PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter1

The spring breeze blew refreshingly over the wide river's surface. The wonderful month of April was ending, and warm sunlight was breaking the glass surface of the water, glittering and shining across it.

Along the bank, the soft green grass was swaying. On the road above, a high-class convertible was sparkling in the light as it continued to drive on.

Sitting in the back seat of the convertible and wearing the elite Harusha's Private Academy Uniform was class 1-2's Zadou Sierra. Her long hair was blowing in the spring breeze as she sat upright, looking like a glass statue with her hands placed softly above her lap. She was the daughter of a prominent family.

The driver was wearing a black jacket and had a hat pulled low over the eyes. Next to Sierra, a middle school girl sat with a tensed facial expression.

"Si...Sierra-sama's car, it really does feel nice to ride in doesn't it?"

"Of course. Is your leg injury okay yet?"

Sierra smiled sweetly. With a smiling face like a blooming flower, her inner friendliness, elegance and grace came forth.

"Yeah.....or rather, it's just a scrape...."

The school girl who had an adhesive bandage stuck to her knee lowered her gaze apologetically.

"Negligence is forbidden. I think if you overdo a little injury, it'll get worse and cause a bigger problem."

"B-but, because Sierra-sama took me, I feel sorry for everyone in class."

"Everyone in class?"

"Because, Sierra-sama is admired by everyone...."

"Okay, then please. Take it as this upperclassman's selfishness, would you let me take you?"

Sierra put both of her hands together, entreating the school girl to comply while staring fixedly at her. With a pop the girl's face turned red.

"Ah, Uhm, uhm, uhm, uhm...."

The clearly flustered school girl just shrugged her shoulders in embarrassment, finally answering in a small voice.

"Ye, Yes....please do."

"Good. Then, please just relax. Would you like a pastry?"

Sierra reached into a velvet box, pulling out a high-class chocolate truffle. The girl had the opposite reaction however, instead becoming more nervous as her face flushed deeper red, while her heart beat tightly against her chest.

Sierra's car continued along the road, while on the embankment below.....Araki Jin in his school uniform, was lying down amidst the tall swaying grass. His clearly determined eyes and taut well-tanned skin gave off a sort of hot and dry impression, like that of the desert wind.

As Jin was using his school bag for a pillow, he was reading an archaeology book held closely to his lips, which had pictures of a clay tablet with wedge-shaped characters engraved on it.

Utada Yuuya, Jin's classmate, was sitting nearby. His skin and hair were weak in color, while he had a thin, frail frame. He was wearing headphones over his ears, with his slender eyes narrowed as he absentmindedly listened to the music.

"Ah......it's the Zadou's car."

Sierra's car continued driving on, while Yuuya blinked in an unfocused manner, muttering in happiness.

"Aaah, such a secluded young woman......She lives on a completely different level in this world, and there's been a ton of people confessing to her but she's like that flower on the top of a mountain, oh how bittersweet."

"Ehh. Like a mountain plant, she's a beautiful blooming flower."

Jin's gaze was directed at his book, so he had only simply responded. Yuuya lifted his eyebrow like the katakana character "ha", and took his headphones

off from his ears, down to rest on his neck.

"Unattainable, you don't even get it! We're talking about Zadou Sierra here."

"It's like a person who has the name of a flower."

"You, are so slow and you're only making a shallow point. Zadou is a beauty, and a celebrity who's very kind, she's a flawless Ojou-sama. Everyday guys at the academy confess to her, and those who don't confess, admire her from afar, so do you seriously not understand the significance of this?"

"My shoulder's been hurting since yesterday. Wonder what I should do."

So, without caring, Jin rubbed his left shoulder. He hadn't listened at all to the speech, and Yuuya was stunned.

"Someone's talking! Besides it's because you read books all the time, that's why your shoulder's hurting. You're like an old man."

"It's near the collarbone, and it feels like there is a chestnut in there grinding heavily."

"That's an inflamed lymph node you know......hey, why are promising school guys like us talking about this depressing topic?"

"How could you even say that with such a calm expression? Surely, it's because they come from inside the books stacked around our room. Just joking, I've actually been hearing some rustling sounds at night as well. Don't you think it would be better if you went to the hospital?"

"Hnn......This cuneiform, seems to be written in the Sumer writing style."

"You're not listenin' to me again!"

"If you do that, then these symbols make......S-L-M-N..........Solomon! Perhaps this clay tablet holds the key to 'Solomon's Treasure'?"

"What are you talking about Solomon's Treasure for?"

"I'm going back to my room, there's some stuff I want to check on."

Yuuya's words went unheeded as Jin stood up, held the book in his hands, and ran along the embankment path. He was also confused, as Jin had left his bag behind.

"Hey! Wait a minute! You forgot your bag!"

Jin never heard what had been said to him. Half wanting to give up, Yuuya nevertheless picked up the two's school bags, clutching them to his chest as he chased after Jin.

After returning, Jin had come one kilometer from the academy, to reach Harushiya Academy's male dormitory, "Tachibana". The two-story dormitory gave off an old and historic feel, as the roof was built with wooden roof tiles. The room was set up so that two people from the same year would board together. Jin and Yuuya were roommates.

Their room had two beds, an old-fashioned desk, and mountains of books burying cardboard boxes, so that there was no room to put one's feet. Digging into the mountain of boxes and books, Jin was searching for something.

"Well then......it's location is buried somewhere."

"This is just like excavating."

Yuuya had just about given up, after going through and classifying a bunch of books underneath the two beds.

"Geez......this room should be a place to relax."

"Ah, found it. The reference book to the Sumer characters......"

Jin gave a big pull on one book in the center of the mountain of books. The mountain of books swayed and wobbled, before tumbling on top of Yuuya.

"Gaaaah! It's an avalanche of booooks!"

Underneath the two beds, books had piled up. Jin ignored the "Ah", and without doing anything special, expressionlessly pulled a book out from under one of the beds.

"Hey, are you alive?"

Pulling out the book, dust clouded off from it. Crawling out from inside the dust cloud, Yuuya was coughing.

"Move it! By the way, where did all these boxes even come from! The only way they could have entered this dorm, is one by one."

Yuuya's body was still struggling with the dust. But as Yuuya was getting angrier, Jin, at his own pace, looked around the inside of the room without any emotion on his face.