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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: CONNECT Riddle

2014-01-03T10:01:31Z

Vexed:

===Riddle===

"Hey, hey~ Yozora, Yozora! I'll do your homework for you if you gimmie some potato chips!"

One day after school, Yozora and Maria were alone together in the Neighbors Club room.

Maria had already wolfed down three bags of potato chips while murmuring complaints about her older sister under her breath, on account of having been yelled at by said older sister earlier in the day.

"I don't have any homework today."

Yozora curtly replied to Maria, who had just come back begging for more potato chips.

Every once in a while, Yozora would have Maria do her homework and other miscellaneous chores in exchange for potato chips.

As for why Yozora gave her potato chips, it was because the owner of the store Yozora worked part-time at would occasionally give Yozora huge bundles of potato chips she won at the pachinko parlor. Apparently the owner was under the impression that she liked them. Seeing as how she got them for free, Yozora could have simply passed the chips along to Maria, but she figured she might as well use this chance to train her instead.

"Oh, okay... So no more potato chips today (´･ω･`)"

Yozora let out a sigh after seeing Maria's sad reaction, and said,

"...Fine, if you can answer this question I'll give you some potato chips."

Maria's face lit up like a light bulb.

"Really!? What kinda question!? Don't worry, I'm a genius, even if it's a hard question you can't figure out, I can solve it in a flash!"

"...I see. Here goes then... What can't you eat for breakfast?"

Yozora's plan was to just give Maria the chips to quiet her down, so she gave her a simple riddle to solve.

"Something you can't eat for breakfast!? What kinda food is that!?"

Maria's eyes bulged out in surprise.

"Hrmm... This is a hard problem to solve..."

After seeing Maria fold her arms and start thinking with a pensive look on her face, Yozora thought to herself, amused, that this girl really is an idiot.

"Something you can't eat for breakfast... Hrmm... A-a rotten breakfa——"

Wanting to simply end this little game already, Yozora decided to just tell her that was the right answer.

"Corr——

"——No, that's not it..."

"Eh?"

"...Even if it's rotten and has mold growing on it, sometimes you just have to eat what's on your plate... Otherwise you'll starve... That's just reality... Hrm... This is hard..."

...What do I do, I don't know if I can tell her that the answer is just "lunch and dinner" now, Yozora thought to herself.

Maria continued to moan while twisting her neck around until...

"I got it!"

She raised her hand all of a sudden.

"W-what is it?"

"I think we all need to work together to make a peaceful world abundant with food where everyone can afford to throw away their rotten breakfast with mold on it and buy some other safe and tasty food, rather than have to risk getting sick eating old food just to survive!"

"Y-yeah... S-sure...?"

Why does she have to be smart only at times like this... Yozora thought to herself as a cold sweat formed on her brow.

"Is that the right answer!?" Maria asked with a pair of sparkling eyes.

Her answer wasn't even close to the correct one, but Yozora still went, "...Hmph." and reached into her bag.

"Ohh!?" exclaimed Maria with a look of pure joy on her face.

The item Yozora had grabbed from her bag was not a bag of potato chips, but instead a bar of chocolate she'd bought for herself earlier.

She broke it in half, and gave one piece to Maria.

"You can have this, since I'm feeling nice today. Be thankful."

"Ohhh!?" Maria's eyes opened wide as she looked back and forth at the chocolate and Yozora's face.

"What's going on Yozora!? Have you finally seen the error of your ways!?"

"Be quiet and take it already."

"Okay! ——Agya......!? Aghh..."

Maria had a huge smile plastered on her face as she reached out for the chocolate, but all of a sudden it changed to a look of pain.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"..................M-my tummy hurts... I need to... g-go poop..."

"Idiot, that's what you get for eating all those potato chips like a madman..."

Yozora watched as Maria staggered her way out of the clubroom with a look of pity in her eyes.

Maria returned 10 minutes later, however it was neither potato chips nor chocolate, but stomach medicine that Yozora gave her. 

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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: CONNECT The Wings of Beginning

2014-01-02T08:02:37Z

Vexed:

===The Wings of Beginning===

Uguisuyama private high school—— The best college-focused school in the prefecture, and known for its strict school rules.

At this school filled with academically gifted students, there was one boy who attracted more attention from those around him than most.

His name was Pegasus Kashiwazaki, the oldest son of and the heir to the Kashiwazaki family, a family so famous everyone in the surrounding area had heard of them.

He was a member of class 2-4, and was a prodigy among prodigies, having secured the highest score on every test in every subject since his enrollment.

He was also skilled in sports, and left an impressive record as a short-distance runner in a national tournament back in middle school. He ran as though he had wings on his back that made him light as a feather, and that style of his that charmed all who saw it was known as the "Pegasus Fantasy". Even now that he had entered high school, people still spoke of him as a legend.

He was also blessed in appearances as well, with a dignified face and tall stature. His beauty was such that he would inevitably attract people's attention simply by walking normally.

Of course, he was also incredibly popular with the girls, and had been asked out by several tens of girls in middle school, but turned them all down on account of him already having a fiancée.

The reason Pegasus chose Uguisuyama high school was partially because of its high standards and high college acceptance rate, but more than anything he picked it because it was a boys school.

To Pegasus, having girls swarm all over him was nothing but a nuisance.

However, that very same Pegasus Kashiwazaki was currently worried about a certain something.

Kapo~n

"Man, I was reading this manga the other day and it had this 'kapo~n' sound effect in it. What sound do you think that even is?"

That certain something, or rather, certain someone worrying him suddenly asked that random question. Completely naked.

"How should I know?"

Pegasus briefly replied with a frown on his face. Completely naked.

"'Kapo~n'... No idea what sound that's supposed to be, but for some reason it fits perfectly... I guess coming to the baths does have this 'kapo~n' feel to it."

Pegasus sighed as he watched the boy next to him seriously ponder this question.

Pegasus didn't read much manga, hence he wasn't very well-versed in sound effects and the like.

More importantly, why am I sitting here soaking in the bath next to this guy, Pegasus wondered to himself. Completely naked.

That was a much more important issue to him than this 'kapo~n' nonsense.

"...Well, the completely naked part is normal, I guess."

"Hm? What'd you say?"

"N-nothing."

"Oh, alright."

Pegasus quickly covered up the fact he'd let his thoughts slip out of his mouth, however the boy next to him didn't seem to care at all as he went back to pondering the mysteries of the 'kapo~n' sound.

The name of the boy causing Pegasus Kashiwazaki's worries was Hayato Hasegawa.

He had a stern face and sharp-looking eyes, but strangely enough he had a friendly air about him as well, possibly because of the way he talked and how he often changed expressions.

Pegasus had started talking with him occasionally after ending up sitting next to him when their class changed seats.

That said, it was mostly Hayato who did all the talking with Pegasus only offering a "...Yep." or an "...Uh-huh." every now and then.

However Hayato didn't seem to take any offense at Pegasus' anti-social attitude, in fact, it seemed to make Hayato want to talk to Pegasus even more.

Pegasus believed that it was not that he simply couldn't take a hint.

Unlike Pegasus, he seemed to be quite popular with many friends inside and outside of school.

He once even jumped in-between two students who were about to fight each other and calmed them down.

At first Pegasus thought he was a busybody, but he'd nimbly evade having to do any annoying work in class, and would never butt in to any serious problems like someone's parents getting divorced and such.

Pegasus was unsure why Hayato was so aggressive in trying to get close to him when it was clear that Pegasus wasn't being bullied, but instead chose to be alone.

Pegasus had intended on breaking off relations with Hayato if he was only thinking about "making some friends for the lonely honors student", but any time they went out to the baths like this it was always just the two of them, and although Hayato's friends would sometimes join them for lunch, Hayato would never go out of his way to try and make Pegasus be friends with them.

Incidentally, as for why they would go to the baths, it's because the school rules forbid going to any recreational establishments or restaurants.

"Anyway, I so wanna go peek at the women's bath."

"Bft-"

Pegasus couldn't help but spout out some saliva at Hayato's sudden announcement.

"W-what do you mean 'anyway'!? That's got nothing to do with what you were talking about! What happened to 'kapo~n'!? Where did 'kapo~n' go!?"

In response to Pegasus' sudden outburst, Hayato replied with a mellow look on his face,

"Ah, yeah, don't really care about 'kapo~n' anymore. I'm all about the women's bath now. I wonder, just what kind of paradise lays on the other side of this wall?"

"...I'm pretty sure it's full of old people just like our side is."

Pegasus replied, giving a perfectly rational point of view.

It was all old people at the baths this time of day except for Pegasus and Hayato, and neither of them had ever seen a young girl here, even outside by the entrance.

"Hey man, you never know. There might be a whole group of sexy chicks like Youko-chan from 'Urusai Katsura' over there."

In response to Hayato's latest delusion, Pegasus gave yet another logical reply.

"I have no idea what that Youko-chan or whoever is like, but... I'm pretty sure those kinds of customers all go over there."

"Oh yeah, that's right... They would go over there, huh."

"Over there" refers to the new super baths that opened up nearby recently, and which are currently enjoying a lot of business due to people coming to check it out.

Pegasus had never gone to one before, but his father told him such places were rapidly becoming popular across the country.

"I actually went there once~ It did have a lot of stuff and there was a bunch of cool food to try out too, but I dunno, it didn't really feel like a bath and I wasn't a big fan of it."

"...Well yeah... That's why they call it a super bath..."

"Yeah, that super bath's definitely got a super feel to it."

Hayato began nodding his head, seemingly convinced by Pegasus' random comment for some reason.

"Lots of couples over there too man, I swear. There's this mixed bath spot where you can go in with a swimsuit on, and it was loaded with couples. There were tons of people our age there making me jealous."

"...I see."

"Ahh~ Man I want a girlfriend~"

Seeing Hayato flip his head back and look up at the ceiling while letting out a deep sigh, Pegasus went "Hmph..." and let out a tiny mocking laugh.

Hah, whining about wanting a boyfriend or a girlfriend or whatever. I guess this man is no different than all the other foolish commoners that constantly pestered me in middle school, Pegasus thought to himself.

"If you want to fall in love you should've gone to a co-ed school. Why the heck would you pick a boys school like Uguisuyama?"

"Ahh, it's 'cause our school's got a referral program for the college I wanna go to."

Pegasus had meant it as a rhetorical question, but Hayato casually gave him an answer anyway.

"!?"

Pegasus took a good long stare at the side of Hayato's face.

Hayato however failed to notice Pegasus' stare, and simply continued speaking in his usual carefree tone, albeit more disjointed than usual.

"Yeah~ I wanna be an archaeologist when I grow up. But, it's like, it's hard to make a living in archaeology, get me? Can't really use what you learn in any other fields either. Basically, it's like, you need to have good connections and stuff. Which means that, like, the colleges I can pick from gets narrowed down a lot. And, after I did a bunch of research and thinking and picked out a college to go to, I realized going to this high school was like a shortcut to gettin' there."

Pegasus blankly stared at Hayato, who spoke of both his dream and his plan to get there like it was nothing.

"Ah, that said, it's not like you can get by on connections alone, and it's possible I might not get a referral either, so I gotta think about that, and... Hey, what's wrong Kashiwazaki?"

Try as he might to hide it, Pegasus' was visibly shaken.

Honestly speaking, part of Pegasus had always looked down on his peers, including Hayato.

He assumed none of them had a vision for their future, and would simply move on to college and then eventually settle into a position in life befitting their abilities.

After a spending a year at Uguisuyama, he had felt that even this, one of the best schools in the prefecture, was not significantly different than any other high school.

In fact, he even thought that this school was inferior to other schools with lower grades, because there was no variety and almost everyone did nothing but study.

That said, Pegasus didn't see that as necessarily a bad thing. In a prosperous time like this, anyone can achieve a happy life by cruising along through school and finding a simple job.

It wouldn't be an overstatement to say it was utterly foolish to willingly pursue a job like archaeology, filled with risk and little money.

When one is aware they are chasing a difficult dream, most find themselves just recklessly chasing said dream. Not many are able to stay the course after considering the more realistic aspects of it, such as income and lifestyle, and to be fair, there is no need to walk such a difficult path in the first place.

Not to mention starting from what high school one goes to—— In this day and age, just how few middle schoolers are able to not only plan their future, but carry out that plan?

Pegasus revised his opinion of Hayato Hasegawa to the following:

This guy—— is certainly a weird one.

Pegasus' young heart bundled up the complicated feeling resembling defeat he felt towards his classmate in the seat next to him, and expressed it in the single word "weird".

Hayato then donned a brazen smile, and said,

"I'm not exactly a genius or anything though, so I can't afford to mess around too much. But still, that aside, there's a lotta stuff you can only do in high school, and I wanna do as much of that as I can. Specifically, I wanna enjoy my youth. Enjoy my youth, too."

"...That doesn't sound the least bit specific to me, but anyway, so that's why you want to fall in love?"

"You got it! Youth and love go hand in hand my man."

Pegasus made a wry smile at how vague he was when it came to this as compared to his vision for the future.

"By the way, just so you know, impure sexual relations are against school rules."

"I ain't gonna have any impure relations. I'm as pure as they come."

Hayato said with a childish grin on his face.

I can't tell if this guy's sincere or just bold, calculating or just an idiot... Pegasus thought to himself.

"Although, you've got a good point about going to a co-ed school if you wanna fall in love. I know this is a boys school, but still, there are way too few chicks around here."

Hayato said and then let out a big sigh.

"Maybe I should have a mixer with my buddies from middle school~ Ah, hey, you know any cute girls Kashiwazaki? Like a rich family's daughter or something."

"...I do."

"Yeah~ Of course it wouldn't be that ea... Wait, you do!?"

Hayato said, realizing what Pegasus said halfway through his sentence.

Pegasus answered honestly without really thinking about it much, but soon after he thought that maybe he shouldn't have told him.

"What school's she from!?"

"...St. Chronica Academy."

"St. Chronica... You mean that girls middle and high school!? Why do you know a girl there!?"

Hayato's overzealous response made Pegasus think to himself, "I knew I shouldn't have told him," as he regretted his actions.

Pegasus' acquaintance was a senior girl attending St. Chronica Academy.

She was an exchange student from England, gifted in both academics and athletics, and was also quite popular due to how often she helped others out. In fact, she was so popular that she was chosen to be the Student Council president despite being an exchange student.

Pegasus' great-grandfather was the founder of St. Chronica Academy, and the position of chairman was always handed down to the next head of the Kashiwazaki family, meaning that it was almost certain Pegasus would succeed his father as chairman in the future. Thanks to that, he had visited the academy a number of times, and got to know her there.

She was a tad too energetic for the daughter of a famous family attending an all girls school though, so Pegasus generally tried to avoid her if possible.

However, he did think that Hayato would like her. Mainly because of her big chest.

"Is she cute!?"

"...Well, yeah, I think she's pretty, objectively speaking."

"What about her boobs!?"

"......I don't remember that well, but I think hers were bigger than average."

"Bravooooooooooooo!!"

"Shut up. ...Just so you know, she's English."

"English! So wait, is she blond!?"

"...Yeah."

"I'm in love already my good sir!"

"Why are you calling me sir now..."

"Please, let me meet her, Kashiwazaki! No, let me meet her, Lord Pegasus!"

"DO NOT CALL ME BY THAT NAME!"

Pegasus got up by reflex and yelled in a voice full of anger louder than Hayato's bravo a few moments ago. With his dick hanging out.

The other customers' gazes were painful.

...Pegasus respected his father, but each time someone calls him by that name, it makes him want to go back in time and punch his father in the face.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch03_Img01(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

The reason Pegasus, who was a national-level runner, gave up on track and field was because constantly having his full name called at tournaments and having it spelled out "PEGASUS KASHIWAZAKI" in big bold letters in the newspaper traumatized him.

Pegasus swore to himself that if he ever had a child, he would be sure to give him/her a name that he/she would not be ashamed of.

"...A-anyway, I'll ask and see if she's OK with meeting you."

Pegasus said as he slowly sat down, trying to brush over his yell just now.

☺

Later that night, Pegasus kept his promise with Hayato and called the St. Chronica Academy dorms and got his acquaintance on the line.

Normally a boy from another school calling would be a problem, however the dorm mother accepted Pegasus' request without issue, on account of him being the chairman's son as well as next in line to be chairman.

Still, Pegasus found it awkward having to go through a parent-figure in order to reach the person he was after.

This wouldn't have been a problem if his acquaintance had a "cellphone" like the one his father had started using recently, but there was no way a regular student could afford such an expensive luxury item. They're crazy heavy, too.

Pegasus surmised that the cellphone would forever reign as a status symbol for the busy elites of the world. The weight of it represents the weight of the responsibility one carries.

As he was pondering such thoughts, he heard her voice through the receiver.

She spoke such fluent Japanese it was hard to believe she was an exchange student.

Just as he had gone over in his head several times before, Pegasus explained to her in a serious tone that he wished to hold a productive meeting wherein his friend, who wanted to meet her, could spend some time with her and get to know her better.

"So you wanna have a mixer, right? OK!"

"Mixe-!?"

As Pegasus remained at a loss for words, she then asked what day and time would be good, and where they should meet. However, Pegasus had no idea how to answer her, which led to her making suggestions while he simply replied, "...OK", "...OK.", "Ah, yes, that's fine.", "Yes, you're right.", "OK, see you there." and agreed to each idea in a lifeless tone of voice.

"Alright, this is gonna be fun! Nighty night!"

"Ah, yes... N-nighty night..."

And thus, their call ended.

Pegasus placed the receiver back down and let out a deep breath.

He did not have the strength left to call Hayato as well, and let him know what was going on. Hence, he decided to tell him tomorrow at school.

☺

It was now Sunday, three days later.

Pegasus and Hayato had both arrived at the stylish cafe where they'd agreed to meet at an hour ahead of schedule.

Up until yesterday Hayato was full of life, singing "A blond busty babe, a blonde busty babe~♪", however today he was a nervous wreck. God only knows how many times said, "H-how am I? Do I look OK? I-I'm gonna go check in the bathroom mirror," before running off to the bathroom.

His short hair was combed over with far more gel than he needed, and he was also wearing a fancy suit and bowtie he'd borrowed from his dad, which made him look exactly like your stereotypical shady guy.

Normally Hayato acted like an older brother who wasn't afraid of anything, but apparently he has some foolish parts to him too, Pegasus thought.

In the baths he'd said "I'm as pure as they come," but who would've thought it was actually true.

"...H-how do I look? How's my bowtie... Is it just me, or is it crooked?"

"For God's sake calm down already, you imbecile."

Pegasus said with an annoyed look on his face.

However, Pegasus was only able to act calm thanks to how ridiculously nervous the man next to him was, and was actually just as nervous on the inside.

Even though she is an acquaintance, this was the first time Pegasus had ever agreed to meet up with a girl at a cafe like this.

After all, his fiancée lives in England, and he'd never met her in person before.

The stylish cafe they were in was full of girls and couples as well, and it was extremely awkward for two short-haired high school boys (school rules say their hair has to be short) to be sitting in there alone together.

The two boys spent an anxious hour waiting for Pegasus' acquaintance to arrive.

Then, a few minutes past the designated meeting time, she finally arrived.

"Hey guys! Sorry 'bout the wait!"

She told them in a lively voice along with an energetic bow.

"I-it's OK, we just got here too!"

Hayato replied in a high-pitched voice.

St. Chronica Academy Student Council President, Noel Redfield, 18 years old.

A beautiful and dignified young girl with short blond hair and narrow blue eyes.

She was wearing a highly revealing blood red mini one piece dress that tightly hugged her body.

This must be that new fashion style that emphasizes the body lines, Pegasus pondered to himself.

Pegasus had never seen her in anything other than the St. Chronica Academy uniform, so it was quite striking to see her in this kind of trendy outfit; so much so, that Pegasus found himself even more flustered than before.

He was unsure of where to look, now that the cleavage formed by her already large chest was further emphasized by her dress.

"Yeah, I got held up 'cause this girl here said she changed her mind and wasn't gonna come at the last minute."

Noel said as she sat down at the table across from Pegasus.

"This girl?"

Pegasus at last noticed the other girl who'd been hiding behind Noel's back.

She was, like Noel, a beautiful white girl with blond hair and blue eyes, and when coupled with her seemingly timid attitude made "adorable" the perfect way to describe her.

She appeared to be either their age or a bit younger... Foreigners tend to look older than they actually are, so it was hard to tell.

She was wearing a mature-looking long dress with a black base. It didn't quite match her younger looks though, making it appear as though she were a child trying to wear clothes too big for her.

However, rather than her clothes, it was her face—— Specifically, the eye patch on her left eye that attracted the most attention.

Perhaps she was injured or has some sickness... In any case, it wouldn't be proper of me to stare, Pegasus concluded.

The girl timidly sat down at the table next to Noel, practically sitting on top of her.

Noel then introduced this second girl.

"This girl here is Airi Aaron. She's a year younger than me, so the same age as Kashiwazaki I guess. I brought her since I figured if we were gonna have a mixer it'd be better to have an even number of guys and girls."

"I told you, this isn't a mixer or anyth..."

Pegasus began to say, but then cut himself off, telling himself she wouldn't listen to him anyway.

He then glanced at Hayato, and figured he should introduce him as well.

As for Hayato himself, he was frozen solid staring at the face of the girl named Airi.

His mouth was hanging half-open, and his eyes were both wide open as gazed at her.

His face was so red it was obvious even from the side.

...It's pretty easy to tell when somebody falls in love at first sight, huh... Pegasus realized.

"A-Airi... is it...?"

Hayato said, barely choking out the words.

"T-that's a wonderful eyepatch you have there!!"

"Wha...!?"

T-this guy... is he an idiot...!?

Pegasus looked at Hayato, stupefied, after hearing what he just said in that high-pitched voice of his.

On what planet would a girl willingly wear an eyepatch like that?

Whether it's a sickness or an injury, you're supposed to be sensitive with these kinds of things and do your best to ignore them.

Pegasus, now at wit's end, couldn't help but grimace.

As for Airi, she looked down at the ground as though fleeing from Hayato's straightforward gaze, and then began to speak.

"......Y-you think so? ...T-thanks..."

Her cheeks were faintly red, and for some reason... she seemed to smiling quite happily.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch03_Img02(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

...Huh?

Anyone could see that that adorable smile of hers had just further strengthened her grasp of Hayato's heart.

Airi, still acting shy, then said in a solemn tone of voice, as if to hide her smile,

"Hmph... Airi is but a mere alias... My true name is Xiàhóu Fan... An ancient warrior of 2000 years past reborn in the present..."

"S-shaho...?"

Noel smiled wryly after seeing Pegasus' confusion, and explained,

"Ahh, you can ignore that. It's just some stuff she made up."

"Made up?"

"I-it's not made up!"

Airi yelled, her face beet red.

Apparently Hayato loved her angry reaction too, as his expression became even more lovestruck.

"You know the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'?" Noel asked all of a sudden.

"Huh? Yeah, sort of."

"Airi here's been really into it lately. She especially likes this one-eyed general named Xiàhóu Dūn, and she started saying that she's his reincarnation. Don't worry about her eyepatch either, it's not because she's sick or anything, she's just copying Xiàhóu Dūn."

"Uh-huh..." Pegasus vaguely replied.

What a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense.

"Is she an idiot?"

Pegasus said, accidentally letting his honest opinion slip out.

"H-hey! Kashiwazaki!"

Hayato hurriedly yelled at Pegasus for his rude comment.

"Ah! N-no, umm, I..."

"Ahaha, don't pull any punches, do ya? Kashiwazaki."

Noel cheerfully laughed at the now flustered Pegasus.

Airi, on the other hand,

"I-I'm not an idiot~ People who call others idiots are the real idiots~"

Airi said to Pegasus with tears in the corners of her eyes and a hostile expression on her face.

What are you, 12...? Pegasus thought to himself, irritated, just before Hayato lightly jabbed him on the head.

"S-sorry Airi, you're exactly right, this guy's a total idiot! In fact, he's such an idiot that just the other day he stood up in front of a bunch old guys completely naked and yelled at the top of his lungs while showing off his dick to them!"

"Wha...!?"

Pegasus gasped at Hayato's shocking reveal.

"You did that?"

Noel asked with a surprised look on her face.

"I-I did not! ...I mean, it's not completely untrue, but that was just me making a ruckus in the baths. It's not like I was showing off anything to anybody...!"

Noel smiled at Pegasus as he desperately tried to explain himself, and then said,

"Ahaha, you're pretty wild, huh Kashiwazaki~"

"L-like I said..."

Pegasus' face went red with embarrassment as Airi looked at him with a triumphant expression, and murmured,

"...See, you are a total idiot. Idiot, big fat idiot!"

"What was that!?"

"Hyau!?"

Airi twitched and latched onto Noel's arm after getting an angry glare from Pegasus.

Which, of course, prompted another jab from Hayato.

"Stop making that scary face, Pegamoron! Sorry about this guy, Airi, he's just such an idiot..."

"P-Pegamoron... you say...!?"

Pegasus began to shiver from the humiliation.

""H... Hmph... What a fool... You~ got~ yelled~ at~ Hehe..."

"Don't get carried away, Airimoron."

Noel made a troubled look on her face as she jabbed Airi for making fun of Pegasus.

☺

And so, after everyone introduced themselves and ordered some cake and tea and such to eat, the "mixer" as Noel called it officially began.

Unlike Noel, Airi was not an exchange student, but rather the daughter of an English couple that has lived in Japan for over 20 years.

She was born and raised in Japan, apparently having only returned to England to visit her parents' families every once in a while.

Airi and Noel became friends due to them sharing similar heritages, however while Noel quickly became popular at school, the incredibly shy Airi had a hard time making any friends.

According to Noel, she brought Airi along today precisely because of her shyness. Noel had hoped that by interacting with students from another school that Airi would be able to overcome her shyness.

Pegasus was impressed by her caring attitude, noting to himself that it's no wonder she was chosen to be the Student Council President despite being an exchange student.

Hayato on the other hand did nothing but fawn over Airi—— he wasn't just flattering her either, he seemed to honestly agree with her on everything—— and Airi seemed to have opened up considerably to Hayato as well.

Pegasus and Airi remained angry with each other. It's only natural though, seeing as how neither of them attempted to compromise with the other.

"Man~ That Airi girl is such a cutie~"

Hayato said to Pegasus as soon as they'd entered the men's bathroom together with a big fat grin on his face.

Pegasus frowned at this, and said,

"Hasegawa... Do you seriously like that thing?"

"Don't call her 'that thing' man. Either Airi or Fan, pick one."

"In your dreams. ...That woman... she's, how to put it... just off. Just way too off."

"Yeah, I know what you mean! The way she's kinda weird is part of what makes her so great~"

Pegasus grew even more irritated at the now completely blind Hayato.

"...Besides, I thought you only liked girls with big chests."

Pegasus had gone and found the exact kind of girl Hayato wanted, and yet he'd almost completely ignored Noel.

...Pegasus felt that he was being rude to her.

"Kashiwazaki... You shouldn't go judging a girl by the size of her chest man."

"...I am going to fucking kill you."

Pegasus was about to completely snap after having Hayato tell him that in all seriousness.

"No, I get it. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda surprised too. I guess the kinda girl you think is sexy isn't necessarily the kinda girl you fall in love with, ya' know what I mean...?"

Hayato explained, as though he'd suddenly attained enlightenment.

"No, I don't 'know what you mean', you idiot. ...Look, I won't say anything bad, but if you're gonna go out with someone go out with Noel. If you do, then I can honestly give you my suppor——"

"G-go out with? Man, y-you idiot, Kashiwazaki you idiot, it's way too soon for that man!"

Hayato began pounding Pegasus on the back with a pair of bright red cheeks.

...This guy's hopeless, nothing I say can stop him now.

Pegasus let out a big sigh and murmured "Whatever happens happens..." under his breath as he left the bathroom, having given up on trying to change Hayato's mind.

☺

Afterwards, the four of them spent about an hour chatting together and agreed to all meet up again another day before going their separate ways.

Hayato spent the rest of the day on cloud nine, even after Airi and Noel had left them.

Pegasus, Hayato, Airi and Noel continued to meet up with each other at a pace of about once every two weeks, and on their 10th "something resembling a double date" Hayato and Airi finally, at long last, officially began dating one another.

As for who asked who out, well, that depends on how you look at it.

By their 10th get-together, Airi no longer wore her eyepatch and Xiàhóu Fan had completely stopped appearing (although she appeared to still like 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'). Also, while she remained an introvert, she was clearly much more cheerful than before, and had even started having friendly conversations with Pegasus every now and then.

The event in question happened as everyone was saying their goodbyes as usual.

It was obvious Hayato and Airi loved each other, and yet they showed no signs of progress with each other whatsoever. There was even something resembling a hope that the four of them would be like this for the rest of their lives inside Pegasus as everyone said their usual goodbyes.

<div style="line-height:2.1em">Then all of a sudden, Airi, who seemed less energetic than usual, suddenly formed an angry look on her face and yelled at Hayato, "Say ya' love me already!!" This in turn caused Hayato to reflexively yell back in return, "O-OK! I love you!!"

Airi then yelled, "Then say 'Please go out with me' already!!" to which Hayato yelled back, "Ah, OK! Please go out with me!!"</div>

Upon hearing those words Airi's face turned a bright red, after which she murmured quiet as a mouse,

"............OK."

Shortly after, Pegasus and Noel burst into laughter on account of having had front row seats to that all too sudden, ridiculous confession of love that had not so much as a hint of romance to it.

Thus came the swift and unexpected end to the time the four of them spent together.

After Hayato and Airi started going out, Pegasus and Noel figured it wouldn't be polite to join them and barge in on their dates, and given that they no longer had the common goal of "supporting their best friend's love", they no longer had a reason to see each other.

Pegasus' relationship with Hayato didn't change much afterwards, although their trips to the baths together after school became much more infrequent.

☺

Then one day, about two months later, as Pegasus was on his way back from handling some business with his father at St. Chronica Academy,

"Long time no see, Kashiwazaki!"

He ran into Noel near the academy's gates.

After exchanging a quick greeting and seeing what each other had been up to lately, Noel asked, "Hey, it's pretty cold out here. Wanna go warm up in my room?"

Much like Uguisuyama high school, St. Chronica Academy also forbid its students from stopping at restaurants and the like on the way home from school—— That was the excuse she used for inviting him, a rule that their two friends were constantly breaking.

Only relatives of students and school faculty were allowed into the dorms, however using his status as "the next chairman" Pegasus boldly entered Noel's room, acting as though he had only the purest of intentions.

Noel's room was one she'd obtained as a perk for being the Student Council President, and it was rather large and well-made for such an old dorm, with a fairly high quality desk, chairs, bed, and other furnishings.

The two of them sat down on a cushion on the floor, drinking tea Noel had brewed while enjoying small talk that neither in particular had initiated.

Their main topic of discussion was Hayato and Airi, complaining about how the newly formed couple would always brag about each other to them at school.

They also talked a bit about their life at school, dreams for the future, and such.

Pegasus was going to succeed his father as chairman of St. Chronica Academy after graduating from college. He would also likely be married to his fiancée whom he'd yet to meet by then as well.

Noel was going to attend a college back home in England, and said her dream was to become a diplomat.

"I haven't even told Airi this, actually," she added with an embarrassed smile.

"What kind of school are you gonna turn St. Chronica into Pegasus?"

The answer to that question was not one Pegasus had on hand.

His future of succeeding his father's place had been prepared since his birth, and he did not think there was any room for his own will to interfere with said future.

In short, he'd never thought about what kind of school he wanted to make.

"...What kind of school would you make?"

Pegasus asked back, to which Noel replied after a brief contemplation,

"...A fun school, I guess. Ah, that's not to say I'm not having fun now, because I am. I've got Airi, and I got to know you and Hayato, too. I enjoy doing the Student Council President work too. But it'd be nice, if like... it was the kind of school where every single student attending it was able to live out a wonderful youth."

"A fun school, huh..."

Her words would one day become a great guiding light for Pegasus.

It was unclear which of them began the kiss they shared.

The mood simply took them there, as they both leaned in towards each other and pressed their lips together.

They then continued—— as the mood led to them sharing their bodies with one another.

Come to think of it, apparently Hayato and Airi held hands for the first time just the other day.

That bit of trivia ran through Pegasus' mind as he felt the warmth coming from Noel with his whole body.

From that day on, Pegasus and Noel would occasionally meet up and go on secret dates.

Their secret relationship, hidden from even their best friends, continued for the next three months until the end of Noel's exchange student program, after which she returned home to England.

In the end, neither of them ever clearly stated they liked or loved the other.

Thus ended Pegasus' love with Noel Redfield—— the only person besides his parents who he allowed to call him "Pegasus".

☺

Though he may have parted ways with Noel, many turbulent stories continued to fill Pegasus Kashiwazaki's life.

It was a very strange thing for him, especially considering that he'd always thought his life was one meant to be walked on a path already laid out for him.

One time, he helped Hayato and Airi make up after a big fight.

Another time, a large uproar that shook the entire school occurred after the school discovered Hayato and Airi were dating, which Pegasus solved with his authority far beyond any normal high schooler's.

Hayato likely wouldn't have been able to graduate from high school were it not for Pegasus. It may have be around this time that Hayato and Pegasus became true best friends for life.

After the incident had been handled, Hayato made an embarrassing confession.

"...Last year, the reason I got so close to you when we ended up in the same class... It was because I thought it'd benefit me to be friends with you, since you were an honor student with the best grades in school and the only son of a rich family."

In response, Pegasus simply wryly smiled and said,

"In that case, I'd have to say you made the right decision back then. You wouldn't have been able to stay at this school if it weren't for me."

"Yeah, you're right. ...But you know, I kinda regret it now. I'd rather have become friends with you the normal way, no strings attached."

Pegasus thought to himself—— Hayato Hasegawa hides a certain slyness behind his carefree attitude, and yet is still pure and a bit of a coward at heart. He's usually bold, but oddly sensitive at times too, and it's all those traits of his that make me like him so much.

"Who cares how or why we got to know each other? Or what, is that still the only reason you're friends with me?"

"N-no! 'Course it's not! ...Man, you know, you're pretty indifferent about this kinda stuff."

"I-indifferent...!? No I'm not, I'm just big-hearted!"

"Yeah yeah, fine. You're as big as they come, big shot Pegasus."

"Do not call me by that name!!"

They then graduated high school, having lived a rowdy youth.

Upon first meeting his fiancée, Pegasus swore to himself that he must not ever let her find out about Noel. She'd probably kill him if he did.

One time he got caught up in a big uproar about Hayato and Airi getting married while still in school, causing Pegasus to end up getting married sooner than he'd planned as well. He then had a child at the same time as Hayato, almost as if it were a competition.

Hayato's son's name was Kodaka.

Pegasus' daughter's name was Sena—— Pegasus thought it was a fine name she would never have to be embarrassed about, if he did say so himself. He got into a big fight with his father as a result of it though.

Another time, he set up an arranged marriage between Kodaka and Sena.

Pegasus was well aware that the existence of a fiancée could become a shackle in one's youth, and yet he still arranged their marriage anyway—— hoping that one day he could be not just best friends, but real family with Hayato and Airi.

Besides, Kodaka and Sena didn't live far away with no chances to meet each other like Pegasus and his wife did before. Pegasus and Hayato eventually became busier and had less chances to meet, but they still lived in the same town. On top of that, they were their children, he was sure they would get along fine.

Of course, he wouldn't force the two of them to marry or anything like that. If they weren't interested in each other, they could just ignore the whole thing entirely.

It truly was meant to be a small promise... A small promise on the level of a pinky promise between two children.

Pegasus never imagined this small promise would one day deeply wound a young girl's heart.

Time passed, and Pegasus became chairman of St. Chronica Academy.

Soon after his appointment as chairman, he began a large change that would turn St. Chronica into a co-ed school.

He had but a single goal:

Please, let all students who enroll at this school live out a splendid youth.

He enacted many daring changes that were close to acts of tyranny, such as greatly loosening the famously strict school rules, and allowing many more students from other schools apply to the high school division. This revolution, however, did not produce any significant changes in the short term.

St. Chronica's reputation as a "100-year-old missionary school, and one of the best college-prep schools in the prefecture", was firmly entrenched and would not be moved so easily.

Still, thanks to those changes, the story of a boy reuniting with a girl he was friends with in his childhood was able to begin 14 years later.

And then—— the worst day of Pegasus' life came.

Hayato Hasegawa's beloved wife and a dear friend Pegasus had spent his youth with,

Airi Hasegawa, died.

Her body was so beautiful it was impossible to believe she'd been in an accident as she lay there surrounded by flowers, almost as if she were sleeping, and upon seeing her body, Pegasus began crying and screaming, ignoring the people around him.

Hayato, who stood next to him, bit into his lip without shedding a single tear.

"...Don't yell so loud, Zaki. You're gonna wake up Kobato."

In Hayato's arms lay his daughter, still just a young baby.

"...Aren't you... going to cry?"

Pegasus asked, unable to hold himself back.

"...I don't have time to cry. I've gotta protect... what she left behind."

A strong determination rested within Hayato's eyes.

Beside him was a young child curiously looking up at Pegasus—— that child was Kodaka.

"...Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Hayato looked at Pegasus and made a tiny smile.

"Sorry for all the trouble, Zaki."

"...Don't be such a stranger with me."

Pegasus forced his disheveled teary-eyed face into a smile, and said,

"We're friends for crying out loud. All three of us."

☺

A lot happened after that day.

Then one night, after 15 years of time had passed since parting ways with Noel, a visitor came.

As Pegasus was busy working in his mansion's study, an old stewardess with a bewildered expression told Pegasus that there was a girl here asking to see him.

"A girl...? At this time of night? Who is it?"

"I don't know... All she would tell me is that 'telling my name to anyone else would cause problems for your boss'..."

"Huh? What's that about...?"

It's probably a student from the academy, Pegasus guessed, as he opened the door to greet the girl.

She was a beautiful girl with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a coat and carrying a small travel bag likely filled with only the bare essentials.

Based on her appearances—— she was probably about 14 years old.

Her face still gave an innocent appearance, but she was rather expressionless, and had a very cold pair of eyes.

Her hair, eyes, and the color of her skin came from "her".

Her dignified looks—— especially the area around her eyes, seemed to resemble both his and "hers".

The quality of her voice resembled "hers", but the tone of voice she produced was a mechanical one he had not once heard from "her".

"My name is Stella Redfield. It's nice to meet you, Dad."

<noinclude>
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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: CONNECT The Wings of Beginning

2014-01-02T07:55:52Z

Vexed:

===The Wings of Beginning===

Uguisuyama private high school—— The best college-focused school in the prefecture, and known for its strict school rules.

At this school filled with academically gifted students, there was one boy who attracted more attention from those around him than most.

His name was Pegasus Kashiwazaki, the oldest son of and the heir to the Kashiwazaki family, a family so famous everyone in the surrounding area had heard of them.

He was a member of class 2-4, and was a prodigy among prodigies, having secured the highest score on every test in every subject since his enrollment.

He was also skilled in sports, and left an impressive record as a short-distance runner in a national tournament back in middle school. He ran as though he had wings on his back that made him light as a feather, and that style of his that charmed all who saw it was known as the "Pegasus Fantasy". Even now that he had entered high school, people still spoke of him as a legend.

He was also blessed in appearances as well, with a dignified face and tall stature. His beauty was such that he would inevitably attract people's attention simply by walking normally.

Of course, he was also incredibly popular with the girls, and had been asked out by several tens of girls in middle school, but turned them all down on account of him already having a fiancée.

The reason Pegasus chose Uguisuyama high school was partially because of its high standards and high college acceptance rate, but more than anything he picked it because it was a boys school.

To Pegasus, having girls swarm all over him was nothing but a nuisance.

However, that very same Pegasus Kashiwazaki was currently worried about a certain something.

Kapo~n

"Man, I was reading this manga the other day and it had this 'kapo~n' sound effect in it. What sound do you think that even is?"

That certain something, or rather, certain someone worrying him suddenly asked that random question. Completely naked.

"How should I know?"

Pegasus briefly replied with a frown on his face. Completely naked.

"'Kapo~n'... No idea what sound that's supposed to be, but for some reason it fits perfectly... I guess coming to the baths does have this 'kapo~n' feel to it."

Pegasus sighed as he watched the boy next to him seriously ponder this question.

Pegasus didn't read much manga, hence he wasn't very well-versed in sound effects and the like.

More importantly, why am I sitting here soaking in the bath next to this guy, Pegasus wondered to himself. Completely naked.

That was a much more important issue to him than this 'kapo~n' nonsense.

"...Well, the completely naked part is normal, I guess."

"Hm? What'd you say?"

"N-nothing."

"Oh, alright."

Pegasus quickly covered up the fact he'd let his thoughts slip out of his mouth, however the boy next to him didn't seem to care at all as he went back to pondering the mysteries of the 'kapo~n' sound.

The name of the boy causing Pegasus Kashiwazaki's worries was Hayato Hasegawa.

He had a stern face and sharp-looking eyes, but strangely enough he had a friendly air about him as well, possibly because of the way he talked and how he often changed expressions.

Pegasus had started talking with him occasionally after ending up sitting next to him when their class changed seats.

That said, it was mostly Hayato who did all the talking with Pegasus only offering a "...Yep." or an "...Uh-huh." every now and then.

However Hayato didn't seem to take any offense at Pegasus' anti-social attitude, in fact, it seemed to make Hayato want to talk to Pegasus even more.

Pegasus believed that it was not that he simply couldn't take a hint.

Unlike Pegasus, he seemed to be quite popular with many friends inside and outside of school.

He once even jumped in-between two students who were about to fight each other and calmed them down.

At first Pegasus thought he was a busybody, but he'd nimbly evade having to do any annoying work in class, and would never butt in to any serious problems like someone's parents getting divorced and such.

Pegasus was unsure why Hayato was so aggressive in trying to get close to him when it was clear that Pegasus wasn't being bullied, but instead chose to be alone.

Pegasus had intended on breaking off relations with Hayato if he was only thinking about "making some friends for the lonely honors student", but any time they went out to the baths like this it was always just the two of them, and although Hayato's friends would sometimes join them for lunch, Hayato would never go out of his way to try and make Pegasus be friends with them.

Incidentally, as for why they would go to the baths, it's because the school rules forbid going to any recreational establishments or restaurants.

"Anyway, I so wanna go peek at the women's bath."

"Bft-"

Pegasus couldn't help but spout out some saliva at Hayato's sudden announcement.

"W-what do you mean 'anyway'!? That's got nothing to do with what you were talking about! What happened to 'kapo~n'!? Where did 'kapo~n' go!?"

In response to Pegasus' sudden outburst, Hayato replied with a mellow look on his face,

"Ah, yeah, don't really care about 'kapo~n' anymore. I'm all about the women's bath now. I wonder, just what kind of paradise lays on the other side of this wall?"

"...I'm pretty sure it's full of old people just like our side is."

Pegasus replied, giving a perfectly rational point of view.

It was all old people at the baths this time of day except for Pegasus and Hayato, and neither of them had ever seen a young girl here, even outside by the entrance.

"Hey man, you never know. There might be a whole group of sexy chicks like Youko-chan from 'Urusai Katsura' over there."

In response to Hayato's latest delusion, Pegasus gave yet another logical reply.

"I have no idea what that Youko-chan or whoever is like, but... I'm pretty sure those kinds of customers all go over there."

"Oh yeah, that's right... They would go over there, huh."

"Over there" refers to the new super baths that opened up nearby recently, and which are currently enjoying a lot of business due to people coming to check it out.

Pegasus had never gone to one before, but his father told him such places were rapidly becoming popular across the country.

"I actually went there once~ It did have a lot of stuff and there was a bunch of cool food to try out too, but I dunno, it didn't really feel like a bath and I wasn't a big fan of it."

"...Well yeah... That's why they call it a super bath..."

"Yeah, that super bath's definitely got a super feel to it."

Hayato began nodding his head, seemingly convinced by Pegasus' random comment for some reason.

"Lots of couples over there too man, I swear. There's this mixed bath spot where you can go in with a swimsuit on, and it was loaded with couples. There were tons of people our age there making me jealous."

"...I see."

"Ahh~ Man I want a girlfriend~"

Seeing Hayato flip his head back and look up at the ceiling while letting out a deep sigh, Pegasus went "Hmph..." and let out a tiny mocking laugh.

Hah, whining about wanting a boyfriend or a girlfriend or whatever. I guess this man is no different than all the other foolish commoners that constantly pestered me in middle school, Pegasus thought to himself.

"If you want to fall in love you should've gone to a co-ed school. Why the heck would you pick a boys school like Uguisuyama?"

"Ahh, it's 'cause our school's got a referral program for the college I wanna go to."

Pegasus had meant it as a rhetorical question, but Hayato casually gave him an answer anyway.

"!?"

Pegasus took a good long stare at the side of Hayato's face.

Hayato however failed to notice Pegasus' stare, and simply continued speaking in his usual carefree tone, albeit more disjointed than usual.

"Yeah~ I wanna be an archaeologist when I grow up. But, it's like, it's hard to make a living in archaeology, get me? Can't really use what you learn in any other fields either. Basically, it's like, you need to have good connections and stuff. Which means that, like, the colleges I can pick from gets narrowed down a lot. And, after I did a bunch of research and thinking and picked out a college to go to, I realized going to this high school was like a shortcut to gettin' there."

Pegasus blankly stared at Hayato, who spoke of both his dream and his plan to get there like it was nothing.

"Ah, that said, it's not like you can get by on connections alone, and it's possible I might not get a referral either, so I gotta think about that, and... Hey, what's wrong Kashiwazaki?"

Try as he might to hide it, Pegasus' was visibly shaken.

Honestly speaking, part of Pegasus had always looked down on his peers, including Hayato.

He assumed none of them had a vision for their future, and would simply move on to college and then eventually settle into a position in life befitting their abilities.

After a spending a year at Uguisuyama, he had felt that even this, one of the best schools in the prefecture, was not significantly different than any other high school.

In fact, he even thought that this school was inferior to other schools with lower grades, because there was no variety and almost everyone did nothing but study.

That said, Pegasus didn't see that as necessarily a bad thing. In a prosperous time like this, anyone can achieve a happy life by cruising along through school and finding a simple job.

It wouldn't be an overstatement to say it was utterly foolish to willingly pursue a job like archaeology, filled with risk and little money.

When one is aware they are chasing a difficult dream, most find themselves just recklessly chasing said dream. Not many are able to stay the course after considering the more realistic aspects of it, such as income and lifestyle, and to be fair, there is no need to walk such a difficult path in the first place.

Not to mention starting from what high school one goes to—— In this day and age, just how few middle schoolers are able to not only plan their future, but carry out that plan?

Pegasus revised his opinion of Hayato Hasegawa to the following:

This guy—— is certainly a weird one.

Pegasus' young heart bundled up the complicated feeling resembling defeat he felt towards his classmate in the seat next to him, and expressed it in the single word "weird".

Hayato then donned a brazen smile, and said,

"I'm not exactly a genius or anything though, so I can't afford to mess around too much. But still, that aside, there's a lotta stuff you can only do in high school, and I wanna do as much of that as I can. Specifically, I wanna enjoy my youth. Enjoy my youth, too."

"...That doesn't sound the least bit specific to me, but anyway, so that's why you want to fall in love?"

"You got it! Youth and love go hand in hand my man."

Pegasus made a wry smile at how vague he was when it came to this as compared to his vision for the future.

"By the way, just so you know, impure sexual relations are against school rules."

"I ain't gonna have any impure relations. I'm as pure as they come."

Hayato said with a childish grin on his face.

I can't tell if this guy's sincere or just bold, calculating or just an idiot... Pegasus thought to himself.

"Although, you've got a good point about going to a co-ed school if you wanna fall in love. I know this is a boys school, but still, there are way too few chicks around here."

Hayato said and then let out a big sigh.

"Maybe I should have a mixer with my buddies from middle school~ Ah, hey, you know any cute girls Kashiwazaki? Like a rich family's daughter or something."

"...I do."

"Yeah~ Of course it wouldn't be that ea... Wait, you do!?"

Hayato said, realizing what Pegasus said halfway through his sentence.

Pegasus answered honestly without really thinking about it much, but soon after he thought that maybe he shouldn't have told him.

"What school's she from!?"

"...St. Chronica Academy."

"St. Chronica... You mean that girls middle and high school!? Why do you know a girl there!?"

Hayato's overzealous response made Pegasus think to himself, "I knew I shouldn't have told him," as he regretted his actions.

Pegasus' acquaintance was a senior girl attending St. Chronica Academy.

She was an exchange student from England, gifted in both academics and athletics, and was also quite popular due to how often she helped others out. In fact, she was so popular that she was chosen to be the Student Council president despite being an exchange student.

Pegasus' great-grandfather was the founder of St. Chronica Academy, and the position of chairman was always handed down to the next head of the Kashiwazaki family, meaning that it was almost certain Pegasus would succeed his father as chairman in the future. Thanks to that, he had visited the academy a number of times, and got to know her there.

She was a tad too energetic for the daughter of a famous family attending an all girls school though, so Pegasus generally tried to avoid her if possible.

However, he did think that Hayato would like her. Mainly because of her big chest.

"Is she cute!?"

"...Well, yeah, I think she's pretty, objectively speaking."

"What about her boobs!?"

"......I don't remember that well, but I think hers were bigger than average."

"Bravooooooooooooo!!"

"Shut up. ...Just so you know, she's English."

"English! So wait, is she blond!?"

"...Yeah."

"I'm in love already my good sir!"

"Why are you calling me sir now..."

"Please, let me meet her, Kashiwazaki! No, let me meet her, Lord Pegasus!"

"DO NOT CALL ME BY THAT NAME!"

Pegasus got up by reflex and yelled in a voice full of anger louder than Hayato's bravo a few moments ago. With his dick hanging out.

The other customers' gazes were painful.

...Pegasus respected his father, but each time someone calls him by that name, it makes him want to go back in time and punch his father in the face.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch03_Img01(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

The reason Pegasus, who was a national-level runner, gave up on track and field was because constantly having his full name called at tournaments and having it spelled out "PEGASUS KASHIWAZAKI" in big bold letters in the newspaper traumatized him.

Pegasus swore to himself that if he ever had a child, he would be sure to give him/her a name that he/she would not be ashamed of.

"...A-anyway, I'll ask and see if she's OK with meeting you."

Pegasus said as he slowly sat down, trying to brush over his yell just now.

☺

Later that night, Pegasus kept his promise with Hayato and called the St. Chronica Academy dorms and got his acquaintance on the line.

Normally a boy from another school calling would be a problem, however the dorm mother accepted Pegasus' request without issue, on account of him being the chairman's son as well as next in line to be chairman.

Still, Pegasus found it awkward having to go through a parent-figure in order to reach the person he was after.

This wouldn't have been a problem if his acquaintance had a "cellphone" like the one his father had started using recently, but there was no way a regular student could afford such an expensive luxury item. They're crazy heavy, too.

Pegasus surmised that the cellphone would forever reign as a status symbol for the busy elites of the world. The weight of it represents the weight of the responsibility one carries.

As he was pondering such thoughts, he heard her voice through the receiver.

She spoke such fluent Japanese it was hard to believe she was an exchange student.

Just as he had gone over in his head several times before, Pegasus explained to her in a serious tone that he wished to hold a productive meeting wherein his friend, who wanted to meet her, could spend some time with her and get to know her better.

"So you wanna have a mixer, right? OK!"

"Mixe-!?"

As Pegasus remained at a loss for words, she then asked what day and time would be good, and where they should meet. However, Pegasus had no idea how to answer her, which led to her making suggestions while he simply replied, "...OK", "...OK.", "Ah, yes, that's fine.", "Yes, you're right.", "OK, see you there." and agreed to each idea in a lifeless tone of voice.

"Alright, this is gonna be fun! Nighty night!"

"Ah, yes... N-nighty night..."

And thus, their call ended.

Pegasus placed the receiver back down and let out a deep breath.

He did not have the strength left to call Hayato as well, and let him know what was going on. Hence, he decided to tell him tomorrow at school.

☺

It was now Sunday, three days later.

Pegasus and Hayato had both arrived at the stylish cafe where they'd agreed to meet at an hour ahead of schedule.

Up until yesterday Hayato was full of life, singing "A blond busty babe, a blonde busty babe~♪", however today he was a nervous wreck. God only knows how many times said, "H-how am I? Do I look OK? I-I'm gonna go check in the bathroom mirror," before running off to the bathroom.

His short hair was combed over with far more gel than he needed, and he was also wearing a fancy suit and bowtie he'd borrowed from his dad, which made him look exactly like your stereotypical shady guy.

Normally Hayato acted like an older brother who wasn't afraid of anything, but apparently he has some foolish parts to him too, Pegasus thought.

In the baths he'd said "I'm as pure as they come," but who would've thought it was actually true.

"...H-how do I look? How's my bowtie... Is it just me, or is it crooked?"

"For God's sake calm down already, you imbecile."

Pegasus said with an annoyed look on his face.

However, Pegasus was only able to act calm thanks to how ridiculously nervous the man next to him was, and was actually just as nervous on the inside.

Even though she is an acquaintance, this was the first time Pegasus had ever agreed to meet up with a girl at a cafe like this.

After all, his fiancée lives in England, and he'd never met her in person before.

The stylish cafe they were in was full of girls and couples as well, and it was extremely awkward for two short-haired high school boys (school rules say their hair has to be short) to be sitting in there alone together.

The two boys spent an anxious hour waiting for Pegasus' acquaintance to arrive.

Then, a few minutes past the designated meeting time, she finally arrived.

"Hey guys! Sorry 'bout the wait!"

She told them in a lively voice along with an energetic bow.

"I-it's OK, we just got here too!"

Hayato replied in a high-pitched voice.

St. Chronica Academy Student Council President, Noel Redfield, 18 years old.

A beautiful and dignified young girl with short blond hair and narrow blue eyes.

She was wearing a highly revealing blood red mini one piece dress that tightly hugged her body.

This must be that new fashion style that emphasizes the body lines, Pegasus pondered to himself.

Pegasus had never seen her in anything other than the St. Chronica Academy uniform, so it was quite striking to see her in this kind of trendy outfit; so much so, that Pegasus found himself even more flustered than before.

He was unsure of where to look, now that the cleavage formed by her already large chest was further emphasized by her dress.

"Yeah, I got held up 'cause this girl here said she changed her mind and wasn't gonna come at the last minute."

Noel said as she sat down at the table across from Pegasus.

"This girl?"

Pegasus at last noticed the other girl who'd been hiding behind Noel's back.

She was, like Noel, a beautiful white girl with blond hair and blue eyes, and when coupled with her seemingly timid attitude made "adorable" the perfect way to describe her.

She appeared to be either their age or a bit younger... Foreigners tend to look older than they actually are, so it was hard to tell.

She was wearing a mature-looking long dress with a black base. It didn't quite match her younger looks though, making it appear as though she were a child trying to wear clothes too big for her.

However, rather than her clothes, it was her face—— Specifically, the eye patch on her left eye that attracted the most attention.

Perhaps she was injured or has some sickness... In any case, it wouldn't be proper of me to stare, Pegasus concluded.

The girl timidly sat down at the table next to Noel, practically sitting on top of her.

Noel then introduced this second girl.

"This girl here is Airi Aaron. She's a year younger than me, so the same age as Kashiwazaki I guess. I brought her since I figured if we were gonna have a mixer it'd be better to have an even number of guys and girls."

"I told you, this isn't a mixer or anyth..."

Pegasus began to say, but then cut himself off, telling himself she wouldn't listen to him anyway.

He then glanced at Hayato, and figured he should introduce him as well.

As for Hayato himself, he was frozen solid staring at the face of the girl named Airi.

His mouth was hanging half-open, and his eyes were both wide open as gazed at her.

His face was so red it was obvious even from the side.

...It's pretty easy to tell when somebody falls in love at first sight, huh... Pegasus realized.

"A-Airi... is it...?"

Hayato said, barely choking out the words.

"T-that's a wonderful eyepatch you have there!!"

"Wha...!?"

T-this guy... is he an idiot...!?

Pegasus looked at Hayato, stupefied, after hearing what he just said in that high-pitched voice of his.

On what planet would a girl willingly wear an eyepatch like that?

Whether it's a sickness or an injury, you're supposed to be sensitive with these kinds of things and do your best to ignore them.

Pegasus, now at wit's end, couldn't help but grimace.

As for Airi, she looked down at the ground as though fleeing from Hayato's straightforward gaze, and then began to speak.

"......Y-you think so? ...T-thanks..."

Her cheeks were faintly red, and for some reason... she seemed to smiling quite happily.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch03_Img02(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

...Huh?

Anyone could see that that adorable smile of hers had just further strengthened her grasp of Hayato's heart.

Airi, still acting shy, then said in a solemn tone of voice, as if to hide her smile,

"Hmph... Airi is but a mere alias... My true name is Xiàhóu Fan... An ancient warrior of 2000 years past reborn in the present..."

"S-shaho...?"

Noel smiled wryly after seeing Pegasus' confusion, and explained,

"Ahh, you can ignore that. It's just some stuff she made up."

"Made up?"

"I-it's not made up!"

Airi yelled, her face beet red.

Apparently Hayato loved her angry reaction too, as his expression became even more lovestruck.

"You know the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'?" Noel asked all of a sudden.

"Huh? Yeah, sort of."

"Airi here's been really into it lately. She especially likes this one-eyed general named Xiàhóu Dūn, and she started saying that she's his reincarnation. Don't worry about her eyepatch either, it's not because she's sick or anything, she's just copying Xiàhóu Dūn."

"Uh-huh..." Pegasus vaguely replied.

What a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense.

"Is she an idiot?"

Pegasus said, accidentally letting his honest opinion slip out.

"H-hey! Kashiwazaki!"

Hayato hurriedly yelled at Pegasus for his rude comment.

"Ah! N-no, umm, I..."

"Ahaha, don't pull any punches, do ya? Kashiwazaki."

Noel cheerfully laughed at the now flustered Pegasus.

Airi, on the other hand,

"I-I'm not an idiot~ People who call others idiots are the real idiots~"

Airi said to Pegasus with tears in the corners of her eyes and a hostile expression on her face.

What are you, 12...? Pegasus thought to himself, irritated, just before Hayato lightly jabbed him on the head.

"S-sorry Airi, you're exactly right, this guy's a total idiot! In fact, he's such an idiot that just the other day he stood up in front of a bunch old guys completely naked and yelled at the top of his lungs while showing off his dick to them!"

"Wha...!?"

Pegasus gasped at Hayato's shocking reveal.

"You did that?"

Noel asked with a surprised look on her face.

"I-I did not! ...I mean, it's not completely untrue, but that was just me making a ruckus in the baths. It's not like I was showing off anything to anybody...!"

Noel smiled at Pegasus as he desperately tried to explain himself, and then said,

"Ahaha, you're pretty wild, huh Kashiwazaki~"

"L-like I said..."

Pegasus' face went red with embarrassment as Airi looked at him with a triumphant expression, and murmured,

"...See, you are a total idiot. Idiot, big fat idiot!"

"What was that!?"

"Hyau!?"

Airi twitched and latched onto Noel's arm after getting an angry glare from Pegasus.

Which, of course, prompted another jab from Hayato.

"Stop making that scary face, Pegamoron! Sorry about this guy, Airi, he's just such an idiot..."

"P-Pegamoron... you say...!?"

Pegasus began to shiver from the humiliation.

""H... Hmph... What a fool... You~ got~ yelled~ at~ Hehe..."

"Don't get carried away, Airimoron."

Noel made a troubled look on her face as she jabbed Airi for making fun of Pegasus.

☺

And so, after everyone introduced themselves and ordered some cake and tea and such to eat, the "mixer" as Noel called it officially began.

Unlike Noel, Airi was not an exchange student, but rather the daughter of an English couple that has lived in Japan for over 20 years.

She was born and raised in Japan, apparently having only returned to England to visit her parents' families every once in a while.

Airi and Noel became friends due to them sharing similar heritages, however while Noel quickly became popular at school, the incredibly shy Airi had a hard time making any friends.

According to Noel, she brought Airi along today precisely because of her shyness. Noel had hoped that by interacting with students from another school that Airi would be able to overcome her shyness.

Pegasus was impressed by her caring attitude, noting to himself that it's no wonder she was chosen to be the Student Council President despite being an exchange student.

Hayato on the other hand did nothing but fawn over Airi—— he wasn't just flattering her either, he seemed to honestly agree with her on everything—— and Airi seemed to have opened up considerably to Hayato as well.

Pegasus and Airi remained angry with each other. It's only natural though, seeing as how neither of them attempted to compromise with the other.

"Man~ That Airi girl is such a cutie~"

Hayato said to Pegasus as soon as they'd entered the men's bathroom together with a big fat grin on his face.

Pegasus frowned at this, and said,

"Hasegawa... Do you seriously like that thing?"

"Don't call her 'that thing' man. Either Airi or Fan, pick one."

"In your dreams. ...That woman... she's, how to put it... just off. Just way too off."

"Yeah, I know what you mean! The way she's kinda weird is part of what makes her so great~"

Pegasus grew even more irritated at the now completely blind Hayato.

"...Besides, I thought you only liked girls with big chests."

Pegasus had gone and found the exact kind of girl Hayato wanted, and yet he'd almost completely ignored Noel.

...Pegasus felt that he was being rude to her.

"Kashiwazaki... You shouldn't go judging a girl by the size of her chest man."

"...I am going to fucking kill you."

Pegasus was about to completely snap after having Hayato tell him that in all seriousness.

"No, I get it. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda surprised too. I guess the kinda girl you think is sexy isn't necessarily the kinda girl you fall in love with, ya' know what I mean...?"

Hayato explained, as though he'd suddenly attained enlightenment.

"No, I don't 'know what you mean', you idiot. ...Look, I won't say anything bad, but if you're gonna go out with someone go out with Noel. If you do, then I can honestly give you my suppor——"

"G-go out with? Man, y-you idiot, Kashiwazaki you idiot, it's way too soon for that man!"

Hayato began pounding Pegasus on the back with a pair of bright red cheeks.

...This guy's hopeless, nothing I say can stop him now.

Pegasus let out a big sigh and murmured "Whatever happens happens..." under his breath as he left the bathroom, having given up on trying to change Hayato's mind.

☺

Afterwards, the four of them spent about an hour chatting together and agreed to all meet up again another day before going their separate ways.

Hayato spent the rest of the day on cloud nine, even after Airi and Noel had left them.

Pegasus, Hayato, Airi and Noel continued to meet up with each other at a pace of about once every two weeks, and on their 10th "something resembling a double date" Hayato and Airi finally, at long last, officially began dating one another.

As for who asked who out, well, that depends on how you look at it.

By their 10th get-together, Airi no longer wore her eyepatch and Xiàhóu Fan had completely stopped appearing (although she appeared to still like 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'). Also, while she remained an introvert, she was clearly much more cheerful than before, and had even started having friendly conversations with Pegasus every now and then.

The event in question happened as everyone was saying their goodbyes as usual.

It was obvious Hayato and Airi loved each other, and yet they showed no signs of progress with each other whatsoever. There was even something resembling a hope that the four of them would be like this for the rest of their lives inside Pegasus as everyone said their usual goodbyes.

<div style="line-height:2.1em">Then all of a sudden, Airi, who seemed less energetic than usual, suddenly formed an angry look on her face and yelled at Hayato, "Say ya' love me already!!" This in turn caused Hayato to reflexively yell back in return, "O-OK! I love you!!"

Airi then yelled, "Then say 'Please go out with me' already!!" to which Hayato yelled back, "Ah, OK! Please go out with me!!"</div>

Upon hearing those words Airi's face turned a bright red, after which she murmured quiet as a mouse,

"............OK."

Shortly after, Pegasus and Noel burst into laughter on account of having had front row seats to that all too sudden, ridiculous confession of love that had not so much as a hint of romance to it.

Thus came the swift and unexpected end to the time the four of them spent together.

After Hayato and Airi started going out, Pegasus and Noel figured it wouldn't be polite to join them and barge in on their dates, and given that they no longer had the common goal of "supporting their best friend's love", they no longer had a reason to see each other.

Pegasus' relationship with Hayato didn't change much afterwards, although their trips to the baths together after school became much more infrequent.

☺

Then one day, about two months later, as Pegasus was on his way back from handling some business with his father at St. Chronica Academy,

"Long time no see, Kashiwazaki!"

He ran into Noel near the academy's gates.

After exchanging a quick greeting and seeing what each other had been up to lately, Noel asked, "Hey, it's pretty cold out here. Wanna go warm up in my room?"

Much like Uguisuyama high school, St. Chronica Academy also forbid its students from stopping at restaurants and the like on the way home from school—— That was the excuse she used for inviting him, a rule that their two friends were constantly breaking.

Only relatives of students and school faculty were allowed into the dorms, however using his status as "the next chairman" Pegasus boldly entered Noel's room, acting as though he had only the purest of intentions.

Noel's room was one she'd obtained as a perk for being the Student Council President, and it was rather large and well-made for such an old dorm, with a fairly high quality desk, chairs, bed, and other furnishings.

The two of them sat down on a cushion on the floor, drinking tea Noel had brewed while enjoying small talk that neither in particular had initiated.

Their main topic of discussion was Hayato and Airi, complaining about how the newly formed couple would always brag about each other to them at school.

They also talked a bit about their life at school, dreams for the future, and such.

Pegasus was going to succeed his father as chairman of St. Chronica Academy after graduating from college. He would also likely be married to his fiancée whom he'd yet to meet by then as well.

Noel was going to attend a college back home in England, and said her dream was to become a diplomat.

"I haven't even told Airi this, actually," she added with an embarrassed smile.

"What kind of school are you gonna turn St. Chronica into Pegasus?"

The answer to that question was not one Pegasus had on hand.

His future of succeeding his father's place had been prepared since his birth, and he did not think there was any room for his own will to interfere with said future.

In short, he'd never thought about what kind of school he wanted to make.

"...What kind of school would you make?"

Pegasus asked back, to which Noel replied after a brief contemplation,

"...A fun school, I guess. Ah, that's not to say I'm not having fun now, because I am. I've got Airi, and I got to know you and Hayato, too. I enjoy doing the Student Council President work too. But it'd be nice, if like... it was the kind of school where every single student attending it was able to live out a wonderful youth."

"A fun school, huh..."

Her words would one day become a great guiding light for Pegasus.

It was unclear which of them began the kiss they shared.

The mood simply took them there, as they both leaned in towards each other and pressed their lips together.

They then continued—— as the mood led to them sharing their bodies with one another.

Come to think of it, apparently Hayato and Airi held hands for the first time just the other day.

That bit of trivia ran through Pegasus' mind as he felt the warmth coming from Noel with his whole body.

From that day on, Pegasus and Noel would occasionally meet up and go on secret dates.

Their secret relationship, hidden from even their best friends, continued for the next three months until the end of Noel's exchange student program, after which she returned home to England.

In the end, neither of them ever clearly stated they liked or loved the other.

Thus ended Pegasus' love with Noel Redfield—— the only person besides his parents who he allowed to call him "Pegasus".

☺

Though he may have parted ways with Noel, many turbulent stories continued to fill Pegasus Kashiwazaki's life.

It was a very strange thing for him, especially considering that he'd always thought his life was one meant to be walked on a path already laid out for him.

One time, he helped Hayato and Airi make up after a big fight.

Another time, a large uproar that shook the entire school occurred after the school discovered Hayato and Airi were dating, which Pegasus solved with his authority far beyond any normal high schooler's.

Hayato likely wouldn't have been able to graduate from high school were it not for Pegasus. It may have be around this time that Hayato and Pegasus became true best friends for life.

After the incident had been handled, Hayato made an embarrassing confession.

"...Last year, the reason I got so close to you when we ended up in the same class... It was because I thought it'd benefit me to be friends with you, since you were an honor student with the best grades in school and the only son of a rich family."

In response, Pegasus simply wryly smiled and said,

"In that case, I'd have to say you made the right decision back then. You wouldn't have been able to stay at this school if it weren't for me."

"Yeah, you're right. ...But you know, I kinda regret it now. I'd rather have become friends with you the normal way, no strings attached."

Pegasus thought to himself—— Hayato Hasegawa hides a certain slyness behind his carefree attitude, and yet is still pure and a bit of a coward at heart. He's usually bold, but oddly sensitive at times too, and it's all those traits of his that make me like him so much.

"Who cares how or why we got to know each other? Or what, is that still the only reason you're friends with me?"

"N-no! 'Course it's not! ...Man, you know, you're pretty indifferent about this kinda stuff."

"I-indifferent...!? No I'm not, I'm just big-hearted!"

"Yeah yeah, fine. You're as big as they come, big shot Pegasus."

"Do not call me by that name!!"

They then graduated high school, having lived a rowdy youth.

Upon first meeting his fiancée, Pegasus swore to himself that he must not ever let her find out about Noel. She'd probably kill him if he did.

One time he got caught up in a big uproar about Hayato and Airi getting married while still in school, causing Pegasus to end up getting married sooner than he'd planned as well. He then had a child at the same time as Hayato, almost as if it were a competition.

Hayato's son's name was Kodaka.

Pegasus' daughter's name was Sena—— Pegasus thought it was a fine name she would never have to be embarrassed about, if he did say so himself. He got into a big fight with his father as a result of it though.

Another time, he set up an arranged marriage between Kodaka and Sena.

Pegasus was well aware that the existence of a fiancée could become a shackle in one's youth, and yet he still arranged their marriage anyway—— hoping that one day he could be not just best friends, but real family with Hayato and Airi.

Besides, Kodaka and Sena didn't live far away with no chances to meet each other like Pegasus and his wife did before. Pegasus and Hayato eventually became busier and had less chances to meet, but they still lived in the same town. On top of that, they were their children, he was sure they would get along fine.

Of course, he wouldn't force the two of them to marry or anything like that. If they weren't interested in each other, they could just ignore the whole thing entirely.

It truly was meant to be a small promise... A small promise on the level of a pinky promise between two children.

Pegasus never imagined this small promise would one day deeply wound a young girl's heart.

Time passed, and Pegasus became chairman of St. Chronica Academy.

Soon after his appointment as chairman, he began a large change that would turn St. Chronica into a co-ed school.

He had but a single goal:

Please, let all students who enroll at this school live out a splendid youth.

He enacted many daring changes that were close to acts of tyranny, such as greatly loosening the famously strict school rules, and allowing many more students from other schools apply to the high school division. This revolution, however, did not produce any significant changes in the short term.

St. Chronica's reputation as a "100-year-old missionary school, and one of the best college-prep schools in the prefecture", was firmly entrenched and would not be moved so easily.

Still, thanks to those changes, the story of a boy reuniting with a girl he was friends with in his childhood was able to begin 14 years later.

And then—— the worst day of Pegasus' life came.

Hayato Hasegawa's beloved wife and a dear friend Pegasus had spent his youth with,

Airi Hasegawa, died.

Her body was so beautiful it was impossible to believe she'd been in an accident as she lay there surrounded by flowers, almost as if she were sleeping, and upon seeing her body, Pegasus began crying and screaming, ignoring the people around him.

Hayato, who stood next to him, bit into his lip without shedding a single tear.

"...Don't yell so loud, Zaki. You're gonna wake up Kobato."

In Hayato's arms lay his daughter, still just a young baby.

"...Aren't you... going to cry?"

Pegasus asked, unable to hold himself back.

"...I don't have time to cry. I've gotta protect... what she left behind."

A strong determination rested within Hayato's eyes.

Besides him was a young child curiously looking up at Pegasus—— that child was Kodaka.

"...Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Hayato looked at Pegasus and made a tiny smile.

"Sorry for all the trouble, Zaki."

"...Don't be such a stranger with me."

Pegasus forced his disheveled teary-eyed face into a smile, and said,

"We're friends for crying out loud. All three of us."

☺

A lot happened after that day.

Then one night, after 15 years of time had passed since parting ways with Noel, a visitor came.

As Pegasus was busy working in his mansion's study, an old stewardess with a bewildered expression told Pegasus that there was a girl here asking to see him.

"A girl...? At this time of night? Who is it?"

"I don't know... All she would tell me is that 'telling my name to anyone else would cause problems for your boss'..."

"Huh? What's that about...?"

It's probably a student from the academy, Pegasus guessed, as he opened the door to greet the girl.

She was a beautiful girl with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a coat and carrying a small travel bag likely filled with only the bare essentials.

Based on her appearances—— she was probably about 14 years old.

Her face still gave an innocent appearance, but she was rather expressionless, and had a very cold pair of eyes.

Her hair, eyes, and the color of her skin came from "her".

Her dignified looks—— especially the area around her eyes, seemed to resemble both his and "hers".

The quality of her voice resembled "hers", but the tone of voice she produced was a mechanical one he had not once heard from "her".

"My name is Stella Redfield. It's nice to meet you, Dad."

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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: CONNECT The Wings of Beginning

2014-01-01T22:25:40Z

Vexed: Created page with "===The Wings of Beginning=== Uguisuyama private high school—— The best college-focused school in the prefecture, and known for..."

===The Wings of Beginning===

Uguisuyama private high school—— The best college-focused school in the prefecture, and known for its strict school rules.

At this school filled with academically gifted students, there was one boy who attracted more attention from those around him than most.

His name was Pegasus Kashiwazaki, the oldest son of and the heir to the Kashiwazaki family, a family so famous everyone in the surrounding area had heard of them.

He was a member of class 2-4, and was a prodigy among prodigies, having secured the highest score on every test in every subject since his enrollment.

He was also skilled in sports, and left an impressive record as a short-distance runner in a national tournament back in middle school. He ran as though he had wings on his back that made him light as a feather, and that style of his that charmed all who saw it was known as the "Pegasus Fantasy". Even now that he had entered high school, people still spoke of him as a legend.

He was also blessed in appearances as well, with a dignified face and tall stature. His beauty was such that he would inevitably attract people's attention simply by walking normally.

Of course, he was also incredibly popular with the girls, and had been asked out by several tens of girls in middle school, but turned them all down on account of him already having a fiancée.

The reason Pegasus chose Uguisuyama high school was partially because of its high standards and high college acceptance rate, but more than anything he picked it because it was a boys school.

To Pegasus, having girls swarm all over him was nothing but a nuisance.

However, that very same Pegasus Kashiwazaki was currently worried about a certain something.

Kapo~n

"Man, I was reading this manga the other day and it had this 'kapo~n' sound effect in it. What sound do you think that even is?"

That certain something, or rather, certain someone worrying him suddenly asked that random question. Completely naked.

"How should I know?"

Pegasus briefly replied with a frown on his face. Completely naked.

"'Kapo~n'... No idea what sound that's supposed to be, but for some reason it fits perfectly... I guess coming to the baths does have this 'kapo~n' feel to it."

Pegasus sighed as he watched the boy next to him seriously ponder this question.

Pegasus didn't read much manga, hence he wasn't very well-versed in sound effects and the like.

More importantly, why am I sitting here soaking in the bath next to this guy, Pegasus wondered to himself. Completely naked.

That was a much more important issue to him than this 'kapo~n' nonsense.

"...Well, the completely naked part is normal, I guess."

"Hm? What'd you say?"

"N-nothing."

"Oh, alright."

Pegasus quickly covered up the fact he'd let his thoughts slip out of his mouth, however the boy next to him didn't seem to care at all as he went back to pondering the mysteries of the 'kapo~n' sound.

The name of the boy causing Pegasus Kashiwazaki's worries was Hayato Hasegawa.

He had a stern face and sharp-looking eyes, but strangely enough he had a friendly air about him as well, possibly because of the way he talked and how he often changed expressions.

Pegasus had started talking with him occasionally after ending up sitting next to him when their class changed seats.

That said, it was mostly Hayato who did all the talking with Pegasus only offering a "...Yep." or an "...Uh-huh." every now and then.

However Hayato didn't seem to take any offense at Pegasus' anti-social attitude, in fact, it seemed to make Hayato want to talk to Pegasus even more.

Pegasus believed that it was not that he simply couldn't take a hint.

Unlike Pegasus, he seemed to be quite popular with many friends inside and outside of school.

He once even jumped in-between two students who were about to fight each other and calmed them down.

At first Pegasus thought he was a busybody, but he'd nimbly evade having to do any annoying work in class, and would never butt in to any serious problems like someone's parents getting divorced and such.

Pegasus was unsure why Hayato was so aggressive in trying to get close to him when it was clear that Pegasus wasn't being bullied, but instead chose to be alone.

Pegasus had intended on breaking off relations with Hayato if he was only thinking about "making some friends for the lonely honors student", but any time they went out to the baths like this it was always just the two of them, and although Hayato's friends would sometimes join them for lunch, Hayato would never go out of his way to try and make Pegasus be friends with them.

Incidentally, as for why they would go to the baths, it's because the school rules forbid going to any recreational establishments or restaurants.

"Anyway, I so wanna go peek at the women's bath."

"Bft-"

Pegasus couldn't help but spout out some saliva at Hayato's sudden announcement.

"W-what do you mean 'anyway'!? That's got nothing to do with what you were talking about! What happened to 'kapo~n'!? Where did 'kapo~n' go!?"

In response to Pegasus' sudden outburst, Hayato replied with a mellow look on his face,

"Ah, yeah, don't really care about 'kapo~n' anymore. I'm all about the women's bath now. I wonder, just what kind of paradise lays on the other side of this wall?"

"...I'm pretty sure it's full of old people just like our side is."

Pegasus replied, giving a perfectly rational point of view.

It was all old people at the baths this time of day except for Pegasus and Hayato, and neither of them had ever seen a young girl here, even outside by the entrance.

"Hey man, you never know. There might be a whole group of sexy chicks like Youko-chan from 'Urusai Katsura' over there."

In response to Hayato's latest delusion, Pegasus gave yet another logical reply.

"I have no idea what that Youko-chan or whoever is like, but... I'm pretty sure those kinds of customers all go over there."

"Oh yeah, that's right... They would go over there, huh."

"Over there" refers to the new super baths that opened up nearby recently, and which are currently enjoying a lot of business due to people coming to check it out.

Pegasus had never gone to one before, but his father told him such places were rapidly becoming popular across the country.

"I actually went there once~ It did have a lot of stuff and there was a bunch of cool food to try out too, but I dunno, it didn't really feel like a bath and I wasn't a big fan of it."

"...Well yeah... That's why they call it a super bath..."

"Yeah, that super bath's definitely got a super feel to it."

Hayato began nodding his head, seemingly convinced by Pegasus' random comment for some reason.

"Lots of couples over there too man, I swear. There's this mixed bath spot where you can go in with a swimsuit on, and it was loaded with couples. There were tons of people our age there making me jealous."

"...I see."

"Ahh~ Man I want a girlfriend~"

Seeing Hayato flip his head back and look up at the ceiling while letting out a deep sigh, Pegasus went "Hmph..." and let out a tiny mocking laugh.

Hah, whining about wanting a boyfriend or a girlfriend or whatever. I guess this man is no different than all the other foolish commoners that constantly pestered me in middle school, Pegasus thought to himself.

"If you want to fall in love you should've gone to a co-ed school. Why the heck would you pick a boys school like Uguisuyama?"

"Ahh, it's 'cause our school's got a referral program for the college I wanna go to."

Pegasus had meant it as a rhetorical question, but Hayato casually gave him an answer anyway.

"!?"

Pegasus took a good long stare at the side of Hayato's face.

Hayato however failed to notice Pegasus' stare, and simply continued speaking in his usual carefree tone, albeit more disjointed than usual.

"Yeah~ I wanna be an archaeologist when I grow up. But, it's like, it's hard to make a living in archaeology, get me? Can't really use what you learn in any other fields either. Basically, it's like, you need to have good connections and stuff. Which means that, like, the colleges I can pick from gets narrowed down a lot. And, after I did a bunch of research and thinking and picked out a college to go to, I realized going to this high school was like a shortcut to gettin' there."

Pegasus blankly stared at Hayato, who spoke of both his dream and his plan to get there like it was nothing.

"Ah, that said, it's not like you can get by on connections alone, and it's possible I might not get a referral either, so I gotta think about that, and... Hey, what's wrong Kashiwazaki?"

Try as he might to hide it, Pegasus' was visibly shaken.

Honestly speaking, part of Pegasus had always looked down on his peers, including Hayato.

He assumed none of them had a vision for their future, and would simply move on to college and then eventually settle into a position in life befitting their abilities.

After a spending a year at Uguisuyama, he had felt that even this, one of the best schools in the prefecture, was not significantly different than any other high school.

In fact, he even thought that this school was inferior to other schools with lower grades, because there was no variety and almost everyone did nothing but study.

That said, Pegasus didn't see that as necessarily a bad thing. In a prosperous time like this, anyone can achieve a happy life by cruising along through school and finding a simple job.

It wouldn't be an overstatement to say it was utterly foolish to willingly pursue a job like archaeology, filled with risk and little money.

When one is aware they are chasing a difficult dream, most find themselves just recklessly chasing said dream. Not many are able to stay the course after considering the more realistic aspects of it, such as income and lifestyle, and to be fair, there is no need to walk such a difficult path in the first place.

Not to mention starting from what high school one goes to—— In this day and age, just how few middle schoolers are able to not only plan their future, but carry out that plan?

Pegasus revised his opinion of Hayato Hasegawa to the following:

This guy—— is certainly a weird one.

Pegasus' young heart bundled up the complicated feeling resembling defeat he felt towards his classmate in the seat next to him, and expressed it in the single word "weird".

Hayato then donned a brazen smile, and said,

"I'm not exactly a genius or anything though, so I can't afford to mess around too much. But still, that aside, there's a lotta stuff you can only do in high school, and I wanna do as much of that as I can. Specifically, I wanna enjoy my youth. Enjoy my youth, too."

"...That doesn't sound the least bit specific to me, but anyway, so that's why you want to fall in love?"

"You got it! Youth and love go hand in hand my man."

Pegasus made a wry smile at how vague he was when it came to this as compared to his vision for the future.

"By the way, just so you know, impure sexual relations are against school rules."

"I ain't gonna have any impure relations. I'm as pure as they come."

Hayato said with a childish grin on his face.

I can't tell if this guy's sincere or just bold, calculating or just an idiot... Pegasus thought to himself.

"Although, you've got a good point about going to a co-ed school if you wanna fall in love. I know this is a boys school, but still, there are way too few chicks around here."

Hayato said and then let out a big sigh.

"Maybe I should have a mixer with my buddies from middle school~ Ah, hey, you know any cute girls Kashiwazaki? Like a rich family's daughter or something."

"...I do."

"Yeah~ Of course it wouldn't be that ea... Wait, you do!?"

Hayato said, realizing what Pegasus said halfway through his sentence.

Pegasus answered honestly without really thinking about it much, but soon after he thought that maybe he shouldn't have told him.

"What school's she from!?"

"...St. Chronica Academy."

"St. Chronica... You mean that girls middle and high school!? Why do you know a girl there!?"

Hayato's overzealous response made Pegasus think to himself, "I knew I shouldn't have told him," as he regretted his actions.

Pegasus' acquaintance was a senior girl attending St. Chronica Academy.

She was an exchange student from England, gifted in both academics and athletics, and was also quite popular due to how often she helped others out. In fact, she was so popular that she was chosen to be the Student Council president despite being an exchange student.

Pegasus' great-grandfather was the founder of St. Chronica Academy, and the position of chairman was always handed down to the next head of the Kashiwazaki family, meaning that it was almost certain Pegasus would succeed his father as chairman in the future. Thanks to that, he had visited the academy a number of times, and got to know her there.

She was a tad too energetic for the daughter of a famous family attending an all girls school though, so Pegasus generally tried to avoid her if possible.

However, he did think that Hayato would like her. Mainly because of her big chest.

"Is she cute!?"

"...Well, yeah, I think she's pretty, objectively speaking."

"What about her boobs!?"

"......I don't remember that well, but I think hers were bigger than average."

"Bravooooooooooooo!!"

"Shut up. ...Just so you know, she's English."

"English! So wait, is she blond!?"

"...Yeah."

"I'm in love already my good sir!"

"Why are you calling me sir now..."

"Please, let me meet her, Kashiwazaki! No, let me meet her, Lord Pegasus!"

"DO NOT CALL ME BY THAT NAME!"

Pegasus got up by reflex and yelled in a voice full of anger louder than Hayato's bravo a few moments ago. With his dick hanging out.

The other customers' gazes were painful.

...Pegasus respected his father, but each time someone calls him by that name, it makes him want to go back in time and punch his father in the face.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch03_Img01(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

The reason Pegasus, who was a national-level runner, gave up on track and field was because constantly having his full name called at tournaments and having it spelled out "PEGASUS KASHIWAZAKI" in big bold letters in the newspaper traumatized him.

Pegasus swore to himself that if he ever had a child, he would be sure to give him/her a name that he/she would not be ashamed of.

"...A-anyway, I'll ask and see if she's OK with meeting you."

Pegasus said as he slowly sat down, trying to brush over his yell just now.

☺

Later that night, Pegasus kept his promise with Hayato and called the St. Chronica Academy dorms and got his acquaintance on the line.

Normally a boy from another school calling would be a problem, however the dorm mother accepted Pegasus' request without issue, on account of him being the chairman's son as well as next in line to be chairman.

Still, Pegasus found it awkward having to go through a parent-figure in order to reach the person he was after.

This wouldn't have been a problem if his acquaintance had a "cellphone" like the one his father had started using recently, but there was no way a regular student could afford such an expensive luxury item. They're crazy heavy, too.

Pegasus surmised that the cellphone would forever reign as a status symbol for the busy elites of the world. The weight of it represents the weight of the responsibility one carries.

As he was pondering such thoughts, he heard her voice through the receiver.

She spoke such fluent Japanese it was hard to believe she was an exchange student.

Just as he had gone over in his head several times before, Pegasus explained to her in a serious tone that he wished to hold a productive meeting wherein his friend, who wanted to meet her, could spend some time with her and get to know her better.

"So you wanna have a mixer, right? OK!"

"Mixe-!?"

As Pegasus remained at a loss for words, she then asked what day and time would be good, and where they should meet. However, Pegasus had no idea how to answer her, which led to her making suggestions while he simply replied, "...OK", "...OK.", "Ah, yes, that's fine.", "Yes, you're right.", "OK, see you there." and agreed to each idea in a lifeless tone of voice.

"Alright, this is gonna be fun! Nighty night!"

"Ah, yes... N-nighty night..."

And thus, their call ended.

Pegasus placed the receiver back down and let out a deep breath.

He did not have the strength left to call Hayato as well, and let him know what was going on. Hence, he decided to tell him tomorrow at school.

☺

It was now Sunday, three days later.

Pegasus and Hayato had both arrived at the stylish cafe where they'd agreed to meet at an hour ahead of schedule.

Up until yesterday Hayato was full of life, singing "A blond busty babe, a blonde busty babe~♪", however today he was a nervous wreck. God only knows how many times said, "H-how am I? Do I look OK? I-I'm gonna go check in the bathroom mirror," before running off to the bathroom.

His short hair was combed over with far more gel than he needed, and he was also wearing a fancy suit and bowtie he'd borrowed from his dad, which made him look exactly like your stereotypical shady guy.

Normally Hayato acted like an older brother who wasn't afraid of anything, but apparently he has some foolish parts to him too, Pegasus thought.

In the baths he'd said "I'm as pure as they come," but who would've thought it was actually true.

"...H-how do I look? How's my bowtie... Is it just me, or is it crooked?"

"For God's sake calm down already, you imbecile."

Pegasus said with an annoyed look on his face.

However, Pegasus was only able to act calm thanks to how ridiculously nervous the man next to him was, and was actually just as nervous on the inside.

Even though she is an acquaintance, this was the first time Pegasus had ever agreed to meet up with a girl at a cafe like this.

After all, his fiancée lives in England, and he'd never met her in person before.

The stylish cafe they were in was full of girls and couples as well, and it was extremely awkward for two short-haired high school boys (school rules say their hair has to be short) to be sitting in there alone together.

The two boys spent an anxious hour waiting for Pegasus' acquaintance to arrive.

Then, a few minutes past the designated meeting time, she finally arrived.

"Hey guys! Sorry 'bout the wait!"

She told them in a lively voice along with an energetic bow.

"I-it's OK, we just got here too!"

Hayato replied in a high-pitched voice.

St. Chronica Academy Student Council President, Noel Redfield, 18 years old.

A beautiful and dignified young girl with short blond hair and narrow blue eyes.

She was wearing a highly revealing blood red mini one piece dress that tightly hugged her body.

This must be that new fashion style that emphasizes the body lines, Pegasus pondered to himself.

Pegasus had never seen her in anything other than the St. Chronica Academy uniform, so it was quite striking to see her in this kind of trendy outfit; so much so, that Pegasus found himself even more flustered than before.

He was unsure of where to look, now that the cleavage formed by her already large chest was further emphasized by her dress.

"Yeah, I got held up 'cause this girl here said she changed her mind and wasn't gonna come at the last minute."

Noel said as she sat down at the table across from Pegasus.

"This girl?"

Pegasus at last noticed the other girl who'd been hiding behind Noel's back.

She was, like Noel, a beautiful white girl with blond hair and blue eyes, and when coupled with her seemingly timid attitude made "adorable" the perfect way to describe her.

She appeared to be either their age or a bit younger... Foreigners tend to look older than they actually are, so it was hard to tell.

She was wearing a mature-looking long dress with a black base. It didn't quite match her younger looks though, making it appear as though she were a child trying to wear clothes too big for her.

However, rather than her clothes, it was her face—— Specifically, the eye patch on her left eye that attracted the most attention.

Perhaps she was injured or has some sickness... In any case, it wouldn't be proper of me to stare, Pegasus concluded.

The girl timidly sat down at the table next to Noel, practically sitting on top of her.

Noel then introduced this second girl.

"This girl here is Airi Aaron. She's a year younger than me, so the same age as Kashiwazaki I guess. I brought her since I figured if we were gonna have a mixer it'd be better to have an even number of guys and girls."

"I told you, this isn't a mixer or anyth..."

Pegasus began to say, but then cut himself off, telling himself she wouldn't listen to him anyway.

He then glanced at Hayato, and figured he should introduce him as well.

As for Hayato himself, he was frozen solid staring at the face of the girl named Airi.

His mouth was hanging half-open, and his eyes were both wide open as gazed at her.

His face was so red it was obvious even from the side.

...It's pretty easy to tell when somebody falls in love at first sight, huh... Pegasus realized.

"A-Airi... is it...?"

Hayato said, barely choking out the words.

"T-that's a wonderful eyepatch you have there!!"

"Wha...!?"

T-this guy... is he an idiot...!?

Pegasus looked at Hayato, stupefied, after hearing what he just said in that high-pitched voice of his.

On what planet would a girl willingly wear an eyepatch like that?

Whether it's a sickness or an injury, you're supposed to be sensitive with these kinds of things and do your best to ignore them.

Pegasus, now at wit's end, couldn't help but grimace.

As for Airi, she looked down at the ground as though fleeing from Hayato's straightforward gaze, and then began to speak.

"......Y-you think so? ...T-thanks..."

Her cheeks were faintly red, and for some reason... she seemed to smiling quite happily.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch03_Img02(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

...Huh?

Anyone could see that that adorable smile of hers had just further strengthened her grasp of Hayato's heart.

Airi, still acting shy, then said in a solemn tone of voice, as if to hide her smile,

"Hmph... Airi is but a mere alias... My true name is Xiàhóu Fan... An ancient warrior of 2000 years past reborn in the present..."

"S-shaho...?"

Noel smiled wryly after seeing Pegasus' confusion, and explained,

"Ahh, you can ignore that. It's just some stuff she made up."

"Made up?"

"I-it's not made up!"

Airi yelled, her face beet red.

Apparently Hayato loved her angry reaction too, as his expression became even more lovestruck.

"You know the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'?" Noel asked all of a sudden.

"Huh? Yeah, sort of."

"Airi here's been really into it lately. She especially likes this one-eyed general named Xiàhóu Dūn, and she started saying that she's his reincarnation. Don't worry about her eyepatch either, it's not because she's sick or anything, she's just copying Xiàhóu Dūn."

"Uh-huh..." Pegasus vaguely replied.

What a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense.

"Is she an idiot?"

Pegasus said, accidentally letting his honest opinion slip out.

"H-hey! Kashiwazaki!"

Hayato hurriedly yelled at Pegasus for his rude comment.

"Ah! N-no, umm, I..."

"Ahaha, don't pull any punches, do ya? Kashiwazaki."

Noel cheerfully laughed at the now flustered Pegasus.

Airi, on the other hand,

"I-I'm not an idiot~ People who call others idiots are the real idiots~"

Airi said to Pegasus with tears in the corners of her eyes and a hostile expression on her face.

What are you, 12...? Pegasus thought to himself, irritated, just before Hayato lightly jabbed him on the head.

"S-sorry Airi, you're exactly right, this guy's a total idiot! In fact, he's such an idiot that just the other day he stood up in front of a bunch old guys completely naked and yelled at the top of his lungs while showing off his dick to them!"

"Wha...!?"

Pegasus gasped at Hayato's shocking reveal.

"You did that?"

Noel asked with a surprised look on her face.

"I-I did not! ...I mean, it's not completely untrue, but that was just me making a ruckus in the baths. It's not like I was showing off anything to anybody...!"

Noel smiled at Pegasus as he desperately tried to explain himself, and then said,

"Ahaha, you're pretty wild, huh Kashiwazaki~"

"L-like I said..."

Pegasus' face went red with embarrassment as Airi looked at him with a triumphant expression, and murmured,

"...See, you are a total idiot. Idiot, big fat idiot!"

"What was that!?"

"Hyau!?"

Airi twitched and latched onto Noel's arm after getting an angry glare from Pegasus.

Which, of course, prompted another jab from Hayato.

"Stop making that scary face, Pegamoron! Sorry about this guy, Airi, he's just such an idiot..."

"P-Pegamoron... you say...!?"

Pegasus began to shiver from the humiliation.

""H... Hmph... What a fool... You~ got~ yelled~ at~ Hehe..."

"Don't get carried away, Airimoron."

Noel made a troubled look on her face as she jabbed Airi for making fun of Pegasus.

☺

And so, after everyone introduced themselves and ordered some cake and tea and such to eat, the "mixer" as Noel called it officially began.

Unlike Noel, Airi was not an exchange student, but rather the daughter of an English couple that has lived in Japan for over 20 years.

She was born and raised in Japan, apparently having only returned to England to visit her parents' families every once in a while.

Airi and Noel became friends due to them sharing similar heritages, however while Noel quickly became popular at school, the incredibly shy Airi had a hard time making any friends.

According to Noel, she brought Airi along today precisely because of her shyness. Noel had hoped that by interacting with students from another school that Airi would be able to overcome her shyness.

Pegasus was impressed by her caring attitude, noting to himself that it's no wonder she was chosen to be the Student Council President despite being an exchange student.

Hayato on the other hand did nothing but fawn over Airi—— he wasn't just flattering her either, he seemed to honestly agree with her on everything—— and Airi seemed to have opened up considerably to Hayato as well.

Pegasus and Airi remained angry with each other. It's only natural though, seeing as how neither of them attempted to compromise with the other.

"Man~ That Airi girl is such a cutie~"

Hayato said to Pegasus as soon as they'd entered the men's bathroom together with a big fat grin on his face.

Pegasus frowned at this, and said,

"Hasegawa... Do you seriously like that thing?"

"Don't call her 'that thing' man. Either Airi or Fan, pick one."

"In your dreams. ...That woman... she's, how to put it... just off. Just way too off."

"Yeah, I know what you mean! The way she's kinda weird is part of what makes her so great~"

Pegasus grew even more irritated at the now completely blind Hayato.

"...Besides, I thought you only liked girls with big chests."

Pegasus had gone and found the exact kind of girl Hayato wanted, and yet he'd almost completely ignored Noel.

...Pegasus felt that he was being rude to her.

"Kashiwazaki... You shouldn't go judging a girl by the size of her chest man."

"...I am going to fucking kill you."

Pegasus was about to completely snap after having Hayato tell him that in all seriousness.

"No, I get it. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda surprised too. I guess the kinda girl you think is sexy isn't necessarily the kinda girl you fall in love with, ya' know what I mean...?"

Hayato explained, as though he'd suddenly attained enlightenment.

"No, I don't 'know what you mean', you idiot. ...Look, I won't say anything bad, but if you're gonna go out with someone go out with Noel. If you do, then I can honestly give you my suppor——"

"G-go out with? Man, y-you idiot, Kashiwazaki you idiot, it's way too soon for that man!"

Hayato began pounding Pegasus on the back with a pair of bright red cheeks.

...This guy's hopeless, nothing I say can stop him now.

Pegasus let out a big sigh and murmured "Whatever happens happens..." under his breath as he left the bathroom, having given up on trying to change Hayato's mind.

☺

Afterwards, the four of them spent about an hour chatting together and agreed to all meet up again another day before going their separate ways.

Hayato spent the rest of the day on cloud nine, even after Airi and Noel had left them.

Pegasus, Hayato, Airi and Noel continued to meet up with each other at a pace of about once every two weeks, and on their 10th "something resembling a double date" Hayato and Airi finally, at long last, officially began dating one another.

As for who asked who out, well, that depends on how you look at it.

By their 10th get-together, Airi no longer wore her eyepatch and Xiàhóu Fan had completely stopped appearing (although she appeared to still like 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'). Also, while she remained an introvert, she was clearly much more cheerful than before, and had even started having friendly conversations with Pegasus every now and then.

The event in question happened as everyone was saying their goodbyes as usual.

It was obvious Hayato and Airi loved each other, and yet they showed no signs of progress with each other whatsoever. There was even something resembling a hope that the four of them would be like this for the rest of their lives inside Pegasus as everyone said their usual goodbyes.

<div style="line-height:2.1em">Then all of a sudden, Airi, who seemed less energetic than usual, suddenly formed an angry look on her face and yelled at Hayato, "Say ya' love me already!!" This in turn caused Hayato to reflexively yell back in return, "O-OK! I love you!!"

Airi then yelled, "Then say 'Please go out with me' already!!" to which Hayato yelled back, "Ah, OK! Please go out with me!!"</div>

Upon hearing those words Airi's face turned a bright red, after which she murmured quiet as a mouse,

"............OK."

Shortly after, Pegasus and Noel burst into laughter on account of having had front row seats to that all too sudden, ridiculous confession of love that had not so much as a hint of romance to it.

Thus came the swift and unexpected end to the time the four of them spent together.

After Hayato and Airi started going out, Pegasus and Noel figured it wouldn't be polite to join them and barge in on their dates, and given that they no longer had the common goal of "supporting their best friend's love", they no longer had a reason to see each other.

Pegasus' relationship with Hayato didn't change much afterwards, although their trips to the baths together after school became much more infrequent.

☺

Then one day, about two months later, as Pegasus was on his way back from handling some business with his father at St. Chronica Academy,

"Long time no see, Kashiwazaki!"

He ran into Noel near the academy's gates.

After exchanging a quick greeting and seeing what each other had been up to lately, Noel asked, "Hey, it's pretty cold out here. Wanna go warm up in my room?"

Much like Uguisuyama high school, St. Chronica Academy also forbid its students from stopping at restaurants and the like on the way home from school—— That was the excuse she used for inviting him, a rule that their two friends were constantly breaking.

Only relatives of students and school faculty were allowed into the dorms, however using his status as "the next chairman" Pegasus boldly entered Noel's room, acting as though he had only the purest of intentions.

Noel's room was one she'd obtained as a perk for being the Student Council President, and it was rather large and well-made for such an old dorm, with a fairly high quality desk, chairs, bed, and other furnishings.

The two of them sat down on a cushion on the floor, drinking tea Noel had brewed while enjoying small talk that neither in particular had initiated.

Their main topic of discussion was Hayato and Airi, complaining about how the newly formed couple would always brag about each other to them at school.

They also talked a bit about their life at school, dreams for the future, and such.

Pegasus was going to succeed his father as chairman of St. Chronica Academy after graduating from college. He would also likely be married to his fiancée whom he'd yet to meet by then as well.

Noel was going to attend a college back home in England, and said her dream was to become a diplomat.

"I haven't even told Airi this, actually," she added with an embarrassed smile.

"What kind of school are you gonna turn St. Chronica into Pegasus?"

The answer to that question was not one Pegasus had on hand.

His future of succeeding his father's place had been prepared since his birth, and he did not think there was any room for his own will to interfere with said future.

In short, he'd never thought about what kind of school he wanted to make.

"...What kind of school would you make?"

Pegasus asked back, to which Noel replied after a brief contemplation,

"...A fun school, I guess. Ah, that's not to say I'm not having fun now, because I am. I've got Airi, and I got to know you and Hayato, too. I enjoy doing the Student Council President work too. But it'd be nice, if like... it was the kind of school where every single student attending it was able to live out a wonderful youth."

"A fun school, huh..."

Her words would one day become a great guiding light for Pegasus.

It was unclear which of them began the kiss they shared.

The mood simply took them there, as they both leaned in towards each other and pressed their lips together.

They then continued—— as the mood led to them sharing their bodies with one another.

Come to think of it, apparently Hayato and Airi held hands for the first time just the other day.

That bit of trivia ran through Pegasus' mind as he felt the warmth coming from Noel with his whole body.

From that day on, Pegasus and Noel would occasionally meet up and go on secret dates.

Their secret relationship, hidden from even their best friends, continued for the next three months until the end of Noel's exchange student program, after which she returned home to England.

In the end, neither of them ever clearly stated they liked or loved the other.

Thus ended Pegasus' love with Noel Redfield—— the only person besides his parents who he allowed to call him "Pegasus".

☺

Though he may have parted ways with Noel, many turbulent stories continued to fill Pegasus Kashiwazaki's life.

It was a very strange thing for him, especially considering that he'd always thought his life was one meant to be walked on a path already laid out for him.

One time, he helped Hayato and Airi make up after a big fight.

Another time, a large uproar that shook the entire school occurred after the school discovered Hayato and Airi were dating, which Pegasus solved with his authority far beyond any normal high schooler's.

Hayato likely wouldn't have been able to graduate from high school were it not for Pegasus. It may have be around this time that Hayato and Pegasus became true best friends for life.

After the incident had been handled, Hayato made an embarrassing confession.

"...Last year, the reason I got so close to you when we ended up in the same class... It was because I thought it'd benefit me to be friends with you, since you were an honor student with the best grades in school and the only son of a rich family."

In response, Pegasus simply wryly smiled and said,

"In that case, I'd have to say you made the right decision back then. You wouldn't have been able to stay at this school if it weren't for me."

"Yeah, you're right. ...But you know, I kinda regret it now. I'd rather have become friends with you the normal way, no strings attached."

Pegasus thought to himself—— Hayato Hasegawa hides a certain slyness behind his carefree attitude, and yet is still pure and a bit of a coward at heart. He's usually bold, but oddly sensitive at times too, and it's all those traits of his that make me like him so much.

"Who cares how or why we got to know each other? Or what, is that still the only reason you're friends with me?"

"N-no! 'Course it's not! ...Man, you know, you're pretty indifferent about this kinda stuff."

"I-indifferent...!? No I'm not, I'm just big-hearted!"

"Yeah yeah, fine. You're as big as they come, big shot Pegasus."

"Do not call me by that name!!"

They then graduated high school, having lived a rowdy youth.

Upon first meeting his fiancée, Pegasus swore to himself that he must not ever let her find out about Noel. She'd probably kill him if he did.

One time he got caught up in a big uproar about Hayato and Airi getting married while still in school, causing Pegasus to end up getting married sooner than he'd planned as well. He then had a child at the same time as Hayato, almost as if it were a competition.

Hayato's son's name was Kodaka.

Pegasus' daughter's name was Sena—— Pegasus thought it was a fine name she would never have to be embarrassed about, if he did say so himself. He got into a big fight with his father as a result of it though.

Another time, he set up an arranged marriage between Kodaka and Sena.

Pegasus was well aware that the existence of a fiancée could become a shackle in one's youth, and yet he still arranged their marriage anyway—— hoping that one day he could be not just best friends, but real family with Hayato and Airi.

Besides, Kodaka and Sena didn't live far away with no chances to meet each other like Pegasus and his wife did before. Pegasus and Hayato eventually became busier and had less chances to meet, but they still lived in the same town. On top of that, they were their children, he was sure they would get along fine.

Of course, he wouldn't force the two of them to marry or anything like that. If they weren't interested in each other, they could just ignore the whole thing entirely.

It truly was meant to be a small promise... A small promise on the level of a pinky promise between two children.

Pegasus never imagined this small promise would one day deeply wound a young girl's heart.

Time passed, and Pegasus became chairman of St. Chronica Academy.

Soon after his appointment as chairman, he began a large change that would turn St. Chronica into a co-ed school.

He had but a single goal:

Please, let all students who enroll at this school live out a splendid youth.

He enacted many daring changes that were close to acts of tyranny, such as greatly loosening the famously strict school rules, and allowing many more students from other schools apply to the high school division. This revolution, however, did not produce any significant changes in the short term.

St. Chronica's reputation as a "100-year-old missionary school, and one of the best college-prep schools in the prefecture", was firmly entrenched and would not be moved so easily.

Still, thanks to those changes, the story of a boy reuniting with a girl he was friends with in his childhood was able to begin 40 years later.

And then—— the worst day of Pegasus' life came.

Hayato Hasegawa's beloved wife and a dear friend Pegasus had spent his youth with,

Airi Hasegawa, died.

Her body was so beautiful it was impossible to believe she'd been in an accident as she lay there surrounded by flowers, almost as if she were sleeping, and upon seeing her body, Pegasus began crying and screaming, ignoring the people around him.

Hayato, who stood next to him, bit into his lip without shedding a single tear.

"...Don't yell so loud, Zaki. You're gonna wake up Kobato."

In Hayato's arms lay his daughter, still just a young baby.

"...Aren't you... going to cry?"

Pegasus asked, unable to hold himself back.

"...I don't have time to cry. I've gotta protect... what she left behind."

A strong determination rested within Hayato's eyes.

Besides him was a young child curiously looking up at Pegasus—— that child was Kodaka.

"...Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Hayato looked at Pegasus and made a tiny smile.

"Sorry for all the trouble, Zaki."

"...Don't be such a stranger with me."

Pegasus forced his disheveled teary-eyed face into a smile, and said,

"We're friends for crying out loud. All three of us."

☺

A lot happened after that day.

Then one night, after 15 years of time had passed since parting ways with Noel, a visitor came.

As Pegasus was busy working in his mansion's study, an old stewardess with a bewildered expression told Pegasus that there was a girl here asking to see him.

"A girl...? At this time of night? Who is it?"

"I don't know... All she would tell me is that 'telling my name to anyone else would cause problems for your boss'..."

"Huh? What's that about...?"

It's probably a student from the academy, Pegasus guessed, as he opened the door to greet the girl.

She was a beautiful girl with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a coat and carrying a small travel bag likely filled with only the bare essentials.

Based on her appearances—— she was probably about 14 years old.

Her face still gave an innocent appearance, but she was rather expressionless, and had a very cold pair of eyes.

Her hair, eyes, and the color of her skin came from "her".

Her dignified looks—— especially the area around her eyes, seemed to resemble both his and "hers".

The quality of her voice resembled "hers", but the tone of voice she produced was a mechanical one he had not once heard from "her".

"My name is Stella Redfield. It's nice to meet you, Dad."

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_CONNECT_Riddle|Riddle]]
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| Forward to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_CONNECT_Two Stars|Two Stars]]
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File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai CONNECT Ch03 Img02(Vexed).jpg

2014-01-01T21:55:46Z

Vexed:

File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai CONNECT Ch03 Img01(Vexed).jpg

2014-01-01T21:55:33Z

Vexed:

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: CONNECT Riddle

2014-01-01T06:40:59Z

Vexed: Created page with "===Riddle=== "Hey, hey~ Yozora, Yozora! I'll do your homework for you if you gimmie some potato chips!" One day after school, Yozora and Maria were alone together ..."

===Riddle===

"Hey, hey~ Yozora, Yozora! I'll do your homework for you if you gimmie some potato chips!"

One day after school, Yozora and Maria were alone together in the Neighbors Club room.

Maria had already wolfed down three bags of potato chips while murmuring complaints about her older sister under her breath, on account of having been yelled at by said older sister earlier in the day.

"I don't have any homework today."

Yozora curtly replied to Maria, who had just come back begging for more potato chips.

Every once in a while, Yozora would have Maria do her homework and other miscellaneous chores in exchange for potato chips.

As for why Yozora gave her potato chips, it was because the owner of the store Yozora worked part-time at would occasionally give Yozora huge bundles of potato chips she won at the pachinko parlor. Apparently the owner was under the impression that she liked them. Seeing as how she got them for free, Yozora could have simply passed the chips along to Maria, but she figured she might as well use this chance to train her instead.

"Oh, okay... So no more potato chips today (´･ω･`)"

Yozora let out a sigh after seeing Maria's sad reaction, and said,

"...Fine, if you can answer this question I'll give you some potato chips."

Maria's face lit up like a light bulb.

"Really!? What kinda question!? Don't worry, I'm a genius, even if it's a hard question you can't figure out, I can solve it in a flash!"

"...I see. Here goes then... What can't you eat for breakfast?"

Yozora's plan was to just give Maria the chips to quiet her down, so she gave her a simple riddle to solve.

"Something you can't eat for breakfast!? What kinda food is that!?"

Maria's eyes bulged out in surprise.

"Hrmm... This is a hard problem to solve..."

After seeing Maria fold her arms and start thinking with a pensive look on her face, Yozora thought to herself, amused, that this girl really is an idiot.

"Something you can't eat for breakfast... Hrmm... A-a rotten breakfa——"

Wanting to simply end this little game already, Yozora decided to just tell her that was the right answer.

"Corr——

"——No, that's not it..."

"Eh?"

"...Even if it's rotten and has mold growing on it, sometimes you just have to eat what's on your plate... Otherwise you'll starve... That's just reality... Hrm... This is hard..."

...What do I do, I don't know if I can tell her that the answer is just "lunch and dinner" now, Yozora thought to herself.

Maria continued to moan while twisting her neck around until...

"I got it!"

She raised her hand all of a sudden.

"W-what is it?"

"I think we all need to work together to make a peaceful world abundant with food where everyone can afford to throw away their rotten breakfast with mold on it and buy some other safe and tasty food, rather than have to risk getting sick eating old food just to survive!"

"Y-yeah... S-sure...?"

Why does she have to be smart only at times like this... Yozora thought to herself as a cold sweat formed on her brow.

"Is that the right answer!?" Maria asked with a pair of sparkling eyes.

Her answer wasn't even close to the correct one, but Yozora still went, "...Hmph." and reached into her bag.

"Ohh!?" exclaimed Maria with a look of pure joy on her face.

The item Yozora had grabbed from her bag was not a bag of potato chips, but instead a bar of chocolate she'd bought for herself earlier.

She broke it in half, and gave one piece to Maria.

"You can have this, since I'm feeling nice today. Be thankful."

"Ohhh!?" Maria's eyes opened wide as she looked back and forth at the chocolate and Yozora's face.

"What's going on Yozora!? Have you finally seen the error of your ways!?"

"Be quiet and take it already."

"Okay! ——Agya......!? Aghh..."

Maria had a huge smile plastered on her face as she reached out for the chocolate, but all of a sudden it changed to a look of pain.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"..................M-my tummy hurts... I need to... g-go poop..."

"Idiot, that's what you get for eating all those potato chips like a madman..."

Yozora watched as Maria staggered her way out of the clubroom with a look of pity in her eyes.

Maria returned 10 minutes later, however it was neither potato chips nor chocolate, but stomach medicine that Yozora gave her. 

<noinclude>
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| Forward to [[Boku_wa_tomodachi_ga_sukunai:_CONNECT_The Wings of Beginning|The Wings of Beginning]]
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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: CONNECT When It All Began

2013-10-24T05:40:47Z

Vexed:

==When It All Began==

It was a bright morning, about halfway through the month of May.

A month into the new semester, the relationships of the students found in newly formed class 2-5 had already solidified, with each of them happily going about their youths in this new environment.

Many of them were busy chatting with either their newfound friends in class 2-5, their old friends from previous classes, or both.

The number one topic of discussion amongst them was the transfer student that was supposed to be coming to their class today.

Why now, a month into the semester? Is it a guy or a girl? I hope it's a hot guy. I hope it's a cute girl. I hope they're funny. I wonder if they're smart? Is there a sport they're good at? It'd be cool if they played an instrument.

...However, there was one girl removed from said bustling conversation, sitting alone at her desk with a frown on her face as she read her book.

Her silky black hair was a sight to behold, and her refined facial features gave her an air of sophistication.

She was Yozora Mikadzuki.

She would occasionally grimace upon hearing the cheerful voices of her classmates and yells from the sports teams practicing on the track below, all without lifting her bored-looking eyes from her book and its plain book cover.

Ever since she became a junior—— No, ever since she came to this school, Yozora spent most of her days in class like this.

Her looks were good enough to grab people's attention, and back in April some of her classmates did indeed try to talk to her, however due to the fact that she would always speak in a cold voice and offer only the meagerest of replies (or sometimes no reply at all), there was no one left in class who would talk to her anymore.

On top of her hard-to-approach atmosphere, she also possessed great academic and athletic abilities, and would give anyone who tried to mess with her the coldest of glares, which spared her from any bullying that may have otherwise occurred.

In addition, her attitude in class was certainly not what one would call good. It was especially bad in English class, where she would completely ignore any activity that required pairing up with someone, and instead opt to stare blankly out the window. However, despite her attitude, no teacher ever rebuked her for it on account of her grades being at the top of the class.

A solitary person who likes being alone and hates other people.

That was how the other students of class 2-5 saw Yozora Mikadzuki, and it was Yozora herself who had built up that reputation.

A school life in which she had no friends, talked with nobody, and got involved with nobody.

It would be a lie to say that she enjoyed it.

It would also be a lie to say that she had no interest in living an enjoyable school life.

It's obvious that enjoying something is better than being bored by it, that's only common sense.

It wasn't that she liked being alone, nor was it that she hated other people.

Even so, if it meant having to go through that, then it was better to avoid an enjoyable school life.

No friends, no boyfriend.

I'm fine all by myself.

That is what Yozora believed—— Or rather, that is what she forced herself to believe.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of their morning homeroom.

Three minutes later their homeroom teacher walked into the classroom with a worried look on his face, and told the class that, "For some reason, the transfer student who was supposed to come today isn't here," sending the class into a buzz of whispers.

Who cares, Yozora thought to herself.

It doesn't matter if some transfer students come here, it's got nothing to do with me.

Homeroom then ended with some students still whispering to each other as Yozora took out her world history textbook and notes from her desk before returning to her book.

She didn't have a particular dislike for reading, but it was also true that she very rarely found reading a book in class like so to be enjoyable.

At school, she would often choose to read minor foreign titles translated into Japanese and academic books, the kinds of books that would put almost anyone else her age to sleep.

In fact, Yozora herself was not especially fond of said books either, and she would often end up lazily following the words on the page without actually comprehending what was written.

Her criteria for picking books to read in class was simple.

She wanted books that, if asked what she was reading, would make someone awkwardly smile and walk away after being told what the book was.

The books Yozora read at school were nothing more to her than a shield with which to repel others.

Thanks to her frequent reading of such books, she acquired a great depth of knowledge regarding trivia and miscellaneous facts, however said knowledge was useless given that she had no one to share it with.

Truth be told, she enjoyed simpler, entertainment-based books.

She could read and enjoy a good mystery, or romance, or fantasy novel, but she actually liked manga even more than novels—— In particular, she liked shounen manga aimed at younger children.

The protagonist always wins. Effort is always rewarded.

And above all else—— friendship is eternal and never ever falls apart.

Victory, effort, friendship. Yozora liked stories based upon those simple principles.

How could she not? After all, they were much better than the real world.

If only the real world was as simple as it is in a shounen manga——

Yozora was not naive enough to truly wish for something like that, but she would occasionally find the idea float through her mind.

The bell then rang, alerting everyone to the start of first period.

Their world history teacher, Ms. Asada (a young teacher with a timid look about her), began class shortly thereafter.

She would always follow the textbook exactly when teaching, hence there were no major issues with her classes, however it was rather boring.

This was especially true for Yozora, who would always pre-read the material to be covered in class, leaving her with nothing new to discover.

Aside from the boys who were excited to have the beautiful Ms. Asada teaching them, the class went on with the same dullness as usual.

About halfway through first period, many students were nearly about to or had already begun counting sheep.

Yozora was among said students, her eyelids slowly becoming heavier by the minute as she rested her jaw on her elbow and blankly stared at her textbook before finally allowing them to close completely.

All of a sudden though, the classroom was filled with life again.

Apparently someone had just come in through the front door to the classroom.

Who cares...

Yozora thought to herself without even opening her eyes. I'm too tired for this, she thought.

"Ah, umm, you are...?"

In response to Ms. Asada's inquiry,

"I'm the new transfer student, Kodaka Hasegawa. Nice ta' meat ya'."

Uwah...!?

The voice everyone heard was one so unusually deep it made one's natural instincts scream that danger was about. Even Yozora felt a bit shocked, and thus opened her eyes to look at the owner of said voice.

In that instant, every last spec of sleepiness within Yozora was completely and utterly blown away.

A head of brown and dull blond hair that made it look like he tried to dye it and messed up, and a set of sharp-looking eyes that gave the impression he was glaring at you all the time.

And as if his already scary face wasn't enough, for some reason his eyes were bloodshot, causing him to look like some kind of criminal.

——Holy crap does this guy look like bad news.

Thoughts similar to that dominated the minds of those in the classroom. Even Ms. Asada appeared to be afraid.

However, Yozora alone was busy thinking something completely different from everyone else.

I know that boy.

I remember him. I've always remembered him. I never forgot about him. I'd never forget about him.

Taka!

Yozora's best friend who left her all of a sudden 10 years ago.

10 years had passed, but that unique hair of his and look in his eyes were still the same as they were back then.

His name was "Kodaka", hence she called him by the nickname "Taka".

She, on the other hand, never told him her actual name, "Yozora", and instead made him call her by the nickname "Sora".

She hid her gender and slowly became better friends with him, but as the days passed, there was a sharp pain in her chest that kept growing. That pain ——likely from the guilt she felt—— eventually became too much for her to bear, and so she finally worked up the courage to tell him the truth, but then, all of a sudden, he vanished.

Yozora's life after that was so disastrous that the only way to describe it would be to call it her dark past.

She tried many things to fill the void left by Taka's disappearance.

She tried things that would make her moan and squirm in agony just by remembering them again, and again, and again, and again, and again...

And, after all that, what Yozora finally settled on doing—— was simply to give up.

She told herself she was simply incapable of having a normal youth anymore, and resigned herself to that fate. She then locked the fun memories of the days she spent with Taka deep in her heart and abandoned all attempts to live a fun life, instead choosing to keep to herself and just kill time every single day.

"O-Okay, then, um, y-you can use that empty desk over there..."

Ms. Asada directed Kodaka to his seat.

Before walking to his seat Kodaka took a look around the classroom and made an incredibly fiendish, intimidating smile, like the kind you'd expect a man-eating monster to make, causing the mood in the classroom to grow even colder.

Yozora was likely the only one who saw that smile and felt relief, rather than fear.

He really hasn't changed at all in these 10 years.

He's fatally awful at making a smile, and any attempts he makes to be friendly with other people always backfire on him.

...Yozora liked that part of him as well though, because she was very similar.

Kodaka Hasegawa then began walking towards her on the way to his seat.

The rest of the students quietly looked away, but not Yozora, she alone stared intently at Kodaka.

Kodaka, with the same fiendish smile as before still on his stiff face, casually walked right past Yozora's desk.

He seemed to be incredibly nervous, and didn't notice Yozora staring at him in the least.

While she was a bit upset that she didn't get him to notice her right away, today was the first time in a long... a truly long time that Yozora had felt this excited.

Taka came back to me.

It felt like time had at last begun to move again for her after having been frozen these 10 years.

Before she knew it, Yozora had unconsciously let a smile slip out onto her face.

This is it—— my youth begins now!

☺

This is it, my youth begins now!

There was a time when even I had such thoughts.

"Why hasn't he noticed yet!?"

Yozora yelled in a rugged voice, unable to contain her frustration as she stood alone in her classroom at sunset.

She soon realized what she'd done though, and began to blush as she quickly moved to check outside the classroom.

There was nobody in the hallway, it appeared as though no one had heard her scream.

As the relief washed over her, Yozora walked over to Kodaka Hasegawa's desk near the window.

She then opened the window and sat on its ledge, and let out a deep sigh as she stared at Kodaka's desk in front of her.

Over a month has passed since Kodaka came to this school.

She spent the first few days waiting in excitement wondering when Kodaka would realize who she was, which was in itself fairly enjoyable.

However a week soon passed, then two weeks, then three weeks, with no sign of Kodaka having any clue that Yozora was his old best friend, Sora.

In fact, she hadn't even had a chance to talk to Kodaka a single time yet.

All of Yozora's classmates saw Kodaka as someone to be feared after his terrible first impression, and while Kodaka had been putting forth his best effort to fix that by talking to them, his incredible bad luck caused it all to have the opposite effect.

Even Yozora thought that the way he glared at the students sitting at the desks around him like a hawk eyeing up its prey looked like he was trying to decide when to mug them. In fact, it was so bad that she found herself wondering if maybe he really was a delinquent from time to time.

She felt hesitant to initiate a conversation with the (guy everyone thinks is a) delinquent who nobody talked to.

On top of that, Yozora normally avoided talking to anyone else in class, hence if she went over and talked to Kodaka she would be unable to avoid standing out.

...It was just, how to put it... too embarrassing for her.

The biggest reason though—— was that after spending such a long time alone and isolated at school, she didn't even know how to go talk to someone else.

This was a very serious problem.

How should she call out to him? Should she say "Um", or "Hey", or "Yo", or "Sup", or "Excuse me"? How does everyone else decide which one to use? She was completely at a loss.

Thus, Yozora had been waiting for Kodaka to come talk to her, but... For some reason Kodaka only tried talking to other guys, and no matter how casually Yozora walked by him, or how often she went back and forth between her desk and her locker behind her, pretending to grab textbooks and handouts, Kodaka didn't seem to notice at all.

Thinking about how she'd spent the past month filled her chest with an unbearable amount of irritation.

I'm trying so hard to talk to him, but he just...!

The irritation in her chest continued to swell up with no sign of stopping.

This is getting bad. I need to do my "routine".

"——Hey, what do you think, Tomo-chan?"

All of a sudden—— Yozora turned to her side, and started talking to the empty space beside her.

An air friend.

Yozora came up with this fictional existence after a "certain incident" during her middle school years, and it was essentially like the friend version of an air guitar.

Her name was Tomo-chan.

Tomo-chan was an attractive, athletic, superhuman of a girl, skilled in many arts including singing and painting, but also very caring towards others and especially so with her best of best friends, Yozora. She was the perfect friend who would always have a fun story to tell or be ready to lend an ear (an ear made of air, of course).

Unlike most imaginary friends a certain percentage of the world's children typically dream up, Yozora could not see Tomo-chan, and of course she did not believe she truly existed either.

Even Yozora felt that what she was doing was utterly ridiculous.

It truly was ridiculous—— pathetically so.

The name she gave her was rather simple, and thinking about it rationally, there was no way a perfect superhuman like Tomo-chan would have Yozora as her only friend.

But, even so, that didn't stop Yozora.

Much like how one can feel full of energy after seriously playing an air guitar and pretending they just gave a real performance, having an unreserved conversation with Tomo-chan was honestly enjoyable for her.

In fact, instead of enjoyable—— it might be more appropriate to say that it allowed her to play the role of her "normal" high school girl self having an enjoyable conversation with her "normal" friends.

She'd had similar experiences back when she used to pretend to be a superhero with Kodaka. She would get too into her role and attempt to bend her body in ways not meant to be bent in an attempt to pull off some special attack, only to end up hurt. Simply put, Yozora had always had a tendency to take any acting she did too far.

However, she was also very well aware of how said tendency had gotten her into trouble a number of times in the past, hence she would take care in choosing when and where to talk to Tomo-chan, but... Today she was not careful enough.

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it back then you said——"

Kachak.

——All of a sudden, the door to the classroom flew open.

——And she met eyes with Kodaka Hasegawa, staring at her with a stiff look on his face.

...It was awful.

Kodaka has pretty terrible luck, but I have to say mine's just as bad—— Yozora thought to herself on her way to the pits of despair.

Did he see me? No way, did he really see that just now? See me talking to my air frie... No, see me happily talking to myself... Crap, crap, this is bad, what do I do, seriously what do I do...!?

"".........""

After a brief awkward silence, Kodaka began walking towards her.

W-why...!?

It was because Kodaka's desk was right in front of the ledge Yozora was sitting on, but she was simply too confused by the whole situation to notice.

A fiendish smile then rose upon Kodaka's face, and it made him look like...

"...That smile makes him look like a hawk licking its lips after spotting its prey...!"

Yozora had accidentally let her thoughts slip out of her mouth. How could she not? Even Yozora thought that Kodaka's smile was scary.

Kodaka looked a bit hurt, and a bit apologetic after hearing Yozora's words.

Yozora's heart skipped a beat after seeing that expression on his face.

In that instant, Yozora finally realized that this was the chance to speak to Kodaka for the first time in 10 years that she'd been wishing for the past whole month.

Yozora directed a passionate gaze at Kodaka.

Remember—— Remember, Taka.

It's me—— Sora.

Your best friend, Sora.

"Ah, um..."

Kodaka opened his mouth.

"...What?"

Yozora said, trying to dispel the pounding of her heart by replying in the most calm tone of voice she could manage.

"...Umm..."

Kodaka seemed to be nervous as well.

Could it be? Does he recognize me?

Yozora gulped down her own saliva as she waited for Kodaka to continue.

It was only a few seconds in actuality, but after that brief period of time that felt like an eternity——...

"C-can you see ghosts or something?"

............

"Hah?"

Yozora let out a confused voice after having her expectations betrayed in a way she'd never even imagined.

...In the following moments, contrary to her will, Yozora's anger and irritation at Kodaka for not realizing who she was took control of her as she blurted out how she'd been talking to her air friend, and how wonderful a girl Tomo-chan was.

Kodaka looked at her as though she were the most pitiful thing on the planet.

Now I've done it, Yozora thought to herself, regretting her actions all too late.

"...If you want to talk to some friends, then why not just make some real ones? ...You know, like, not an air friend, but ones that actually exist..."

Kodaka's oddly condescending comment set Yozora off.

"Hmph, I wouldn't have an air friend if I could do that."

For some reason, she was incredibly annoyed with him.

You're one to talk, you don't have any friends either, she yelled at him in her head.

Why am I the only one who has to go through all this? Why is Kodaka acting fine when I feel this way? I'm through with you!

"Hm? Now that I take a good look at you, you're that transfer student who's always alone in our class. You're the last person who should be lecturing anybody about friends, Mr. transfer student."

Yozora said with all the nastiness she could muster.

Kodaka then frowned and replied,

"...I've been here for a month now, stop calling me 'transfer student'."

I see, so he doesn't like being called 'transfer student'? In that case,

"......What's your name?"

Yozora asked, her intention being to see how he preferred to be addressed, but...

"...Kodaka Hasegawa."

...He named himself. Even though she'd known it this whole time.

Argh, why didn't he get what I meant?

Tomo-chan would always be able to tell what I really meant—— Why am I being so dumb? Of course she would, I made her. I know that. Yeah, I know that.

Ahh, this is so annoying. Yozora knew that she had no right to get angry about it, but she still couldn't stop herself from feeling irritated.

Maybe I should just go right out and call him "Taka". Maybe that would make him realize that I'm Sora.

...But, what if he doesn't realize?

Maybe I should just call him "Hasegawa" until he figures it out—— No, I don't want to call Taka something as reserved as "Hasegawa", no matter what.

Hence, Yozora decided that for the time being—— until they were friends again—— that she would call him "Kodaka".

"Calling me by my first name already...?" Kodaka asked with a look of confusion on his face, but Yozora paid it no mind, no mind at all.

After that little exchange, Yozora began probing Kodaka for information about how he'd spent the past 10 years.

Apparently it wasn't because he was unlucky that he hadn't made any friends yet here, he didn't have any friends at his school before this one either.

...Yozora felt a little relieved to hear that.

The two of them then began discussing how exactly one goes about making friends.

It was the first time Yozora had chatted with a classmate in a long while, and yet their conversation moved along smooth as could be.

Perhaps it was because she'd always spent time talking to Tomo-chan... Or perhaps it was because Kodaka was special to her.

"...It's not like I want friends that badly in the first place."

That's the truth—— All I need is you.

"Huh?" Kodaka asked back with a dubious expression, but Yozora was able to casually dodge the question.

I doubt many people out there have someone who they share a true friendship with (like we once did) that isn't just something superficial anyway.

Yozora told Kodaka with a hint of cynicism in the midst of their conversation.

Upon hearing that, Kodaka made a lonely look on his face, and said,

"...Maybe, but I still wish I could find a real friend out there."

...You have one, right in front of you.

...You could grant your own wish if only you'd notice that fact.

A sharp pain ran through Yozora's chest.

Yozora and Kodaka's conversation about how to make friends continued on after that, and it wasn't long before Kodaka came up with the idea of joining a club.

Joining a club—— It seemed like a truly excellent way to make friends.

...But that idea was no good.

Kodaka had finally come back to her, if he joined a club then he'd have less time to spend with her.

Maybe I could join a club with Kodaka then... That idea did cross Yozora's mind, but even that wouldn't allow them to be alone together.

And what if Kodaka made new friends in that club...

Yozora racked her brain and used every reason she could think of to get rid of Kodaka's desire to join a club.

And, luckily, she seemed to have succeeded.

Kodaka fell into silence afterwards.

Yozora breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time... she felt that a "club" wasn't too bad of an idea.

"...Still, a club, huh...... A club..."

Being in the same club as Kodaka would allow her to spend more time with him.

She could talk to him in school without standing out under the pretext of being in the same club.

However, joining a club still had many demerits to go along with its merits.

If only there was a club for just the two of us...

"——That's it, a club!"

Yozora involuntarily let out an energetic yell at her sudden flash of brilliance.

Kodaka wore a look of bewilderment on his face, but Yozora simply directed a smile full of satisfaction at him.

☺

Just you wait, Taka.

After leaving Kodaka standing stupefied in the classroom, Yozora quickly made her way to the faculty lounge in order to obtain the necessary paperwork to start a new club.

It's so simple, if there's no club then all I have to do is make one. A club for Taka and I.

Thanks to having memorized all the school rules written in her student handbook as a way to kill time, Yozora knew that it was easy to make new clubs at this school.

As she walked, Yozora thought about what to name their club, and what would make for a believable description of it. She also considered how to obtain a clubroom and an advisor as well.

Her mind was surprisingly clear, and good ideas kept coming one after another.

This is it—— I can do this.

Each time a smile leaked out onto her face, she would quickly adjust her lips back into her usual grimace.

Then, all of a sudden, something came into her vision.

It was a bulletin board in the hallway, one with the final exam results from her freshman year posted on it. Yozora's eyes glanced at her name in the fourth spot from the top.

She was currently at the top of her class, class 2-5, and her final exam score was plenty high, but no matter how high you go there's always someone above you.

All Yozora cared about was getting through class by herself, and far from caring about her rank, she actually resented being in the top 10 because of how it made her name stand out due to it being printed so large. Even so, the name at the top of said list belonging to the student with the highest score was one she just plain did not like.

Sena Kashiwazaki

That was the name of the insane honors student who has always taken first place on every single exam in every single subject ever since the entry exam to get into this school.

After hearing that she got a perfect score on Saint Chronica's notoriously difficult entrance exam, Yozora had wondered just what kind of bookworm she was, but she turned out to be a dazzlingly beautiful girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and an amazing body.

In addition to being skilled at academics she was amazingly athletic too, and on top of that, she was also the only daughter of the school's chairman. She was so well-known that even Yozora, who spoke with nobody in her class, had heard that the boys in that girl's class worshipped her like a god.

An attractive, intelligent, athletic, popular little rich girl.

Yozora pondered to herself if the term "normals" was made specifically to describe her.

Every time she ran into her in the hallways, Yozora would wish that she'd just die already.

...Still, even an annoying normal like her was insignificant now.

After all, Yozora had her school life with Taka to look forward to now.

Sena Kashiwazaki—— I've never spoken to you, but I suppose I could spare some sympathy for you now.

Starting today, I'm a normal too!

☺

After getting the forms needed to create a new club, Yozora filled out the necessary blanks on it before leaving the building and making a visit to the chapel located on the school grounds.

Despite being a missionary school, very few students, including Yozora, were actually Christians, and as a general rule very few students ever came to the chapel.

Both the nave and lounge in the chapel are typically left open to the public, and Yozora would often come here to kill time when it was too loud and thus uncomfortable in the classroom or library.

Yozora was currently en route to Lounge #4, the place Yozora thought she might be able to use as the clubroom for her new club with Kodaka.

Maria Takayama was the sister in charge of said lounge, and Yozora had often seen her napping on the sofa inside.

Yozora had never spoken to her before, but she was a very cute Northern European-looking girl who resembled a Siberian husky puppy, and she was a sister too, hence Yozora was sure that she would be a kind and understanding child.

Her mind was made up, that girl would be their advisor.

In order to form a new club one needs to have at least one club member (ie. all you need is the person making the club), and an advisor. The people who can serve as advisors are teachers, special lecturers, sisters, and other staff employed by the academy.

It was highly unlikely Maria Takayama was already advisor to another club, making her the perfect choice.

...And, well, Yozora... didn't find children to be unpleasant.

There was a child who was fond of Yozora who frequently visited the book store she had a part-time job at, and as a result she was used to talking to children.

Maria likely didn't have any friends her own age given that this was a high school, and Yozora didn't think it would be all that bad if Kodaka and her spent some time playing with Maria every now and then.

As Yozora was busy considering such things, she had arrived at Lounge #4.

"Excuse me."

Yozora entered the room after knocking on the door, causing Maria Takayama, who had been sleeping on the sofa, to go "Fueh...?" and let out a sleepy groan before getting up and looking at her.

As Yozora made her way over to Maria, all the while thinking how she looked like a cute little animal, 

"W-who are you!? This is my holy afternoon nap room, trash like you is not allowed in here!"

Maria defiantly yelled at her with great force all of a sudden.

...Huh? She's a bit different than I imagined...

Maybe she's just upset that I interrupted her nap, Yozora thought.

Still confused, Yozora took out the club establishment form, and asked,

"...Um, I'm seat number 31 from class 2-5, Yozora Mikadzuki. There's something I'd like you to do for me, Maria Takayama-sensei, if you could."

"No!"

...This brat.

Yozora managed to keep her face from going stiff with anger, and continued on in a calm tone of voice.

"...Umm, could you at least listen to what I have to say first?"

"No! Beat it, moron! Mooorooon!"

Yozora persevered through Maria's insults, and went on to say,

"...I'd like to make a new club, would it be possible for me to use this room in doing so?"

"Hell if I know, mooorooon!"

...OK, I think I'll punch her now.

As that thought crossed Yozora's mind, Maria's stomach let out a cute growling noise.

"Uu..." Maria mumbled, and after seeing her face tinted slightly red with embarrassment, Yozora's irritation all but disappeared.

What, so she's just upset because she's hungry? Yozora found that childish reaction to be quite adorable.

"...Um, how about I give you something you'll like first?"

"Something I'll like!?"

Maria's face lit up like a light bulb as she waddled her way over to Yozora.

Sheesh, so she really is a nice little girl.

Yozora rummaged through her bag in search of her present for Maria.

The chocolate she'd bought yesterday should still have been in there, but her bag was so full of notebooks and textbooks that she couldn't find it (Yozora made sure to never leave her materials at school).

Maria took a peek into Yozora's bag, her eyes still sparkling with excitement.

"Ah, here it is."

Yozora yanked out the chocolate from her bag in one swift motion.

Smack!!

"Bgobya!?"

Yozora had pulled her hand out with so much force that it caused the back of her right hand to deliver a backhand blow straight into Maria's right cheek. That had to hurt, Yozora thought to herself.

"Fueh...!? Ah... Au... *Hick*..."

Tears slowly started to form in Maria's eyes.

"Ah..."

Before Yozora could apologize for what she'd done,

"Fuehhhhhhh!! W-w-w-w-why did you just hit me!? You said you'd give me something, why'd you hit me instead!? Why'd you hit me, you idiot, moron, poophead!!"

Maria began sobbing loudly as she glared at Yozora.

At this point, Yozora was her enemy and nothing else. It was unlikely Maria would listen to anything she had to say.

However, Yozora was in a hurry to get back to Kodaka in the classroom, and didn't have time to waste here.

——I guess it's time for a change of plans.

Yozora quickly adjusted her strategy to fit the new situation.

"Hmph, fool! I did give you something, my backhand. You should be thankful."

"Ehh!?"

Maria's eyes were wide open in response to Yozora's tyrannical justification, but Yozora simply continued on.

"The Lord once said, 'If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'—— Hence, I'll hit your left cheek too."

Slap!

The second Yozora finished her sentence she followed through on her words and lightly smacked Maria's left cheek.

"Fgyah!? U-U-Uwahhhhhh!!"

"Silence. Be quiet, or else..."

"Eek!"

Maria's body shook with fear as she went quiet and obeyed Yozora's ruthless order.

Honestly, Yozora did feel guilty about what she'd done, but she also felt that this was the only way for her to swiftly end her negotiations with Maria.

Even if it was an accident, once you've hit somebody—— once they see you as their enemy—— the safest way to end things is by beating them down until their will to fight has been crushed to pieces.

Yozora was sure of that, for she had always done so up until now.

In any case, Yozora was glad to see Maria was even easier to push around than she'd anticipated.

After all, Yozora didn't want to have to hit an innocent child any more than she already had.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch01_Img01(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

Today her goal was to accomplish her goal as soon as possible, she would be sure to give her some candy later to make up for it.

"...Hey, Maria-sensei."

"Fueh...?"

As Maria sat there trembling with teary eyes, Yozora purposefully made a smile on her face like that of an evil heartless witch, and said,

"...The Lord also said——..."

...Thus, Yozora obtained an advisor for their club.

☺

After finishing all the paperwork necessary for their new club and returning to the classroom, for some reason Kodaka had already gone home.

Disappointed that she was unable to let Kodaka know about the club by the end of the day, Yozora also made her way home——

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch01_Img02(Vexed).png|thumb]]

And then, the next day came.

As usual Yozora had not a single chance to talk to Kodaka in class, however after finally losing her temper Yozora worked up the courage to walk up in front of Kodaka during lunch break, and tell him,

"Kodaka. Come here for a second."

She then left the classroom immediately after without so much as waiting for Kodaka to respond.

Luckily, Kodaka came after her anyway.

A short while later, at the landing of an empty staircase, Yozora finally told Kodaka about their new club she'd made yesterday.

The club's name was the "Neighbors Club".

The description of the club she wrote on the form she submitted read: "In accordance with the teachings of Christianity, we aim to become good neighbors to our fellow students and deepen our fellowship with them by working together with them to better ourselves in a variety of situations."

...Yeah, even I don't think this makes any sense, and I'm the one who wrote it, Yozora thought to herself.

That nonsense aside, the club's true goal was "to make friends".

There was another truth hidden within said true goal though—— namely that the club's true purpose was to help Yozora and Kodaka, help Sora and Taka become friends again.

On this day, time had finally begun to move again after having been frozen for so long.

Yozora Mikadzuki and Kodaka Hasegawa—— The curtains on their new story had at long last been raised.

☺

The following day.

As Yozora and Kodaka were relaxing inside "Lounge #4", someone started knocking on the door to the clubroom out of nowhere.

"Looks like we've got our first potential new member."

Yozora joked with a smile on her face as she stood up.

She was going to tell their rude visitor that this room was currently being used for their club activities.

Ka-lick.

Yozora opened the door, and saw that before her stood a familiar girl.

"This is the Neighbors Club, right? I want to join."

And so, their story, with its curtains now raised, set off in a direction Yozora would never have expected——

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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: CONNECT When It All Began

2013-10-23T05:23:59Z

Vexed: Created page with "==When It All Began== It was a bright morning, about halfway through the month of May. A month into the new semester, the relationships of the students found in ne..."

==When It All Began==

It was a bright morning, about halfway through the month of May.

A month into the new semester, the relationships of the students found in newly formed class 2-5 had already solidified, with each of them happily going about their youths in this new environment.

Many of them were busy chatting with either their newfound friends in class 2-5, their old friends from previous classes, or both.

The number one topic of discussion amongst them was the transfer student that was supposed to be coming to their class today.

Why now, a month into the semester? Is it a guy or a girl? I hope it's a hot guy. I hope it's a cute girl. I hope they're funny. I wonder if they're smart? Is there a sport they're good at? It'd be cool if they played an instrument.

...However, there was one girl removed from said bustling conversation, sitting alone at her desk with a frown on her face as she read her book.

Her silky black hair was a sight to behold, and her refined facial features gave her an air of sophistication.

She was Yozora Mikadzuki.

She would occasionally grimace upon hearing the cheerful voices of her classmates and yells from the sports teams practicing on the track below, all without lifting her bored-looking eyes from her book and its plain book cover.

Ever since she became a junior—— No, ever since she came to this school, Yozora spent most of her days in class like this.

Her looks were good enough to grab people's attention, and back in April some of her classmates did indeed try to talk to her, however due to the fact that she would always speak in a cold voice and offer only the meagerest of replies (or sometimes no reply at all), there was no one left in class who would talk to her anymore.

On top of her hard-to-approach atmosphere, she also possessed great academic and athletic abilities, and would give anyone who tried to mess with her the coldest of glares, which spared her from any bullying that may have otherwise occurred.

In addition, her attitude in class was certainly not what one would call good. It was especially bad in English class, where she would completely ignore any activity that required pairing up with someone, and instead opt to stare blankly out the window. However, despite her attitude, no teacher ever rebuked her for it on account of her grades being at the top of the class.

A solitary person who likes being alone and hates other people.

That was how the other students of class 2-5 saw Yozora Mikadzuki, and it was Yozora herself who had built up that reputation.

A school life in which she had no friends, talked with nobody, and got involved with nobody.

It would be a lie to say that she enjoyed it.

It would also be a lie to say that she had no interest in living an enjoyable school life.

It's obvious that enjoying something is better than being bored by it, that's only common sense.

It wasn't that she liked being alone, nor was it that she hated other people.

Even so, if it meant having to go through that, then it was better to avoid an enjoyable school life.

No friends, no boyfriend.

I'm fine all by myself.

That is what Yozora believed—— Or rather, that is what she forced herself to believe.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of their morning homeroom.

Three minutes later their homeroom teacher walked into the classroom with a worried look on his face, and told the class that, "For some reason, the transfer student who was supposed to come today isn't here," sending the class into a buzz of whispers.

Who cares, Yozora thought to herself.

It doesn't matter if some transfer students come here, it's got nothing to do with me.

Homeroom then ended with some students still whispering to each other as Yozora took out her world history textbook and notes from her desk before returning to her book.

She didn't have a particular dislike for reading, but it was also true that she very rarely found reading a book in class like so to be enjoyable.

At school, she would often choose to read minor foreign titles translated into Japanese and academic books, the kinds of books that would put almost anyone else her age to sleep.

In fact, Yozora herself was not especially fond of said books either, and she would often end up lazily following the words on the page without actually comprehending what was written.

Her criteria for picking books to read in class was simple.

She wanted books that, if asked what she was reading, would make someone awkwardly smile and walk away after being told what the book was.

The books Yozora read at school were nothing more to her than a shield with which to repel others.

Thanks to her frequent reading of such books, she acquired a great depth of knowledge regarding trivia and miscellaneous facts, however said knowledge was useless given that she had no one to share it with.

Truth be told, she enjoyed simpler, entertainment-based books.

She could read and enjoy a good mystery, or romance, or fantasy novel, but she actually liked manga even more than novels—— In particular, she liked shounen manga aimed at younger children.

The protagonist always wins. Effort is always rewarded.

And above all else—— friendship is eternal and never ever falls apart.

Victory, effort, friendship. Yozora liked stories based upon those simple principles.

How could she not? After all, they were much better than the real world.

If only the real world was as simple as it is in a shounen manga——

Yozora was not naive enough to truly wish for something like that, but she would occasionally find the idea float through her mind.

The bell then rang, alerting everyone to the start of first period.

Their world history teacher, Ms. Asada (a young teacher with a timid look about her), began class shortly thereafter.

She would always follow the textbook exactly when teaching, hence there were no major issues with her classes, however it was rather boring.

This was especially true for Yozora, who would always pre-read the material to be covered in class, leaving her with nothing new to discover.

Aside from the boys who were excited to have the beautiful Ms. Asada teaching them, the class went on with the same dullness as usual.

About halfway through first period, many students were nearly about to or had already begun counting sheep.

Yozora was among said students, her eyelids slowly becoming heavier by the minute as she rested her jaw on her elbow and blankly stared at her textbook before finally allowing them to close completely.

All of a sudden though, the classroom was filled with life again.

Apparently someone had just come in through the front door to the classroom.

Who cares...

Yozora thought to herself without even opening her eyes. I'm too tired for this, she thought.

"Ah, umm, you are...?"

In response to Ms. Asada's inquiry,

"I'm the new transfer student, Kodaka Hasegawa. Nice ta' meat ya'."

Uwah...!?

The voice everyone heard was one so unusually deep it made one's natural instincts scream that danger was about. Even Yozora felt a bit shocked, and thus opened her eyes to look at the owner of said voice.

In that instant, every last spec of sleepiness within Yozora was completely and utterly blown away.

A head of brown and dull blond hair that made it look like he tried to dye it and messed up, and a set of sharp-looking eyes that gave the impression he was glaring at you all the time.

And as if his already scary face wasn't enough, for some reason his eyes were bloodshot, causing him to look like some kind of criminal.

——Holy crap does this guy look like bad news.

Thoughts similar to that dominated the minds of those in the classroom. Even Ms. Asada appeared to be afraid.

However, Yozora alone was busy thinking something completely different from everyone else.

I know that boy.

I remember him. I've always remembered him. I never forgot about him. I'd never forget about him.

Taka!

Yozora's best friend who left her all of a sudden 10 years ago.

10 years had passed, but that unique hair of his and look in his eyes were still the same as they were back then.

His name was "Kodaka", hence she called him by the nickname "Taka".

She, on the other hand, never told him her actual name, "Yozora", and instead made him call her by the nickname "Sora".

She hid her gender and slowly became better friends with him, but as the days passed, there was a sharp pain in her chest that kept growing. That pain ——likely from the guilt she felt—— eventually became too much for her to bear, and so she finally worked up the courage to tell him the truth, but then, all of a sudden, he vanished.

Yozora's life after that was so disastrous that the only way to describe it would be to call it her dark past.

She tried many things to fill the void left by Taka's disappearance.

She tried things that would make her moan and squirm in agony just by remembering them again, and again, and again, and again, and again...

And, after all that, what Yozora finally settled on doing—— was simply to give up.

She told herself she was simply incapable of having a normal youth anymore, and resigned herself to that fate. She then locked the fun memories of the days she spent with Taka deep in her heart and abandoned all attempts to live a fun life, instead choosing to keep to herself and just kill time every single day.

"O-Okay, then, um, y-you can use that empty desk over there..."

Ms. Asada directed Kodaka to his seat.

Before walking to his seat Kodaka took a look around the classroom and made an incredibly fiendish, intimidating smile, like the kind you'd expect a man-eating monster to make, causing the mood in the classroom to grow even colder.

Yozora was likely the only one who saw that smile and felt relief, rather than fear.

He really hasn't changed at all in these 10 years.

He's fatally awful at making a smile, and any attempts he makes to be friendly with other people always backfire on him.

...Yozora liked that part of him as well though, because she was very similar.

Kodaka Hasegawa then began walking towards her on the way to his seat.

The rest of the students quietly looked away, but not Yozora, she alone stared intently at Kodaka.

Kodaka, with the same fiendish smile as before still on his stiff face, casually walked right past Yozora's desk.

He seemed to be incredibly nervous, and didn't notice Yozora staring at him in the least.

While she was a bit upset that she didn't get him to notice her right away, today was the first time in a long... a truly long time that Yozora had felt this excited.

Taka came back to me.

It felt like time had at last begun to move again for her after having been frozen these 10 years.

Before she knew it, Yozora had unconsciously let a smile slip out onto her face.

This is it—— my youth begins now!

☺

This is it, my youth begins now!

There was a time when even I had such thoughts.

"Why hasn't he noticed yet!?"

Yozora yelled in a rugged voice, unable to contain her frustration as she stood alone in her classroom at sunset.

She soon realized what she'd done though, and began to blush as she quickly moved to check outside the classroom.

There was nobody in the hallway, it appeared as though no one had heard her scream.

As the relief washed over her, Yozora walked over to Kodaka Hasegawa's desk near the window.

She then opened the window and sat on its ledge, and let out a deep sigh as she stared at Kodaka's desk in front of her.

Over a month has passed since Kodaka came to this school.

She spent the first few days waiting in excitement wondering when Kodaka would realize who she was, which was in itself fairly enjoyable.

However a week soon passed, then two weeks, then three weeks, with no sign of Kodaka having any clue that Yozora was his old best friend, Sora.

In fact, she hadn't even had a chance to talk to Kodaka a single time yet.

All of Yozora's classmates saw Kodaka as someone to be feared after his terrible first impression, and while Kodaka had been putting forth his best effort to fix that by talking to them, his incredible bad luck caused it all to have the opposite effect.

Even Yozora thought that the way he glared at the students sitting at the desks around him like a hawk eyeing up its prey looked like he was trying to decide when to mug them. In fact, it was so bad that she found herself wondering if maybe he really was a delinquent from time to time.

She felt hesitant to initiate a conversation with the (guy everyone thinks is a) delinquent who nobody talked to.

On top of that, Yozora normally avoided talking to anyone else in class, hence if she went over and talked to Kodaka she would be unable to avoid standing out.

...It was just, how to put it... too embarrassing for her.

The biggest reason though—— was that after spending such a long time alone and isolated at school, she didn't even know how to go talk to someone else.

This was a very serious problem.

How should she call out to him? Should she say "Um", or "Hey", or "Yo", or "Sup", or "Excuse me"? How does everyone else decide which one to use? She was completely at a loss.

Thus, Yozora had been waiting for Kodaka to come talk to her, but... For some reason Kodaka only tried talking to other guys, and no matter how casually Yozora walked by him, or how often she went back and forth between her desk and her locker behind her, pretending to grab textbooks and handouts, Kodaka didn't seem to notice at all.

Thinking about how she'd spent the past month filled her chest with an unbearable amount of irritation.

I'm trying so hard to talk to him, but he just...!

The irritation in her chest continued to swell up with no sign of stopping.

This is getting bad. I need to do my "routine".

"——Hey, what do you think, Tomo-chan?"

All of a sudden—— Yozora turned to her side, and started talking to the empty space beside her.

An air friend.

Yozora came up with this fictional existence after a "certain incident" during her middle school years, and it was essentially like the friend version of an air guitar.

Her name was Tomo-chan.

Tomo-chan was an attractive, athletic, superhuman of a girl, skilled in many arts including singing and painting, but also very caring towards others and especially so with her best of best friends, Yozora. She was the perfect friend who would always have a fun story to tell or be ready to lend an ear (an ear made of air, of course).

Unlike most imaginary friends a certain percentage of the world's children typically dream up, Yozora could not see Tomo-chan, and of course she did not believe she truly existed either.

Even Yozora felt that what she was doing was utterly ridiculous.

It truly was ridiculous—— pathetically so.

The name she gave her was rather simple, and thinking about it rationally, there was no way a perfect superhuman like Tomo-chan would have Yozora as her only friend.

But, even so, that didn't stop Yozora.

Much like how one can feel full of energy after seriously playing an air guitar and pretending they just gave a real performance, having an unreserved conversation with Tomo-chan was honestly enjoyable for her.

In fact, instead of enjoyable—— it might be more appropriate to say that it allowed her to play the role of her "normal" high school girl self having an enjoyable conversation with her "normal" friends.

She'd had similar experiences back when she used to pretend to be a superhero with Kodaka. She would get too into her role and attempt to bend her body in ways not meant to be bent in an attempt to pull off some special attack, only to end up hurt. Simply put, Yozora had always had a tendency to take any acting she did too far.

However, she was also very well aware of how said tendency had gotten her into trouble a number of times in the past, hence she would take care in choosing when and where to talk to Tomo-chan, but... Today she was not careful enough.

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it back then you said——"

Kachak.

——All of a sudden, the door to the classroom flew open.

——And she met eyes with Kodaka Hasegawa, staring at her with a stiff look on his face.

...It was awful.

Kodaka has pretty terrible luck, but I have to say mine's just as bad—— Yozora thought to herself on her way to the pits of despair.

Did he see me? No way, did he really see that just now? See me talking to my air frie... No, see me happily talking to myself... Crap, crap, this is bad, what do I do, seriously what do I do...!?

"".........""

After a brief awkward silence, Kodaka began walking towards her.

W-why...!?

It was because Kodaka's desk was right in front of the ledge Yozora was sitting on, but she was simply too confused by the whole situation to notice.

A fiendish smile then rose upon Kodaka's face, and it made him look like...

"...That smile makes him look like a hawk licking its lips after spotting its prey...!"

Yozora had accidentally let her thoughts slip out of her mouth. How could she not? Even Yozora thought that Kodaka's smile was scary.

Kodaka looked a bit hurt, and a bit apologetic after hearing Yozora's words.

Yozora's heart skipped a beat after seeing that expression on his face.

In that instant, Yozora finally realized that this was the chance to speak to Kodaka for the first time in 10 years that she'd been wishing for the past whole month.

Yozora directed a passionate gaze at Kodaka.

Remember—— Remember, Taka.

It's me—— Sora.

Your best friend, Sora.

"Ah, um..."

Kodaka opened his mouth.

"...What?"

Yozora said, trying to dispel the pounding of her heart by replying in the most calm tone of voice she could manage.

"...Umm..."

Kodaka seemed to be nervous as well.

Could it be? Does he recognize me?

Yozora gulped down her own saliva as she waited for Kodaka to continue.

It was only a few seconds in actuality, but after that brief period of time that felt like an eternity——...

"C-can you see ghosts or something?"

............

"Hah?"

Yozora let out a confused voice after having her expectations betrayed in a way she'd never even imagined.

...In the following moments, contrary to her will, Yozora's anger and irritation at Kodaka for not realizing who she was took control of her as she blurted out how she'd been talking to her air friend, and how wonderful a girl Tomo-chan was.

Kodaka looked at her as though she were the most pitiful thing on the planet.

Now I've done it, Yozora thought to herself, regretting her actions all too late.

"...If you want to talk to some friends, then why not just make some real ones? ...You know, like, not an air friend, but ones that actually exist..."

Kodaka's oddly condescending comment set Yozora off.

"Hmph, I wouldn't have an air friend if I could do that."

For some reason, she was incredibly annoyed with him.

You're one to talk, you don't have any friends either, she yelled at him in her head.

Why am I the only one who has to go through all this? Why is Kodaka acting fine when I feel this way? I'm through with you!

"Hm? Now that I take a good look at you, you're that transfer student who's always alone in our class. You're the last person who should be lecturing anybody about friends, Mr. transfer student."

Yozora said with all the nastiness she could muster.

Kodaka then frowned and replied,

"...I've been here for a month now, stop calling me 'transfer student'."

I see, so he doesn't like being called 'transfer student'? In that case,

"......What's your name?"

Yozora asked, her intention being to see how he preferred to be addressed, but...

"...Kodaka Hasegawa."

...He named himself. Even though she'd known it this whole time.

Argh, why didn't he get what I meant?

Tomo-chan would always be able to tell what I really meant—— Why am I being so dumb? Of course she would, I made her. I know that. Yeah, I know that.

Ahh, this is so annoying. Yozora knew that she had no right to get angry about it, but she still couldn't stop herself from feeling irritated.

Maybe I should just go right out and call him "Taka". Maybe that would make him realize that I'm Sora.

...But, what if he doesn't realize?

Maybe I should just call him "Hasegawa" until he figures it out—— No, I don't want to call Taka something as reserved as "Hasegawa", no matter what.

Hence, Yozora decided that for the time being—— until they were friends again—— that she would call him "Kodaka".

"Calling me by my first name already...?" Kodaka asked with a look of confusion on his face, but Yozora paid it no mind, no mind at all.

After that little exchange, Yozora began probing Kodaka for information about how he'd spent the past 10 years.

Apparently it wasn't because he was unlucky that he hadn't made any friends yet here, he didn't have any friends at his school before this one either.

...Yozora felt a little relieved to hear that.

The two of them then began discussing how exactly one goes about making friends.

It was the first time Yozora had chatted with a classmate in a long while, and yet their conversation moved along smooth as could be.

Perhaps it was because she'd always spent time talking to Tomo-chan... Or perhaps it was because Kodaka was special to her.

"...It's not like I want friends that badly in the first place."

That's the truth—— All I need is you.

"Huh?" Kodaka asked back with a dubious expression, but Yozora was able to casually dodge the question.

I doubt many people out there have someone who they share a true friendship with (like we once did) that isn't just something superficial anyway.

Yozora told Kodaka with a hint of cynicism in the midst of their conversation.

Upon hearing that, Kodaka made a lonely look on his face, and said,

"...Maybe, but I still wish I could find a real friend out there."

...You have one, right in front of you.

...You could grant your own wish if only you'd notice that fact.

A sharp pain rain through Yozora's chest.

Yozora and Kodaka's conversation about how to make friends continued on after that, and it wasn't long before Kodaka came up with the idea of joining a club.

Joining a club—— It seemed like a truly excellent way to make friends.

...But that idea was no good.

Kodaka had finally come back to her, if he joined a club then he'd have less time to spend with her.

Maybe I could join a club with Kodaka then... That idea did cross Yozora's mind, but even that wouldn't allow them to be alone together.

And what if Kodaka made new friends in that club...

Yozora racked her brain and used every reason she could think of to get rid of Kodaka's desire to join a club.

And, luckily, she seemed to have succeeded.

Kodaka fell into silence afterwards.

Yozora breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time... she felt that a "club" wasn't too bad of an idea.

"...Still, a club, huh...... A club..."

Being in the same club as Kodaka would allow her to spend more time with him.

She could talk to him in school without standing out under the pretext of being in the same club.

However, joining a club still had many demerits to go along with its merits.

If only there was a club for just the two of us...

"——That's it, a club!"

Yozora involuntarily let out an energetic yell at her sudden flash of brilliance.

Kodaka wore a look of bewilderment on his face, but Yozora simply directed a smile full of satisfaction at him.

☺

Just you wait, Taka.

After leaving Kodaka standing stupefied in the classroom, Yozora quickly made her way to the faculty lounge in order to obtain the necessary paperwork to start a new club.

It's so simple, if there's no club then all I have to do is make one. A club for Taka and I.

Thanks to having memorized all the school rules written in her student handbook as a way to kill time, Yozora knew that it was easy to make new clubs at this school.

As she walked, Yozora thought about what to name their club, and what would make for a believable description of it. She also considered how to obtain a clubroom and an advisor as well.

Her mind was surprisingly clear, and good ideas kept coming one after another.

This is it—— I can do this.

Each time a smile leaked out onto her face, she would quickly adjust her lips back into her usual grimace.

Then, all of a sudden, something came into her vision.

It was a bulletin board in the hallway, one with the final exam results from her freshman year posted on it. Yozora's eyes glanced at her name in the fourth spot from the top.

She was currently at the top of her class, class 2-5, and her final exam score was plenty high, but no matter how high you go there's always someone above you.

All Yozora cared about was getting through class by herself, and far from caring about her rank, she actually resented being in the top 10 because of how it made her name stand out due to it being printed so large. Even so, the name at the top of said list belonging to the student with the highest score was one she just plain did not like.

Sena Kashiwazaki

That was the name of the insane honors student who has always taken first place on every single exam in every single subject ever since the entry exam to get into this school.

After hearing that she got a perfect score on Saint Chronica's notoriously difficult entrance exam, Yozora had wondered just what kind of bookworm she was, but she turned out to be a dazzlingly beautiful girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and an amazing body.

In addition to being skilled at academics she was amazingly athletic too, and on top of that, she was also the only daughter of the school's chairman. She was so well-known that even Yozora, who spoke with nobody in her class, had heard that the boys in that girl's class worshipped her like a god.

An attractive, intelligent, athletic, popular little rich girl.

Yozora pondered to herself if the term "normals" was made specifically to describe her.

Every time she ran into her in the hallways, Yozora would wish that she'd just die already.

...Still, even an annoying normal like her was insignificant now.

After all, Yozora had her school life with Taka to look forward to now.

Sena Kashiwazaki—— I've never spoken to you, but I suppose I could spare some sympathy for you now.

Starting today, I'm a normal too!

☺

After getting the forms needed to create a new club, Yozora filled out the necessary blanks on it before leaving the building and making a visit to the chapel located on the school grounds.

Despite being a missionary school, very few students, including Yozora, were actually Christians, and as a general rule very few students ever came to the chapel.

Both the nave and lounge in the chapel are typically left open to the public, and Yozora would often come here to kill time when it was too loud and thus uncomfortable in the classroom or library.

Yozora was currently en route to Lounge #4, the place Yozora thought she might be able to use as the clubroom for her new club with Kodaka.

Maria Takayama was the sister in charge of said lounge, and Yozora had often seen her napping on the sofa inside.

Yozora had never spoken to her before, but she was a very cute Northern European-looking girl who resembled a Siberian husky puppy, and she was a sister too, hence Yozora was sure that she would be a kind and understanding child.

Her mind was made up, that girl would be their advisor.

In order to form a new club one needs to have at least one club member (ie. all you need is the person making the club), and an advisor. The people who can serve as advisors are teachers, special lecturers, sisters, and other staff employed by the academy.

It was highly unlikely Maria Takayama was already advisor to another club, making her the perfect choice.

...And, well, Yozora... didn't find children to be unpleasant.

There was a child who was fond of Yozora who frequently visited the book store she had a part-time job at, and as a result she was used to talking to children.

Maria likely didn't have any friends her own age given that this was a high school, and Yozora didn't think it would be all that bad if Kodaka and her spent some time playing with Maria every now and then.

As Yozora was busy considering such things, she had arrived at Lounge #4.

"Excuse me."

Yozora entered the room after knocking on the door, causing Maria Takayama, who had been sleeping on the sofa, to go "Fueh...?" and let out a sleepy groan before getting up and looking at her.

As Yozora made her way over to Maria, all the while thinking how she looked like a cute little animal, 

"W-who are you!? This is my holy afternoon nap room, trash like you is not allowed in here!"

Maria defiantly yelled at her with great force all of a sudden.

...Huh? She's a bit different than I imagined...

Maybe she's just upset that I interrupted her nap, Yozora thought.

Still confused, Yozora took out the club establishment form, and asked,

"...Um, I'm seat number 31 from class 2-5, Yozora Mikadzuki. There's something I'd like you to do for me, Maria Takayama-sensei, if you could."

"No!"

...This brat.

Yozora managed to keep her face from going stiff with anger, and continued on in a calm tone of voice.

"...Umm, could you at least listen to what I have to say first?"

"No! Beat it, moron! Mooorooon!"

Yozora persevered through Maria's insults, and went on to say,

"...I'd like to make a new club, would it be possible for me to use this room in doing so?"

"Hell if I know, mooorooon!"

...OK, I think I'll punch her now.

As that thought crossed Yozora's mind, Maria's stomach let out a cute growling noise.

"Uu..." Maria mumbled, and after seeing her face tinted slightly red with embarrassment, Yozora's irritation all but disappeared.

What, so she's just upset because she's hungry? Yozora found that childish reaction to be quite adorable.

"...Um, how about I give you something you'll like first?"

"Something I'll like!?"

Maria's face lit up like a light bulb as she waddled her way over to Yozora.

Sheesh, so she really is a nice little girl.

Yozora rummaged through her bag in search of her present for Maria.

The chocolate she'd bought yesterday should still have been in there, but her bag was so full of notebooks and textbooks that she couldn't find it (Yozora made sure to never leave her materials at school).

Maria took a peek into Yozora's bag, her eyes still sparkling with excitement.

"Ah, here it is."

Yozora yanked out the chocolate from her bag in one swift motion.

Smack!!

"Bgobya!?"

Yozora had pulled her hand out with so much force that it caused the back of her right hand to deliver a backhand blow straight into Maria's right cheek. That had to hurt, Yozora thought to herself.

"Fueh...!? Ah... Au... *Hick*..."

Tears slowly started to form in Maria's eyes.

"Ah..."

Before Yozora could apologize for what she'd done,

"Fuehhhhhhh!! W-w-w-w-why did you just hit me!? You said you'd give me something, why'd you hit me instead!? Why'd you hit me, you idiot, moron, poophead!!"

Maria began sobbing loudly as she glared at Yozora.

At this point, Yozora was her enemy and nothing else. It was unlikely Maria would listen to anything she had to say.

However, Yozora was in a hurry to get back to Kodaka in the classroom, and didn't have time to waste here.

——I guess it's time for a change of plans.

Yozora quickly adjusted her strategy to fit the new situation.

"Hmph, fool! I did give you something, my backhand. You should be thankful."

"Ehh!?"

Maria's eyes were wide open in response to Yozora's tyrannical justification, but Yozora simply continued on.

"The Lord once said, 'If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'—— Hence, I'll hit your left cheek too."

Slap!

The second Yozora finished her sentence she followed through on her words and lightly smacked Maria's left cheek.

"Fgyah!? U-U-Uwahhhhhh!!"

"Silence. Be quiet, or else..."

"Eek!"

Maria's body shook with fear as she went quiet and obeyed Yozora's ruthless order.

Honestly, Yozora did feel guilty about what she'd done, but she also felt that this was the only way for her to swiftly end her negotiations with Maria.

Even if it was an accident, once you've hit somebody—— once they see you as their enemy—— the safest way to end things is by beating them down until their will to fight has been crushed to pieces.

Yozora was sure of that, for she had always done so up until now.

In any case, Yozora was glad to see Maria was even easier to push around than she'd anticipated.

After all, Yozora didn't want to have to hit an innocent child any more than she already had.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch01_Img01(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

Today her goal was to accomplish her goal as soon as possible, she would be sure to give her some candy later to make up for it.

"...Hey, Maria-sensei."

"Fueh...?"

As Maria sat there trembling with teary eyes, Yozora purposefully made a smile on her face like that of an evil heartless witch, and said,

"...The Lord also said——..."

...Thus, Yozora obtained an advisor for their club.

☺

After finishing all the paperwork necessary for their new club and returning to the classroom, for some reason Kodaka had already gone home.

Disappointed that she was unable to let Kodaka know about the club by the end of the day, Yozora also made her way home——

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_CONNECT_Ch01_Img02(Vexed).png|thumb]]

And then, the next day came.

As usual Yozora had not a single chance to talk to Kodaka in class, however after finally losing her temper Yozora worked up the courage to walk up in front of Kodaka during lunch break, and tell him,

"Kodaka. Come here for a second."

She then left the classroom immediately after without so much as waiting for Kodaka to respond.

Luckily, Kodaka came after her anyway.

A short while later, at the landing of an empty staircase, Yozora finally told Kodaka about their new club she'd made yesterday.

The club's name was the "Neighbors Club".

The description of the club she wrote on the form she submitted read: "In accordance with the teachings of Christianity, we aim to become good neighbors to our fellow students and deepen our fellowship with them by working together with them to better ourselves in a variety of situations."

...Yeah, even I don't think this makes any sense, and I'm the one who wrote it, Yozora thought to herself.

That nonsense aside, the club's true goal was "to make friends".

There was another truth hidden within said true goal though—— namely that the club's true purpose was to help Yozora and Kodaka, help Sora and Taka become friends again.

On this day, time had finally begun to move again after having been frozen for so long.

Yozora Mikadzuki and Kodaka Hasegawa—— The curtains on their new story had at long last been raised.

☺

The following day.

As Yozora and Kodaka were relaxing inside "Lounge #4", someone started knocking on the door to the clubroom out of nowhere.

"Looks like we've got our first potential new member."

Yozora joked with a smile on her face as she stood up.

She was going to tell their rude visitor that this room was currently being used for their club activities.

Ka-lick.

Yozora opened the door, and saw that before her stood a familiar girl.

"This is the Neighbors Club, right? I want to join."

And so, their story, with its curtains now raised, set off in a direction Yozora would never have expected——

File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai CONNECT Ch01 Img02(Vexed).png

2013-10-23T05:22:23Z

Vexed:

File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai CONNECT Ch01 Img01(Vexed).jpg

2013-10-23T05:21:49Z

Vexed:

User talk:Vexed

2013-10-14T02:48:51Z

Vexed: /* Haganai V9 */

=Editing/TL Questions=
replied to your letter...

The tower

Just as you'd expect from a genius inventor girl(?), her brushing was just as smooth as Yozora's.

why is there a question mark there? because kodaka is unsure if it should be expected from her or not?
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 10:50, 21 February 2012 (CST)

Yes, (?) represents somebody questioning what came before it. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 23:42, 21 February 2012 (CST)

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tomodachi vol. 4 chapter "afterparty"

"Hmm... I really wish one of my junior upperclassmen would have had to read that while suffering an agonizing amount of embarrassment, but oh well." 

what is "junior upperclassmen"? upperclassmen who are in their junior year? if that's so, i would drop the "junior"...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 03:59, 26 February 2012 (CST)

Yeah I agree, sounds weird now that I re-read it too. I didn't want to throw the specification out entirely though, so I changed it to "three upperclassmen" --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 13:55, 26 February 2012 (CST)

oh, and is it "senpai" in the jap version? (i don't know of any other word...) mmm... just a small commentary: you sometimes use senpai as is, when it's singular. is it okay in terms of consistency? imho, ideally it should be either always "senpai" or always "upperclassmen". this is, of course up to you. i'm just pointing it out in case you haven't noticed...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 14:06, 26 February 2012 (CST)

I leave Senpai as is when it's being used as a personal pronoun (typically by Rika in reference to Kodaka), otherwise I translate it. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 19:01, 26 February 2012 (CST)
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Kobato often uses expressions, like "noble of the exalted night". when translated into russian, it sounds like shit. could i ask you to give me a literal translation? plus noble and exalted have almost the same meaning...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 13:29, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Noble and exalted have similar meanings as adjectives, however (in case you're unaware), in this case, "noble" is being used as a noun synonymous with aristocrat. As for a literal translation, that is a literal translation. You'll have to ask someone who speaks Russian and Japanese if you want more help with that. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 15:18, 4 March 2012 (CST)

thanks. yeah, i knew that. just thought that in japaneese it might be different. alas, there are certain complications when using the russian version of aristocrat/noble...either it sounds extremely out of place(anachronistic and grossly russian) or you have to come up with smth like "i am one of noble birth belonging to the noble night" which is even shittier. just in case you might care...--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 15:33, 4 March 2012 (CST)

ah, and i'm guessing "clansman" doesn't get any more literal either, yes?--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 15:53, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Yeah, "clansman" is pretty literal too; the Japanese word 眷属 is an archaic and formal way to refer to a person in one's family, or someone like family. I don't know why you're worried about Kobato sounding anachronistic though, she's supposed to when she's talking like Leysis. All of her dialogue as Leysis is grandiose and supposed to sound out of place in a normal conversation. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 16:08, 4 March 2012 (CST)

well ok, it's more of an issue that the "noble" word pertains only to russia. ana-regional...? ...who's leysis again? the character she's acting like?

and the clarification of "clansman" also helped alot...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 16:44, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi is Kobato's alias. It's the character she pretends to be most of the time. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 19:21, 4 March 2012 (CST)
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After Party

"It is most embarrassing, but carbonic acid provides me with significant difficulty." 

mmm...i'm not really sure if "carbonic acid" sounds good. can it be changed to soda or carbonated drinks or something along those lines? i'm asking cause maybe it should specificaly translated as carbonic acid.

--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 03:29, 6 March 2012 (CST)

It's like that on purpose. Yukimura talks in a stiff tone of voice, similar to what Kobato does when she's pretending to be Leysis. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 13:42, 6 March 2012 (CST)
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'''Rika's Text'''

In response to this comment of yours: "Your translation of the message is less accurate, and while using syllables is a better "translation" of the encoding, it's considerably less important than the text itself, hence I undid it."

The only thing that I felt that I really took liberties on was adding "morals". I took some little liberties here and there, but those don't change the meaning of the message that much, but you also did that, too, since with this type of thing, taking little liberties is unavoidable. Here's my step-by-step analysis on each part comparing our versions.

ああん 
I went the route of making the title the actual first syllable like for the hidden message, as opposed to just putting the sound. The sound alone being the title does sound more nonsensical, though, but I would rather have the coding be the same. I think that the coding is the important part here, since it's the unique factor for this part of the story.

静かに 
I included this in my translation, which you omitted.

高くそびえる 
そびえる isn't in its volitional form, and just simply in its plain for, but you translated it as being volitional, just to have "let's" at the beginning.

電信柱に 
Since the particle is に, it should be "at", and not "of", the telephone pole.

エロスを感じます。 
I took a bit a of a liberty with "only", but that's about it this part. You translated 感じます as "go beyond", which isn't right.

とりあえず 
Meaning something along the lines of "first of all", giving the sense that there is one thing that more important and thus must be addressed first. Hence, I used "above all else", which gives roughly the same idea. It doesn't deal with rethinking anything. (Unless your "On second thought," part was a translation of "よく考えると", which is a whole new problem that I have addressed later in this message.)

縛られてみたいです。 
縛る just means to tie/bind. I guess gagged is an extended form of tying someone down, but it's not really necessary, but not wrong either, so neither of us is really wrong.

まぐわってみたいです。 
I combined this sentence with the previous, and took a liberty with having sex by replacing it with "date-raped" for the word "date", as both things involve a similar action. As for your translation, you flat out mention an actual date in order to include the word, which was never mentioned in Rika's actual message. Also, you translated this line and the previous line as if it was after "よく考えると", and totally ignored "とりあえず" and "しかし" as well. You also took a bit of a liberty and changed the fact that she wants intercourse to simple saying that it would be nice if that's the case, which isn't a big deal, but I'm just mentioning it to be thorough. It's the other part before it that's more problematic.

しかし 
A contradictory conjunction "but" that separates what comes before it with, as its name implies, a contrasting idea that comes after it. Again, you sort of combined what was before it with part of something after it, which really changes the meaning in this case.

よく考えると 
Meaning "If I were to think about it better..." or something along those lines. Here's where I took a big liberty of taking "it" as her "morals", something not mention, in order to get the right syllable. But it still goes along the lines of more deeply thinking it over. Your translation puts this line 3 lines earlier, changing the meaning completely.

後ろから攻められるのもいいかもしれません……。 
Something along the lines of "it might be good if I were to be attacked from behind". Both of us took liberties with the "もいい" part, with me using "would rather" and you with "want to", but both having the same idea so either is acceptable. As for the verb 攻める, I used roweled, which is a verb meaning to urge on something by striking it, oftentimes referred to a horse, which gives a similar idea of being attacked, just as your "taken" does.

Anyway, I tried to be as objective as I can with this response. I look forward to hearing your further thoughts on this matter.

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 23:08, 4 June 2012 (CDT)

The fact that there is an encoding by only reading the first portion of the lines is what really matters, not specifically which first portion. Meaning matters even more here though, because the message is actually in normal Japanese. Anyway, a quick breakdown:

ああん - Doesn't matter if you want to use it in the message or not, although it's obviously supposed to be a moan, given the rest of the message.

静かに　高くそびえる - This whole line, while grammatically correct, is basically nonsense in the Japanese as well, which is why it's permissible to play with the translation here as long as the basic structure stays the same.

電信柱に　エロスを感じます - Same as the above really, although as a side note: in this case に does not mean at, it would have to be で to mean that. に here means "from", which can be translated as "of the" given the context and such. If you really wanted to be more literal, "Go and feel the eros of/from the telephone pole." could also work; I opted to kind of tie it in to the above line originally.

とりあえず　縛られてみたいです - This does not mean "first of all" in the sense that something is of the utmost importance. The best word to describe it I can think off of the top of my head is "tentatively". It's sort of like, "for starters" in this case. I added the "On second thought" simply because I needed the word "on" in a way that wouldn't affect the key idea of the sentence, namely that she wants to try getting tied up. The gagged bit was an addition to give the sentence a more sexual BDSM meaning it was intended to have.

まぐわってみたいです - We both ended up adding a date here (I don't see how me adding it is somehow more of a problem than you adding it), and I don't think either is really any better considering Rika's personality. They both have the key idea that she wants to try having sex, yours explicitly stated, mine implicitly.

しかし　よく考えると - This is only a conflicting idea in the sense that she just thought of something better; it certainly has nothing to do with morals. The "might want to... as well" conveys this sudden thought in a more liberal, yet still accurate, fashion. The line should also be "as well" or something similar, not "rather", because of the のも present. The tomorrow I obviously had to put in there to make the encoding work, but it fits overall, given the conversations Kodaka's been having.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 04:28, 5 June 2012 (CDT)

First of all/for starters, using the Japanese terms for the usage of the particle に, one usage if に is a 場所の格助詞, a case-particle indicating place. に does not have a function of a 連体修飾の格助詞 or a 所有の格助詞 (simply speaking, these two types of case-particles are particles that modifies two nouns). の is such a particle with those two functionalities. while に does not have either of those uses.

Also, what about "感じる"? You seem to be taking much more liberties that changes/omits the meaning of the the message, such as for this. You're saying that since it's nonsense, it's okay to just omit everything that is hard to fit into the translation and still have the hidden message; that's not a great mindset when translating stuff, especially a letter with a hidden message. Yet, even in doing this, the hidden message's coding is still changed (moreso than the alternative). I've managed to still stay true to the main message, omitting pretty much nothing, while keeping the message coding preserved as much as possible. Also, the fact that in your message, having "A" as its own line makes it look out of place.

"First of all" and "for starters" mean pretty much the same thing, and are both used to introduce a certain topic first (the first sentence of this message being an example), so this argument is working more against you. "Above all else" is also a way to introduce a topic that you want to talk about before talking about other (related) topics.

As for the "morals" part, I already said that it's the most liberal thing I did. But I've already thought of a better alternative (which slightly breaks the technical syllable separation, but it still has the same sound and spelling of the first three letters). It also changes the parts that you have problems with to your wording of it, so you shouldn't have any complaints there. 
Here is the last three lines of my corrected version (for reference, the end of the line before this is "But, if I were"): 
'''to think about it''' 
'''moreover, I might want to be''' 
'''roweled from behind as well…''' 

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 15:31, 6 June 2012 (CDT)

I don't know if you don't speak English well, if you don't have a good grasp on Japanese, or if you just don't want to admit your mistakes, but it's one of those, or a combination. You seem to act like my liberties are unforgivable, but somehow yours are no big deal. In any case, here's further explanation:

Yes, に is a location particle, but only in an incredibly abstract sense. For example, 彼に～を感じる means to feel something "from him", or even more literally, feel it "in him". If you feel something from/in somebody, then that "something" presumably belongs to them, hence, this substitution is possible in English.

I already changed the 感じる part, since looking at it again, I agree it makes more sense to just be accurate. I also added the quietly part in the first line for the same reason. The "A" on its own line is fine, because the message is broken up weirdly in the first place.

Again on the bit about とりあえず, I specifically wrote "This does not mean 'first of all' '''in the sense that something is of the utmost importance'''." Obviously it CAN mean the same thing as "for starters" based on context, however that's irrelevant here, because you wrote neither. "Above all else" always implies what you are talking about is the most important, and is generally used at the end of a list as well. This error is equivalent to my addition of "On second thought" to make the encoding work.

"But if I think about it, moreover I might want to be" doesn't make sense. Specifically, the moreover the part.

So, as a breakdown of "errors": 
Mine (3) - "On second thought", addition of "date", addition of "tomorrow" 
Yours (4, since "at" is an easy fix) - message title, "at" the telephone pole, "above all else", "date-raped", "moreover" 

Long story short, yours isn't any better, and there's no point in changing it the way it is now.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 17:20, 6 June 2012 (CDT)

Attacking my language skills now, huh... I could have said that exact thing to you on some of these things, but I didn't want to resort to that. I respect you for taking the time out of your schedule to translate this so that others who can't read Japanese can enjoy this story, and I just want to make their experience the best as possible. This text coding is something that struck my attention, since I like things like these, so that's why I'm spending so much time just on this. That's why I'm trying to keep the coding of it as true to the original as possible so that others will be able to appreciate it as much as I did when I first read it.

Anyway, time to defend my case...

に does not only apply to abstract locations. Take the simple sentence 「私はここにいる」, which signified a physical location at which the subject is physically situated. Perhaps ここ isn't the best example for the case of "at" (but it still refers to a physical location), since with that, English speakers won't use "at", and just simply say "I am here." But, for something like 「私は父の家にいった」, it would be translated as "I was '''at''' (my) dad's house."

And my line wasn't "But if I think about it, moreover I might..."; it's "But, if I think about it moreover, I might..." with the comma AFTER "moreover", since "moveover" is an adverb modifying the verb "think" (which fits with the fact that 考える to also modified by an adverb that gives it the sense of her thinking it over better).

So we really only have the exact same amount of areas that we took liberties with, two of which are for the same places. But the fact that mine stays more true to the coding of the hidden message is an important point, IMO. For your message, even someone as dense as Kodaka couldn't possibly use the first letter of the lines instead of the first word of the lines to try to solve it, especially if it was a code in English with that "A" standing by itself (he's dense, not stupid). His incorrectly decoded message using just the first letter doesn't even look anything remotely like a sentence. At least 「静高電エと縛ましよ後」 looks somewhat like a sentence at a glance, as with "Let's Going Only Above date-raped to moreover roweled" at a glance.

And FYI, you didn't fix the text message in all instances in the story.

PS: Sorry I took awhile to respond; I didn't get an e-mail notifying me of your response.

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 14:54, 9 June 2012 (CDT)

I attacked your language because it's clear that you didn't fully understand the message, or that you're stubborn, given the way you insist some things are right. I know that に can mean physical locations too, however that isn't what it means here. This is especially evident given that Rika is calling the telephone pole erotic because of its phallic shape. The に in this case is working like 「お母さんに貰ったプレゼント」 = "The present I got from Mom." I don't know how else to explain it to you. As a side note, 家にいった means you went somewhere; you want いた. Also, "moreover" still doesn't make sense there, that just isn't how the word is used in English. Here's how you would want it:

<stuff>. But if I were 
to give it some 
more thought, I might want to be 
roweled from behind, as well... 

However, there's still the issues with the other lines mentioned before that would have to be fixed for your version to be an improvement. I also don't agree that it's impossible for Kodaka to totally half-ass his first attempt at decoding (it's a stupid message from Rika after all), and thus fail to get the meaning using my encoding scheme. In any case, if you can fix the "only", the "above all", and either the "date-rape" or the message's title, post it here and if it's good (sounds like normal English) we'll go with that one.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 18:32, 9 June 2012 (CDT)

Your mentioning of the fact that a telephone pole has a phallic shape made me better understand what you're trying to say better. I guess I didn't really take it that way. If only you would have said this earlier; that would have certainly save us some time... LOL 
As for 貰う, I think this is a special verb that, when translated into English, needs special wording when translation, as the Japanese language uses the verbs for giving/receiving in a slightly more complicated way; but this is another matter that isn't really relevant. 
And opps, for some reason, I was thinking that 居る was a godan verb. I guess I got it mixed up with 入る (which also has two pronunciations, いる and はいる; stuff like this makes reading Japanese a bit tricky sometimes, as no matter if it's in kanji or hiragana, there's always a chance of a slight misinterpretation; unless it has both kanji and furigana, I guess... <_<).

Anyway, I'm getting a little side-tracked, here. Back to the "moreover" thing: I guess I just wanted to use a word that had more than one syllable for the "mor" sound, but thinking about it, there is little reason for doing that (aside from making his incorrectly decoded message sound more different than the real coded message, but it already sounds different enough). I like your rewording of it, a lot.

And if it's Kodaka's laziness (and not stupidity) that's the problem, then I guess he could totally do something like that (if he were to speak English, anyway).

So how about this revision: 
'''Let's''' 
Going up and quietly soaring high 
onwards. Feeling the Eros of 
a telephone pole. For now, I want to have sex while se- 
dated. But, if I were 
to give it some 
more thought, I might want to be 
roweled from behind, as well...

The title is pretty hard to leave as a moaning sound and have it fit into the coded message, so I'd rather change the "date-raped" part. I figured that "sedated", while being slightly different than being bounded, being a mental binding instead of a physical one, is still a similar concept since both deal with restricting one's control over oneself. What do you think?

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 18:41, 10 June 2012 (CDT)

Hey, sorry it took a while to reply to this, apparently the update e-mail got thrown into my spam folder and I must've missed/forgot about the "new message" thing when I last logged in to release. 
Everything except the sedated works; I think sedated is too far removed from the concept of being tied up. It'd also be a plus if you could break up the sex thing into its own sentence, but it's not necessary or anything. I'll post here again if I think of anything to replace it (the sedated bit).
[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 18:35, 19 June 2012 (CDT)

==Afiliation with Haganai wiki ?==
Hi vexed, I am P-man from [http://haganai.wikia.com/wiki/Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Wiki http://Tomodachi ga Sukunai Wiki].
As a representative and admin from there, we would very much like to affiliate with your scanlation team to spread more publicity form both sides. (This way, we can attract more readers/editors respectively).

Will you grant us the privilege of affiliating with our humble yet growing wikia ? After all, the wikia has few affiliates....
~P-man

If you want to list me as the person translating the novels on your site I don't mind, but I'm not going to be linking to your site or anything.
[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 15:50, 16 July 2012 (CDT)

Yeah, pretty much the idea. Ironically, wikia alliances meant that I have to link to your site. (Since it is to remind editors to acknowledge to your TLs and use only your/Baka Tsuki TL sources. Not anyone else's.)
~P-man

== Haganai V9 ==

Hey Vexed, inaban here. Going to pick up Volume 9 of Haganai for translation. I know you're working on Universe and a few other things so just figure I'd help out, loved all your previous T/L's of Haganai. --[[User:Inaban|Inaban]] ([[User talk:Inaban|talk]]) 12:48, 13 October 2013 (CDT)

<div style="background-color: #FAFAFA;">
Hey there! I'll edit volume 9 (talked with inaban) and would like to edit the main-site to look like [[Oda Nobuna no Yabou (Deutsch)|this]]. To avoid unpleasantries I'd like to ask of your approval. So no changes to the content, just style. Greetings, [[User:Cautr|-cautr]] ([[User talk:Cautr|talk]]) 15:30, 13 October 2013 (CDT)
</div>

You can if you want, but I'll be translating and releasing volume 9 just like I have all the previous volumes, and probably end up replacing any other TLs that show up here. I actually have no plans to do Universe though, only CONNECT (since it's canon and important), so if anything I'd recommend you work on that instead, but again, it's not like I can stop you. You're free to do whatever you want. [[User:Vexed|Vexed]] ([[User talk:Vexed#top|talk]]) 21:48, 13 October 2013 (CDT)

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 8 A New Light

2013-04-03T05:53:56Z

Vexed: Created page with "---A New Light--- After running out of the clubroom the weekend quickly passed by, and it was now Monday after school. As I was walking through the halls with heav..."

---A New Light---

After running out of the clubroom the weekend quickly passed by, and it was now Monday after school.

As I was walking through the halls with heavy steps, I saw Aoi Yusa a ways off walking in my direction.

She was carrying two cardboard boxes and looked really unsteady on her feet.

The boxes looked pretty heavy, and she was wearing a pretty stern expression as she carried them.

The boxes made it so she couldn't see in front of her very well, and it wasn't until she was about a meter away that she realized it was me, causing her to go "Ah..." and make an awkward face.

Yusa averted her gaze and quickly tried to pass by me.

"Awa!?"

However, all of a sudden she tripped over her own feet and lost her balance.

"Uoh!?"

I reflexively grabbed both boxes with my hands and held them steady, allowing Yusa to regain her balance.

"Phew... T-thank you, Hasegawa. I-if you'll excuse me!"

"Hey, wait!"

I called out to Yusa as she tried to quickly get away from me, and asked her,

"...Want some help?"

"I-I'm fi—— Owah, ah?"

Yusa was right in the middle of refusing my offer when she tripped again, almost dropping the top box. All I could do was sigh at her.

"...You can't even see where you're going. It's dangerous——"

I said before snatching the top box.

"——Uwoah!?"

However it was heavier than I thought it'd be, causing me to let out a yelp in a panicked voice.

Most girls would probably have a hell of a time trying to carry two of these at once... Hell, some guys might even have trouble carrying two.

"T-thank you Hasegawa..."

Yusa thanked me while blushing faintly.

"Don't sweat it."

I said, and then started walking alongside Yusa.

"These are pretty heavy... what's in 'em?"

"Request forms and printouts used during the school festival. There's some pamphlets and such in here too."

"Ahh, paper huh. No wonder it's heavy... What were you thinking, carrying two of these at once?"

"I-I couldn't help it, there's a lot of them I have to move! ——Uwo!"

Even with only one box Yusa still looked unsteady on her feet.

"...Are you OK?"

"Y-yes..."

Yusa seemed embarrassed as she nodded at me.

"So if you have a lot, does that mean there's still more after these two?"

"Yes."

"Why are you even carrying these in the first place?"

"It's part of my Student Council duties."

"You have to carry all of them by yourself?"

"Yes."

"How can they make one person carry so many of these alone..."

"T-that's not it!"

Yusa hurriedly interjected upon hearing my accusatory tone.

"It's not like everyone else in the Student Council pushed this onto me. It's the opposite actually, I turned down their offer to help."

"How come?"

"Because it's my fault for skipping a week of work that things got this backed up. I can't bother everyone else with this when they're already so busy."

Yusa plainly stated with a super serious look on her face.

That week she skipped... is probably the time she spent observing what we were doing in the Neighbors Club.

And apparently this is the work that piled up in that time.

"...Hey, Yusa."

"Yes?"

"...Why did you try so hard to get rid of the Neighbors Club?"

I asked her something that'd been on my mind.

First she came and complained we weren't following school rules, and when that failed she went so far as checking the staff roster just to find something we did wrong.

And that's all despite the fact that the Neighbors Club hasn't ever caused any real problems.

The fact we spend all of our time playing around is probably an issue, but I'm pretty sure there are plenty of clubs besides ours who don't do much.

If it was just about the school rules, then there are plenty of other students who aren't following them. In fact, I'd be surprised if you could find even one person who follows all the school rules to a T.

There's also the fact that the time I first met Yusa she actually complimented my clothes and hair and such because she thought I was doing all that to be fashionable. 

Even if she is a ridiculously serious hard worker, I don't think she's an inflexible stubborn person at all.

And yet, she focused on the Neighbors Club to the point that it caused problems with her own work, and even tried to have the club disbanded.

I'm not sure how to put it exactly, but it just doesn't seem like something she'd do.

"I did it because people with amazing skills should be in a place that suits those skills."

Yusa plainly answered.

"...A place that suits their skills?"

"Yes! It is a great loss to all of mankind to have a person as gifted as Sena Kashiwazaki wasting her time in such a place!"

"To all of mankind, huh..."

I said while making a wry smile, and then asked,

"...So, basically, you were trying to get rid of the Neighbors Club for Sena's sake?"

"Yes!" Yusa immediately replied.

"I see..."

Looking at it from an objective point of view—— I'm sure Yusa is right.

Whether or not it's something that affects all of mankind aside, I'm sure Sena could achieve some great things in a sports club.

She might be fatally uncooperative, but it'd be fine as long as she did solo events, and even for team events her specs are so high it balances out her faults and then some.

And Sena isn't the only one in the Neighbors Club like that.

Yozora Mikadzuki is amazing at both academics and sports.

She's bad at socializing, but it's not like she can't fit into a group at all, and I'm sure she'd be able to handle just about anything you throw at her.

Needless to say there's Rika Shiguma as well, who's already done actual professional work.

I bet tons of people would love to have her spend her free time helping them research and invent things. In fact, there's probably more people who'd want her than there are who'd want Sena. 

Kobato Hasegawa is popular in her middle school—— She has a place she belongs outside the Neighbors Club.

She should value the bonds she has with her classmates, so she can be ready for when she eventually graduates and becomes a high school student.

Maria Takayama has an older sister at her side who loves her more than anyone else.

Even if she didn't have the Neighbors Club, I'm sure her sister would protect her and guide her right this time.

As for Yukimura Kusunoki, she claims "I do not need friends." and thus completely denies the idea of "making friends" at the heart of the Neighbors Club.

A shiver ran through my body and caused all my hair to stand on end.

If you think about it logically,

the Neighbors club has no reason to,

no reason to...

"Just kidding, that was a lie."

Yusa said with a sigh just before my brain could form that final terrifying word.

"Huh? A lie?"

"...It would've been nice if I had a cool reason like doing it for the world, or for someone else, or for society, or for justice, but... that's not why I did it. Honestly, I didn't think about doing it for her at all."

"...What do you mean?"

Yusa made a self-derisive smile at my question.

"I just wanted to beat Sena Kashiwazaki. I wanted to show the queen who has everything that not everything will go her way. ...Basically, I was jealous. I wanted someone blessed like her to pay a fitting price. If you're more blessed than others, then you should suffer an equal amount. Otherwise it'd be unfair. If there are people who are born with everything and get to be happy no matter what, then what about the normal people out there trying their best every single day?"

Yusa then paused and went, "Hahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~" and let out a big sigh.

"...But, trying to harass Sena Kashiwazaki only ended up making me look more pathetic... I even caused trouble for you too, Hasegawa. I'm sorry."

Yusa seemed to truly regret her actions as she apologized to me.

Honestly, I don't think playing the bad guy suits her in the least.

"You don't have to worry about us, what's done is done... And besides, I kinda know what you mean..."

"I appreciate it, even if it is just a lie."

Yusa said with an apologetic look on her face.

I wasn't lying though. After all, what's wrong with being jealous of others?

"...Oh, also,"

There was something more important than her apology I needed to tell her.

"...You're wrong about thinking that Sena has everything. There are things that even she doesn't have."

"Oh? Just what doesn't she have then?"

"...Friends, for example."

"Ahaha."

Yusa made a big grin after hearing my completely serious answer.

"W-why are you laughing?"

Yusa looked like she'd just heard something hilarious as she said,

"Aha, you've got as good a sense of humor as always, Hasegawa~ As if there's anybody who doesn't have any friends! Good joke though! Pfft, haha!"

"......Y-yeah, guess you're right, haha..."

"Thank you very much, Hasegawa! I appreciate you telling such a funny joke to try and cheer someone like me up! You're a really nice and wonderful person!"

She made a sweet smile, and I could see that her walking wasn't as labored as it was before.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol8_Ch09_Img01(Vexed).png|thumb]]

"........."

.........It's good to see she's back to her usual self again, but... for some reason I feel kinda depressed right now...

☺

Yusa and I left the school building, and carried the boxes all the way out to a shed tucked away in a corner of the school grounds.

Inside the shed there were bunches of folded up cardboard boxes, stacks of printer paper, newspapers, and books all separated into their own little areas.

I've heard that all the paper garbage in St. Chronica Academy goes here, and that once a month they send it out to be recycled.

I took all the paper out of my cardboard box, broke it up into smaller stacks, then tied it up with some vinyl rope and placed it in the designated area.

I folded up the cardboard box too, and placed it on top of the other folded up boxes.

Just one box alone was quite a bit of work.

"Thank you very much, Hasegawa. You were a big help."

Yusa said with a smile while wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

She then told me,

"I'll be fine now, you can go to your club."

"...!"

My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest at the mention of the word "club".

"You've still got more to carry, don't you? I'll help with those too."

I said, trying my best to act calm.

"Huh?"

Yusa looked confused for a moment, and then said,

"Y-you don't have to do that! This is all work I should be doing!"

"Don't worry about it. In for a penny in for a pound."

"B-but there are still quite a few left..."

"Then all the more reason for me to help. Can't just abandon you, now can I?"

That was, without a doubt, what I honestly thought.

I'd feel bad if I left a little girl like her (even if she is the same age as me) to do all this heavy lifting by herself.

"But it doesn't even have anything to do with you, I'd feel bad making you help..."

"This is all work that piled up while you were observing the Neighbors Club, right? Then it does have something to do with me."

It's also true that I felt a bit guilty about making Yusa waste all that time.

"You... think so...?"

After mulling it over for a few moments, Yusa made a cheerful smile and said,

"Okay, then I'll take you up on your offer. Thank you very much, Hasegawa!"

"...But is it really okay if you don't go to your club?"

I did my best to sound casual as I responded to Yusa's hesitant question.

"You should know by now that the Neighbors Club doesn't have any specific activities. If we have other stuff to do then we're free do that stuff instead."

That is also the truth.

The seven of us might've started gathering more frequently lately, but it wasn't too long ago that hardly anyone ever showed up.

People would be absent for any number of reasons you'd never get away with in a normal club, whether it be because they wanted to buy a new book, wanted to play a new video game, wanted to do their homework, etc.

In fact, sometimes the only reason would be that they didn't feel like it, and on top of that they wouldn't even tell anyone they weren't coming. To tell the truth, I've actually done that on more than one occasion myself.

Thus, "helping the Student Council" was just the reason I needed.

It was a perfect reason, one nobody could fault me for.

.........

...Why have I been going out of my way to mention "this is the truth" and "that was what I really thought" for the past little while now?

...Why was I looking for "a reason I can't go the Neighbors Club"?

...Who am I making excuses to?

.........The answer is obvious.

I didn't want to admit that, even if it was just for a split second, that I thought to myself, "I don't want to go to the Neighbors Club."

☺

Yusa and I made three more trips back and forth, carrying the heavy cardboard boxes from the Student Council storage room (the room next to the Student Council's room) to the shed.

"Hafuuu~"

Yusa plunked the box she'd been carrying down onto the floor of the shed, and then sat down on top of it.

She was breathing heavily, and her forehead was covered in sweat.

I was in much the same shape, and was currently resting against a shelf regaining my breath.

"Haa......... This is pretty hard work..."

"Sh-shure ish... Hau..."

Yusa gave a tired nod in response to my wry smile.

"How much is left?"

"There's still all the boxes on the floor in our storage room, so at least 10..."

"Seriously...? All of those...?"

"B-but don't worry! We're almost done with all the paper, all that should be left after that is cloth and wood stuff!"

"C-cloth aside, isn't wood kinda heavy...!?"

I said as a cold sweat ran down my cheek.

"...I know it's too late now anyway, but couldn't you have burned all the paper and cloth at the campfire?"

I thought it was a pretty good idea myself, but Yusa simply made a wry smile.

"Ahaha... Maybe some of it, but definitely not all of it."

"Eh, how come?"

"It's dangerous if the fire gets too big, and some stuff might be toxic if we burned it. There's also the fact that the people in the neighborhood would complain if we kept the campfire going too late into the night. ...Actually, it's so much work to do the campfire that every year people say we should stop doing it."

"Really?"

"Yes. We only still do it because it's been a tradition since the school was founded. ...Although some people say it's also because the chairman won't cancel it."

Guess there's a lot of annoying behind-the-scenes stuff even for something as beautiful as the campfire.

"...Alright, ready to get back to work?"

"Ah, yes. ...Um... I think I'll do the rest by myself after all, Hasegawa you can..."

I cut off Yusa mid-sentence, and told her,

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm helping you to the very end and that's that. ......But, well, wanna call it a day after two or three more boxes? It's starting to get dark and all."

"Eh!? Are you going to help me tomorrow too?"

"Of course."

Yusa looked incredibly grateful and made a bashful smile upon hearing my answer.

"Hasegawa... Thank you very much...!"

"Don't sweat it."

...Having someone direct such honest appreciation towards me was honestly really painful. I don't deserve to be thanked by anyone.

"C-come on, let's go."

"OK!"

Yusa nodded with a smile after I'd stuttered my words out, after which we turned towards the entrance to the shed.

However as we did, someone appeared at the entrance.

"...!?"

The light behind them was so bright I couldn't see their face very well.

I could tell the person had long hair and was wearing a skirt though, so it had to be a girl.

"Kuhaha! Excellent work you two!"

...I know I've heard that clear voice that makes you want to just keep on listening to it before.

The girl who'd just appeared with a blinding light behind her greeted us in a hearty voice along with a boisterous laugh, and then entered the shed.

Her good-looks gave her an aura of refinement and intelligence, and her long black hair, tied into braids which made her look like the daughter of a well-off family, only served to strengthen that impression.

Slender legs, a supple waist, and a plump yet modest chest.

Her name is Hinata Hidaka.

She's the student council president here at St. Chronica Academy, beloved by just about everybody (or so I've heard), as well as the girl Yozora secretly loathes and calls "King Lear".

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol8_Ch09_Img02(Vexed).png|thumb]]

"Hinata!? Why are you here!?"

Yusa said in a shocked tone of voice.

President Hinata responded by going "Heh," before making a both majestic and charming smile, and then saying,

"I heard there was a regular student helping you out with your work, you see. I figured I should say my thanks as Student Council President."

"Eh..."

She came all the way out here just to thank me?

I was pretty shocked myself, but Yusa simply gave the president a cold stare.

"...You just used that as an excuse to skip out on your work again, didn't you?"

"Kuhaha! Interacting with my fellow students is my job!"

From the looks of it Yusa was spot on with her guess, but the president didn't seem to care at all and instead made a cheerful laugh.

"My goodness..."

Yusa said with a sigh, after which the president shifted her gaze away from Yusa and over to me.

Her eyes resembling a pair of giant black pearls met with me.

Her gaze had a certain force to it, but it wasn't an overwhelming one. Rather, it was a tender, comfortable one.

It almost felt like I was going to be sucked into those eyes of hers.

"Hinata, this is Kodaka Hasegawa of class 2-5."

Yusa said, introducing me to the president, which elicited from her the following response:

"Ohh, so this is him, huh!?"

"Eh, you know him?"

"Nope."

The president said with a serious look on her face in reply to Yusa's surprise.

"Then why'd you act all surprised!?"

"I was just going with the flow!"

......What the heck is going on here...

For a second there I thought that even the Student Council President had heard all those bad rumors about me... I almost had a heart attack for cryin' out loud...

"Sheesh..."

Yusa's expression now appeared a bit annoyed as she introduced the president to me.

"Ah, Hasegawa, this is the Student Council President, Hinata Hidaka."

"Ah, yeah... I know."

I said before making a little bow in the president's direction.

"Umm... Hi, I'm Hasegawa."

"I'm Hinata Hidaka. Nice to meet you, Hasegawa."

"Ah, y-yeah, same here."

I couldn't help but feel nervous after having that smile as bright as the sun itself cast at me all of a sudden.

"By the way, why are you helping Aoi, Hasegawa? ...Ah, I know, you must be Aoi's boyfriend, right!? I'm so jealous of you, Aoi!"

""T-that's not it!!""

Yusa and I both denied the president's question in harmony with one another.

Yusa then went red in the face and started fidgeting as she went on to say,

"T-there's no way that... Hasegawa would ever g-go out with someone like me! Besides, Hasegawa already has a fine girlfri-... Oh, wait. You said you aren't going out with Sena Kashiwazaki, didn't you?"

"Y-yeah, that's right..."

Hearing Sena's name got me flustered again.

"Then are you going out with anyone else in the Neighbors Club?"

"I-I'm not! I'm not going out with anyone. ...It's not like that with them."

"Hmm, I see. That makes sense though."

"? What do you mean by that?"

I asked, thinking it was weird how convinced Yusa looked, to which she replied,

"Eh? Because, you're the only guy in the Neighbors Club, right? Things would get really awkward if the only super cool guy in the club started going out with one of the girls!"

..................

............

...Whether I'm cool or not is up for debate, but...

I placed my hand on Yusa's head—— and started patting her.

"H-Hasegawa!? W-why are you patting me on the head with an expression that looks like the face an old man not long for this world would make while looking at his newborn granddaughter!?"

"Ah, well~... It's just... I'm happy that someone out there gets it......"

"Crap, I might actually cry.

"I-I don't really get it, but... f-feel free to pat me as much as you like! ...Fuah... It feels so good..."

"Hey~ Earth to Hasegawa~"

The president said with a dumbfounded look on her face, after which I let out a gasp and stopped patting Yusa's head.

Yusa, who'd been entranced until just a second ago, also came back to her senses and started blushing before quickly moving away from me.

"So, if you're not her boyfriend then why?"

"Ah, well, it seemed like a lot of work for just one person, so, you know..."

"Hasegawa is a wonderful person who can't overlook those in need!"

"Eh!? No, I wouldn't go that far..."

Yusa's overwhelming praise left me feeling bewildered.

"I see, that's quite admirable of you! Not many young men like you these days. Keep up the good work!"

"...Eh? Oh, yeah..."

"Alright then, let's get this cleaned up!"

However Yusa squinted at the president's easygoing comment and said,

"...Hinata, please go do your own work."

"Kuhaha, no need to be so cold with me. Come on, it'll go faster with three people, won't it?"

"...Well, yes, that's true, but..."

Yusa then let out a sigh of resignation.

"...Fine. I don't want to bother Hasegawa any more than I already have, so let's all do it together. We might be able to finish today if you help us."

☺

The boxes we'd been carrying were plenty heavy to begin with, but the president was able to carry two of them easily.

Thanks to that we were able to carry twice as many boxes per trip as before, and just like Yusa said, we ended up finishing moving all the boxes just as the sun had begun to set.

...This girl is really something...

I let out a sigh of admiration as I followed President Hidaka back to the main school building.

I'd heard that clubs always fight over getting her to help them out with stuff, but she really is an incredibly powerful person, despite her girlish looks.

"Hnn, haven't had a good workout like that in a while!"

The president was busy stretching her arms out full of satisfaction as we walked.

"...Come to think of it, what events were you in for the athletics festival, President?" I asked on a whim.

Given her strength and stamina I'd imagine her doing really well at the athletics festival, but oddly enough I can't remember ever seeing her.

"...The ball-toss."

The president said, almost as if pouting about it.

"Huh? The ball-toss?"

"My team would've won for sure if I'd actually participated, so the festival committee told me not to do any events other than the ones everyone does. Hahhh, I wanted to play at the festival too you know."

She then pursed her lips a bit, and made a bitter look at Yusa.

"T-there was nothing we could do about it... It wouldn't be any fun if everyone knew who'd win right from the start. It would've been a different story if you weren't in class 3 though."

"Class 3...? Ohhh..."

I realized what Yusa meant by that.

The teams for the festival were broken up by class number, which made it so the president in class 3-3 and Sena in class 2-3 were on the same team.

If there were two people who win every event they're in on the same team, then no other team would've even had a chance of winning, and the entire festival would've been ruined.

The president made another cheerful laugh after seeing Yusa's uncomfortable expression.

"Kuhaha, I know. You guys made the right choice. I'm the Student Council President after all, it was my duty to put up with it so everyone could have fun. What do you think Hasegawa? Pretty admirable of me, right?"

"Haha, you'd be more admirable if you didn't brag about it."

I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

...She's a really interesting person.

Not only does she put others about herself, but she does so gracefully without a hint of bitterness about it. I can see why so many people would like her.

"By the way, Hasegawa."

The president stopped walking all of a sudden, and turned around towards me.

"Yes?"

"I like you, would you be interested in joining the Student Council?"

"Huh?"

I stood there, stunned.

"W-wh-where did that come from!?" Yusa yelped, seeming as flustered as me.

"It's nothing much. We lost our general affairs manager recently, so since the position's open I figured I'd ask."

"Figured you'd ask? Isn't that a bit too casual...?"

I was astonished by how carefree she was being about it.

"Hrmm... That's not a bad idea... There's also the rule that says: 'In the event there is a vacancy in the executive roles, the president is allowed to appoint a regular member to the position so long as the other executive members agree.' so it wouldn't be breaking the rules either."

"Now you too, Yusa!?"

Yusa continued to stare at me with a serious look on her face, despite my yelling, and said,

"The executive roles in the Student Council are currently fulfilled by President Hinata, Vice-President Akane Ohtomo, our treasurer, me, and our clerk, Karin Jinguuji, but we always run into trouble because we're so short on hands."

"Carrying all these boxes was supposed to be the general affairs manger's work, too." the president added.

"We have to hurry and finish the preparations for the Christmas party and ski training in January too, so right now we can use all the help we can get. The four of us are all girls too, which presents problems for us sometimes... Having a guy around would be a huge help! I'm sure you'd be perfect for the job, Hasegawa!"

Yusa seemed strangely enthusiastic as she tried to convince me to join, but all I did was sigh.

"I'd be perfect for the job...? Do you honestly think that?"

"? What do you mean?"

Yusa tilted her head in confusion, so I asked her,

"...Do you honestly not know what everyone else at school thinks of me?"

Yusa paused briefly to think before cutely tilting her head again, and replying,

"Umm, do they all think...... that you're a super cool bad boy?"

"You're the only one who thinks that! Thank you!

Her answer was so off the mark that I ended up thanking her before regaining my composure and letting out another sigh.

"Hahh... You're completely wrong. ...I'm not a bad boy, just plain 'bad'... Basically, like a yankee or a delinquent. My hair, my face, and a bunch of other little stuff I do makes everyone think that."

"What!?"

"Hrm... Now that you mention it your hair does stand out a bit at this school, and you look menacing. I can see why people would think you're a delinquent."

I ended up making a wry smile after hearing the president's blunt evaluation, and said,

"Do you get it now? If you let someone like me into the Student Council it'll just make you guys look b——"

"Only a fool would judge someone based on their appearances alone. I couldn't care less what people like that think."

The president declared without a hint of hesitation, as if it were only natural.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise, and simply stood there staring at the president's face.

Come to think of it, she hasn't made a single comment about my appearance all day today, let alone act scared of me because of it.

Up until now, I've had people act afraid of me like most students do, think I'm a yankee like Sena and Kate did when we first met, tease me for looking like a Yankee like Yozora and Rika do, or in rare cases have some weird yet positive impression of me like Yusa and Yukimura, all because of how I look.

This girl before me might be the first person I've ever met who's the same age as me but doesn't care about how I look at all.

Don't judge someone based on how they look—— It's easy enough to say, but doing it is hard.

Even I sometimes think "She's got a cute face." or "He looks scary." despite having met my fair share of trouble because of people doing that to me. In fact, I even imagined 'how much easier my life would be if I had that kind of friendly appearance' when I saw the president give her speech at the athletics festival, too. I don't think anyone can really help themselves from thinking like that.

And that's to say nothing about the near-impossible act of completely ignoring the appearance of someone you've just met.

Hinata Hidaka, huh...

I can't believe someone like her exists... and in the same school as me, too.

"What's the matter, Hasegawa? Why are you spacing out?"

"Ah, i-it's nothing!"

I hurriedly tried to act normal after the president gave me a dubious look.

"I see. So, how about it?"

I was honestly at a loss.

I thought to myself that working for this person wouldn't be half bad—— in fact, it'd probably be amazing.

However I shook that thought off, and told her,

"...S-sorry, but I think the Student Council is too much for me..."

"I see..."

Upon seeing the dejected look on the president's face, I quickly added,

"B-but, if you ever need help with manual labor stuff like this again, then just say the word! I've usually got plenty of free time!"

I blurted it out so fast it was as if I'd done it by reflex.

"By reflex"—— In other words, it wasn't an excuse to avoid the Neighbors Club, it was how I truly felt.

After hearing that, both the president and Yusa's faces broke out into huge smiles.

"I see! So then, can you come again tomorrow? The library staff asked us to help sort some books."

"O-of course, no problem at all!"

"A fine answer. Today must be my lucky day, meeting such a hard worker as yourself! It was worth sneaking away from Akane to come out here, kuhahaha!"

The president said full of cheer, along with a loud, hearty laugh.

 

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File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Vol8 Ch09 Img01(Vexed).png

2013-04-03T05:53:00Z

Vexed:

File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Vol8 Ch09 Img02(Vexed).png

2013-04-03T05:53:00Z

Vexed:

Boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai:Volume6 Birthday Party (With Kobato And Company)

2013-02-24T18:24:13Z

Vexed: Alright is colloquial/casual, not an error, leave it.

<h2>Birthday Party (With Kobato And Company)</h2>

After going home with Kobato, putting the beef in the fridge, and changing my clothes, I got ready to go out again.

I was planning on buying some other sukiyaki ingredients besides the meat we already have.

"Kukuku... Sukiyaki... Kukuku... Uheheh."

Kobato had put the presents she got from everyone on top of the table, and was now swinging her legs as she sat in one of the chairs with a big grin on her face.

"Man do you look happy..."

I said, letting a wry smile slip out onto my face. Kobato went "Ehe~" and made a cute smile in response.

"Ku, ku, ku... Today's been a good day~"

...Well, if she's this happy about it, then I guess it was worth throwing her a birthday party.

I think I'll send Yozora and the rest of them a text about how happy Kobato is with their gifts later too.

I then left the house with such thoughts in my head, and reached the super market a short while later.

I wondered how much food I'd need to buy while throwing some vegetables and konjac into my basket.

There's no way the two of us would be able to eat all the meat Sena gave Kobato in a single night.

I guess I'll leave half of it in the fridge, and then use the leftovers from dinner tonight to make us some sukiyaki lunches... I can fill Maria's with a ton of meat too.

......Oh yeah, now that I think about it, Maria never did come, did she...

☺

After finishing my shopping and returning home, I noticed a scooter I'd never seen before lying against the wall around our house.

I figured it must've been a deliveryman or something, but I didn't see anyone like that as I walked up to the front door.

In fact, it wasn't anything close to a deliveryman.

"...What the heck are you doing?"

What I discovered in front of our mailbox near the front door, was a silver haired girl in a sister uniform hunched over like she was trying to curl up into a ball.

"Geh! Onii-chan! Why are you outside!?"

The suspicious girl twitched and jumped up.

It was the Neighbors Club's advisor, Maria Takayama...... 's older sister, Kate Takayama.

Today she had a silver egg-shaped pendant hanging down from her neck, instead of a cross.

"No, that's what I should be asking. What are you hiding over here for?"

I asked Kate with a look of suspicion. 

She then straightened herself out, puffed out her chest with pride for some reason (without looking the least bit timid about having been discovered), and responded by saying,

"Isn't it obvious? I was just sneaking a peek at what was going on inside."

"...Did you think that was going to make me let you off the hook?"

"You won't? Onii-chan."

"I won't."

I immediately replied to Kate, who tried looking up at me with puppy dog eyes.

"To think my little sister attack would be ineffective... You aren't a real Onii-chan, are you...?"

"At the very least, I'm not yours."

I got a little dizzy from how ridiculous she was being, and let out a sigh.

"So, what'd you come here for?"

"Hrmmmm~"

Right as Kate opened her mouth to give me an answer,

"Onii-chan's back!?"

The front door flew open along with an energetic voice, and a girl who looked like a younger version of Kate came flying out at me.

"Oh, hey Maria. Didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, I came to play! Ahaha, I'm back, Onii-chan! I came back just like I said I would! Ahahaha~!"

As with nearly everything else, I have no idea what she finds so fun about this, but anyway, Maria hugged me with a big fat smile on her face.

This marks the second time Maria's come to our house, the first time being over our break after finals, meaning it hasn't even been a month since then.

"Did you have Kate take you here this time?"

"Yeah! That old hag is only useful for stuff like this, isn't she? Ahaha!"

Thunk.

Maria nodded with her face all smiles before Kate drove her fist into her head. 

"!? !? !?"

Maria looked shocked, unsure of what had just happened, until she noticed her sister standing next to me, at which point she yelled,

"Gyaaaahhhh!? Why!? Why are you still here, old hag!? You said you'd go home soon! Why are you still here!?"

"I said I'd go home soon, but I never said exactly when 'soon' was, now did I?"

Kate gave a cool answer in response to Maria's screaming.

"Yeah, sure, you didn't say exactly! But you still said soon! I still think soon means you'll do something quick!"

"...Maria, 'soon' is much longer for adults."

"Ehhhh!?"

"For example, people often tell you 'We're having dinner soon,' right?"

Maria's eyes went wide after hearing that.

"Ahhh! They do! They do say that a lot! They always say I can't have snacks because we're eating soon, but we never eat soon at all..."

"See? You get it now, right?"

"Hrmmm, an adult's 'soon' is pretty vague, huh~"

The edges of Kate's mouth lifted up and formed a smile after having successfully convinced Maria.

"By the way, Maria-chan?"

"Gulp!"

Maria's face went stiff.

"Before I took you to Onii-chan's house, you said 'I will be forever grateful to you, Onee-sama,' did you not? But what was it you said just now? Hmm? I didn't quite catch it... Old...? Hag? I'm only useful for stuff like this...? Just what was it, I wonder~"

"U-umm... Umm, well... How should I say this..."

Kate questioned Maria with a smile on her face, causing Maria to look down at the ground. A cold sweat began to form on her face, and then——

"Umm... Uhh......... Shut up, you shitty old hag!!"

She yelled at the top of her lungs before turning around and sprinting into our house.

"She really is a hopeless little brat..."

I saw Kate sigh as she scratched her head, and said to her,

"But, you were so worried about that brat of a little sister that you'd hide out in front of someone's front door, weren't you?"

"Idi-... I-I wasn't worried about her!"

Said Kate, denying it as she blushed, not with her usual adult attitude, but with that of a simple girl who just can't seem to be honest.

"...So, you want me to let Maria stay here tonight?"

I asked, to which Kate shook her head.

"No. Tomorrow's a weekday and all, so I'll take her home tonight."

"Okay then."

"Anyway, there you have it."

"Ah, wait."

I called out to Kate who was about to leave.

I held up my shopping bag that had a few green onions sticking out of it, and said,

"You might as well have some sukiyaki with us too, since you came all the way out here."

"Sukiyaki!? You mean it!?"

I involuntarily let my gaze towards Kate turn into an affectionate one after seeing her eyes light up as she let out a shout of joy.

Kate's face went red again after noticing that, and she then said,

"I-it's not like I really want to eat sukiyaki that bad or anything though~ Actually, I'm bored of it~ I got bored of it like, two years ago~"

"I see. Well, I won't force you."

"OK, I lied! I want to eat some sukiyaki too!"

"........."

After seeing Kate energetically raise her hand and admit to her lie, I was convinced that she really is Maria's older sister.

☺

Thus, I invited Kate into our house.

"I'm home~... Hm, Kobato?"

Kobato was sitting on the sofa in the living room, hugging a stuffed animal with a dull look on her face.

"It was such a good day... and now it's poop-colored..."

"Ahaha! What are you talking about!? You're so stupid, poop vampire~!"

Maria was happily dancing about near Kobato.

"Fueehhh... An-chaaan..."

Kobato looked over at me with a face that looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Her gaze then shifted to the space behind me.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kate Takayama. I'm Maria's older sister, and, as you can see, one of the sisters working in the high school division of St. Chronica Academy."

"Auu..."

Kobato, always incredibly shy around strangers, was clearly nervous, and tightly hugged her stuffed animal before giving a faint nod.

Upon seeing Kate standing behind me, Maria went "Gyah!" and let out a brief scream before hiding behind one of the curtains.

Kate decided to ignore her, at least for the time being, and walked up to Kobato.

"So you're Onii-chan's real little sister, Kobato-chan?"

"...Onii... chan...?"

Kobato knit her brows.

"Ah, it's because Maria's always calling him Onii-chan. If he's Maria's older brother, then seeing as how I'm Maria's sister and younger than him, that makes him my Onii-chan too."

For some reason, Kobato's cheeks were twitching and she had a stern look on her face as she listened to Kate talk to her in a tender, amicable tone of voice.

"You're 14-years-old now, right, Kobato-chan? Then does that make me your older sister too? I hope we can get along, since we're both Onii-chan's little sisters and all~"

"Fungyahhhhh!!"

"Uoh!?"

Kobato roared all of a sudden, causing Kate to back off in shock.

Kobato ignored her, and briskly walked over to me.

"A-an-chan!!"

"Y-yeah?"

"An-chan, you're so-! Seriously! You're seriously, so-!! Why do you go and find all these other little sisters all the time!? An-chan ya' big idiot!!"

I wasn't sure how to respond to Kobato, who had just yelled at me with tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Hold on, they're the ones who started calling me that, I didn't really..."

"Uuuuuuu~~!!"

"Come on, calm down for a sec."

I patted Kobato on the head as she glared up at me.

"Nnn..."

She still seemed a little upset, but at least she had quieted down now.

"By the way, why did you come here all of a sudden, Maria?"

I asked Maria, who was hiding behind the curtains, causing her to nervously look over at her sister before coming out.

"That's, well... Muu..."

She glanced over at Kobato (I was still rubbing her head), and made a face that looked upset about something.

"It's 'cause I wanted to play with you, Onii-chan!"

"No it's not."

"Fgyah!"

Kate gently smacked Maria on the head.

"She said she had to talk to Kobato-chan. She went to the clubroom, but you guys had already gone home by then, so she had me take her here."

"Talk to Kobato?"

"Kukuku... Just what manner of business would a pawn of God have with me, the queen of the night...?"

Kate's eyes went wide after seeing Kobato switch into Leysis mode.

"Eh? What's wrong, Kobato-chan?"

"Don't worry about it. She does this every now and then."

"But, still..."

Kobato made a pleasant expression upon seeing Kate's confusion.

"...Ku, ku, ku... I doubt a fool such as yourself possesses the ability to discern the great waves of darkness hidden within me, Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi..."

"Oh, I see, so she likes to play make-believe?"

I guess it's only natural coming from someone who works as a teacher, but she managed to diagnose Kobato in an instant.

"Ku... kuku... I don't know what you're talking about... My "Chaos Word" must have driven you insane..."

A cold sweat formed on Kobato's cheek as she tried to play it off.

Kate just ignored her and said to Maria,

"Come on, give Kobato-chan her present already."

""Present?""

Kobato and I both said at the same time.

"Fungyahhh!!"

Maria scrunched up her face and yelled.

"Ugahh! Why'd you say it out loud, stupid shitty old poop hag idiot!! You piece of poop!!"

"What's it matter? You're gonna give it to her eventually anyway."

"Uuuuu~~! You are seriously, geez! Poop! You poopy old hag!"

Maria glared at Kate unreservedly, and continued to insult her as she walked over to Kobato and I.

She then reached into the sleeve of her sister uniform, pulled something out, and held it out towards Kobato.

"Hn!"

It was a tiny paper bag with a ribbon tied to it.

"You better be thankful that I'm giving you this!"

Maria said with a small frown on her face. Her cheeks were a tad red.

Kobato looked surprised, and then looked back and forth between the present and me.

"Maria, is this a birthday present for Kobato?"

"Hnnn!"

Maria stuck out the paper bag even further, and shoved it into Kobato's hands.

Kobato timidly accepted the gift, and then stared at it.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol6_Ch11_Img01(Vexed).png|thumb]]

"I never thought Maria'd get Kobato a present..."

I said, half out of surprise, and half out of happiness, causing Maria's face to go red.

"Birthdays are important, so I got something for you, even though you're a poop vampire!"

"...H-hmph..."

Kobato's face went red as well, unable to say anything back to Maria in her typical Leysis voice.

"How about you open it up?"

"OK..."

Kobato gently removed the sticker keeping the bag shut, and took out its contents.

The item that was inside the bag was a necklace with a cross on it.

It was the same as the one Maria's always got hanging around her neck.

"Mu..."

Kobato stared intently at the necklace.

"Mu... Muuu... Hohh..."

Kobato opened her eyes wide, and twitched her nose. I'm guessing she likes it.

"Are you sure about this, Maria? Wasn't it expensive?"

"The old hag bought it for me!"

When I looked over at Kate, she made a faint wry smile, and said,

"It wasn't that expensive, don't worry about it. By the way, the St. Chronica Academy store sells crosses, amulets, rosaries, and such at fairly affordable prices. Feel free to use it like you would a normal necklace."

Kate said, as though she were some kind of salesperson.

"I got it 'cause you're evil! You should always wear it so the holy power in it can turn you into a good girl like me!"

Maria said, puffing her chest out and smiling triumphantly.

"Kukuku... Foolish holy woman... A cross is but a decoration to a true ancestor such as myself... Hence, I will be fine, even if I were to wear it forever..."

"What!? At least repent a little bit, you damn poop vampire!"

Maria brandished her own cross and lunged at Kobato.

"Fungyahhhh!! Fghh... Ku... Kukuku... I am the Queen of the Great Darkness, Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi... Even holy power is easily mastered by one such as I! Funyurahhh!" 

Kobato took the cross she'd just received as a present and retaliated with it.

The corner of it hit Maria in the head, causing her to whine about it with tears in her eyes.

"Higyah!? T-that hurt! Why would you hit me with a cross!?"

"Yer' the one who did it first, ya' big idiot!"

"You always say it doesn't work on you so I thought it was OK!"

"Moron! Obviously it'd still work a little bit, ya' big idiot!"

"Really!? How dare you trick me!"

"Kukuku... Such a fool you are to be deceived by my brilliance so easily..."

"Alright, that's enough for now. It's almost time for dinner."

I pulled Kobato and Maria apart before they could begin their never-ending battle between light and darkness.

"Kukuku... I shall overlook your actions this time in deference to my clansman..."

"Dinner!? Onii-chan, what's for dinner tonight!?"

"...Kukuku... Our meal this evening will be the corpse of a black beast covered in blood... I will make an exception this once, and allow you to savor its taste as well..."

"Ugeh!? Why would you eat that!?"

"...You're not technically wrong, but stop describing it like that, Kobato."

I made a small frown and lightly tapped Kobato on the head.

"We're having sukiyaki tonight."

"Sukiyaki!? I know what sukiyaki is! It's that really tasty stuff, right!?"

"Yeah, look forward to it."

"O~K~!"

Maria's eyes were sparkling as I patted her on the head, and then said,

"Alright, guess I'll get started now."

"I-I'll help."

Kobato rarely offers to help on her own (I mean it, it's really rare. I think it's been about three years since the last time she did), so I was surprised to hear her say that.

"Hm... Alright, then wash the saucepan for me."

"OK!"

"Hey~ hey~, Onii-chan! I'll help too!"

Maria energetically raised her hand.

"I see. Alright, then set the table for me."

"OK!"

"...You never help me unless I ask you..."

Kate pursed her lips and mumbled something, but I didn't quite catch it.

"Ah, I know. Hey, Kobato."

"Hm?"

"Go thank Maria for the present."

"Ehhh..."

Kobato put on a face that quite clearly said she didn't want to do it, but still looked over at Maria, who was facing the other way, and lowered her head a bit.

"...T... thank... you..."

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"N-no, you moron!"

☺

We all gathered around the table after all the preparations for our sukiyaki were completed.

Kobato and Maria were both fighting over the meat just like last time.

"Chill out and eat like a normal person."

While she was looking over at Maria and talking, Kate had already stretched her arm out towards the saucepan, and was furiously snatching up meat with her chopsticks.

She had a smile on her face, but there was no trace of that in her eyes as she took care to monitor each piece of meat that was almost done boiling.

"You damn carnivores... There's plenty of meat to go around. Try actually enjoying the flavor while you eat it..."

As I tried to take the high road like that, the meat disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but vegetables and konjac.

"...I... hardly got to eat any meat..."

I said while hanging my head and nibbling on my green onions.

"Puahhh! That was good~!"

Maria made a satisfied-looking smile.

"Kuku... *burp*... Kuku.... Kukuku...!"

Kobato accidentally burped in the middle of her chuckling, and just kept on chuckling to try and hide it.

"I totally let the hunter blood in me take over there. It would've been even better with some brewskis though~ *BURP*"

"What the heck are you going on about? You're underage anyway."

I said, taken aback by Kate, who just let out a huge burp while slouching back in her chair like it was nothing.

"Come on you two, there's still tons of vegetables and mushrooms left here. Help us finish it all."

""Ehhh~""

Maria and Kobato both let out a voice full of displeasure.

"...If you don't eat it now, I'll use what's left over to make your lunches tomorrow. Are you fine with meatless sukiyaki for lunch?"

"Kukuku... No..."

"Sukiyaki without meat is like poop!"

The two of them hurriedly began scrambling to eat their vegetables.

But, they gave up just as quickly, and left the table to go laze on the sofa.

Shortly after, the two of them fell asleep.

"Come on, don't fall asleep right after you eat..."

Even Kate, who was still trying to help finish the food, said,

"Nnn... I can't eat anymore either... A glass of some cold, light-brown liquid would be nice though, *BURP*"

"We've got barley tea; hang on a sec."

"Grea~t."

I took a bottle of barley tea out of the fridge and poured it into a cup for her.

Upon turning around and looking at Kobato and Maria, who had been fending each other off with the chopsticks every now and then, I got the feeling that Kate was the one who ate the most tonight.

"Puahh! That's the stuff~!"

Kate gulped down the whole cup in one grand gesture, and then wiped the edge of her mouth with the palm of her hand. The way she acted was exactly like an old guy who just chugged down a beer.

"Ahh, I'm all sleepy after eating so much. I don't wanna go home now~ Onii-chan, can we stay over tonight?"

"I don't really mind if you do, but——"

I happened to remember something just then, so I asked her,

"Oh yeah, is that scooter sitting outside yours?"

"Yeeeeep~"

"Oh? So you've got a license and everything, huh."

"I just turned 16 at the end of last month. So, I went to a class and got one real quick."

A childish smile with a hint of pride rose to Kate's face.

She then thinned her eyes a bit, and said,

"I've always wanted... legs to take me far, far away."

I was captivated by that smile of hers that had such a mature air to it you'd never imagine it was coming from a girl one year younger than me.

"Hehe......... *BURP*"

...Such a waste. In many ways.

"By the way, Onii-chan."

Kate said, while grabbing the egg-shaped pendant hanging down from her neck, and gripping it strongly.

She then opened it up, revealing the transparent glass inside.

Behind the glass, was a brownish colored something.

"Here, look. This is what Maria gave me for my birthday last month."

Kate brought the pendant over to me.

Behind the glass was... umm, probably a... cicada's shell... I think? It looked like it was real, not something she made.

"...That's a cicada's shell... right?"

"Yeah, Maria gave it to me."

"Hmm... They sell some weird pendants nowadays."

I said while feeling a little surprised, to which Kate shook her head, and said,

"No no. Maria only gave me the cicada's shell. I had someone I know put it into a pendant for me later."

".........O-oh really..."

I gave a vague reaction, unsure of what exactly I should say at a time like this.

Kate saw that and made a smile that sort of looked like she was about to cry, and then looked over at Kobato lying on the couch before sighing lightly.

"...She gave her an actual pendant though~..."

"How should I say this... You've got it rough, don't you..."

"Yeah, I suppose. Nothing I can do about it though. I'm her big sister after all."

Kate said before letting out a lonely laugh.

☺

"Fnyahh~..."

After finishing dinner and spending about an hour lazing around watching TV with Kate, I did the dishes and got the bath ready, at which point Maria woke up. Kobato was still fast asleep though.

"Alright, guess we'll be going home now," said Kate.

"You're not gonna stay over?"

"Hmm... You sure you don't mind?"

"Don't sweat it. Besides, it's not safe out this late at night."

"You've got a point... I'm still not very used to driving around at night..."

Kate looked like she was thinking things over for a bit, and then said,

"OK, we'll take you up on your hospitality then. Maria, we're staying over at Onii-chan's place tonight."

No sooner had Maria heard Kate's words than she let out a shout of joy.

"Yayy~! I'm staying over at Onii-chan's place! I'm staying over at Onii-chan's place! I got to eat sukiyaki, and now I'm staying over at Onii-chan's place! What a great day! I'm gonna stay up late playing with Onii-chan! Ahaha!"

"Just so you know, I'm staying too."

"Uwaaaaahhh! My good day just turned poop-colored!"

Maria yelled while making a face that looked like （＞д＜）.

"You've gotta get up early tomorrow anyway. Hurry up and take your bath so you can go to sleep."

"Fine, but I wanna take a bath with Onii-chan then!"

"Dunce, I'm gonna take the chance to give you a good scrubbing. You better be thankful."

"UUUuuu~~!"

"Come on, let's go, Maria."

Kate began dragging Maria off to the bathroom.

"Ugyahhhh! Let go of me, you poopy old haggggg~!"

"You mean, 'Please let go of me, Onee-sama,' right?"

"Please let go of me, Onee-sama!"

"Nope ♥"

"Fungyahhhh!!"

I could hear Maria's screaming and whining all the way in the living room, even after the two of them disappeared into the bathroom.

"...Ah, oh yeah, they need a change of clothes..."

Maria will just have to use Kobato's pajamas like she did last time, and as for Kate... I guess she can use my school t-shirt for now.

I went and grabbed a track suit from my room upstairs, and upon returning to the first floor, I noticed that Kobato was no longer there.

Did she get up to go use the bathroom or something?

I headed for the changing room without paying it much mind, opened the door, and the instant that I did——

""Gyahhhhhhhhh!!"

The door to the bathroom flew open along with Kobato's scream, and a completely naked Kobato came flying out.

"Uoh!? Koba... to..."

Taken completely by surprise, my eyes wandered over to what was behind Kobato—— that is to say, the entrance to the bathroom.

Maria was sitting there on a bath stool, covered in bubbles, with only her face turned towards me.

And right next to her—— was Kate Takayama, completely naked.

She was facing me with a body towel and shower head that was still shooting out hot water in hand.

I'm guessing she was in the middle of rinsing Maria off.

Her silver hair was all wet, and the hot bath water was dripping off of her slightly flushed skin that was so white as to be near-transparent.

Her limbs and waist were thin, but not unhealthily so, and her breasts were of an exquisite size.

She is unparalleled in her beauty—— I doubt that anyone could object to describing her as such, for the naked girl standing before me had such perfect proportions it could almost be considered a miracle.

Kate stood frozen stiff with a shocked expression on her face for a short while, but soon after she covered her chest with one hand while blushing, and then directed an accusatory gaze at me.

"...You're so naughty, Onii-chan."

"I-I-I-I'm sorry!"

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol6_Ch11_Img02(Vexed).png|thumb]]

I hurriedly did an about face, and continued on, saying,

"I-I-I-I'll leave your c-change of clothes right here! I-i-i-it's a track suit! My track suit! I-I-I-I'll be going now!"

After stuttering over my words more times than I can count, I left the changing room as though running away.

☺

A short while later,

"...So, whaddaya have to say in your defense?"

"I'm sorry."

We were in the kitchen, standing in front of the fridge.

I bowed my head deeply to Kate, who had gotten out of the bath, and was now wearing my track suit.

Kate took a big gulp of her cola with one hand on her waist, and after going "Puahhh!" as she exhaled happily, she said,

"OK, I forgive you."

"What!? That's it!?"

She forgave me so easily I couldn't help but make a retort.

Kate made a wry smile, and explained,

"It's not like you peeked on purpose, right?"

"O-of course I didn't!"

"Thought so. There's no point in getting mad at you then."

She then took another gulp of her cola and let out a big burp.

"Besides, I like the way you're honest about it and don't try to make excuses. You could've said it was all Kobato-chan's fault, but you didn't."

By the way, Kobato was currently taking a bath, and Maria had passed out on the couch again right after she finished taking hers.

"...It's not like I'm trying to cover for her... I just felt like I did something bad to you..."

Kate giggled and made a tiny smile.

"You really are a good guy, aren't you, Onii-chan? I can see why Pegasus likes you."

"Huh? The chairman?"

I was a little confused about why she brought him up all of a sudden.

Pegasus—— Pegasus Kashiwazaki, is St. Chronica Academy's chairman, as well as Sena's father.

"Yeah. Chairman Pegasus Kashiwazaki. He talks about you a lot too. I hear he's called you over to his house a few times now."

"Well, yeah. He has... do you get along with him or something?"

"Pretty much. Pegasus is my fishing buddy."

"Fishing buddy?"

Kate smiled happily after hearing my question.

"Yeah. He likes fishing for salmon especially. We go out together when we have the time."

"You don't say... I never knew the chairman fished..."

I was pretty surprised. I'd always thought of him as the kind of guy who doesn't focus on anything other than his work.

"Salmon's good stuff ya' know~ I don't care what anyone says, it always tastes good when ya' eat it."

"Yeah, salmon is pretty good, isn't it..."

Now that I think about it, we had salted and grilled salmon that one time I ate at Sena's place. I wonder if the chairman caught that himself.

"By the way, do you fish, Onii-chan?"

"Hm, Dad took me a few times back when I was a kid."

Dad would always catch a ton while I never even got a single bite though, so I can't say I had much fun with it.

"I see~! Let's go together sometime then!"

"Alright... sure."

I gave my consent to Kate, who happily invited me along.

☺

It was early morning the next day.

I was seeing off Kate and Maria, who were heading back to the academy.

Kobato was still asleep in her room, and while Maria was up and walking around, it looked like she was still half-asleep. I'm still pretty tired myself, since I'm usually not even up this early.

"OK, see you later then, Onii-chan~"

"...Mnyah... Yeah... Bye bye, Onii-chan..."

"Yep. See you at school, 'kay?"

I said to Maria with a wry smile, as she gave me a sleepy wave with her helmet on.

"...Hahhh."

Kate looked back at me after mounting her scooter, and then made a smile that had a hint of sadness in it as she let out a sigh in the cold air.

"...?"

"It's nothin'. I was just thinking how nice it would've been... if you were really our older brother. Or maybe..."

Kate's cheeks went red in the middle of her talking.

"...Or maybe something even more than that... I think I'd actually kinda like that... No point in thinking about it when you've already got Sena though, I suppose."

"Huh?"

What does Sena have to do with anything?

Right before I could ask that, Kate hurriedly threw her helmet on.

She put Maria on the back seat, and then glanced my way and gave a little wave before stepping on the accelerator. 

I was still suspicious of what she said, but I waved anyway, and watched as their scooter disappeared into the distance.

"Wow~" I said, accidentally letting a voice of admiration out.

I wish I had a scooter... Maybe I should get a bike license too...

I then walked back inside while entertaining such thoughts without a care in the world.

However, it would not be long until I knew the meaning behind the latter half of Kate's words—— before learning what it was she meant by "No point in thinking about it when you've already got Sena though, I suppose."

 

 The End.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Boku_wa_tomodachi_ga_sukunai:Volume6 Birthday Party (With The Neighbors Club)|Birthday Party (With The Neighbors Club)]]
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| Forward to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_7_Words Lost in the Wind|Volume 7 - Words Lost in the Wind]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 8 Cowardly Pride and Pompous Shame

2013-01-15T05:00:04Z

Vexed: Created page with "===Cowardly Pride and Pompous Shame=== Unfortunately, however, this is not where our story full of misfortune ends. The end of the festival signaled the return to ..."

===Cowardly Pride and Pompous Shame===

Unfortunately, however, this is not where our story full of misfortune ends.

The end of the festival signaled the return to our usual daily lives.

Our extended vacation ended yesterday, on Monday, and upon reaching school today I quickly noticed that all the decorations at the school gate and in the school yard were gone.

That said, it was only the parts that you could see from the outside that had been completely cleaned up. Inside there were still tons of cardboard boxes and supplies lying around, and plenty of posters were still up on the walls too.

The entire school was full of that unique relaxed feeling you get after the end of a festival.

It feels like there are more students than usual close to falling asleep in the middle of class as well, myself included.

And on top of that, we're currently in the middle of modern Japanese, the number one class to put you to sleep, and just staying awake is taking all the energy I have.

The current subject we're covering is Atsushi Nakajima's Sangetsuki.

It's set in ancient China, and apparently it's about an amazing poet down on his luck who ultimately goes insane and turns into a tiger.

"...Then, Richou quit his job and cut off all contact with other people in order to focus solely on his poetry, however he had quite a hard time coming up with anything. What would you usually do in this situation? ...What do you think, Mikadzuki?"

The mild-mannered teacher was giving his lecture in a leisurely tone of voice as he slowly walked around the room, and then stopped to ask Yozora a question.

By the way, the teachers here pick on Yozora fairly often to answer questions.

If I had to say why... it's probably because they think that they can move the class along more smoothly by having an honor student like Yozora answer the question.

I figured Yozora would matter-of-factly state the correct answer as she always did, however to my surprise she went "Eh..." and seemed to be at a loss for what to say.

She flipped through her textbook in a slightly hurried manner, and then quietly answered in a voice lacking confidence,

"......Get mad at myself...?"

She must've chosen that as her answer because in the text it stated that Richou had self-derisive tendencies.

"Hahaha, it's not every day we get to hear a joke from you, Mikadzuki."

The teacher cheerfully laughed, honestly thinking she was joking.

However Yozora only fell further into panic.

"Eh... Ah... Um......... I don't know then."

"Haha..."

The teacher laughed again as Yozora answered with a straight face, however he appeared to have noticed that Yozora truly didn't know the answer, and then said, "How about you, Suzuki? What would you do?" choosing to ask the student sitting behind Yozora next.

"Umm... Talk to someone else about it?"

"That's right, normally in this type of situation you'd ask someone for help, however Richou——..."

Suzuki's quick, off-the-cuff answer appeared to be the one the teacher was looking for, as he then continued his lecture.

As for Yozora, she was staring straight downwards, glaring at her textbook, and her face was bright red all the way up to her ears.

☺

"Argh, I can't stand it!"

After school, as we were making our way to the clubroom, Yozora finally snapped once we'd made our way to where nobody else was.

"C-can't stand what?"

It was so sudden I was more surprised than anything.

"Isn't it obvious!? I'm talking about earlier in modern Japanese class!"

"Ahh..."

Modern Japanese was three periods ago... so about five hours ago now. How long has she been thinking about this?

"...Pretty rare to see you get a question wrong. Did you not read the story ahead of time?"

"No, I read it just fine. His stupid question wasn't in the book..."

Yozora said with a frown on her face.

"Well, it was more like a part of his lecture than an actual question about the story. Makes sense it wouldn't be in the book."

I said, however Yozora only got angrier.

"I can't believe he'd ask such a ridiculous question, that damn sadist of a teacher! Sneaky jerk! Moron! Baldy! Retard! Jerk! Idiot! Poophead!"

I'm guessing it's because she lost her cool, but Yozora's insults were pretty lacking compared to usual.

"And besides, if he was the kind of person who could just ask others for help when he needed it, he wouldn't have quit his job to become a poet in the first place, you damn idiot! That bald moron has no idea how Richou actually felt! That bald imbecile has no place talking about Richou's noble ambitions! That stupid idiot!"

"Y-yeah..."

I said, ignoring Yozora with a wry smile.

...I'd say he's actually a pretty good teacher myself, considering he noticed Yozora didn't know the answer and quickly moved to another student.

Yozora's complaining eventually moved from insulting our teacher and empathizing with Richou, to her own little theory on "What literature really is", and then to her criticizing Japan's education system.

She was so all over the place I had no idea what she wanted to say though.

"Also, how can you even measure how much somebody has to be suffering to turn into a tiger, I mean—— Kodaka, are you listening?" 

"Eh? Oh, y-yeah. Authors sure have it rough~"

"Yeah, that's exactly right! Even the most skilled author will make a mistake or two when they're faced with overwhelming distress..."

"Like plagiarizing?"

"...Eh... Y-yeah... I-I s-suppose some authors m-might do that t-too... Jerk."

Yozora's flowing critiques came to a crashing halt as she quieted up like a cat that'd just been scolded. Guess I don't have to worry about her turning into a tiger like Richou...

...Actually though, as a matter of fact, back during class I was just as lost as Yozora on how to answer that question that our classmate, Suzuki, answered without even having to really think about it.

Asking others for help, huh...

...They make it sound so easy... 

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_8_Turning Their Backs on the Light|Turning Their Backs on the Light]]
| Return to [[Boku_wa_tomodachi_ga_sukunai|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_8_The Friend-Making Game|The Friend-Making Game]]
|-
|}

File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Vol8 Ch02 Img01(Vexed).png

2012-12-06T05:30:12Z

Vexed:

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 7 King Lear

2012-11-07T06:14:08Z

Vexed: Created page with "<h2>King Lear</h2> It was now Friday morning. It's been five days since the middle school festival ended, and Kobato's been filming with us ever since. Normally we..."

<h2>King Lear</h2>

It was now Friday morning. It's been five days since the middle school festival ended, and Kobato's been filming with us ever since.

Normally we'd all have a short homeroom period right now, but all students of the Saint Chronica high school division were instead lined up on the track in our gym uniforms.

Today is the long-awaited first day of the Saint Chronica Academy high school division's festival—— the day of the athletics festival.

The teams were broken up into five colors: red, white, blue, yellow, and green, and our team, the green team, was made up of classes 1-5, 2-5, and 3-5, with everyone on our team wearing a green headband.

"——We shall begin our athletics festival on this wonderful autumn day without a cloud in the sky. Students, now is the time to show the fruits of all the hard work you've done for this day——"

A beautiful voice rang out across the entire track from a microphone on the stage in front of us.

The person speaking into the microphone right now was the student council president, who was giving her little greetings speech.

However, despite what she'd just said, there were, in fact, several clouds in the sky, the wind was pretty strong, it wasn't very warm, and on top of all that, most students were busy preparing for the cultural festival side of things, not the athletics festival, which is more of a formality than anything. The only people who did any practice for it were the ones who already practice daily anyway, so I doubt that anyone even had any fruits to show, but I guess you're not supposed to point that out.

The speech was pretty much just a template of the same stuff you always hear at these kinds of things, but strangely enough, it had a certain charm to it that made you want to listen.

Come to think of it, I didn't even know our student council president was a girl until now.

I'm a transfer student, so I obviously didn't go to the entrance ceremony, and this school doesn't have ceremonies for the end of each semester either. I've also never had a reason to get involved with the student council, so this was really my first time seeing her.

She had pure black hair, and part of it was tied into braids and bundled up on the back of her head.

She was certainly pretty, and had an air of refinement to her as well, but she didn't have even a hint of the harsh impression Yozora does, nor was she so flashy as to be unapproachable like Sena. She also had, as I mentioned before, a nice clean voice, as well as a nice and friendly atmosphere about her.

To sum it all up—— She had the kind of appearance that anybody, young or old, man or woman, would like the instant they saw her, and honestly, I was pretty jealous of her for that.

I don't really like to get all negative like this, but I couldn't help but think how much easier my life would be if I had that kind of friendly appearance too.

Anyway, the stage she was standing on also had teachers, the event organizers, and the first-aid team on it as well, and among those people was the baby wolf-like girl I'd met a few days ago, the student council treasurer, Aoi Yusa.

Yusa was standing ramrod straight, and the way she was so obviously nervous with her face all stiff was actually kinda funny.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol7_Ch16_Img01(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

☺

After the StuCo president gave her speech, the chairman came to give his (usually the chairman's speech is a really long and boring one, but he wrapped his up surprisingly quick), after which the opening ceremony speech was given, and once we'd finished our warm-up stretches, the athletics festival began at long last.

That said, the only events I was participating in were the class vs. class tug-of-war competition and the relay race, so I wouldn't be doing anything soon.

There was a general listless mood in the air among the students as everyone got ready for the first event, the 200 meter sprint, as well, except for the cheering squads, who somehow managed to muster up the energy to get all fired up and beat on their drums and stuff.

It was just like Yozora said before, looks like nobody really gets too excited for the athletics festival here.

Anyway, as I was walking around our class' little area trying to stay quiet, I spotted Yozora standing off on the edge of the track in the shade.

"Yo."

"...Ahghh?"

I was met with a zombie-like groan of a reply after calling out to Yozora, who seemed even more melancholic than usual.

"...Oh, Kodaka......... Hahh... Maybe I should just go home now..."

"Already? Seriously?"

I made a wry smile at Yozora, who was already planning on leaving despite the fact that the festival had just started, and then said,

"I'm kinda surprised you actually even showed up at all."

"Hmph... I only came on a whim."

Yozora said as though she were pouting with her lips pursed.

"...Now that I'm here though, I wish I would've skipped. Having to see that irritating woman first thing in the morning was awful."

"Irritating woman?"

I asked in return, causing Yozora to start twitching with what appeared to be annoyance.

"...The woman who gave the speech at the opening ceremony."

"Umm... Do you mean the student council president? What'd she do to you?"

"Just hearing about her pisses me off."

"Eh? Do you not get along with her?"

Yozora doesn't even seem to do anything where she'd run into her.

"...I've never talked to her, but I hate her to death."

"Huh?"

Yozora's expression filled with even more hatred after she gave me her nonsense answer.

"...Hinata Hidaka, a senior. She's incredibly popular, and has been the student council president for two years now. She's incredibly athletic, and often serves as a stand-in for several of the sports clubs at their matches and such. She's also very kind, and people say that she hardly ever turns down requests for her help, despite how busy she is. Of course, she's loved by both her juniors and fellow classmates as well."

"She sounds like a friggin' great person! Hell, you could probably call her a saint."

Yozora nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's exactly right. Hinata Hidaka... She is what it means to be a true normal... Back when I was a freshman, I thought that both her and Meat were the two peerless normals of this school, and thus viewed them as my enemies. However, unlike Meat, that woman is incredibly popular with girls as well. And, seeing as how I now know that Meat is unmatched in how pathetic she is, it is Hinata Hidaka alone who stands at the top of the world of normals—— she truly is befitting of being called King Lear."<ref>King Lear is pronounced, "Ria Ou" in Japanese, which also sounds like "King of the Normals" (Normals = Riajuu, Ou = King).</ref>

"King Lear...? Wait, isn't that the title of some book?"

I asked, to which Yozora gave a small nod, and then casually explained,

"It's one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies. It's a story about an old king who is betrayed by the ones he loved, and then lives out his final years as a vagrant, ultimately meeting a pathetic end after experiencing many tragedies. Aside from Lear, most of the other characters in the story die too."

"That's a terrible nickname to give somebody!"

That might even be worse than Sena's "Meat".

"...I came up with it in the hopes that her life would end like his. ...Anyway, it's awful just being in the same school as her. Every time I see her, I'll wait till she goes by me, and then glare at her from behind, or quietly click my tongue at her, or something like that."

"H-holy crap are you petty..."

Oh man... this is just... pathetic.

I kinda wanted to start crying at how my once-manly childhood friend (who was actually a girl) had changed so much.

Actually, now that I think about it, she's only been getting worse recently...

She's always had plenty of pathetic habits, like talking to her air friend, but I get the feeling that she isn't even trying to hide them anymore now.

Back when I'd just transferred in, she at least looked perfect. I mean, she was like an intelligent, hard-to-approach cool beauty to me, but now... It's strange... When did she turn into such a hopeless case...

"...Arghh, just talking about her is pissing me off and making my stomach hurt and making me wanna throw up. I'm gonna go rest in the nurse's office."

Yozora's complexion actually did seem a little worse as she walked off.

"Just how much do you hate normals anyway..."

Anyway, I decided to leave as well, taken aback by Yozora's attitude, and headed over to our class' tent.

But then, all of a sudden, at the edge of my vision—— I saw something white flapping on roof of the school building.

It was a lab coat—— a girl in a lab coat, to be precise.

"...What the heck is she doing way up there?"

☺

Generally speaking, students aren't allowed into the building during the athletics festival, but I got in quite easily on account of having spotted sister Kate walking around nearby.

"Please try to refrain from stealing girls' underwear and uniforms, getting dressed in them, putting them on your head, and then splooging all over them, Onii-chan," was the moronic warning she gave me, which I pretended I didn't even hear, and quickly walked through the halls up to the roof.

The instant I opened the door to the roof, a strong wind blew right at me, causing me to scrunch up my face reflexively.

It was much windier and colder up here on the roof.

I went outside though, and closed the door behind me.

The door made a loud "BANG" as it closed due to the strong wind.

"Owah!?"

The girl in the lab coat leaning against the railing as she looked down at the track—— that is, Rika Shiguma let out a yelp and quickly turned around to face me.

"Huh...? Senpai? Why are you up here?"

"Uh, ya' know... that's mine line here."

I said in response to Rika's question.

"Well~ I just wanted to stand out in the wind a bit," said Rika.

I then saw what Rika was wearing, and made a frown.

"...What the heck are you wearing?"

I couldn't tell from down on the track, but Rika was wearing a gym uniform beneath her lab coat, except she was wearing a pair of black bloomers instead of the black spats that are part of the school's regulation gym uniform.

She didn't have her glasses on, but her hair was in a ponytail, just like it was when I first met her.

Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've seen Rika in her lab coat in a while.

Rika made an embarrassed smile, her cheeks tinged a light shade of red.

"Rika decided to put on a gym uniform too, since it's the athletics festival and all. Does it suit me?"

Honestly she looked incredibly good in it, and I wished she'd take off the lab coat, but instead of telling her that, I said, 

"I'm pretty sure they'd give you a spare gym uniform if you went to the nurse's office. Heck, why don't you just join the festival while you're at it? There's stuff you can sign up for the day of too."

However Rika shook her head, and replied,

"It's OK, I've still work to do. I wouldn't join even if I didn't though."

We just barely managed to finish filming our movie last evening.

We left the editing all up to Rika and went home, but...

"...Did you not go home yesterday? Hell, did you even sleep?"

I noticed that Rika had dark bags under her eyes.

"Ah, you found out, huh? I suppose I should've put on a pair of fake glasses or something."

Rika awkwardly made a wry smile.

"...You know, um..."

Sorry for making you do all the work, is what I was about to say, but I decided to think of something else after remembering what Rika told me before.

In the end, I told her,

"......——Thanks for doing so much stuff for us, Rika.

A surprised expression found its way to Rika's face for an instant.

A moment later, her face went red as a beet.

"Geez~! You little~! Didn't I tell you to stop throwing those fastballs at me out of nowhere~!?"

"Not sure how else you want me to say it..."

I said, surprised by Rika's reaction.

Rika then said, as though trying to change the subject as soon as possible,

"Ah, look, the next race is starting!"

She then pulled out a pair of binoculars from one of her lab coat's pockets, and looked down at the track again.

As she did, I heard the faint "Bam!" of a starting gun.

Looks like the 200 meter sprint just got started.

"Ah, Sena-senpai's already out there."

Rika said while looking through her binoculars.

I looked down at the track too after hearing that, and sure enough, Sena was down there running.

Sena's hair was easy to spot as it swayed in the wind, even from all the way out here, and it even looked like it was giving off little golden particles.

"Woah~ Those things really can bounce, can't they~...... Tch."

Rika sounded a little jealous as she described what was going on down on the track.

"Where the heck are you looking..."

It wasn't long before Sena reached the goal line, way ahead of the other runners.

She then ran both hands through her hair, as though trying to show off her perfect win to everybody, and took the first place flag from one of the boys helping to run the festival as though it were hers to begin with.

Every single little move she made had a certain flashiness to it.

"Haa~ Sena-senpai really is amazing, isn't she~"

Rika pulled the binoculars away from her eyes, turned away from the track, and leaned back against the rail.

"Yeah, sure is," I said as I continued to look down at the track.

But then, all of a sudden,

"By the way, Kodaka-senpai, how do you feel about Sena-senpai?"

Rika threw that fastball at me out of nowhere like it was nothing.

"W-what do you mean... she's just a fellow club member."

"Even though you're engaged?"

"...That's all in the past now."

"Oh yeah...?"

Rika made a face that looked like she was thinking about something.

"...Doesn't seem like it is for Sena-senpai though."

"Eh? What'd you say?"

I asked Rika, who'd mumbled something under her breath, and then, all of a sudden, Rika looked at me with a scornful, hostile, horribly cold look in her eyes.

She then looked up at the sky, and then whispered in an emotionless voice, as though talking to herself,

"——Always gets lonely, but is scared of having others show they honestly care."

"——Pretends not to notice. Pretends not to hear."

"——Run away. Brushes it off. Avoids the issue. Refuses."

"——Even turns to self-deception, spinning lies such as 'There's no way anybody likes me'."

"...Ahh, you mean Kobato? Yeah, you're right, she does act like that sometimes, doesn't she... She's always been shy. Looks like she still is too, based on what we saw a few days ago."

I said to Rika with a bitter smile on my face, knowing full-well that wasn't what she meant.

I couldn't tell if she was listening to me or not, but she soon lowered her gaze from the sky down to the concrete ground we were standing on. She then made a vague expression on her face that looked like she was both crying and laughing, and said, not as though criticizing me, but rather, as though soothing me, in a gentle, affectionate tone of voice,

"——Don't give me that 'What'd you say?' crap, iii~diot..."

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol7_Ch16_Img02(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

Rika's lips then twisted into a smile as she stared at me with dark, empty eyes as cold as space.

She'd thrown away her mask of being "That weird junior that's always energetic and always saying ridiculous stuff". The Rika before me now was one I've never seen before.

Rika then continued while acting as though she were giggling.

"...If that's what you want, Kodaka-senpai, then Rika will continue acting like she has been. It's not like I don't enjoy BL, mecha, and sexy stuff. And acting hyper, and having you always act so blunt with me is fun in its own way, too. But you know, Kodaka-senpai——"

"Don't you think it's about time we move on? I mean——"

"Stop it!"

I unintentionally let out a wild yell.

I absolutely cannot let her finish that sentence.

If she did, I'd, we'd... .

And moving on... means changing.

That is an incredibly scary thing.

It's truly terrifying, like moving from a bright, warm room into a world of darkness that leaves you completely blind.

It's not just me either.

I'm sure it's the same for Yozora, Sena, Yukimura, and Rika too.

Those words are ones that could bring about an irreversible change that would shake the Neighbors Club itself.

That change would truly be irreversible—— it can't even be compared to trivial problems like a memory from 10 years ago, or a pre-arranged marriage.

"...Hahh." Rika let out a fleeting sigh as she went completely silent.

I let out a tiny sigh myself, and said, "...I'm gonna go now," as I walked off.

I'd gotten away from Rika—— and just as I put my hand on the knob to the roof's door,

"I mean, aren't we all——"

Rika whispered something behind me.

In a voice that sounded like it was shaking—— like it was crying.

My entire body shook with terror.

However, that very instant,

Luckily—— whether or not it was truly lucky, I don't know, but——a wind far stronger than before roared across the rooftop, and erased Rika's words.

And I, like the coward I am, signed a breath of relief.

I turned only my head around to face Rika.

"——Eh? What'd you say?"

That's what I told her, playing dumb once again.

However, what I'd said was not a question, it was my answer.

And the girl, who was wiser than anyone else in the Neighbors Club, who could tell what people were thinking——whether she wanted to or not——simply made a sad smile, and said nothing in response.

I opened the door, and left the roof behind me.

All the while telling myself I'd made the right choice.

...But I knew what those words lost in the wind really were.

...I'd known what they were for a long, long time now.

 

The End.

<references />
<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_7_Kobato Hasegawa|Kobato Hasegawa]]
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| Forward to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_8_Reflection: Prayers and Shouts|Reflection: Prayers and Shouts]]
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File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Vol7 Ch16 Img02(Vexed).jpg

2012-11-07T06:09:12Z

Vexed:

File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Vol7 Ch16 Img01(Vexed).jpg

2012-11-07T06:09:07Z

Vexed:

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 7 The Fall of Yozora Mikadzuki

2012-09-07T05:03:56Z

Vexed: Created page with "===The Fall of Yozora Mikadzuki=== It was now late Sunday, some hours after we all found out about Sena and I being engaged. We'd finished filming a little bit ago..."

===The Fall of Yozora Mikadzuki===

It was now late Sunday, some hours after we all found out about Sena and I being engaged.

We'd finished filming a little bit ago, so I said my goodbyes to everyone, and left the chapel.

As I was walking towards the school gates amidst the sunset, I saw a sister sitting on a bench going "that hits the spot!" like some old man after taking a gulp of her pop 

Apparently she saw me too, because she went, "Yo', Onii-chan," and casually called out to me.

"I've got a bone to pick with you..."

I sighed and knit my brows as I walked over to sister Kate, causing her to go, "Hmm~?" and made a confused look on her face.

"I had a lot of trouble today thanks to you."

"Huh?"

Kate tilted her head as I explained what had happened earlier.

"Ahh, sorry 'bout that."

Kate gave me a light apology along with a wry smile, and added,

"But ya' know, Onii-chan, it's not like I'm the only one who knows about you and Sena being engaged."

".........Eh?"

I could feel my face going stiff as Kate continued on.

"It's 'cause Pegasus blabs about everything. Most of the sisters and the teachers here all know about it, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some students who get along well with their teachers who know about it too."

Are you kidding me...?

"That old man needs to keep his mouth shut!"

"Haha, I bet it's 'cause he was so happy about it. I doubt he thought there was any need to hide it either."

Kate said along with another wry smile.

"But, I see, so Pegasus was just jumping to conclusions, huh..."

"Eh? What'd you say?"

I asked Kate, who'd started mumbling something in a strangely shy-sounding voice.

"It's nothing~"

Kate made a big happy smile for some reason.

"By the way, Onii-chan, are you guys really filming a movie?"

"Hm? Yeah."

"Sounds fun~ I really like movies too, ya' know. I rent a bunch of 'em to watch when I've got the time."

"Oh?"

"What kind of movie are you guys makin'?"

"Maria didn't tell you?"

I asked Kate, prompting a wry smile to form on her face as she replied,

"She came home one day all happy and told me 'I'm making a movie with Onii-chan!', but... that was all I got out of her."

"Ahh."

I made a wry smile too.

It's true that Maria probably wouldn't really get what the movie's about even if we explained it to her.

Heck, it's pretty doubtful that she even knows what the overall plot is.

"Where to start... Well, the movie we're making is——"

.........

I told Kate all about the movie in pretty fine detail.

Kate seemed to be enjoying herself as she listened, and when I finished, she said,

"I see. Sounds just like The Sun On Top of the Hill."

"The Sun On Top of the Hill?"

I asked Kate, since I'd never heard of it before, to which Kate happily responded,

"Yeah, it's a pretty famous Japanese movie among movie lovers. I like it a lot myself too. I'd love to see your guys' when it's done."

"You don't say. I'll have to go rent it on the way home and check it out then."

"Yeah, you totally should. Let me know what you thought about it after you watch it!"

Kate showed me an incredibly cute smile befitting a girl her age.

☺

On my way home from school I rented The Sun On Top of the Hill from a video rental store I stopped at, and later that night I put it in our DVD player at home to watch it.

I thought watching a famous movie that's similar to ours might come in handy as we finish making it.

According to the summary written on the case, it's a story of friendship where the protagonist is isolated in his class, but then one day he reunites with his old best friend who transfers into his class, and they face many trials and tribulations together.

I see what Kate meant now. This summary is identical to our movie's.

But, it's not like this summary is all that unique. In fact, you could probably say it's more cliché than anything.

It'll be interesting to see how some real movie pros handled the same overall story.

The script Yozora wrote was actually pretty damn good though.

I wonder if maybe our movie's more interesting than the pros... I began watching the movie with those thoughts in the back of my mind.

——...About an hour and 30 minutes later.

The movie was over.

The movie was, just as Kate said, an incredibly fascinating work of art.

Apparently it was released a whole 10 years ago, but it didn't feel old at all.

The cast didn't have any flashy idols in it, but was instead made up of a group of young actors with some impressive acting skills.

The movie itself wasn't flashy either, but it had meticulous well-done camerawork, and music that always got you pumped up for each of the big scenes.

Of course, the most important part of the movie, the story, was good as well.

The story mostly takes place in the school they go to, and the "various trials and tribulations" feel like things all of us might have experienced, and some are even things that I myself have experienced in the past. They all feel very realistic, and I can understand how the characters feel to an almost painful extent.

However, it's that deep bond of friendship between them that allows them to overcome all those difficulties that's truly moving.

Overall the story is sort of dark, but there are comedy scenes as well, and in the end it's not just the protagonist and his best friend, but the all the people around them too—— including some of the people who tormented them before—— who come together and create an astounding and beautiful happy end to the story.

The movie was practically identical to ours aside from the names of some things, like the characters and the school, and surprisingly, everything from the order of events, to their resolutions, to the flow between them, and even the movie's lines were exactly the same as ours.

"........."

.........Yep.

.........I know... It's OK, I know...

It's not that The Sun On Top of the Hill is just like our movie.

It's our movie that's just like The Sun On Top of the Hill.

.........No... It's not "just like" it...

Basically, the point is,

that Yozora's script,

"IS A DAMN GIANT RIP- OFFFFFFFFFFFF!!"

☺

It was now after school the next day.

By the time I got to the clubroom, everyone aside from Kobato was already there.

Our scriptwriter and director Ms. Mikadzuki had her script on the table, and was mumbling, "...Hrm... How should we do this scene..." while tapping the script with a red ballpoint pen and making a difficult look on her face.

I cautiously started talking to Yozora as she was in the midst of doing all that.

"...Hey, Ms. young writer in distress."

"What is it, Kodaka? I'm busy right now."

Yozora ran a hand through her hair and looked over at me with a grumpy look on her face, to which I responded by taking the DVD for The Sun On Top of the Hill out of my bag.

The case wasn't a colorful one you'd get if you bought it, but rather a simple clear plastic one from the rental store, so I doubt she could easily see what it was.

"......?"

Yozora made a confused look on her face, so I told her,

"This is the DVD for The Sun On Top of the H——"

Clang!! Bam!!

Yozora got up out of her chair and started to make her escape from the clubroom before I could even finish my sentence! 

"Wha- Yozora!?" "Senpai!?" "Anego?" "Wah!?"

I yelled to my fellow club members, who were shocked by Yozora's sudden action,

"Don't let her get away!"

"As you wish." "Yayy!" "I don't really get it, but OK!"

Yukimura, Maria, and Sena all moved to block Yozora's path as soon as I gave out the order, and then lunged at her.

Yozora was easily caught by the group of three.

"Ugh! You bunch of little...! ......Kh..."

Yozora gave up soon after, and hung her head in shame.

☺

It was now about two hours after Yozora's little incident.

We made Yozora sit seiza-style on the floor.

A placard that read "I plagiarized someone else's work" was hanging down from her neck.

The placard was actually Maria's beloved(?) one that Kate always makes her wear while sitting in the same seiza-style when she does something bad.

...Anyway, back to right after we captured Yozora.

Once it was clear Yozora wasn't getting away, I explained that it was highly likely Yozora plagiarized the script for our movie from The Sun On Top of the Hill.

Yozora denied any wrongdoing (she said it was only a coincidence they were similar, and that she simply had to go to the bathroom really bad at the same time I showed her the DVD), so we quickly formed a "Yozora Mikadzuki Plagiarism Inspection Team", and compared Yozora's script with copy of the movie I brought.

The verdict: everyone declared her to be guilty.

Even the ever-stubborn Yozora admitted she "used a part of it as a reference".

The remains of my hopes that she didn't actually plagiarize were dashed when I heard that.

"So, why did you try to pull this bullshit? Well?"

Rika interrogated Yozora, who was still sitting seiza-style with her head hanging dejectedly, while loudly chewing some gum and acting like a punk trying to pick a fight.

Incidentally, Rika was dressed in the boy's uniform she was using for the movie, and had her hair all slicked back.

She also had a fake sword with her, although I have no idea where she got it from.

"...I'm sorry."

Smack!!

Rika hit the ground in front of Yozora with her sword as hard as she could after Yozora apologized in a feeble voice.

"Eep..."

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol7_Ch13_Img01(Vexed).jpg|thumb]]

Yozora let out a faint yelp.

"The hell do you mean you're sorry!? You deaf? I'm askin' why the hell you did what you did!!"

"......I thought none of you would ever find out if I copied a little Japanese movie, since you're all a bunch of idiots who've probably never seen any movies aside from some anime or big Hollywood ones."

Yozora said, her lips pursed as though she were pouting.

Smack!!

"Who're you callin' an idiot!? You think it's OK to steal as long as you don't get caught!?"

"Uu..."

"Listen up, ya' goddamn bitch!! Stealin's the one thing an author should never do! That's like pissin' all over the work other authors worked their fuckin' asses off to make! You got that!?"

"...I'm very sorry."

Yozora apologized again, in a near-mumble this time.

Smack!!

"You sure you got it, you fuckin' dumbass!?"

"...Uu... I'm really very sorry..."

"I can't hear you! You at least know how to speak, right!? Then do it for fuck's sake!"

SMACKKKK!!

"I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry I plagiarized!!"

"...Keh, you goddamn worms who only know how to steal other people's works are such a pain in my ass. If you're gonna apologize for it later, then don't do it in the first place you sack of shit! You have any idea how much of a pain in the ass you are? Well!?"

Rika continued to insult Yozora, who was now teary-eyed, with a cold look in her eyes as though she were looking at a pile of trash.

"Haaa... I thought it was weird, too. There's no way you could ever write a script that good."

Sena added, with a let-down look on her face, followed by,

"...Anego... you big idiot..."

"Aghua...!?"

Yukimura stared at Yozora with a sad look in her eyes, causing Yozora to make a pained expression on her face.

I've had it done to me too, so I know that having Yukimura look at you like that hurts way more than any insult.

"Uu... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Yozora continued to mumble out apologies to us.

Rika then went, "Phew..." and let out a sigh.

She then quickly went back to making a serious face, spit out her gum on a piece of paper, and said,

"So, what should we do now?"

I was a little bewildered by the sudden change from insult mode to her now serious tone of voice.

"Eh, what do you mean?"

"I'm talking about the movie, and whether or not we should continue filming using Yozora's plagiarized script or not. Technically speaking, I don't think there's any real problem with it, even if it is a bald-faced rip-off, since we're not trying to make any money off of it. We're not entering it in a contest or putting it online either. The final product would just be an inferior copy of The Sun On Top of the Hill, but we could still keep filming it, if everyone's OK with that."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Sena completely rejected the choice Rika had just explained.

"I, the Sena Kashiwazaki, am not going to make some rip-off movie! We're done with Yozora's script! Let's go with a new one instead!"

In response to Sena's enthusiasm, Rika calmly replied,

"Rika would like to do that too, but making a whole new script now would be..."

"You don't have to worry about that."

"Eh?"

We all looked confused, so Sena puffed out her chest in pride, and declared,

"I secretly prepared a script of my own, just in case that idiot Yozora couldn't write one! I only kept quiet about it up until now to let that idiot Yozora save face!"

"Wow... You're awesome, Sena!"

"Nicely done, Sena-senpai...!"

"I would expect no less from you, Sena-anego."

"Ahaha, Sena's pretty cool~"

Sena made a supremely triumphant look on her face after hearing all the praise we had for her.

"Heheh, that's right! You better be thankful, foolish commoners!"

Sena then looked down at Yozora sitting seiza-style on the floor,

"Heh, heh, heh~" and laughed happily.

"Gh..."

Yozora looked irritated as she frowned and looked away from Sena.

"Heh. Hey hey, Yozoraaa~ What's it feel like~? Come on, tell me, widdle Yozowa~ What's it feel like to have everyone find out you ripped off another movie, and then have your role as scriptwriter stolen away from you by me~? What's our pathetic widdle Yozowa feel like right now~!?"

Wow... Sena's merciless...

"...Ughhh... Aghughah..."

Yozora's face was completely red, she had tears in the corners of her eyes, her veins were popping out on her forehead, and her fists were trembling on top of her knees.

Usually Yozora would have flipped out by now, but she was holding herself back, since she was clearly in the wrong this time.

Sena then stooped over Yozora, and said,

"Everybody, look at her~ It's our failure, widdle Yozowa~♪"

Sena then took it a step further, and started lightly smacking Yozora on the cheek.

"!? <nowiki>~~~~~~</nowiki>!! Ghaugh, Gughhh, Kgogyofgh, Fhoegharghugrraghgouhguoaghooagheghhfrrr!!!!!"

Yozora's bloodshot eyes were opened wider than I thought possible as she let out a sound that no girl... no, a sound so terrible that no human should ever make.

"...Yozora."

Sena said, changing to a serious face all of a sudden.

"You better make up for this mess with your acting in the movie."

"........."

Yozora simply sat there without saying a word.

Sena then got up, and said,

"Heheh, anyway, just do the best you can, OK? In my movie, that is!"

"Kh..."

Yozora groaned in frustration, but I could see there was a light of will in her eyes.

"Alright, I'm going home for today! I've gotta fix up the script and all! I'll blow you all away tomorrow!"

Sena said in her usual ridiculously condescending attitude, and then left the room.

And so, that's how the script for the Neighbors Club's movie changed all of a sudden.

We're down to the last two weeks before the school festival.

......Are we really gonna be OK...?

<noinclude>
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| Forward to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_7_In The Rika Room|In The Rika Room]]
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File:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Vol7 Ch13 Img01(Vexed).jpg

2012-09-07T04:43:56Z

Vexed:

User talk:Vexed

2012-07-16T20:50:09Z

Vexed: /* Afiliation with Haganai wiki ? */

User talk:Vexed

2012-07-16T20:49:35Z

Vexed: /* Afiliation with Haganai wiki ? */

Boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai:Volume6 Birthday Party (With Kobato And Company)

2012-07-12T21:57:53Z

Vexed: Created page with "<h2>Birthday Party (With Kobato And Company)</h2> After going home with Kobato, putting the beef in the fridge, and changing my clothes, I got ready to go out again. ..."

<h2>Birthday Party (With Kobato And Company)</h2>

After going home with Kobato, putting the beef in the fridge, and changing my clothes, I got ready to go out again.

I was planning on buying some other sukiyaki ingredients besides the meat we already have.

"Kukuku... Sukiyaki... Kukuku... Uheheh."

Kobato had put the presents she got from everyone on top of the table, and was now swinging her legs as she sat in one of the chairs with a big grin on her face.

"Man do you look happy..."

I said, letting a wry smile slip out onto my face, to which Kobato went "Ehe~" and made a cute smile in response to.

"Ku, ku, ku... Today's been a good day~"

...Well, if she's this happy about it, then I guess it was worth throwing her a birthday party.

I think I'll send Yozora and the rest of them a text about how happy Kobato is with their gifts later too.

I then left the house with such thoughts in my head, and reached the super market a short while later.

I wondered how much food I'd need to buy while throwing some vegetables and konjac into my basket.

There's no way the two of us would be able to eat all the meat Sena gave Kobato in a single night.

I guess I'll leave half of it in the fridge, and then use the leftovers from dinner tonight to make us some sukiyaki lunches... I can fill Maria's with a ton of meat too.

......Oh yeah, now that I think about it, Maria never did come, did she...

☺

After finishing my shopping and returning home, I noticed a scooter I'd never seen before laying against the wall around our house.

I figured it must've been a deliveryman or something, but I didn't see anyone like that as I walked up to the front door.

In fact, it wasn't anything close to a deliveryman.

"...What the heck are you doing?"

What I discovered in front of our mailbox near the front door, was a silver haired girl in a sister uniform hunched over like she was trying to curl up into a ball.

"Geh! Onii-chan! What are you outside!?"

The suspicious girl twitched and jumped up.

It was the Neighbors Club's advisor, Maria Takayama...... 's older sister, Kate Takayama.

Today she had a silver egg-shaped pendant hanging down from her neck, instead of a cross.

"No, that's what I should be asking. What are you hiding over here for?"

I asked Kate with a look of suspicion. 

She then straightened herself out, puffed out her chest in pride for some reason (without looking the least bit timid about having been discovered), and responded by saying,

"Isn't it obvious? I was just sneaking a peek at what was going on inside."

"...Did you think that was going to make me let you off the hook?"

"You won't? Onii-chan."

"I won't."

I immediately replied to Kate, who tried looking up at me with puppy dog eyes.

"To think my little sister attack would be ineffective... You are not a real Onii-chan, are you...?"

"At the very least, I'm not yours."

I got a little dizzy from how ridiculous she was being, and let out a sigh.

"So, what'd you come here for?"

"Hrmmmm~"

Right as Kate opened her mouth to give me an answer,

"Onii-chan's back!?"

The front door flew open along with an energetic voice, and a girl who looked like a younger version of Kate came flying out at me.

"Oh, hey Maria. Didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, I came to play! Ahaha, I'm back, Onii-chan! I came back just like I said I would! Ahahaha~!"

As with nearly everything else, I have no idea what she finds so fun about this, but anyway, Maria hugged me with a big fat smile on her face.

This marks the second time Maria's come to our house, the first time being over our break after finals, meaning it hasn't even been a month since then.

"Did you have Kate take you here this time?"

"Yeah! That old hag is only useful for stuff like this, isn't she? Ahaha!"

Thunk.

Maria nodded with her face all smiles before Kate drove her fist into her head. 

"!? !? !?"

Maria looked shocked, unsure of what had just happened, until she noticed her sister standing next to me, at which point she yelled,

"Gyaaaahhhh!? Why!? Why are you still here, old hag!? You said you'd go home soon! Why are you still here!?"

"I said I'd go home soon, but I never said exactly how long 'soon' was, now did I?"

Kate gave a cool answer in response to Maria's screaming.

"Yeah, sure, you didn't say exactly! But you still said soon! I still think soon means you'll do something quick!"

"...Maria, 'soon' is much longer for adults."

"Ehhhh!?"

"For example, people often tell you 'We're having dinner soon', right?"

Maria's eyes went wide after hearing that.

"Ahhh! They do! They do say that a lot! They always say I can't have snacks because we're eating soon, but we never eat soon at all..."

"See? You get it now, right?"

"Hrmmm, an adult's 'soon' is pretty vague, huh~"

The edges of Kate's mouth lifted up and formed a smile after having successfully convinced Maria.

"By the way, Maria-chan?"

"Gulp!"

Maria's face went stiff.

"Before I took you to Onii-chan's house, you said 'I will be forever grateful to you, Onee-sama.' did you not? But what was it you said just now? Hmm? I didn't quite catch it... Old...? Hag? I'm only useful for stuff like this...? Just what was it, I wonder~"

"U-umm... Umm, well... How should I say this..."

Kate questioned Maria with a smile on her face causing Maria to look down at the ground. A cold sweat began to form on her face, and then——

"Umm... Uhh......... Shut up, shitty old hag!!"

She yelled at the top of her lungs before turning around and sprinting into our house.

"She really is a hopeless little brat..."

I saw Kate sigh as she scratched at her head, and said to her,

"But, you were so worried about that brat of a little sister that you'd hide out in front of someone's front door, weren't you?"

"Idi-... I-I wasn't worried about her!"

Said Kate, denying it as she blushed, not with her usual adult attitude, but with that of a simple girl who just can't seem to be honest.

"...So, you want me to let Maria stay here tonight?"

I asked, to which Kate shook her head.

"Nay. Tomorrow's a weekday and all, so I'll take her home tonight."

"Okay then."

"Anyway, there you have it."

"Ah, wait."

I called out to Kate who was about to leave.

I held up my shopping bag that had a few green onion sticking out from it, and said,

"You might as well have some sukiyaki with us too, since you came all the way out here."

"Sukiyaki!? You mean it!?"

I involuntarily let my gaze towards Kate turn into an affectionate one after seeing her eyes light up as she let out a shout of joy.

Kate's face went red again after noticing that, and she then said,

"I-it's not like I really want to eat sukiyaki that bad or anything though~ Actually, I'm bored of it~ I got bored of it like, two years ago~"

"I see. Well, I won't force you."

"OK, I lied! I want to eat some sukiyaki too!"

"........."

After seeing Kate energetically raise her hand and admit to her lie, I was convinced that she really is Maria's older sister.

☺

Thus, I invited Kate into our house.

"I'm home~... Hm, Kobato?"

Kobato was sitting on the sofa in the living room, hugging a stuffed animal with a dull look on her face.

"It was such a good day... and now it's poop colored..."

"Ahaha! What are you talking about!? You're so stupid, poop vampire~!"

Maria was happily dancing about near Kobato.

"Fueehhh... An-chaaan..."

Kobato looked over at me with a face that looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Her gaze then shifted to the space behind me.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kate Takayama. I'm Maria's older sister, and, as you can see, one of the sisters working in the high school division of St. Chronica Academy."

"Auu..."

Kobato, always incredibly shy around strangers, was clearly nervous, and strongly hugged her stuffed animal before giving a faint nod.

Upon seeing Kate standing behind me, Maria went "Gyah!" and let out a brief scream before hiding behind one of the curtains.

Kate decided to ignore her, at least for the time being, and walked up to Kobato.

"So you're Onii-chan's real little sister, Kobato-chan?"

"...Onii... chan...?"

Kobato knit her brows.

"Ah, it's because Maria's always calling him Onii-chan. If he's Maria's older brother, then seeing as how I'm Maria's sister and younger than him, that makes him my Onii-chan too."

For some reason, Kobato's cheeks were twitching and she had a stern look on her face as she listened to Kate talk to her in a tender, amicable tone of voice.

"You're 14-years-old now, right, Kobato-chan? Then does that make me your older sister too? I hope we can get along, since we're both Onii-chan's little sisters and all~"

"Fungyahhhhh!!"

"Uoh!?"

Kobato roared all of a sudden, causing Kate to back off in shock.

Kobato ignored her, and briskly walked over to me.

"A-an-chan!!"

"Y-yeah?"

"An-chan, you're so-! Seriously! You're seriously, so-!! Why do you go and find all these other little sisters all the time!? An-chan ya' big idiot!!"

I wasn't sure how to respond to Kobato, who had just yelled at me with tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Hold on, they're the one who started calling me that, I didn't really..."

"Uuuuuuu~~!!"

"Come on, calm down for a sec."

I patted Kobato on the head as she glared up at me.

"Nnn..."

She still seemed a little upset, but at least she had quieted down now.

"By the way, why did you come here all of a sudden, Maria?"

I asked Maria, who was hiding behind the curtains, causing her to nervously look over at her sister before coming out.

"That's, well... Muu..."

She glanced over at Kobato (I was still rubbing her head), and made a face that looked upset about something.

"It's 'cause I wanted to play with you, Onii-chan!"

"No it's not."

"Fgyah!"

Kate gently smacked Maria on the head.

"She said she had to talk to Kobato-chan. She went to the clubroom, but you guys had already gone home by then, so she had me take her here."

"Talk to Kobato?"

"Kukuku... Just what manner of business would a pawn of god have with me, the queen of the night...?"

Kate's eyes went wide after seeing Kobato switch into Leysis mode.

"Eh? What's wrong, Kobato-chan?"

"Don't worry about it. She does this every now and then."

"But, still..."

Kobato made a pleasant expression upon seeing Kate's confusion.

"...Ku, ku, ku... I doubt a fool such as yourself possesses the ability to discern the great waves of darkness hidden within I, Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi..."

"Oh, I see, so she likes to play make-believe?"

I guess it's only natural coming from someone who works as a teacher, but she managed to diagnose Kobato in an instant.

"Ku... kuku... I don't know what you're talking about... My "Chaos Word" must have driven you insane..."

A cold sweat formed on Kobato's cheek as she tried to play it off.

Kate just ignored her and said to Maria,

"Come on, give Kobato-chan her present already."

""Present?""

Kobato and I both said at the same time.

"Fungyahhh!!"

Maria scrunched up her face and yelled.

"Ugahh! Why'd you say it out loud, stupid shitty old poop hag idiot!! You piece of poop!!"

"What's it matter? You're gonna give it to her eventually anyway."

"Uuuuu~~! You are seriously, geez! Poop! You poopy old hag!"

Maria glared at Kate unreservedly, and continued to insult her as she walked over to Kobato and I.

She then reached into the sleeve of her sister uniform, pulled something out, and held it out towards Kobato.

"Hn!"

It was a tiny paper bag with a ribbon tied to it.

"You better be thankful that I'm giving you this!"

Maria said with a small frown on her face. Her cheeks were a tad red.

Kobato looked surprised, and then looked back and forth between the present and me.

"Maria, is this a birthday present for Kobato?"

"Hnnn!"

Maria stuck out the paper bag even further, and shoved it into Kobato's hands.

Kobato timidly accepted the gift, and then stared at it.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol6_Ch11_Img01(Vexed).png|thumb]]

"I never thought Maria'd get Kobato a present..."

I said, half out of surprise, and half out of happiness, causing Maria's face to go red.

"Birthdays are important, so I got something for you, even though you're a poop vampire!"

"...H-hmph..."

Kobato's face went red as well, unable to say anything back to Maria in her typical Leysis voice.

"How about you open it up?"

"OK..."

Kobato gently removed the sticker keeping the bag shut, and took out its contents.

The item that was inside the bag, was a necklace with a cross on it.

It was the same as the one Maria's always got hanging down from her neck.

"Mu..."

Kobato stared intently at the necklace.

"Mu... Muuu... Hohh..."

Kobato opened her eyes wide, and twitched her nose. I'm guessing she likes it.

"Are you sure about this, Maria? Wasn't it expensive?"

"The old hag bought it for me!"

When I looked over at Kate, she made a faint wry smile, and said,

"It wasn't that expensive, don't worry about it. By the way, the St. Chronica Academy store sells crosses, amulets, rosaries, and such at fairly affordable prices. Feel free to use it like you would a normal necklace."

Kate said, as though she were some kind of salesperson.

"I got it 'cause you're evil! You should always wear it so the holy power in it can turn into a good girl like me!"

Maria said, puffing her chest out and smiling triumphantly.

"Kukuku... Foolish holy woman... A cross is but a decoration to a true ancestor such as myself... Hence, I will be fine, even if I were to wear it forever..."

"What!? At least repent a little bit, you damn poop vampire!"

Maria brandished her own cross and lunged at Kobato.

"Fungyahhhh!! Fghh... Ku... Kukuku... I am the Queen of the Great Darkness, Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi... Even holy power is easily mastered by one such as I! Funyurahhh!" 

Kobato took the cross she'd just received as a present and retaliated with it.

The corner of it hit Maria in the head, causing her to whine about it with tears in her eyes.

"Higyah!? T-that hurt! Why would you hit me with a cross!?"

"Yer' the one who did it first, ya' big idiot!"

"You always say it doesn't work on you so I thought it was OK!"

"Moron! Obviously it'd still work a little bit, ya' big idiot!"

"Really!? How dare you trick me!"

"Kukuku... Such a fool you are to be deceived by my brilliance so easily..."

"Alright, that's enough for now. It's almost time for dinner."

I pulled Kobato and Maria apart before they could begin their never-ending battle between light and darkness.

"Kukuku... I shall overlook your actions this time in deference to my clansman..."

"Dinner!? Onii-chan, what's for dinner tonight!?"

"...Kukuku... Our meal this evening will be the corpse of a black beast covered in blood... I will make an exception this once, and allow you to savor its taste as well..."

"Ugeh!? Why would you eat that!?"

"...You're not technically wrong, but stop describing it like that, Kobato."

I made a small frown and lightly tapped Kobato on the head.

"We're having sukiyaki tonight."

"Sukiyaki!? I know what sukiyaki is! It's that really tasty stuff, right!?"

"Yeah, look forward to it."

"O~K~!"

Maria's eyes were sparkling as I pat her on the head, and then said,

"Alright, guess I'll get started now."

"I-I'll help."

Kobato rarely offers to help on her own (I mean it, it's really rare. I think it's been about three years since the last time she did), so I was surprised to hear her say that.

"Hm... Alright, then wash the saucepan for me."

"OK!"

"Hey~ hey~, Onii-chan! I'll help too!"

Maria energetically raised her hand.

"I see. Alright, then set the table for me."

"OK!"

"...You never help me unless I ask you..."

Kate pursed her lips and mumbled something, but I didn't quite catch it.

"Ah, I know. Hey, Kobato."

"Hm?"

"Go say thank you to Maria for the present."

"Ehhh..."

Kobato put on a face that quite clearly said she didn't want to do it, but still looked over at Maria, who was facing the other way, and lowered her head a bit.

"...T... thank... you..."

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"N-no, you moron!"

☺

We all gathered around the table after all the preparations for our sukiyaki were completed.

Kobato and Maria were both fighting over the meat just like last time.

"Chill out and eat like a normal person."

While she was looking over at Maria and talking, Kate had already stretched her arm out towards the saucepan, and was furiously snatching up meat with her chopsticks.

She had a smile on her face, but there was no trace of that in her eyes as she took care to monitor each piece of meat that was almost done boiling.

"You damn carnivores... There's plenty of meat to go around. Try actually enjoying the flavor while you eat it..."

As I tried to take the high road like that, the meat disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but vegetables and konjac.

"...I... hardly got to eat any meat..."

I said while hanging my head and nibbling on my green onions.

"Puahhh! That was good~!"

Maria made a satisfied-looking smile.

"Kuku... *burp*... Kuku.... Kukuku...!"

Kobato accidentally burped in the middle of her chuckling, and just kept on chuckling to try and hide it.

"I totally let the hunter blood in me take over there. It would've been even better with some brewskis though~ *BURP*"

"What the heck are you going on about? You're underage anyway."

I said, taken aback by Kate, who just let out a huge burp while slouching back in her chair like it was nothing.

"Come on you two, there's still tons of vegetables and mushrooms left here. Help us finish it all."

""Ehhh~""

Maria and Kobato both let out a voice full of displeasure.

"...If you don't eat it now, I'll use what's left over to make your lunches tomorrow. Are you fine with meatless sukiyaki for lunch?"

"Kukuku... No..."

"Sukiyaki without meat is like poop!"

The two of them hurriedly began scrambling to eat their vegetables.

But, they gave up just as quickly, and left the table to go laze on the sofa.

Shortly after, the two of them fell asleep.

"Come on, don't fall asleep right after you eat..."

Even Kate, who was still trying to help finish the food, said,

"Nnn... I can't eat anymore either... A glass of some cold, light-brown liquid would be nice though, *BURP*"

"We've got barely tea; hang on a sec."

"Grea~t."

I took a bottle of barely tea out of the fridge and poured it into a cup for her.

Upon turning around and looking at Kobato and Maria, who had been fending each other off with the chopsticks every now and then, I got the feeling that Kate was the one who ate the most tonight.

"Puahh! That's the stuff~!"

Kate gulped down the whole cup in one grand gesture, and then wiped the edge of her mouth with the palm of her hand. The way she acted was exactly like an old guy who just chugged down a beer.

"Ahh, I'm all sleepy after eating so much. I don't wanna go home now~ Onii-chan, can we stay over tonight?"

"I don't really mind if you do, but——"

I happened to remember something just then, so I asked her,

"Oh yeah, is that scooter sitting outside yours?"

"Yeeeeep~"

"Oh? So you've got a license and everything, huh."

"I just turned 16 at the end of last month. So, I went to a class and got one real quick."

A childish smile with a hint of pride rose to Kate's face.

She then thinned her eyes a bit, and said,

"I've always wanted... legs to take me far, far away."

I was captivated by that smile of hers that had such a mature air to it you'd never imagine it was coming from a girl one year younger than me.

"Hehe......... *BURP*"

...Such a waste. In many ways.

"By the way, Onii-chan."

Kate said, while grabbing the egg-shaped pendant hanging down from her neck, and gripping it strongly.

She then opened it up, revealing the transparent glass inside.

Behind the glass, was a brownish colored something.

"Here, look. This is what Maria gave me for my birthday last month."

Kate brought the pendant over to me.

Behind the glass was... umm, probably a... cicada's shell... I think? It looked like it was real, not something she made.

"...That's a cicada's shell... right?"

"Yeah, Maria gave it to me."

"Hmm... They sell some weird pendants nowadays."

I said while feeling a little surprised, to which Kate shook her head, and said,

"No no. Maria only gave me the cicada's shell. I had someone I know put it into a pendant for me later."

".........O-oh really..."

I gave a vague reaction, unsure of what exactly I should say at a time like this.

Kate saw that and made a smile that sort of looked like she was about to cry, and then looked over at Kobato lying on the couch before sighing lightly.

"...She gave her an actual pendant though~..."

"How should I say this... You've got it rough, don't you..."

"Yeah, I suppose. Nothing I can do about it though. I'm her big sister after all."

Kate said before letting out a lonely laugh.

☺

"Fnyahh~..."

After finishing dinner and spending about an hour lazing around watching TV with Kate, I did the dishes and got the bath ready, at which point Maria woke up. Kobato was still fast asleep though.

"Alright, guess we'll be going home now," said Kate.

"You're not gonna stay over?"

"Hmm... You sure you don't mind?"

"Don't sweat it. Besides, it's not safe out this late at night."

"You've got a point... I'm still not very used to driving around at night..."

Kate looked like she was thinking things over for a bit, and then said,

"OK, we'll take you up on your hospitality then. Maria, we're staying over at Onii-chan's place tonight."

No sooner had Maria heard Kate's word than she let out a shout of joy.

"Yayy~! I'm staying over at Onii-chan's place! I'm staying over at Onii-chan's place! I got to eat sukiyaki, and now I'm staying over at Onii-chan's place! What a great day! I'm gonna stay up late playing with Onii-chan! Ahaha!"

"Just so you know, I'm staying too."

"Uwaaaaahhh! My good day just turned poop colored!"

Maria yelled while making a face that looked like （＞д＜）.

"You've gotta get up early tomorrow anyway. Hurry up and take your bath so you can go to sleep."

"Fine, but I wanna take a bath with Onii-chan then!"

"Dunce, I'm gonna take the chance to give you a good scrubbing. You better be thankful."

"UUUuuu~~!"

"Come on, let's go, Maria."

Kate began dragging Maria off to the bathroom.

"Ugyahhhh! Let go of me, you poopy old haggggg~!"

"You mean, 'Please let go of me, Onee-sama.' right?"

"Please let go of me, Onee-sama!"

"Nope ♥"

"Fungyahhhh!!"

I could hear Maria's screaming and whining all the way in the living room, even after the two of them disappeared into the bathroom.

"...Ah, oh yeah, they need a change of clothes..."

Maria will just have to use Kobato's pajamas like she did last time, and as for Kate... I guess she can use my school t-shirt for now.

I went and grabbed a track suit from my room upstairs, and upon returning to the first floor, I noticed that Kobato was no longer there.

Did she get up to go use the bathroom or something?

I headed for the changing room without paying it much mind, opened the door, and the instant that I did——

""Gyahhhhhhhhh!!"

The door to the bathroom flew open along with Kobato's scream, and a completely naked Kobato came flying out.

"Uoh!? Koba... to..."

Taken completely by surprise, my eyes wandered over to what was behind Kobato—— that is to say, the entrance to the bathroom.

Maria was sitting there on a bath stool, covered in bubbles, with only her face turned towards me.

And right next to her—— was Takayama Kate, completely naked.

She was facing me with a body towel and shower head that was still shooting out hot water in hand.

I'm guessing she was in the middle of rinsing Maria off.

Her silver hair was all wet, and the hot bath water was dripping off of her slightly flushed skin that was so white as to be near-transparent.

Her limbs and waist were thin, but not unhealthily so, and her breasts were of an exquisite size.

She is unparalleled in her beauty—— I doubt that anyone could object to describing her as such, for the naked girl standing before me had such perfect proportions it could almost be considered a miracle.

Kate stood frozen stiff with a shocked expression on her face for a short while, but soon after she covered her chest with one hand while blushing, and then directed an accusatory gaze at me.

"...You're so naughty, Onii-chan."

"I-I-I-I'm sorry!"

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol6_Ch11_Img02(Vexed).png|thumb]]

I hurriedly did an about face, and continued on, saying,

"I-I-I-I'll leave your c-change of clothes right here! I-i-i-it's a track suit! My track suit! I-I-I-I'll be going now!"

After stuttering over my words more times than I can count, I left the changing room as though running away.

☺

A short while later,

"...So, whaddaya have to say in your defense?"

"I'm sorry."

We were in the kitchen, standing in front of the fridge.

I bowed my head deeply to Kate, who had gotten out of the bath, and was now wearing my track suit.

Kate took a big gulp of her cola with one hand on her waist, and after going "Puahhh!" as she exhaled happily, she said,

"OK, I forgive you."

"What!? That's it!?"

She forgave me so easily I couldn't help but make a retort.

Kate made a wry smile, and explained,

"It's not like you peeked on purpose, right?"

"O-of course I didn't!"

"Thought so. There's no point in getting mad at you then."

She then took another gulp of her cola and let out a big burp.

"Besides, I like the way you're honest about it and don't try to make excuses. You could've said it was all Kobato-chan's fault, but you didn't."

By the way, Kobato was currently taking a bath, and Maria passed out on the couch again right after she finished taking hers.

"...It's not like I'm trying to cover for her... I just felt like I did something bad to you..."

Kate giggled and made a tiny smile.

"You really are a good guy, aren't you, Onii-chan. I can see why Pegasus likes you."

"Huh? The chairman?"

I was a little confused about why she brought him up all of a sudden.

Pegasus—— Pegasus Kashiwazaki, is St. Chronica Academy's chairman, as well as Sena's father.

"Yeah. Chairman Pegasus Kashiwazaki. He talks about you a lot too. I hear he's called you over to his house a few times now."

"Well, yeah. He has... do you get along with him or something?"

"Pretty much. Pegasus is my fishing buddy."

"Fishing buddy?"

Kate smiled happily after hearing my question.

"Yeah. He likes fishing for salmon especially. We go out together when we have the time."

"You don't say... I never knew the chairman fished..."

I was pretty surprised. I'd always thought of him as the kind of guy who doesn't focus on anything other than his work.

"Salmon's good stuff ya' know~ I don't care what anyone says, it always tastes good when ya' eat it."

"Yeah, salmon is pretty good, isn't it..."

Now that I think about it, we had salted and grilled salmon that one time I ate at Sena's place. I wonder if the chairman caught that himself.

"By the way, do you fish, Onii-chan?"

"Hm, Dad took me a few times back when I was a kid."

Dad would always catch a ton while I never even got a single bite though, so I can't say I had much fun with it.

"I see~! Let's go together sometime then!"

"Alright... sure."

I gave my consent to Kate, who happily invited me along.

☺

It was early morning the next day.

I was seeing off Kate and Maria, who were heading back to the academy.

Kobato was still asleep in her room, and while Maria was up and walking around, it looked like she was still half-asleep. I'm still pretty tired myself, since I'm usually not even up this early.

"OK, see you later then, Onii-chan~"

"...Mnyah... Yeah... Bye bye, Onii-chan..."

"Yep. See you at school, 'kay?"

I said to Maria with a wry smile, as she gave me a sleepy wave with her helmet on.

"...Hahhh."

Kate looked back at me after mounting her scooter, and then made a smile that had a hint of sadness in it as she let out sigh in the cold air.

"...?"

"It's nothin'. I was just thinking how nice it would've been... if you were really our older brother. Or maybe..."

Kate's cheeks went red in the middle of her talking.

"...Or maybe something even more than that... I think I'd actually kinda like that... No point in thinking about it when you've already got Sena though, I suppose."

"Huh?"

What does Sena have to do with anything?

Right before I could ask that, Kate hurriedly threw her helmet on.

She put Maria on the back seat, and then glanced my way and gave a little wave before stepping on the accelerator. 

I was still suspicious of what she said, but I waved anyway, and watched as their scooter disappeared into the distance.

"Wow~" I said, accidentally letting a voice of admiration out.

I wish I had a scooter... Maybe I should get a bike license too...

I then walked back inside while entertaining such thoughts without a care in the world.

However, it would not be long until I knew the meaning behind the latter half of Kate's words—— before learning what it was she meant by "No point in thinking about it when you've already got Sena though, I suppose."

 

 The End.

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=Editing/TL Questions=
replied to your letter...

The tower

Just as you'd expect from a genius inventor girl(?), her brushing was just as smooth as Yozora's.

why is there a question mark there? because kodaka is unsure if it should be expected from her or not?
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 10:50, 21 February 2012 (CST)

Yes, (?) represents somebody questioning what came before it. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 23:42, 21 February 2012 (CST)

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tomodachi vol. 4 chapter "afterparty"

"Hmm... I really wish one of my junior upperclassmen would have had to read that while suffering an agonizing amount of embarrassment, but oh well." 

what is "junior upperclassmen"? upperclassmen who are in their junior year? if that's so, i would drop the "junior"...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 03:59, 26 February 2012 (CST)

Yeah I agree, sounds weird now that I re-read it too. I didn't want to throw the specification out entirely though, so I changed it to "three upperclassmen" --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 13:55, 26 February 2012 (CST)

oh, and is it "senpai" in the jap version? (i don't know of any other word...) mmm... just a small commentary: you sometimes use senpai as is, when it's singular. is it okay in terms of consistency? imho, ideally it should be either always "senpai" or always "upperclassmen". this is, of course up to you. i'm just pointing it out in case you haven't noticed...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 14:06, 26 February 2012 (CST)

I leave Senpai as is when it's being used as a personal pronoun (typically by Rika in reference to Kodaka), otherwise I translate it. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 19:01, 26 February 2012 (CST)
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Kobato often uses expressions, like "noble of the exalted night". when translated into russian, it sounds like shit. could i ask you to give me a literal translation? plus noble and exalted have almost the same meaning...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 13:29, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Noble and exalted have similar meanings as adjectives, however (in case you're unaware), in this case, "noble" is being used as a noun synonymous with aristocrat. As for a literal translation, that is a literal translation. You'll have to ask someone who speaks Russian and Japanese if you want more help with that. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 15:18, 4 March 2012 (CST)

thanks. yeah, i knew that. just thought that in japaneese it might be different. alas, there are certain complications when using the russian version of aristocrat/noble...either it sounds extremely out of place(anachronistic and grossly russian) or you have to come up with smth like "i am one of noble birth belonging to the noble night" which is even shittier. just in case you might care...--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 15:33, 4 March 2012 (CST)

ah, and i'm guessing "clansman" doesn't get any more literal either, yes?--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 15:53, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Yeah, "clansman" is pretty literal too; the Japanese word 眷属 is an archaic and formal way to refer to a person in one's family, or someone like family. I don't know why you're worried about Kobato sounding anachronistic though, she's supposed to when she's talking like Leysis. All of her dialogue as Leysis is grandiose and supposed to sound out of place in a normal conversation. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 16:08, 4 March 2012 (CST)

well ok, it's more of an issue that the "noble" word pertains only to russia. ana-regional...? ...who's leysis again? the character she's acting like?

and the clarification of "clansman" also helped alot...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 16:44, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi is Kobato's alias. It's the character she pretends to be most of the time. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 19:21, 4 March 2012 (CST)
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After Party

"It is most embarrassing, but carbonic acid provides me with significant difficulty." 

mmm...i'm not really sure if "carbonic acid" sounds good. can it be changed to soda or carbonated drinks or something along those lines? i'm asking cause maybe it should specificaly translated as carbonic acid.

--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 03:29, 6 March 2012 (CST)

It's like that on purpose. Yukimura talks in a stiff tone of voice, similar to what Kobato does when she's pretending to be Leysis. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 13:42, 6 March 2012 (CST)
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'''Rika's Text'''

In response to this comment of yours: "Your translation of the message is less accurate, and while using syllables is a better "translation" of the encoding, it's considerably less important than the text itself, hence I undid it."

The only thing that I felt that I really took liberties on was adding "morals". I took some little liberties here and there, but those don't change the meaning of the message that much, but you also did that, too, since with this type of thing, taking little liberties is unavoidable. Here's my step-by-step analysis on each part comparing our versions.

ああん 
I went the route of making the title the actual first syllable like for the hidden message, as opposed to just putting the sound. The sound alone being the title does sound more nonsensical, though, but I would rather have the coding be the same. I think that the coding is the important part here, since it's the unique factor for this part of the story.

静かに 
I included this in my translation, which you omitted.

高くそびえる 
そびえる isn't in its volitional form, and just simply in its plain for, but you translated it as being volitional, just to have "let's" at the beginning.

電信柱に 
Since the particle is に, it should be "at", and not "of", the telephone pole.

エロスを感じます。 
I took a bit a of a liberty with "only", but that's about it this part. You translated 感じます as "go beyond", which isn't right.

とりあえず 
Meaning something along the lines of "first of all", giving the sense that there is one thing that more important and thus must be addressed first. Hence, I used "above all else", which gives roughly the same idea. It doesn't deal with rethinking anything. (Unless your "On second thought," part was a translation of "よく考えると", which is a whole new problem that I have addressed later in this message.)

縛られてみたいです。 
縛る just means to tie/bind. I guess gagged is an extended form of tying someone down, but it's not really necessary, but not wrong either, so neither of us is really wrong.

まぐわってみたいです。 
I combined this sentence with the previous, and took a liberty with having sex by replacing it with "date-raped" for the word "date", as both things involve a similar action. As for your translation, you flat out mention an actual date in order to include the word, which was never mentioned in Rika's actual message. Also, you translated this line and the previous line as if it was after "よく考えると", and totally ignored "とりあえず" and "しかし" as well. You also took a bit of a liberty and changed the fact that she wants intercourse to simple saying that it would be nice if that's the case, which isn't a big deal, but I'm just mentioning it to be thorough. It's the other part before it that's more problematic.

しかし 
A contradictory conjunction "but" that separates what comes before it with, as its name implies, a contrasting idea that comes after it. Again, you sort of combined what was before it with part of something after it, which really changes the meaning in this case.

よく考えると 
Meaning "If I were to think about it better..." or something along those lines. Here's where I took a big liberty of taking "it" as her "morals", something not mention, in order to get the right syllable. But it still goes along the lines of more deeply thinking it over. Your translation puts this line 3 lines earlier, changing the meaning completely.

後ろから攻められるのもいいかもしれません……。 
Something along the lines of "it might be good if I were to be attacked from behind". Both of us took liberties with the "もいい" part, with me using "would rather" and you with "want to", but both having the same idea so either is acceptable. As for the verb 攻める, I used roweled, which is a verb meaning to urge on something by striking it, oftentimes referred to a horse, which gives a similar idea of being attacked, just as your "taken" does.

Anyway, I tried to be as objective as I can with this response. I look forward to hearing your further thoughts on this matter.

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 23:08, 4 June 2012 (CDT)

The fact that there is an encoding by only reading the first portion of the lines is what really matters, not specifically which first portion. Meaning matters even more here though, because the message is actually in normal Japanese. Anyway, a quick breakdown:

ああん - Doesn't matter if you want to use it in the message or not, although it's obviously supposed to be a moan, given the rest of the message.

静かに　高くそびえる - This whole line, while grammatically correct, is basically nonsense in the Japanese as well, which is why it's permissible to play with the translation here as long as the basic structure stays the same.

電信柱に　エロスを感じます - Same as the above really, although as a side note: in this case に does not mean at, it would have to be で to mean that. に here means "from", which can be translated as "of the" given the context and such. If you really wanted to be more literal, "Go and feel the eros of/from the telephone pole." could also work; I opted to kind of tie it in to the above line originally.

とりあえず　縛られてみたいです - This does not mean "first of all" in the sense that something is of the utmost importance. The best word to describe it I can think off of the top of my head is "tentatively". It's sort of like, "for starters" in this case. I added the "On second thought" simply because I needed the word "on" in a way that wouldn't affect the key idea of the sentence, namely that she wants to try getting tied up. The gagged bit was an addition to give the sentence a more sexual BDSM meaning it was intended to have.

まぐわってみたいです - We both ended up adding a date here (I don't see how me adding it is somehow more of a problem than you adding it), and I don't think either is really any better considering Rika's personality. They both have the key idea that she wants to try having sex, yours explicitly stated, mine implicitly.

しかし　よく考えると - This is only a conflicting idea in the sense that she just thought of something better; it certainly has nothing to do with morals. The "might want to... as well" conveys this sudden thought in a more liberal, yet still accurate, fashion. The line should also be "as well" or something similar, not "rather", because of the のも present. The tomorrow I obviously had to put in there to make the encoding work, but it fits overall, given the conversations Kodaka's been having.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 04:28, 5 June 2012 (CDT)

First of all/for starters, using the Japanese terms for the usage of the particle に, one usage if に is a 場所の格助詞, a case-particle indicating place. に does not have a function of a 連体修飾の格助詞 or a 所有の格助詞 (simply speaking, these two types of case-particles are particles that modifies two nouns). の is such a particle with those two functionalities. while に does not have either of those uses.

Also, what about "感じる"? You seem to be taking much more liberties that changes/omits the meaning of the the message, such as for this. You're saying that since it's nonsense, it's okay to just omit everything that is hard to fit into the translation and still have the hidden message; that's not a great mindset when translating stuff, especially a letter with a hidden message. Yet, even in doing this, the hidden message's coding is still changed (moreso than the alternative). I've managed to still stay true to the main message, omitting pretty much nothing, while keeping the message coding preserved as much as possible. Also, the fact that in your message, having "A" as its own line makes it look out of place.

"First of all" and "for starters" mean pretty much the same thing, and are both used to introduce a certain topic first (the first sentence of this message being an example), so this argument is working more against you. "Above all else" is also a way to introduce a topic that you want to talk about before talking about other (related) topics.

As for the "morals" part, I already said that it's the most liberal thing I did. But I've already thought of a better alternative (which slightly breaks the technical syllable separation, but it still has the same sound and spelling of the first three letters). It also changes the parts that you have problems with to your wording of it, so you shouldn't have any complaints there. 
Here is the last three lines of my corrected version (for reference, the end of the line before this is "But, if I were"): 
'''to think about it''' 
'''moreover, I might want to be''' 
'''roweled from behind as well…''' 

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 15:31, 6 June 2012 (CDT)

I don't know if you don't speak English well, if you don't have a good grasp on Japanese, or if you just don't want to admit your mistakes, but it's one of those, or a combination. You seem to act like my liberties are unforgivable, but somehow yours are no big deal. In any case, here's further explanation:

Yes, に is a location particle, but only in an incredibly abstract sense. For example, 彼に～を感じる means to feel something "from him", or even more literally, feel it "in him". If you feel something from/in somebody, then that "something" presumably belongs to them, hence, this substitution is possible in English.

I already changed the 感じる part, since looking at it again, I agree it makes more sense to just be accurate. I also added the quietly part in the first line for the same reason. The "A" on its own line is fine, because the message is broken up weirdly in the first place.

Again on the bit about とりあえず, I specifically wrote "This does not mean 'first of all' '''in the sense that something is of the utmost importance'''." Obviously it CAN mean the same thing as "for starters" based on context, however that's irrelevant here, because you wrote neither. "Above all else" always implies what you are talking about is the most important, and is generally used at the end of a list as well. This error is equivalent to my addition of "On second thought" to make the encoding work.

"But if I think about it, moreover I might want to be" doesn't make sense. Specifically, the moreover the part.

So, as a breakdown of "errors": 
Mine (3) - "On second thought", addition of "date", addition of "tomorrow" 
Yours (4, since "at" is an easy fix) - message title, "at" the telephone pole, "above all else", "date-raped", "moreover" 

Long story short, yours isn't any better, and there's no point in changing it the way it is now.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 17:20, 6 June 2012 (CDT)

Attacking my language skills now, huh... I could have said that exact thing to you on some of these things, but I didn't want to resort to that. I respect you for taking the time out of your schedule to translate this so that others who can't read Japanese can enjoy this story, and I just want to make their experience the best as possible. This text coding is something that struck my attention, since I like things like these, so that's way I'm spending so much time just on this. That's why I'm trying to keep the coding of it as true to the original as possible so that others will be able to appreciate it as much as I did when I first read it.

Anyway, time to defend my case...

に does not only apply to abstract locations. Take the simple sentence 「私はここにいる」, which signified a physical location at which the subject is physically situated. Perhaps ここ isn't the best example for the case of "at" (but it still refers to a physical location), since with that, English speakers won't use "at", and just simply say "I am here." But, for something like 「私は父の家にいった」, it would be translated as "I was '''at''' (my) dad's house."

And my line wasn't "But if I think about it, moreover I might..."; it's "But, if I think about it moreover, I might..." with the comma AFTER "moreover", since "moveover" is an adverb modifying the verb "think" (which fits with the fact that 考える to also modified by an adverb that gives it the sense of her thinking it over better).

So we really only have the exact same amount of areas that we took liberties with, two of which are for the same places. But the fact that mine stays more true to the coding of the hidden message is an important point, IMO. For your message, even someone as dense as Kodaka couldn't possibly use the first letter of the lines instead of the first word of the lines to try to solve it, especially if it was a code in English with that "A" standing by itself (he's dense, not stupid). His incorrectly decoded message using just the first letter doesn't even look anything remotely like a sentence. At least 「静高電エと縛ましよ後」 looks somewhat like a sentence at a glance, as with "Let's Going Only Above date-raped to moreover roweled" at a glance.

And FYI, you didn't fix the text message in all instances in the story.

PS: Sorry I took awhile to respond; I didn't get an e-mail notifying me of your response.

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 14:54, 9 June 2012 (CDT)

I attacked your language because it's clear that you didn't fully understand the message, or that you're stubborn, given the way you insist some things are right. I know that に can mean physical locations too, however that isn't what it means here. This is especially evident given that Rika is calling the telephone pole erotic because of its phallic shape. The に in this case is working like 「お母さんに貰ったプレゼント」 = "The present I got from Mom." I don't know how else to explain it to you. As a side note, 家にいった means you went somewhere; you want いた. Also, "moreover" still doesn't make sense there, that just isn't how the word is used in English. Here's how you would want it:

<stuff>. But if I were 
to give it some 
more thought, I might want to be 
roweled from behind, as well... 

However, there's still the issues with the other lines mentioned before that would have to be fixed for your version to be an improvement. I also don't agree that it's impossible for Kodaka to totally half-ass his first attempt at decoding (it's a stupid message from Rika after all), and thus fail to get the meaning using my encoding scheme. In any case, if you can fix the "only", the "above all", and either the "date-rape" or the message's title, post it here and if it's good (sounds like normal English) we'll go with that one.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 18:32, 9 June 2012 (CDT)

User talk:Vexed

2012-06-09T23:32:20Z

Vexed:

=Editing/TL Questions=
replied to your letter...

The tower

Just as you'd expect from a genius inventor girl(?), her brushing was just as smooth as Yozora's.

why is there a question mark there? because kodaka is unsure if it should be expected from her or not?
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 10:50, 21 February 2012 (CST)

Yes, (?) represents somebody questioning what came before it. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 23:42, 21 February 2012 (CST)

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tomodachi vol. 4 chapter "afterparty"

"Hmm... I really wish one of my junior upperclassmen would have had to read that while suffering an agonizing amount of embarrassment, but oh well." 

what is "junior upperclassmen"? upperclassmen who are in their junior year? if that's so, i would drop the "junior"...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 03:59, 26 February 2012 (CST)

Yeah I agree, sounds weird now that I re-read it too. I didn't want to throw the specification out entirely though, so I changed it to "three upperclassmen" --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 13:55, 26 February 2012 (CST)

oh, and is it "senpai" in the jap version? (i don't know of any other word...) mmm... just a small commentary: you sometimes use senpai as is, when it's singular. is it okay in terms of consistency? imho, ideally it should be either always "senpai" or always "upperclassmen". this is, of course up to you. i'm just pointing it out in case you haven't noticed...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 14:06, 26 February 2012 (CST)

I leave Senpai as is when it's being used as a personal pronoun (typically by Rika in reference to Kodaka), otherwise I translate it. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 19:01, 26 February 2012 (CST)
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Kobato often uses expressions, like "noble of the exalted night". when translated into russian, it sounds like shit. could i ask you to give me a literal translation? plus noble and exalted have almost the same meaning...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 13:29, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Noble and exalted have similar meanings as adjectives, however (in case you're unaware), in this case, "noble" is being used as a noun synonymous with aristocrat. As for a literal translation, that is a literal translation. You'll have to ask someone who speaks Russian and Japanese if you want more help with that. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 15:18, 4 March 2012 (CST)

thanks. yeah, i knew that. just thought that in japaneese it might be different. alas, there are certain complications when using the russian version of aristocrat/noble...either it sounds extremely out of place(anachronistic and grossly russian) or you have to come up with smth like "i am one of noble birth belonging to the noble night" which is even shittier. just in case you might care...--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 15:33, 4 March 2012 (CST)

ah, and i'm guessing "clansman" doesn't get any more literal either, yes?--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 15:53, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Yeah, "clansman" is pretty literal too; the Japanese word 眷属 is an archaic and formal way to refer to a person in one's family, or someone like family. I don't know why you're worried about Kobato sounding anachronistic though, she's supposed to when she's talking like Leysis. All of her dialogue as Leysis is grandiose and supposed to sound out of place in a normal conversation. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 16:08, 4 March 2012 (CST)

well ok, it's more of an issue that the "noble" word pertains only to russia. ana-regional...? ...who's leysis again? the character she's acting like?

and the clarification of "clansman" also helped alot...
--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 16:44, 4 March 2012 (CST)

Leysis vi Felicity Sumeragi is Kobato's alias. It's the character she pretends to be most of the time. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 19:21, 4 March 2012 (CST)
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After Party

"It is most embarrassing, but carbonic acid provides me with significant difficulty." 

mmm...i'm not really sure if "carbonic acid" sounds good. can it be changed to soda or carbonated drinks or something along those lines? i'm asking cause maybe it should specificaly translated as carbonic acid.

--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 03:29, 6 March 2012 (CST)

It's like that on purpose. Yukimura talks in a stiff tone of voice, similar to what Kobato does when she's pretending to be Leysis. --[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 13:42, 6 March 2012 (CST)
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'''Rika's Text'''

In response to this comment of yours: "Your translation of the message is less accurate, and while using syllables is a better "translation" of the encoding, it's considerably less important than the text itself, hence I undid it."

The only thing that I felt that I really took liberties on was adding "morals". I took some little liberties here and there, but those don't change the meaning of the message that much, but you also did that, too, since with this type of thing, taking little liberties is unavoidable. Here's my step-by-step analysis on each part comparing our versions.

ああん 
I went the route of making the title the actual first syllable like for the hidden message, as opposed to just putting the sound. The sound alone being the title does sound more nonsensical, though, but I would rather have the coding be the same. I think that the coding is the important part here, since it's the unique factor for this part of the story.

静かに 
I included this in my translation, which you omitted.

高くそびえる 
そびえる isn't in its volitional form, and just simply in its plain for, but you translated it as being volitional, just to have "let's" at the beginning.

電信柱に 
Since the particle is に, it should be "at", and not "of", the telephone pole.

エロスを感じます。 
I took a bit a of a liberty with "only", but that's about it this part. You translated 感じます as "go beyond", which isn't right.

とりあえず 
Meaning something along the lines of "first of all", giving the sense that there is one thing that more important and thus must be addressed first. Hence, I used "above all else", which gives roughly the same idea. It doesn't deal with rethinking anything. (Unless your "On second thought," part was a translation of "よく考えると", which is a whole new problem that I have addressed later in this message.)

縛られてみたいです。 
縛る just means to tie/bind. I guess gagged is an extended form of tying someone down, but it's not really necessary, but not wrong either, so neither of us is really wrong.

まぐわってみたいです。 
I combined this sentence with the previous, and took a liberty with having sex by replacing it with "date-raped" for the word "date", as both things involve a similar action. As for your translation, you flat out mention an actual date in order to include the word, which was never mentioned in Rika's actual message. Also, you translated this line and the previous line as if it was after "よく考えると", and totally ignored "とりあえず" and "しかし" as well. You also took a bit of a liberty and changed the fact that she wants intercourse to simple saying that it would be nice if that's the case, which isn't a big deal, but I'm just mentioning it to be thorough. It's the other part before it that's more problematic.

しかし 
A contradictory conjunction "but" that separates what comes before it with, as its name implies, a contrasting idea that comes after it. Again, you sort of combined what was before it with part of something after it, which really changes the meaning in this case.

よく考えると 
Meaning "If I were to think about it better..." or something along those lines. Here's where I took a big liberty of taking "it" as her "morals", something not mention, in order to get the right syllable. But it still goes along the lines of more deeply thinking it over. Your translation puts this line 3 lines earlier, changing the meaning completely.

後ろから攻められるのもいいかもしれません……。 
Something along the lines of "it might be good if I were to be attacked from behind". Both of us took liberties with the "もいい" part, with me using "would rather" and you with "want to", but both having the same idea so either is acceptable. As for the verb 攻める, I used roweled, which is a verb meaning to urge on something by striking it, oftentimes referred to a horse, which gives a similar idea of being attacked, just as your "taken" does.

Anyway, I tried to be as objective as I can with this response. I look forward to hearing your further thoughts on this matter.

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 23:08, 4 June 2012 (CDT)

The fact that there is an encoding by only reading the first portion of the lines is what really matters, not specifically which first portion. Meaning matters even more here though, because the message is actually in normal Japanese. Anyway, a quick breakdown:

ああん - Doesn't matter if you want to use it in the message or not, although it's obviously supposed to be a moan, given the rest of the message.

静かに　高くそびえる - This whole line, while grammatically correct, is basically nonsense in the Japanese as well, which is why it's permissible to play with the translation here as long as the basic structure stays the same.

電信柱に　エロスを感じます - Same as the above really, although as a side note: in this case に does not mean at, it would have to be で to mean that. に here means "from", which can be translated as "of the" given the context and such. If you really wanted to be more literal, "Go and feel the eros of/from the telephone pole." could also work; I opted to kind of tie it in to the above line originally.

とりあえず　縛られてみたいです - This does not mean "first of all" in the sense that something is of the utmost importance. The best word to describe it I can think off of the top of my head is "tentatively". It's sort of like, "for starters" in this case. I added the "On second thought" simply because I needed the word "on" in a way that wouldn't affect the key idea of the sentence, namely that she wants to try getting tied up. The gagged bit was an addition to give the sentence a more sexual BDSM meaning it was intended to have.

まぐわってみたいです - We both ended up adding a date here (I don't see how me adding it is somehow more of a problem than you adding it), and I don't think either is really any better considering Rika's personality. They both have the key idea that she wants to try having sex, yours explicitly stated, mine implicitly.

しかし　よく考えると - This is only a conflicting idea in the sense that she just thought of something better; it certainly has nothing to do with morals. The "might want to... as well" conveys this sudden thought in a more liberal, yet still accurate, fashion. The line should also be "as well" or something similar, not "rather", because of the のも present. The tomorrow I obviously had to put in there to make the encoding work, but it fits overall, given the conversations Kodaka's been having.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 04:28, 5 June 2012 (CDT)

First of all/for starters, using the Japanese terms for the usage of the particle に, one usage if に is a 場所の格助詞, a case-particle indicating place. に does not have a function of a 連体修飾の格助詞 or a 所有の格助詞 (simply speaking, these two types of case-particles are particles that modifies two nouns). の is such a particle with those two functionalities. while に does not have either of those uses.

Also, what about "感じる"? You seem to be taking much more liberties that changes/omits the meaning of the the message, such as for this. You're saying that since it's nonsense, it's okay to just omit everything that is hard to fit into the translation and still have the hidden message; that's not a great mindset when translating stuff, especially a letter with a hidden message. Yet, even in doing this, the hidden message's coding is still changed (moreso than the alternative). I've managed to still stay true to the main message, omitting pretty much nothing, while keeping the message coding preserved as much as possible. Also, the fact that in your message, having "A" as its own line makes it look out of place.

"First of all" and "for starters" mean pretty much the same thing, and are both used to introduce a certain topic first (the first sentence of this message being an example), so this argument is working more against you. "Above all else" is also a way to introduce a topic that you want to talk about before talking about other (related) topics.

As for the "morals" part, I already said that it's the most liberal thing I did. But I've already thought of a better alternative (which slightly breaks the technical syllable separation, but it still has the same sound and spelling of the first three letters). It also changes the parts that you have problems with to your wording of it, so you shouldn't have any complaints there. 
Here is the last three lines of my corrected version (for reference, the end of the line before this is "But, if I were"): 
'''to think about it''' 
'''moreover, I might want to be''' 
'''roweled from behind as well…''' 

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 15:31, 6 June 2012 (CDT)

I don't know if you don't speak English well, if you don't have a good grasp on Japanese, or if you just don't want to admit your mistakes, but it's one of those, or a combination. You seem to act like my liberties are unforgivable, but somehow yours are no big deal. In any case, here's further explanation:

Yes, に is a location particle, but only in an incredibly abstract sense. For example, 彼に～を感じる means to feel something "from him", or even more literally, feel it "in him". If you feel something from/in somebody, then that "something" presumably belongs to them, hence, this substitution is possible in English.

I already changed the 感じる part, since looking at it again, I agree it makes more sense to just be accurate. I also added the quietly part in the first line for the same reason. The "A" on its own line is fine, because the message is broken up weirdly in the first place.

Again on the bit about とりあえず, I specifically wrote "This does not mean 'first of all' '''in the sense that something is of the utmost importance'''." Obviously it CAN mean the same thing as "for starters" based on context, however that's irrelevant here, because you wrote neither. "Above all else" always implies what you are talking about is the most important, and is generally used at the end of a list as well. This error is equivalent to my addition of "On second thought" to make the encoding work.

"But if I think about it, moreover I might want to be" doesn't make sense. Specifically, the moreover the part.

So, as a breakdown of "errors": 
Mine (3) - "On second thought", addition of "date", addition of "tomorrow" 
Yours (4, since "at" is an easy fix) - message title, "at" the telephone pole, "above all else", "date-raped", "moreover" 

Long story short, yours isn't any better, and there's no point in changing it the way it is now.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 17:20, 6 June 2012 (CDT)

Attacking my language skills now, huh... I could have said that exact thing to you on some of these things, but I didn't want to resort to that. I respect you for taking the time out of your schedule to translate this so that others who can't read Japanese can enjoy this story, and I just want to make their experience the best as possible. This text coding is something that struck my attention, since I like things like these, so that's way I'm spending so much time just on this. That's why I'm trying to keep the coding of it as true to the original as possible so that others will be able to appreciate it as much as I did when I first read it.

Anyway, time to defend my case...

に does not only apply to abstract locations. Take the simple sentence 「私はここにいる」, which signified a physical location at which the subject is physically situated. Perhaps ここ isn't the best example for the case of "at" (but it still refers to a physical location), since with that, English speakers won't use "at", and just simply say "I am here." But, for something like 「私は父の家にいった」, it would be translated as "I was '''at''' (my) dad's house."

And my line wasn't "But if I think about it, moreover I might..."; it's "But, if I think about it moreover, I might..." with the comma AFTER "moreover", since "moveover" is an adverb modifying the verb "think" (which fits with the fact that 考える to also modified by an adverb that gives it the sense of her thinking it over better).

So we really only have the exact same amount of areas that we took liberties with, two of which are for the same places. But the fact that mine stays more true to the coding of the hidden message is an important point, IMO. For your message, even someone as dense as Kodaka couldn't possibly use the first letter of the lines instead of the first word of the lines to try to solve it, especially if it was a code in English with that "A" standing by itself (he's dense, not stupid). His incorrectly decoded message using just the first letter doesn't even look anything remotely like a sentence. At least 「静高電エと縛ましよ後」 looks somewhat like a sentence at a glance, as with "Let's Going Only Above date-raped to moreover roweled" at a glance.

And FYI, you didn't fix the text message in all instances in the story.

PS: Sorry I took awhile to respond; I didn't get an e-mail notifying me of your response.

- [[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] 14:54, 9 June 2012 (CDT)

I attacked your language because it's clear that you didn't fully understand the message, or that you're stubborn, given the way you insist some things are right. I know that に can mean physical locations too, however that isn't what it means here. This is especially evident given that Rika is calling the telephone pole erotic because of its phallic shape. The に in this case is working like 「お母さんに貰ったプレゼント」 = "The present I got from Mom." I don't know how else to explain it to you. As a side note, 家にいった means you went somewhere; you want いた. Also, "moreover" still doesn't make sense there, that just isn't how the word is used in English. Here's how you would want it:

<stuff>. But if I were
to give it some
more thought, I might want to be
roweled from behind, as well...

However, there's still the issues with the other lines mentioned before that would have to be fixed for your version to be an improvement. I also don't agree that it's impossible for Kodaka to totally half-ass his first attempt at decoding (it's a stupid message from Rika after all), and thus fail to get the meaning using my encoding scheme. In any case, if you can fix the "only", the "above all", and either the "date-rape" or the message's title, post it here and if it's good (sounds like normal English) we'll go with that one.

[[User:Vexed|Vexed]] 18:32, 9 June 2012 (CDT)

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Talk:Boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai:Volume5 Welcome to the World of Otomege

2012-03-23T22:08:10Z

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=="God damn"==
The phrase "God damn" is asking God to damn something, so it is a specific god (the Christian one) and in this case "God" is used as a proper noun, so it should be capitalized. It has become somewhat of a swear and a slang term, so its usage is not as strict, but it is correct to capitalize it. There is also the option of the slang word "goddamn" which is only slang, so it isn't capitalized and has even less religious meaning behind it (although most people saying "God damn" aren't saying it with a religious meaning). Basically, what I'm saying is, the correct usage of "God damn" is to capitalize it, but because of how it's used by people today, it has kind of lost its meaning. I think "goddamn" might be more appropriate for the way it's used here.

The god damn in this case is synonymous with goddamn, it's simply written differently. Hence, it is not capitalized. I'll give you that it can vary depending on what school of writing you follow, but it's not going to be capitalized here. If you absolutely insist on it, then change it to the one word variant.

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