was as expressionless as always, but his eyes didn't seem to have much life in them.

"...Are you ok?"

"...It felt as though I were Rokusuke Keyamura."

"I see... it must've been rough."

...Knowing Yukimura, that was probably the name of some general from the Sengoku Era, but I didn't know the name, so I just gave him a vague reply.

☺

Going on three thrill rides in a row would've been a little bit much, so we headed for the haunted house next.

It was a tiny, Japanese-style mansion sitting by itself in a corner of the park, and the sign board hanging down from it had "Haunted House" written in eerie-looking letters.

We were the only ones there, and hence, managed to get in right away.

This was the first time I'd ever been in a haunted house, but, how to put it, it's even more shoddy than I thought it'd be.

The monsters consisted of chopped off heads, dolls, fairies, etc. that were all so poorly made it was obvious they were fakes. You could see parts of the machines inside them, and hear the gears turn as the neck did on some of them... Seriously, at least make it so we can't see the machines...

Why is there such a huge gap in quality between the amazing rides like The Black Dragon, and the other ones like this haunted house and that costume show?

This is something I only found out later, but apparently this haunted house is one of the few remaining original attractions from about 40 years ago when the park was built, and is due to be renewed soon.

"Hey~ hey~ Why is there a blanket hanging on the ceiling!?"

Maria asked, while pointing up at a piece of white cloth hanging down from the ceiling (the strings holding it were in plain sight).

They probably meant for it to be some kind of ghost or something.

"There's ghosts like that out in the world too... Flying blanket ones I mean."

"Do the sheets that old hag hangs out to dry fly too!? Those were ghosts!?"

"That was probably just the wind. These ones aren't like that, they can fly on their own (I think?)."

"Ehhh? Even though they're blankets!?"

"Even though they're blankets."

"Ahaha~! What the heck? I don't get it at all~!"

Maria was still full of energy, unfazed by the haunted house.

"Kukuku... Although they may indeed be my fellow clansmen of the night, to think they would allow lowly life forms such as humans to control them as such... Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi commands you... Destroy yourselves immediately."

The very second Kobato said that to the woman-shaped doll wearing a kimono in front of her, its head fell right off. 

"Fhyahhh!? An-chaaaann!!"

Kobato came running over, screaming, and then clung on to me.

...I gotta admit, that was some good timing. It even scared me a little bit.

Then it happened, right after I thought that.

Something started pulling on my sleeve from behind.

"...Uoh!?"

I had just gotten startled by that doll, so having the additional shock of getting grabbed from behind made me twitch in surprise.

I turned around, and saw it was a beautiful maid with a pale face grabbing on to me.

...It was just Yukimura though.

"W-what's the matter, Yukimura?"

"I-I'm terribly sorry, Aniki."

Yukimura looked a little flustered before letting go.

"...Did that scare you too?" I asked.

Yukimura nodded, his cheeks a little red.

"Yes, to a most shameful extent... I still have much to learn..."

"I don't think you really have to be ashamed about it... Actually, I'm relieved."

"Relieved...?"

Yukimura looked mystified as he tilted his head.

"Yeah. It's good to see that even you have things that make you panic."

"Aniki..."

Yukimura started staring at me with a blank look on his face.

I accidentally let my heart skip a beat seeing that, and quickly turned away to hide it.

He's cute, but he's a guy, he's a guy, he's a guy...!

"Gfufu... Thank you for the unexpected eye-candy, Senpai, Yukimura."

A disgusting smile rose to Rika's face.

Apparently that doll with the head that falls off was the last thing in the haunted house, because we got out after walking through a dark hallway a little while later.

"Man, that was kind of a letdown!" I said.

"I agree with you completely!" Rika said, with a nod.

"But, I do think that armored soldier's ghost that kept floating in front of us was super high quality. The rest was all retro machine designed stuff, but the way that ghost flew around was in a whole different dimension. In fact, it's kind of embarrassing, but even Rika couldn't tell how they managed to control it. I think it probably used lasers, but I couldn't find anything that looked like a sensor on the walls or ceiling no matter how much I looked~ It's gotta be a pretty detailed system to get it to float in front of us the whole time like that~ I kinda wish I could've figured out the trick~"

She was talking as though she didn't really care one way or the other, but I could tell that she actually was frustrated she couldn't figure it out.

My reaction to that cute junior of mine who surprisingly hates losing was as follows:

"..................T-there was a ghost in there...?"

I think our genius inventor, Rika Shiguma, might be able to see into the other world.

I left the haunted house with a cold chill running down my spine.

☺

After the haunted house, we did three more thrill rides: the coffee cups, the swings, and go karts before getting on the Ferris wheel.

"Uohhh! This is super high~! Being up high is so fun~!"

...Maria must really like high places.

Maria generally liked every attraction we went to, but she gets particularly excited whenever we go on one that takes us up high.

The Ferris wheel we were riding right now was called the 'Aurora Borealis', and was one of Yokoshima Wonderland's more famous rides, which isn't surprising, considering that it's one of the biggest in Japan.

It used to boast being the largest attraction out of all of them until about 10 years ago when The Black Dragon stole that position.

That said, it lets you enjoy the view way up high, unlike The Black Dragon, and remains popular to this very day.

"Kukuku... They're like little ants..."

Kobato gave us one of her standard lines as she looked down at the people on the ground.

"Still, you can see how amazing The Black Dragon is when you look at it from up here."

It was easy to tell how huge it was when you looked at it from the top of the Ferris wheel.

It's insane when you think about how you fall from a spot higher than the top of the 'Aurora Borealis' where you can see not only the entire park, but way off into the horizon too.

"...Now that I think about it, I wonder what Yozora and Sena ended up doing."

They were the ones who were supposed to tell us when they wanted to meet up, but I had yet to get a text from either of them.

"Do you think they're still in line?" said Rika.

"Nah, no way that's it."

I looked over at The Black Dragon's entrance.

There were more people than this morning, but even so, it didn't look like more than a 10-20 minute wait.

It's already been two hours since we split up with Yozora and Sena too.

I figured I'd call just to see what was up, but neither Sena nor Yozora answered.

"Do you think they're just too busy arguing with each other to notice?"

"You know, they probably are."

I had to agree with Rika's deduction.

"...Oh well, should we go look for them?"

☺

We headed over to The Black Dragon's entrance area after getting off the Ferris wheel.

It's technically possible that they went over to other attractions, but I really doubt it considering how bad they get along.

I tried calling them again when we were walking over, but, as I'd expected, I didn't get an answer.

While wondering just what the heck they were doing, I started darting my eyes left and right, looking for them as we walked.

And, just a short while later,

"Aniki. I have discovered their location."

Yukimura said in a calm tone of voice, raising his finger and pointing at something.

I looked at where he was pointing, and saw a girl with short black hair sitting next to one with blond hair on a bench about 10 meters away from us.

"Oh, there they are."

We quickly walked over to their bench.

Yozora was there in her boyish clothes, as was Sena in her flashy, but cute ones.

The way they were sitting together, resting on each other's shoulders, made it look like a young boy with black hair was out on a date with his blond-haired girlfriend, flirting with her. Honestly, it looked very picturesque.

...As you got closer though, you could see that was a huge mistake. Their eyes were half rolled back, their mouths were just hanging wide open, they looked like they were sick, and I could even see that their cheeks were stiff, probably from screaming too much.

They looked just like a... zombie couple.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol5_Ch05_Img01.jpg|thumb]]

"...What the hell did you guys do?"

I timidly asked, and they both answered, "Ah, Kodaka..." in a voice that sounded more like a moan than anything else.

"...A-are you guys…?"

"Ughh... My head hurtsh..."

"I feel shick..."

Yozora and Sena both answered in turn, like a pair of zombies.

"What the heck happened...?"

"...We rode it..." said Yozora.

"Rode it...? The Black Dragon?"

They both gave a weak nod.

"Eijht times..."

Sena moaned out a follow up to what Yozora said.

"...? Eight times...? Ummm..."

I told myself there was no way, but asked anyway to be sure.

"...You rode The Black Dragon eight times?"

They both nodded.

Just riding it once was enough to severely damage your mind and body, and here these two went and rode it eight times in a couple hours...

"Are you retarded?"

I stated my honest thoughts to them, which resulted in two pairs of bloodshot eyes glaring at me.

Holy shit, that's scary!

They look like they're about to pass out, but those stares of theirs aren't any weaker than usual. In fact, they're actually scarier.

"...It's because Yozora wouldn't just admit she lost..."

"...It's because Meat wouldn't just go and die already..."

They both glared at each other.

"...So you decided to keep riding until one of you gave up, and in the end you both rode it eight times...?"

They both nodded again.

Sheesh... There's a limit to being a sore loser, ya' know.

"Wow~ So, who won?"

Rika just had to ask, didn't she?

Yozora and Sena then said, while glaring at each other,

"...There isn't a winner yet... Ghh..."

"...Now then... It's about time to start round nine... Uuu..."

Their voices were so deep they sounded like a zombie's moans, but they both managed to stand up, albeit barely.

I have to admit that their iron will to continue the battle no matter how badly they get hurt is admirable, but this is one showdown that just isn't worth the effort.

And I mean, I get the feeling their lives might actually be in danger if they keep this up.

"Give it a rest, you both fought well... Just call it a draw and shake hands, ok?"

"I refuse...!"   "I'd rather die...!"

They both replied instantly.

"This piece of meat is the one thing I'll..."   "Yozora is the one person I'll..."

""Never lose t――

OgEHhhHhHHhHhhhH""

Aaaand they barfed.

Forcing themselves to yell that loud when they were already barely standing caused them both to spectacularly throw up everything in their stomachs at almost the exact same time.

"Ugeh! Eww, they threw up! Nasty!"

Maria said that cold, hard truth without even the slightest hint of tact or consideration.

"Uguah..."   "Uegh..."

They both spent the next little while hunched over, going "guehh guehh" as they threw up.

"A-are you two ok...?"

I was worried about them, but couldn't stop myself from letting out a big sigh.

These two are such a handful.

Anyway, at least this means their little match is over.

...By the way, I was actually standing right in front of them, and as a result, got some of their puke on my clothes......... I want to cry...

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| Return to [[Boku_wa_tomodachi_ga_sukunai|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Boku_wa_tomodachi_ga_sukunai:Volume5_Hot Springs|Hot Springs]]
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</noinclude>

Boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai:Volume5 Amusement Park ~ Vomit Chapter ~

2012-02-23T13:27:58Z

68.34.58.191: /* The Amusement Park ~Vomit Chapter~ */

===The Amusement Park ~Vomit Chapter~===

It was 11:30 a.m. when we'd all gathered up again and decided to go get some food at one of the restaurants in the park.

Every single place to eat in here was pretty expensive, and I would've rather just made my own lunch, but it would've been a waste of time, since you aren't allowed to bring any food or drinks in with you.

Anyway, Yozora, Maria, and I decided to get curry, Sena wanted yakisoba, Kobato wanted a hamburger patty set, Yukimura picked plain udon, and Rika ordered mabodofu.

"Hey, what'd you guys all ride while we were gone?"

I asked, to which Yozora replied, "...Nothing," with an unhappy look on her face.

"Nothing?"

"I was reading a book on the bench the whole time."

"Again!?"

"...Shut up. I like reading alone."

Yozora said, as though she were pouting a little bit.

If this is how she was gonna end up, I should've done something with her instead...

"Rika rode the merry-go-round about ten times."

I was surprised as to why Rika would do that.

"T-ten times...? Did you like the merry-go-round that much?"

"No. Honestly, it's a little weird. The feeling you get when you ride it isn't anything special, but it slowly builds up, and right as you think to yourself 'Ah, I can cum like this! Here it comes―― I'm about to cum!' the ride ends. Just three more minutes is all I needed..."

"Just what the hell were you trying to accomplish!?"

"Rika was testing to see whether or not she could use it the same way she uses her adult merry-go-round."

T-this girl is so...

"I managed to get pretty close on my last ride... but in the end, I couldn't do it. As a result, Rika is currently quite sexually frustrated. That is to say, I'm incredibly horny."

All I could do was get creeped out by this gigantic pervert.

"Umm, so Maria, what'd you and Yukimura do?"

"I ate hot dogs!"

Maria answered, full of energy.

"Oh? Did Yukimura buy them for you?"

"Yeah!"

Maria nodded, and then added,

"Also, also~ I had popcorn~, and a crepe~, and a hamburger~, and shaved ice~, and takoyaki~, and ice cream too!"

Just how much did she eat, for God's sake?

"...Was it good?"

"Yeah!!"

I couldn't say anything to that big smile on her face.

"I see... Sorry Yukimura, for making you pay for all that..."

"Do not be absurd. It is an honor to be given the task of accompanying your little sister."

Yukimura said, in his normal tone of voice.

A silver haired little girl eating food from all over the park accompanied by a maid―― I wonder if people who saw them thought Maria was a princess or something.

"Little girls and hot dogs certainly make for a sexy combination, don't they?"

"You can be quiet now."

I quickly retorted to Rika without a moment's delay.

We spent the next little while talking like that, and before long our food was brought to us.

We all ordered a bunch of different stuff, but I'm glad they brought it all out at once.

"Yay~ curry~! Ahaha, the curry looks just like a pile of po――"

"I may have to kill you depending on how you finish that sentence."

"Po... Poerfectly cooked meat and vegetables!"

"...Good."

After that little exchange, Maria and Yozora began eating their curry.

"Ahaha, this curry is so good! It's so weird how good it tastes when it looks like a pile of poop~!"

"...Maria, I'm going to kill you later."

I followed their lead, and scooped some curry into my mouth.

...It didn't taste good or bad; it was just your typical pork curry. I can't believe this cost me 1,000 yen.

"Kodaka-senpai, you're making a scary face."

Said Rika, dumping tabasco sauce onto her mabodofu.

"Ah, sorry, it's nothing... Wait, isn't that a little too much sauce!?"

The mabodofu Rika had ordered already looked like it was on fire the way it came.

Putting tabasco sauce on top of that gives me the chills.

I looked at her, dumbfounded, and before long Rika's forehead broke out into a sweat.

"Hafuuuu~~ Rika loves a good hot and spicy lunch. Did you know, Senpai? Spiciness isn't a taste, it's actually a form of pain. Ah, the double pain of heat and spiciness! Hawah, it's so hot, it hurts, please give me more pain! Gahh Gahh Haa Haa..."

Rika ate her ridiculously spicy mabodofu with a look of ecstasy on her face.

Sena and Kobato, on the other hand, were fully devoted to devouring their yakisoba and hamburger patty respectively.

Yukimura was expressionless even when eating, slurping each noodle one by one.

...Now that I think about it, this is actually the first time all seven of us have gotten together and eaten out at a restaurant like this.

Although we did eat together over summer break at the training camp.

It kinda feels like we're a group of friends who stopped by a fast food joint or something on the way home from school.

"What is it, Kodaka? That grin of yours is disgusting."

Yozora said, looking at me with one eye half-open.

"I-it's nothing. Anyway, what do you wanna do after we eat?"

"I know!"

Maria threw her hand up energetically.

"Go for it."

"Everything!"

"That's impossible. Let's start with what you want to do the most."

"Ehhh? Ok, let's go to the crepe stand then!"

"That's what you want to do most!? Wait, how much have you eaten today anyway!?"

I was seriously taken aback by her gluttonous appetite.

"? But crepes are really good. Don't you think so too?"

Maria tilted her head in confusion.

"...You can have another snack after three. We've got these free passes, so let's use 'em."

"Hmmm... Ok, then I wanna ride The Black Dragon!"

"Uu..."

I'm guessing everyone remembered the fear from earlier, because they all cringed.

"Let's give The Black Dragon a rest for today... It's too scary. Ok?"

I was looking for some support from the rest of the club members, when all of a sudden,

"W-well, you might've been scared, but I was totally fine! I could ride it one more time no problem! Rather, I want to go ride it again! But I guess I'll skip it if you're all too scared~!"

Sena said, trying to act tough.

...Why can't you ever just be honest about this stuff...

"Hmph... Quit bluffing, Meat. You looked like you were about to die earlier."

A bitter smile rose to Yozora's face, and Sena's stiffened in return.

"Haa? You're the one who was so scared you were shaking like a leaf."

"Wha...!? I-I did no such thing! I was completely fine!"

Now even Yozora's trying to act tough.

"Hmph, I wonder about that. I know you were crying like a little girl when we rode it before!"

"What nonsense... You're the one who was crying, fish meat."

"'Kyaaa.'"

Sena imitated Yozora screaming in a monotone voice, causing Yozora's face to go bright red.

I certainly do think I heard Yozora go "Kyaaa" when we rode The Black Dragon in a normal, girly high pitched voice you'd never have thought would come from her, considering how deep her voice usually is. 

It was so normal for a girl her age, I would've thought it was just one of the other female passengers if it weren't for her and Sena sitting up in front.

"I can still hear your scream perfectly in my head. Your crying voice as you went 'Kyaaa' - 'Kyaaa' - 'Kyaaa!’ - 'Kyaaa, Mommy~' Ahaha, Yozora-chan, you're so c~u~t~e~ when you cry for mommy like a widdle baby! Gyahahaha!"

Sena tried to rile Yozora up with a strangely provocative expression and tone of voice.

"Gh... A-are you sure your memory isn't mistaken? Hmph, I guess that's what you get when you're dealing with a zombie meat woman who's got crap for brains..."

Yozora launched a counterattack, but it's a bona fide fact that she was screaming and crying before, so it didn't have much force behind it.

"Pfffft! Look evwybody, widdle crybaby Yozora-tan is trying to say something! Bhyahya!"

"Kgghh...! Y-you cried too, you stupid Meat!"

"I-I-I-I-I-I didn't cry. What are you talking about!?"

"Hmph, don't lie. Your eyes were red after crying so much when we fell. And besides, I know that you didn't just cry... you also wet your pants a little!"

"W-w-w-w-why do you kno-... A-a-a-as if I did that! Are you retarded!?"

Sena denied it with a beet red face.

Why did she stutter there...?

"Eh... Meat, did you really...?"

Yozora made a seriously creeped out face.

"O-o-o-o-o-of course not! That stupid little roller coaster wasn't scary at all! In fact, it was so boring I wanted to fall asleep! Actually, how do we know that you didn't wet your pants!?"

"Hmph, it hurts watching you make all these excuses, you rotten piece of ammonia-smelling Meat!"

"'Kyaaa.'"

"Agh...!!"

Yozora started trembling all over.

"T-then prove it! Ride The Black Dragon again without getting scared at all!"

"Fine with me! And you're coming with! I'll be so bored on it I'll even have time to take a picture of you bawling your eyes out! You can't make any more excuses once I've got it on film, now can you!?"

"Hmph, very well. That thing is as easy for me to ride as the train to school. I've got no reason to cry on something like that at all!"

"Yozora, weren't you really bad at riding the train when it's crowded?"

I shot out a quick quip at Yozora.

"What was that!?"

"...Nothing at all, ma'am."

I wonder if I can get Yozora and Sena to stop scaring people into silence with that look of theirs.

"...That aside, Meat, did you even bring a camera with you?"

"Heheh, I've been hiding it in this pocket all along."

"? Why would you go out of your way to hide it...?"

"W-who cares about that? It doesn't matter..."

"...?"

Sena hurriedly tried to change the subject as Yozora stood there, honestly confused.

That Sena, she couldn't have been taking peep shots of Yozora today too, right...? ...No, what am I saying, she probably was...

Anyway, that's how we ended up where we are now.

Yozora and Sena both agreed to go ride The Black Dragon again after lunch.

By the way, I firmly refused to join them on their trip, and even Maria, who wanted to ride it again said, "I want to ride it again, but I'd rather be with Onii-chan!" and so, ended up coming with me.

Rika, Yukimura, and Kobato were also tagging along with me.

...I remembered the time we all went to karaoke together while eating my neither good nor bad curry.

☺

The five of us went off to do our own thing after we all finished eating lunch, leaving Sena and Yozora to ride The Black Dragon.

We figured we'd just go with whatever we saw nearby that looked fun.

The first thing we rode was a thrill ride called "The Viking" modeled after a pirate ship. It was pretty big, like everything else in this park, and went up fairly high too.

That said, a big ship that just rocks back and forth is nowhere near as abusive as The Black Dragon. In fact, it actually feels kinda refreshing.

"Ahahahaha~! We're so high up! Look how high up we are~! Being up high is so much fun~!"

Maria was in just as good a mood as she was on The Black Dragon.

"...Senpai, I don't feel too good."

Next to me was Rika, whose face had gone pale.

"Wh- What's wrong!?"

"I... It feels like I'm sea... sick."

"H-how can you get seasick when we're on land!? A-anyway, just hold it in! It's almost over!"

"Uuuu..."

............

......

...Rika managed to hold it in until the ride ended.

...Phew... That was one thrill I didn't see coming...

☺

Next we decided to ride the free fall.

The main idea is simple really, all you do is go up and then it drops you, and honestly speaking, this is the second worst ride for me after The Black Dragon, but I had to ride it since Rika, Maria, and Kobato all said they wanted to.

"Aniki, I wish you the best of luck."

I got strapped in to the seat, and then the lift started to bring us up. 

By the way, there are only four seats per ride, so Yukimura had to go without us on the next one.

We got farther and farther away from the ground, along with an unsettling vibration coming from the lift.

It feels like I'm about to be executed or something.

"Ahahahaha~! We're so high up! Look how high up we are~! Being up high is so much fun~!"

Maria was enjoying herself, as usual.

...So you don't care what it is, as long as you get to go up high, do you?

After we reached the top of the lift, our seats were pushed out away from it―――― and then we fell.

"Nuowamuahhhhh!?"

I let out a pathetic shriek.

"Ahahahahaha!"

Maria was exploding with laughter.

".........!"

Kobato had her eyes shut tight.

"Fuck you, gravity! Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck!!"

Rika switched into her other weird personality I saw back on The Black Dragon.

By the way, the “fucks” above ↑ were all said within about a second.

As we waited at the exit for Yukimura, Rika murmured something with a dead look in her eyes.

"...This isn't something civilized people enjoy. The only ones who can ride that thing and enjoy it are savages."

"Ahahahaha, that free hole was super fun~! Going up high and then falling was so fun~! Hey~ hey~ Onii-chan, wanna ride it again!? Do you!?"

"Shut your mouth, you damn dirty savage!!"

"Gyaahhhhh!?"

Rika looked pissed as she opened her eyes wide and shouted at Maria.

If I had to say, Rika looks more like the real savage here.

"......Rika is going to live in space when she grows up. Gravity can go eat shit."

"I see. I hope you're happy up there."

"Senpai, come live with me in space."

"No thanks."

"Ehhh~ Come on, let's purge the world of all these Neanderthals and their precious gravity~ We could drop a space colony on them or something~"

"Maybe, if I feel like it."

Yukimura came out of the exit just as I'd finished dealing with Rika spouting nonsense in a voice that sounded like a kid begging his mom for some candy.

He was as expressionless as always, but his eyes didn't seem to have much life in them.

"...Are you ok?"

"...It felt as though I were Rokusuke Keyamura."

"I see... it must've been rough."

...Knowing Yukimura, that was probably the name of some general from the Sengoku Era, but I didn't know the name, so I just gave him a vague reply.

☺

Going on three thrill rides in a row would've been a little bit much, so we headed for the haunted house next.

It was a tiny, Japanese-style mansion sitting by itself in a corner of the park, and the sign board hanging down from it had "Haunted House" written in eerie-looking letters.

We were the only ones there, and hence, managed to get in right away.

This was the first time I'd ever been in a haunted house, but, how to put it, it's even more shoddy than I thought it'd be.

The monsters consisted of chopped off heads, dolls, fairies, etc. that were all so poorly made it was obvious they were fakes. You could see parts of the machines inside them, and hear the gears turn as the neck did on some of them... Seriously, at least make it so we can't see the machines...

Why is there such a huge gap in quality between the amazing rides like The Black Dragon, and the other ones like this haunted house and that costume show?

This is something I only found out later, but apparently this haunted house is one of the few remaining original attractions from about 40 years ago when the park was built, and is due to be renewed soon.

"Hey~ hey~ Why is there a blanket hanging on the ceiling!?"

Maria asked, while pointing up at a piece of white cloth hanging down from the ceiling (the strings holding it were in plain sight).

They probably meant for it to be some kind of ghost or something.

"There's ghosts like that out in the world too... Flying blanket ones I mean."

"Do the sheets that old hag hangs out to dry fly too!? Those were ghosts!?"

"That was probably just the wind. These ones aren't like that, they can fly on their own (I think?)."

"Ehhh? Even though they're blankets!?"

"Even though they're blankets."

"Ahaha~! What the heck? I don't get it at all~!"

Maria was still full of energy, unfazed by the haunted house.

"Kukuku... Although they may indeed be my fellow clansmen of the night, to think they would allow lowly life forms such as humans to control them as such... Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi commands you... Destroy yourselves immediately."

The very second Kobato said that to the woman-shaped doll wearing a kimono in front of her, its head fell right off. 

"Fhyahhh!? An-chaaaann!!"

Kobato came running over, screaming, and then clung on to me.

...I gotta admit, that was some good timing. It even scared me a little bit.

Then it happened, right after I thought that.

Something started pulling on my sleeve from behind.

"...Uoh!?"

I had just gotten startled by that doll, so having the additional shock of getting grabbed from behind made me twitch in surprise.

I turned around, and saw it was a beautiful maid with a pale face grabbing on to me.

...It was just Yukimura though.

"W-what's the matter, Yukimura?"

"I-I'm terribly sorry, Aniki."

Yukimura looked a little flustered before letting go.

"...Did that scare you too?" I asked.

Yukimura nodded, his cheeks a little red.

"Yes, to a most shameful extent... I still have much to learn..."

"I don't think you really have to be ashamed about it... Actually, I'm relieved."

"Relieved...?"

Yukimura looked mystified as he tilted his head.

"Yeah. It's good to see that even you have things that make you panic."

"Aniki..."

Yukimura started staring at me with a blank look on his face.

I accidentally let my heart skip a beat seeing that, and quickly turned away to hide it.

He's cute, but he's a guy, he's a guy, he's a guy...!

"Gfufu... Thank you for the unexpected eye-candy, Senpai, Yukimura."

A disgusting smile rose to Rika's face.

Apparently that doll with the head that falls off was the last thing in the haunted house, because we got out after walking through a dark hallway a little while later.

"Man, that was kind of a letdown!" I said.

"I agree with you completely!" Rika said, with a nod.

"But, I do think that armored soldier's ghost that kept floating in front of us was super high quality. The rest was all retro machine designed stuff, but the way that ghost flew around was in a whole different dimension. In fact, it's kind of embarrassing, but even Rika couldn't tell how they managed to control it. I think it probably used lasers, but I couldn't find anything that looked like a sensor on the walls or ceiling no matter how much I looked~ It's gotta be a pretty detailed system to get it to float in front of us the whole time like that~ I kinda wish I could've figured out the trick~"

She was talking as though she didn't really care one way or the other, but I could tell that she actually was frustrated she couldn't figure it out.

My reaction to that cute junior of mine who surprisingly hates losing was as follows:

"..................T-there was a ghost in there...?"

I think our genius inventor, Rika Shiguma, might be able to see into the other world.

I left the haunted house with a cold chill running down my spine.

☺

After the haunted house, we did three more thrill rides: the coffee cups, the swings, and go karts before getting on the Ferris wheel.

"Uohhh! This is super high~! Being up high is so fun~!"

...Maria must really like high places.

Maria generally liked every attraction we went to, but she gets particularly excited whenever we go on one that takes us up high.

The Ferris wheel we were riding right now was called the 'Aurora Borealis', and was one of Yokoshima Wonderland's more famous rides, which isn't surprising, considering that it's one of the biggest in Japan.

It used to boast being the largest attraction out of all of them until about 10 years ago when The Black Dragon stole that position.

That said, it lets you enjoy the view way up high, unlike The Black Dragon, and remains popular to this very day.

"Kukuku... They're like little ants..."

Kobato gave us one of her standard lines as she looked down at the people on the ground.

"Still, you can see how amazing The Black Dragon is when you look at it from up here."

It was easy to tell how huge it was when you looked at it from the top of the Ferris wheel.

It's insane when you think about how you fall from a spot higher than the top of the 'Aurora Borealis' where you can see not only the entire park, but way off into the horizon too.

"...Now that I think about it, I wonder what Yozora and Sena ended up doing."

They were the ones who were supposed to tell us when they wanted to meet up, but I had yet to get a text from either of them.

"Do you think they're still in line?" said Rika.

"Nah, no way that's it."

I looked over at The Black Dragon's entrance.

There were more people than this morning, but even so, it didn't look like more than a 10-20 minute wait.

It's already been two hours since we split up with Yozora and Sena too.

I figured I'd call just to see what was up, but neither Sena nor Yozora answered.

"Do you think they're just too busy arguing with each other to notice?"

"You know, they probably are."

I had to agree with Rika's deduction.

"...Oh well, should we go look for them?"

☺

We headed over to The Black Dragon's entrance area after getting off the Ferris wheel.

It's technically possible that they went over to other attractions, but I really doubt it considering how bad they get along.

I tried calling them again when we were walking over, but, as I'd expected, I didn't get an answer.

While wondering just what the heck they were doing, I started darting my eyes left and right, looking for them as we walked.

And, just a short while later,

"Aniki. I have discovered their location."

Yukimura said in a calm tone of voice, raising his finger and pointing at something.

I looked at where he was pointing, and saw a girl with short black hair sitting next to one with blond hair on a bench about 10 meters away from us.

"Oh, there they are."

We quickly walked over to their bench.

Yozora was there in her boyish clothes, as was Sena in her flashy, but cute ones.

The way they were sitting together, resting on each other's shoulders, made it look like a young boy with black hair was out on a date with his blond-haired girlfriend, flirting with her. Honestly, it looked very picturesque.

...As you got closer though, you could see that was a huge mistake. Their eyes were half rolled back, their mouths were just hanging wide open, they looked like they were sick, and I could even see that their cheeks were stiff, probably from screaming too much.

They looked just like a... zombie couple.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol5_Ch05_Img01.jpg|thumb]]

"...What the hell did you guys do?"

I timidly asked, and they both answered, "Ah, Kodaka..." in a voice that sounded more like a moan than anything else.

"...A-are you guys…?"

"Ughh... My head hurtsh..."

"I feel shick..."

Yozora and Sena both answered in turn, like a pair of zombies.

"What the heck happened...?"

"...We rode it..." said Yozora.

"Rode it...? The Black Dragon?"

They both gave a weak nod.

"Eijht times..."

Sena moaned out a follow up to what Yozora said.

"...? Eight times...? Ummm..."

I told myself there was no way, but asked anyway to be sure.

"...You rode The Black Dragon eight times?"

They both nodded.

Just riding it once was enough to severely damage your mind and body, and here these two went and rode it eight times in a couple hours...

"Are you retarded?"

I stated my honest thoughts to them, which resulted in two pairs of bloodshot eyes glaring at me.

Holy shit, that's scary!

They look like they're about to pass out, but those stares of theirs aren't any weaker than usual. In fact, they're actually scarier.

"...It's because Yozora wouldn't just admit she lost..."

"...It's because Meat wouldn't just go and die already..."

They both glared at each other.

"...So you decided to keep riding until one of you gave up, and in the end you both rode it eight times...?"

They both nodded again.

Sheesh... There's a limit to being a sore loser, ya' know.

"Wow~ So, who won?"

Rika just had to ask, didn't she?

Yozora and Sena then said, while glaring at each other,

"...There isn't a winner yet... Ghh..."

"...Now then... It's about time to start round nine... Uuu..."

Their voices were so deep they sounded like a zombie's moans, but they both managed to stand up, albeit barely.

I have to admit that their iron will to continue the battle no matter how badly they get hurt is admirable, but this is one showdown that just isn't worth the effort.

And I mean, I get the feeling their lives might actually be in danger if they keep this up.

"Give it a rest, you both fought well... Just call it a draw and shake hands, ok?"

"I refuse...!"   "I'd rather die...!"

They both replied instantly.

"This piece of meat is the one thing I'll..."   "Yozora is the one person I'll..."

""Never lose t――

OgEHhhHhHHhHhhhH""

Aaaand they barfed.

Forcing themselves to yell that loud when they were already barely standing caused them both to spectacularly throw up everything in their stomachs at almost the exact same time.

"Ugeh! Eww, they threw up! Nasty!"

Maria said that cold, hard truth without even the slightest hint of tact or consideration.

"Uguah..."   "Uegh..."

They both spent the next little while hunched over, going "guehh guehh" as they threw up.

"A-are you two ok...?"

I was worried about them, but couldn't stop myself from letting out a big sigh.

These two are such a handful.

Anyway, at least this means their little match is over.

...By the way, I was actually standing right in front of them, and as a result, got some of their puke on my clothes......... I want to cry...

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