If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 4

Flag 4: The Selected Heroes Set Off

After school.

Under Akane’s leadership, the student president, Tsumugi, and the other classmates who came to see the commotion lined up in front of the dilapidated dormitory.

“It’s really decrepit—”

“Wouldn’t it be better to say nearly collapsed?”

“Actually living in such a place… too tragic.”

“If we can take better care of him, this kind of thing might not happen…”

The students expressed their thoughts, all of them gazing at Souta with pity and raising sympathy flags without exception. Souta almost raised a ‘fainting flag’.

“Rebuilding would still be faster, huh, young Mimori?”

Tsumugi looked up at the student president standing beside her only to see Mimori burst into laughter as if to sweep away the gloomy atmosphere of the scene.

“Bwahahahahahahaha!! As long as it’s handled by this Student President Seiteikouji Mimori, everything will be A-OK!! Just divert student council funds and build a huge building!! No problem! Just leave it to the so-called unparalleled ability passed down among generations of student presidents to create falsified accou—”

“Someone come get the president to shut up.”

Seeing the students begin to retreat after seeing the dark side of the academy, Tsumugi ruthlessly cut off Mimori’s words.

That said, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Mimori had changed the depressed atmosphere in one fell swoop. Tsumugi silently praised Mimori for having some skill.

Since although the students wore strained smiles, at least they were smiling.

“Let’s not take misappropriation of public funds into consideration yet… Right, young Akane, could you provide some financial assistance? Ah, you should still have pocket money, no?”

Tsumugi mixed some English into her question, and Nanami was embarrassed for Akane.

“This child is said not to receive family assistance.”

“Yes, even if it’s pocket money... It’s only one million yen a month…”

““““““““““That’s more than enough!!””””””””””

Everyone present replied.

“Huh, really? That much is enough? Building a house is so cheap. That’s got to be way under market price, right?!”

Hearing this rich girl say these ‘Where did this rich girl come from?’ kinds of words, everybody there held in their laughter save for one person.

That exception, Nanami, was currently pinching Akane’s nose.

“Thou art too spoiled!! Art not thou supporting thyself, girl oblivious to worldly affairs?!”

“Huh? Huh?”

Student President Mimori stared at the two people who seemed to have a good relationship with her arms crossed and put on a serious expression again.

“Anyways, whether it’s rebuilding or remodeling, just ask the professionals of this school, ladies and gentlemen!”

“Professionals… of this school?”

Seeing Souta’s disbelief, the one who answered him was Tsumugi, standing next to Mimori.

“The Civil Engineering Club.”

“The Civil Engineering Club…”

Hearing this strange and unknown club name, Nanami's expression was strange.

“They say it was influenced by a certain manga.”

“Let’s call them over right now!!”

Student President Mimori called over members of the Civil Engineering Club and laughed her ‘Bwahahahahaha’. What was so funny, nobody knew.

Accompanying the well-built club members coming to the scene was the short-haired, baseball-cap-wearing president of the Civil Engineering Club. His first words were:

“What is it, President?! What’d you break this time?!”

“Could you not say that like yours truly is always impulsively causing destruction everywhere?!”

Unfortunately, the objections of Mimori, who frequently caused destruction on impulse, went in one ear of the Civil Engineering Club president and out the other. He lifted his chin to ask ‘Is this it?’ and looked at the ruins of Quest Dorm.

“You can really cause destruction…”

“It wasn’t yours truly!!”

But rather than caring about who did it, the Civil Engineering Club president’s interest had already shifted to the building itself, and he ignored Mimori’s protests.

Rebuild or remodel— the club members seemed to also disagree over those two options, and a younger club member asked the president:

“President, what should we do?”

“I told you to call me Craftsman!”

How magical. A craftsman’s subtle artistry is also reflected in these kinds of words and gestures.

“If possible, I hope for this child to live here as soon as possible…”

Kikuno cut in from beside Souta only to see the craftsman crack his fists and say:

“Okay! Then let’s remodel!!”

The president displayed his enthusiasm, and the club members all forced a smile.

“The president likes to remodel…”

“Didn’t I tell you to call me Craftsman?!”

How magical. A craftsman’s subtle artistry is also reflected in these kinds of words and gestures.

“How long until someone can live here?”

“Well~ it’ll be quite difficult, so at least a month…”

The craftsman answered Tsumugi’s question, and Nanami eyed him suspiciously. He didn’t seem to be acting.

“That’s too long! So being a craftsman isn’t something all that amazing after all?”

“With enough manpower, it can be done in a week!!”

How amazing! A craftsman’s subtle persistence is also reflected in these kinds of words and gestures.

“Then what if it’s just for one person to live in?”

“For one person, huh… Then two, three days…”

Akane stepped up to use the carrot and the stick, and as a result— How magical! A craftsman’s backbone is also reflected in this kind of place.

“Then it’s just a matter of where we can get manpower… Should we get schoolmates…”

“It’s your life, take matters into your own hands! This academy promotes the spirit of student independence; asking alumni is against its ethos! Don’t you know shame!!”

Although the craftsman was expressing goodwill, he was still shot down by the student president who found fault with it for some reason. But since he was quite used to Mimori’s rampages, plus the fact that Mimori apologized and said “Sorry, yours truly crossed the line.” after being scolded by Tsumugi-baba-sama, the craftsman could only mutter “I don’t know what to do with her…”

“You need manpower… It happens that there is a group of people who seem to be doing nothing.”

Tsumugi looked at the lively class.

The classmates could have found it troublesome and played dead, but each one was nicer than the last, wanting to help the poor Souta. The sentiment quickly spread, and the ‘I want to help, I want to help, I want to help’ attitude was clear at a glance.

“Great! Then let’s start by removing the rotten boards--”

As everybody immediately started working, Akane walked up to the front and said:

“I-I want to say something!!... Thank you everybody for being willing to help with my selfish project!”

Seeing Akane bow with all her might, Kikuno also joined in.

“Ah! Please let me thank everybody too! Our Sou-kun will be in your care.”

Seeing the two girls bow and thank everyone for him, plus Nanami poking him from behind and glaring at him as if to hint ‘Are you really going to stand by and do nothing while these girls do this for you?’, Souta was sandwiched by the pressure of the atmosphere and could not help but bow and say:

“Uh… I owe everybody one…”

“What kind of low-spirited thanks is that?!”

This was Nanami’s fierce retort upon not receiving real thanks. But the counter-reaction wasn’t even from Souta himself, but Kikuno.

“Th-that’s not it, that’s not it! Sou-kun’s very awkward, so he accidentally said it that way, but Big Sis thinks that he is very grateful to everyone! So… so I hope everybody doesn’t misunderstand him!!”

Souta’s thanks wasn’t great nor terrible, but Kikuno still patted his head as if saying ‘Good boy, you’ve worked hard’ while protecting him with those words.

How spoiled.

Way too spoiled.

So doting.

Oh well…

Then Akane provided the final, fatal hit--

“Th-that’s right! And… And, how do I say this, if Souta-kun smiled and provided lively thanks, it wouldn’t be his style and everyone would be disappointed!”

Akane’s extremely negative image of him made Souta depressingly realize So I look that gloomy in the eyes of others…

Anyways, Souta’s plaintiveness made everyone raise ‘motivated’ flags. The Civil Engineering Club members let out an understanding “Ah…”, kindly saying “It’s okay.” and “Don’t take it to heart.”

But only the craftsman’s face went red. She looked the other way with a “Hmph!”

“I-I’m not doing it for you!”

Emerging from the craftsman…

“It’s not what you think!”

“Don’t get the wrong idea!”

“But if you don’t feel grateful, then I won’t spare you!”

This guy had just been heartily telling him not to mind things but suddenly began to say these kinds of statements one by one. This continued until he left for his post.

Souta didn’t understand what was going on with this scene, so Mimori explained to him:

“That girl’s personality is why the confession failure record keeps constantly getting broken. But she’s the academy’s best at remodeling too, so rest at ease, yo!”

“‘That girl’?? So she’s actually female?!”

“If she were male, I wouldn’t have said ‘girl’.”

Good point Souta silently agreed, observing the craftsman again. Could you say she’s gender neutral? If you said her to be a girl with very short hair, then she did indeed seem like a girl.

Akane suddenly approached from nearby to look at Souta’s face.

“That’s so great, Souta-kun.”

“... It’s all thanks to the good fortune provided by Okiku-nee and Akane.”

Seeing Souta look a bit uncomfortable and avert his eyes, Akane smiled and laughed, thinking that he was really cute.

“My mother once said that I should pay for my friends, so that they can be proud that they had such a friend.”

“Your mom is really great.”

“Yeah.” Akane nodded, gazing up at the blue sky.

“I always thought that doing that was to make friends, to become closer with friends. But I now find that not to be the case.”

“?”

“Because, because, you see, Souta-kun, just seeing your happiness also makes me as happy, joyful, and full of anticipation!”

Akane pressed her hands to her chest, spinning in circles.

“It’s my first time understanding that by bringing happiness to the people around you, you yourself will also feel as happy as they feel!”

“Akane, that’s because you’re really considerate.”

Hearing the conversation between Akane and Souta, Nanami, with a gentle expression mixed with a little sarcasm, interjected:

“Seeing Akane’s joy, We consequently feel joy as well. Akane is just like an exquisite cake made of happiness.”

“Nanami… You’re a poet!!”

As if discovering a beautiful line of verse, Akane’s eyes twinkled like several small stars. She tightly clasped both of Nanami’s hands with a sparkling, bright expression, happy as can be.

But Nanami realized that she made a serious slip of the tongue, her shy face burning as she struggled to shake off Akane’s hands.

“Huh?! Th-that doesn’t count! Wh-what was just said doesn’t count!!”

“Nanami’s youthful poetry is my favorite! Being friends with Nanami is great! We must abuse the privilege of youth to run towards the sun!”

“Enough! Do nyaat waste your youth!!”

Nanami ran away after saying this, waving a huge hammer brought by the Civil Engineering Club and furiously destroying the rotten dormitory wall scheduled to be taken down, rather heroically covering up her embarrassment in this way.

“That girl is quite cut out for destroying things…”

Nearby, Tsumugi laid a waterproof cloth, set up a cushion on it, and leisurely sipped tea as if retiring with glory while looking at Nanami’s liveliness from afar and muttering to herself.

“Then, Big Sis will do her part for Sou-kun, too!”

“I’ll also go help.”

Kikuno and Akane swayed their bodies side to side, happily walking away. Souta was about to chase them, but Tsumugi suddenly stopped him from behind.

“Young Souta.”

“?”

Souta turned his head and saw Tsumugi’s kindly expression like a mother dog gazing at a puppy. Observing at the students excitedly absorbed into their work, she explained to Souta:

“Look closely, then engrave it into your heart. This isn’t a debt, but kindness. Kindness should be repaid with kindness. Put it in your heart, cultivate it little by little, absorb it. This way, one day, young Souta, you will also be a person able to express kindness as naturally as breathing.”

“Ah…”

Souta was about to respond with ‘Okay’, but Mimori came out from nowhere and cut him off, grabbing his shoulders and coolly pointing to the sky.

“This is the academy’s soul! The academy’s style!”

“Whoa, you scared me!”

Tsumugi smiled wryly at Mimori’s sudden appearance, saying persuasively:

“... In this regard, your spiritual practice is not good enough yet, young Mimori.”

“Grandmother is so strict…”

After letting off steam discontentedly, Mimori said the horrifying words like “Then, I’ll go forge documents and pretend that I received an application for rebuilding this dorm” and left the scene.

At the same time, Nanami, probably tired from waving the hammer, came back for tea.

“Hey, Souta. Don’t be lazy, shouldn’t thou help? This is where thou willst live, right?”

“Oh, sor… ry?”

As Nanami immediately gulped down the wheat tea Tsumugi poured for her, she noticed Souta apologize halfway and freeze with his head slightly raised. This intriguing movement made her frown.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… on top of the dorm… there’s a flag.”

“Huh? Something non-human can have flags too?!”

“It’s my first time seeing this, too…”

On the roof flew a ‘new role debut’ flag.

Souta, who could see it, and Nanami, who couldn’t, looked up at that unfamiliar flag together.

This time, Akane jogged back.

“Souta-kun, the people inside said they needed a boy’s help and wanted you to come over… Huh, what’s wrong? Why are you two staring at the roof? If you’re worried about spirits, aren’t they more likely ghosts?”

““Huh?! There are ghosts?!””

Akane’s unexpected comment startled Nanami and Souta, and they yelped sharply, forming beautiful harmony.

“... Only you two are that close. Not fair.”

“Is now the time to care about that kind of problem?!”

“Huh?! What?! They’re really like that?!”

Kikuno, never knowing the right time to come up behind Souta’s back, startled Souta and made him jump in surprise.

“Whoa, you scared me!”

“Sou-kun, which one are you closer with? Which one do you like?! Secretly tell Big Sis, please? Okay? Okay?”

Kikuno, delighted at the prospect of her little brother’s first love, put her hand by her ear, approaching Souta with a “Hmmm~?”

“No, even if you ask which one I like…”

“Is it the gentle Akane? Or~ Nanami? Since you call her by first name~ you’re very close… Ah, or you like both of them?”

Kikuno, giggling, might have intended to talk secrets with Souta quietly, but since the people in question were very close by, Akane and Nanami both heard this clear as day.

The one who reacted violently wasn’t Souta, but the red-faced Nanami.

“Come here, Souta!”

Nanami pulled Souta’s ear and brought him some distance away from Kikuno and co.

“Canst not thou do anything to deal with that freak sister?”

“I can’t do anything even if I wanted to…”

The little brother had already fallen into the bad habit of absolutely obeying his sister. Kikuno had, year in and year out, used a non-violent means known as doting to crush Souta’s resistance.

“......”

Nanami looked with disgust at Souta being spoiled by Big Sis, suddenly noticed something, and said:

“... Hey, thy sister doesn’t have a flag?”

So far, since Kikuno’s presence was so strong, Souta forgot to be afraid of flags. He recalled the top of Kikuno’s head, and said, almost to himself:

“Yeah… Now that you mention it, there is a flag.”

“What kind of flag?”

“I think it’s… the sisterly love flag.”

The scope of that flag seemed way too narrow. But considering Kikuno’s love for her little brother, it seemed to contain infinite possibilities.

At the same time, Nanami thought, as long as that flag broke, perhaps it would curb Kikuno’s desire to randomly speculate about her little brother’s relationships with girls.

“Try to break thy sister’s flag.”

“Huh?!”

“Try to break thy sister’s flag, try to break thy sister’s flag.”

“Why’d you say it twice…? Hey Nanami, don’t you usually tell me not to break them…”

Of course Souta only chose to listen now. Nanami let loose an angry, intimidating “Tch!!”

“Do not ask so many questions! If thou continues like this, thou willst always be a little brother to that woman, okay?!”

“... What’s wrong with that?”

“Enough! Thou hath completely fallen into the habit of a little brother!”

He’s already completely brainwashed by Kikuno! This time, Nanami growled “Grrr!”

Nanami became more and more like an animal. She might not have had an ‘evolve into a human’ flag, but hopefully it gets raised soon.

“Think about it, theoretically, two people have always felt like a big sister and little brother, and one day develop a relationship between a man and woman… something like that!”

Nanami became more and more embarrassed as she said this, and talked really quickly at the end.

“You read too much manga and watch too many dramas, Nanami…”

“What didst thou say?!”

“And, we don’t have that kind of relationship.”

Souta said this without blushing or missing a beat. Nanami glared at him, the look in her eyes neither dumbfounded nor angry nor irritated.

“Stop spouting nonsense, just break it already! If thou dost not break it, We will break thy arm!!”

“......”

Under Nanami’s intimidation, Souta told himself that since he keeps getting teased about it anyway, taking advantage of this situation to change his relationship with Kikuno might be better. After he reminded himself of this, he went back to Kikuno.

“Heeheeheeheehee. What kind of secrets did you talk about? Sou-kun, is there a secret between you and Nanami that you can’t tell Big Sis? As I thought… you’re in that kind of relationship? Did Big Sis guess it right? Can you tell Big Sis? Nanami can also call me Big Sis, okay?”

“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!! Souta!!”

Almost getting another sister out of nowhere, Nanami deepened the misunderstanding and angrily stomped her feet.

“A-alright…”

Under the pressure of Nanami’s hand signals, Souta nodded his head reluctantly and faced Kikuno.

“I’m not a kid anymore, so always sticking together isn't cool…”

“Ah…?!”

Hearing Souta’s flag-breaking words, Kikuno suffered a terrible shock.

“Big Sis understands!”

She seemed to understand.

“Sou-kun wants to maintain a cool image in front of the girl you like, right~?”

She didn’t understand at all.

Nanami realized this, pulled Souta’s ear, and yelled quietly.

“Hey, Souta! It didn’t break at all, did it?!”

“Rather, the flag dodged…”

“Dodged…?”

“Yeah, dodged with extreme speed…”

Nanami and Souta both trembled at Kikuno’s unfathomable potential, retreating and looking at Kikuno together.

“?”

A question mark appeared above Kikuno’s head, and she tilted her head in confusion.

Seeing her like that, disregarding the fact Souta’s fighting spirit was almost zero from the beginning, Nanami’s fighting spirit ignited again.

“Couldn’t thou have simply broken it more bluntly?!”

“...”

Nanami took silence as an answer, once again pushing Souta in front of Kikuno.

Glancing at the flag on Kikuno’s head, Souta forced a smile and tested the waters.

“That’s not what I meant. I just thought, shouldn’t we get rid of this brother-sister relationship already?”

“Ah…!!”

Hearing Souta’s flag-breaking words, Kikuno suffered a terrible shock.

“Big Sis understands!”

This time she seemed to really understand.

“Nanami made you say that. Heehee, don’t worry, Nanami. Souta and I aren’t like that. No need to fret, I won’t steal Souta away.

This time she still didn’t understand at all.

“We are also not like that, alright?!”

Seeing Nanami roar, Kikuno thought, She became shy, she became shy! and was still extremely happy.

“The flag dodged with godlike speed again…”

“That kind of thing exists?”

Having seen the existence of a special flag surpassing human imagination, Souta had the same question. He replied, a little out of it:

“It’s also the first time I’ve seen this.”

Seeing the terrifying creature known as ‘Big Sis’ in person made Nanami and Souta get goosebumps.

At some point, Akane, already working in the dorm, stuck her hand out the taken-down window and waved, breaking the peculiar atmosphere.

“Souta-kun— they’re asking ‘Why hasn’t a boy come yet?’ already—”

‘Yet’ followed by ‘already’, so strange… Souta thought about unrelated things, leaving Nanami and Kikuno behind to enter the dorm.

Upon Souta’s entry, the craftsman immediately said to Souta: “I just want you to clean up the decaying cabinet in the locker room in front of the bathroom, don’t get me wrong!!” But it’s quite difficult to figure out which part of the sentence could be misunderstood.

As proven by the fact that Souta didn’t get it wrong at all and went straight to the locker room.

A loud rattling sound came from inside the bathroom. As he got to work, Souta just glanced around briefly before returning to the task at hand, finding the old cabinet.

But no matter how you look at it, that cabinet didn’t seem like something one person could move alone. Just as Souta racked his brain for a solution, a male classmate happened to pass by the hallway. Souta hurriedly called out to him.

“Excuse me, I need a boy’s help over here, can you help me?”

The male classmate he just called to wore a boys’ uniform on his upper body and shorts and striped knee socks on his lower body. Even if he was disguised as a girl, he was wearing a male uniform, so he should be a boy… That said, his appearance and temperance, even if he was a pretty boy, was too girlish: If you asked whether he was more like a pretty boy or a beautiful girl with short hair rolled into a man bun, obviously it would be the latter — this was the reality.

As if embodying that kind of indistinguishability, the dainty male (?) classmate said “A boy…?” and looked around.

“A boy, a boy, a boy… one?!”

Since nobody else could be found nearby, and Souta had been looking at him for a while, the male classmate seemed to finally realize that it was directed at him.

Seeing his suspicious behavior, Souta worried that he made a mistake, asking with his heart in his mouth:

“So you’re not a boy…? Then my sincerest apologies. Because during PE class, I saw you on the boys’ side… Sorry, I always thought you were male…”

“...!!”

Souta recalled being thoroughly shocked at seeing striped kneesocks during PE class that day as he added an apology. The male (?) classmate seemed to have taken a heavy hit, his knees knocked together, arms pressed tight against his body, and his whole body shaking.

“Uh, hey…”

“O-one… one… ! One is a boy!! That’s correct!!”

So he claimed.

Although he claimed so, his knees knocked to the point that they practically fused together, and his hands and fists were placed almost in a boxing position, moving erratically in a cute way, pretty much contradicting himself.

“For one… it’s one’s first time meeting someone who treats one as a boy! And, because of one’s features, even those who know one only treat one as a girl… But, Souta-kun treats one as a boy, so one is very happy!”

The male classmate raised friendship flags.

Right, it was raised… but…

“What’s going on here…?”

Spouting from the male classmate’s head, while still a flag, were countless flags tied together joined to the sky like streamers, extending endlessly upwards and slightly backwards, weaving across the wall.

“Streamers…streamers? F-… flag?... This a flag?”

It was also Souta’s first time seeing a flag in this kind of mystical shape, so it was hard to cover up his confusion.

If it wasn’t a flag, it would mean Souta could see things other than flags. That would be terrifying. So terrifying that he didn’t want to keep thinking about it, so he just assumed that he could only see flags.

The male classmate had followed Souta’s gaze to the top of his head and was looking up at the sky, but he suddenly remembered something and tapped his palm with his fist.

“Ah, one hasn’t introduced oneself. One’s name is Touzokuyama Megumu</ref> Megumu’s surname indicates that his ‘class’ is thief</ref>.”

Megumu squatted cutely, sliding his hand on the dusty floorboard. After demonstrating how to write his name, he smiled shyly.

“I am…”

Souta nodded, thinking that his surname was a little over-the-top. As he decided to introduce himself to Megumu, Megumu cut him off.

“You must be Hatate-kun. One knows because one saw you introduce yourself when you transferred.”

“Just call me Souta.”

“O-one too! Just call one Megumu.”

He said this excitedly as streamers of friendship flags fluttered on his head. Perhaps that ‘people should get along no matter what country they’re from’ mentality was because of these streamers.

“One thinks one can establish a manly friendship with Souta-kun!”

Souta’s first reaction of him had been a perplexed ‘Why is there a girl mixed in with the boys’ PE class…?’, so he remembered her clearly... no, him. But Souta couldn’t say that. In order to hide his thoughts, he hurriedly changed the subject.

“Really… Speaking of which, the name ‘Megumu’ is... really cool.”

“Th-that’s not true. One kind of hates this feminine name. Everyone likes to call one by one’s nickname, Megu-chan, so it seems even more feminine.”

“Yours is still relatively good, unlike my name Souta. My kindergarten nickname was ‘Missus’ ”

“Souta-kun’s really cute♡”

Megumu clutched his sides and lightly covered his mouth, his entire body shaking with laughter. No matter how you look at it, Megumu’s a cute girl.

Perhaps out of guilt, the conversation was very accommodating towards Megumu. Although Souta thought his personality would only hurt Megumu, as luck would have it, they still had a good conversation.

“... I’ll call you Megu-chan too.”

“Hey~! Souta-kun, you bully!!”

Confronted with having accidentally said something very feminine, Megumu pouted cutely, puffing his cheeks.

“That said, Megumu, I just want to know one thing…”

“Ah! One has been working out before bed to become more manly, so one is a bit stronger now, okay?”

Megumu flexed his biceps after saying so. Souta asked Megumu ‘Can I touch it?’ and was given permission. He touched it and found that the muscle was so soft that it made him feel guilty. However, because the ‘Nnngh~!’ sound that Megumu made as he flexed was too cute, Souta gave up on his retort. More to the point, Souta wasn’t even asking about that.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I wanted to ask about the bottom half of your uniform.”

“... Oh.”

Megumu’s weak reply was mixed with a sigh, and he lifted the lower hem of his uniform coat. Since they were both male, there clearly wasn’t any reason to look twice. Nevertheless, Souta blushed and his heart rate sped up.

“This is…”

“N-nevermind, sorry. I didn’t offend you, right? Everyone has different hobbies. It’s fine, and it really suits you…”

Seeing the fluttering streamers fall weakly, Souta anxiously mediated.

“No! No no no! No no!!”

Megumu lightly hammered Souta’s chest with unmatched cuteness.

“This is because… Big Sis said this way was definitely cuter… said it was approved by the academy… My Big Sis is responsible for designing this uniform… so…”

The phrase ‘Big Sis’ scared Souta and made him flinch.

“The student handbook also says that, starting this year, this outfit is approved as a uniform.”

“Really?!”

Souta brought out a student handbook from his chest pocket to confirm. Listed next to the normal boys’ and girls’ uniform, there really was an illustration identical to what Megumu was wearing at the moment.

“It’s true!!... Speaking of which, does anyone else wear it like this?”

“... Somewhere in this vast world.”

“That’s already not about this academy’s uniforms anymore!?”

Megumu’s eyes became empty.

“This outfit isn’t only conspicuous, but people also say it looks like a girls’, so one hates it. But Big Sis cried, saying that it’s definitely cute, and made me wear it…”

“Since your Big Sis cried and begged, there’s nothing you can do about it…”

As a fellow comrade who loses unconditionally to his older sister, Souta’s heartstrings tugged with sympathy for his fellow sufferer.

“Yeah… and one is the youngest of four siblings, with sisters all above me.”

“Your life is so hard… I understand how you feel, Megumu…”

Megumu was usually surrounded by people jealous of his beautiful sisters, so when he heard Souta’s gentle words, his chest couldn’t help but tighten with a ‘squeeze♡’.

“Thank you!! Only Souta-kun understands me!! Thank you! Really, thank you so much, Souta-kun!!”

Megumu rushed to hug Souta, as if pushing people out of the way.

Megumu’s body was unusually slender. Souta could actually support him quite easily, but something other than weight made Souta dizzy.

“Whoa!! Megumu, why is your body so fragrant?! And super soft?!”

“Huh?” Megumu, his height only up to Souta’s neck, raised his watery eyes to look at Souta in a way that made Souta even dizzier.

At this time, Akane reached out her head.

“Souta-kun, what’s the situation? Can one person handle it? Hey, whoa!? S-sorry, I… w-will support you guys!!”

“What are you talking about, Akane?!”

Akane, covering her face, stared at the hugging scene through the gaps between her fingers.

“I-I’m good at supporting people’s love! The couples I support always welcome new love under my leadership, with plentiful concrete results! Just leave it to Akane!”

“You mean it’s failure, Akane!”

“Failure is the mother of success! It’s fine as long as the new love succeeds.”

“Everything really depends on how you explain it anyways…”

Akane’s headache-inducing enthusiasm made Megumu and Souta force a smile.

“Let’s save that for later. How come you guys suddenly became so intimate?”

Akane anxiously looked at Megumu and Souta, who had kept hugging. Her words finally made the two come to their senses, and their bodies instantly separated.

“N-no, no!! This and that are different things!!”

“Th-that’s right. How do we put it… ah! We were just confirming our friendship, hmm, yeah.”

Regarding believing people, Akane was unbelievably simple. ‘So that’s how it was!’ She believed the two without any doubts.

“Oh. Friendship, huh… Souta-kun just refuses to demonstrate such warm friendship with me.”

Seeing Akane’s dejection, Souta busily tried to find an escape.

“I-it’s because Akane’s a girl… So it’s not appropriate.”

“Yeah, this is a privilege of bromance!!”

“???”

Megumu revealed a tremendously cute smile because being treated like a boy by the confused Akane made him very happy. Please note that this does not mean tremblingly cute. Speaking of tremblingly cute ~ it was so cute that it made people tremble… wait, is that even cute then? Wouldn’t it be scary?

“Y-yeah…”

Anyways, facing Megumu’s sparkling eyes, the corner of Souta’s mouth twitched as he nodded.

Speaking of which, does bromance really involve that kind of intimate hug? Of course, this kind of question never appeared in Akane’s mind, she was just jealous.

“How nice, how nice… But, I’m really happy to see that Souta-kun’s friend count increased!”

As Akane said this, satisfaction replaced her original envy. Seeing her like this, overflowing with thoughtfulness and kindness, Souta experienced a warm feeling in his heart that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Right. Akane, did you check on me because you were worried? There’s no problem here. I already found a boy to help me.”

“Really?... But, where is he?”

Akane showed a natural expression like ○△○, carefully looking around the locker room.

Seeing that Akane’s natural manner was completely devoid of malice, or rather, it was unfortunately absolutely devoid of malice, Megumu almost cried. He apprehensively raised his small, cute hand.

“Th-that… is oneself.”

“Huh?! Megu-chan’s a girl~ Souta-kun, why are you guys always saying weird things?”

Based on Akane’s innocent laughter, it was clear that she wasn’t bullying; rather, that was what she deeply believed. After all, she was an ‘if she believes it, then she will deeply believe it without any doubt to an unbelievable degree’ kind of girl.

“... Akane, Megumu’s a boy though?”

“Nyaahahaha, stop joking-”

Akane even let out laughter she normally wouldn’t have, causing Megumu to tear up cutely. At this point, Akane finally began to understand the situation.

“Huh? Huh? I-it’s really true…? But-but, because, but-but, because, that’s not a boy’s uniform.”

“Oh… But this isn’t a girl’s uniform either, right? When you think about it, it’s actually more like a boy’s uniform.”

“You really can notice that!!”

To Akane, this was an earth-shattering revelation.

“So that’s what it was… That’s why I didn’t see Megu-chan in the girl’s PE class… Excuse my lack of manners. This mistake does not befit me.”

“No, in a way, it’s something very much like what Akane would do…”

“... Does this mean, Souta-kun is actually a girl?”

“Hey, you don’t need to overcompensate, Akane…”

Akane nodded emotionally, faced Megumu — he had bent the second knuckle of his index finger at a right angle and was cutely wiping tears from the corner of his eye — and lowered her head in apology.

“Sorry, Megu-chan. I didn’t think you had this kind of secret that even I, Mahougasawa Akane, could not see through.”

“I don’t remember treating this as a secret at all, but it’s fine as long as you understand.”

Akane seemed to think that the world was packed with many secrets. But the vast majority are packed to the brim, so one could say that they’re over-packed.

Anyways, although it was an earth-shattering revelation to Akane, she now thought back to what she was saying before and inadvertently exclaimed “Ah!”

“Hmph!! I almost started supporting your rocky romance!! Why did things become like this?!”

That’s what Megumu and Souta wanted to ask her. But they chose to remain silent, their smiles strained.

“I’ll go ask Nanami!!”

““Why did things become like this?!””

Megumu and Souta voiced in perfect harmony. Akane had a ‘These two are really close, I got left out again…’ kind of resentful expression, and ran to find Nanami.

He really didn’t know how it would be spun… Souta held back his low spirits and smiled slightly at Megumu.

“Th-then, let’s just get started.”

“Th-that’s right.”

They seemed to have finally remembered their original purpose. But because they had digressed too far, it almost made one doubt whether or not they really remembered.

“I’ll lift this side. Megumu, can you help lift the other side?”

“Leave it to me! It’s finally time to show my ability to break single-use chopsticks!!”

Souta felt a bit uneasy.

“Then… Ready, go!’

“Hahh… hup!”

Upon lifting it, he realized that the cabinet wasn’t as heavy as it seemed… as far as Souta was concerned.

As for Megumu, he couldn’t even stand steady. Dangerous, really dangerous.

Furthermore, there were two more exhausting phases to endure. As if to demonstrate, Megumu’s face reddened as he exerted all his strength. Souta was dumbfounded.

“I-I said… Megumu…? If you can’t move it, I can find other guys…”

“No!! It would waste Souta-kun’s surety that one was a man and subsequent request for help. If one were to give up, one would fail to live up to Souta-kun’s kindness!!”

“No… it’s not that serious…”

Megumu almost cried. But while his steps were unsteady, he still displayed a staunch willpower.

This atmosphere made it difficult for Souta to open his mouth and say that he could probably move it alone. Thus he could only do his best to carefully prevent Megumu from bearing too much weight as they moved. As a result, Souta’s own strength and stamina was depleted anyways.

There was now one more cabinet on the hill of scrap wood used by the Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Horticulture Club. Megumu put his hands on his hips and bent forward slightly, He cutely faced Souta, who was wiping sweat off his forehead, and said:

“Thank you, Souta-kun!”

“Huh? It should be me thanking you, right?”

The words seemed to make Megumu a little uncomfortable. Megumu spoke guiltily and shook his head.

“No, you took particular trouble not to let one bear weight, right? Clearly it would’ve been easier for you to move it alone. But one kept clamoring about being a man and as a result persisted in pointlessly hurting you…”

“It wasn’t pointless.”

“Huh…?”

“This kind of persistence in becoming your ideal self… I don’t think it’s pointless.”

“... Souta-kun♡”

Souta empathized and respected the feeling of wanting to be a man, bringing tears to Megumu’s eyes.

“Souta-kun, you’re so considerate…”

Megumu’s mouth formed a dazzling smile, like a flower bursting into full bloom.

Souta, fostering a bromance, worked while Megumu deliberately stuck to him. By the time he met up with Kikuno and Nanami, the sun had almost set.

“Big Sis looks away for a moment and Sou-kun brings another girl back!! Big Sis is very concerned!!”

“Okiku-nee… Megumu isn’t a girl…”

“Nyaahahaha, stop joking~”

Kikuno even let out laughter she normally wouldn’t have, and Souta felt a sense of deja vu.

“Look, his uniform is more like a boy’s?”

“You really can notice that!!”

To Kikuno, this was an earth-shattering revelation.

Megumu’s gender was unbeknownst to everyone. Really made you wonder whether he had blurted out that he was a girl upon introducing himself as a new student…

“Huh~ I thought Megu-chan was a girl. Since Megu-chan always uses the girls’ bathroom.”

“Megumu?!”

Souta thought that this piece of information would be really difficult to explain.

“B-because, many boys complained that one going to the boys’ bathroom made them very uncomfortable. It became a big problem, and then the girls said ‘Megu-chan can use the girls’ bathroom’...”

“......”

This whole situation was hard to determine right from wrong. Souta was left speechless, and decided to change the subject.

“... But anyways, there seems to be more people… was there this many people from the start?”

Aside from the members of the Civil Engineering Club, everyone was getting ready to go home. But looking at the sea of people, it seemed there were a lot more people than before.

“Oh, that’s because the student president, Grandmother, me, and Akane-chan called a lot of friends to come.”

“Huh…?! I feel bad… all this just for someone like me…”

“I begged them, saying that it was for my precious little brother, and everyone came.”

That’s why the group of senpais observing from afar were whispering to each other: “So it’s him?” “Is the girl wearing shorts beside him his girlfriend?” “What a cute couple.” All the while gazing inquisitively.

Souta wholeheartedly wished to escape the scrutinizing eyes. He shifted the conversation towards Nanami, pretending he didn’t hear anything.

“Did Nanami also help call people to come?...... My apologies. Princesses are just different, maybe it’s their moral prestige?”

“......”

“Nanami?”

Nanami lowered her head, her whole body trembling. Souta approached, looking at her face.

“We…”

“We?”

“W-We didn’t call anybody here, alright?! That is, We don’t have any acquaintances to call at all!! My apologies, princesses clearly don't have moral prestige!!”

“Ah, Nanami, let’s go eat the red bean dumpling soup that the volunteers made for everyone.” Akane said.

“Nanami, you’ve already made up for that with your effort, so it’s all right.” Kikuno said.

“After all, you’re in a remote foreign country. Not having any acquaintances is something that can’t be helped, it’s actually very normal. Don’t worry, Nanami.” Souta said.

“D-… do nyaat console so much!!”

Nanami became angry out of embarrassment.

Because the dorm was in the middle of construction and living there would be dangerous, Souta temporarily resided in ‘The Most Dangerous Boys’ Dorm Room, Challenging the Limits of Rationality’, aka Megumu’s room. After personally experiencing the meaning of danger, the day of his much-anticipated return to Quest House arrived. It seems that this school is flooded with danger.

After working through days and nights, the reborn Quest House…

““““““““““It’s really too magical!!”””””””””

… Anyone who saw it would inadvertently say this. It was reborn reborn. Repeating the word ‘reborn’ twice expresses how much this rebirth changed it. Definitely not because the author’s literary powers have dried up. Hope everybody understands this point.

“So amazing… it’s not just unrecognizable, it’s basically a different thing entirely.”

“Praise it a bit more!!”

Suddenly appearing, Student President Mimori proudly — really proudly — stuck out her chest.

“President didn’t do any of the actual work, okay?!”

The Civil Engineering Club president — the Craftsman — Yuzurihakami Mimori.

“Because yours truly has Sick Building Syndrome.”

“Stop talking nonsense!! Also, this time the renovation used a lot of eco-friendly materials, so how can it trigger Sick Building Syndrome?!”

“Because yours truly has Eco-Friendly Building Syndrome…”

Looks like this person cannot live indoors no matter what… As Souta thought this, Akane, who was beside him, smiled delightedly at him.

“It became a liveable place in one fell swoop.”

“Mmm.”

“It became a place unfit for ghosts.”

“There are ghosts?!”

“Heeheehee, I’m just saying random things.” Akane’s laughter even sounded like random consolation. How terrifying.

“Anyways, according to our original plan, I need to show my skills and clean up Souta-kun’s room!”

“We just finished renovating, I don’t think there would be anywhere to clean, though?!”

Akane jabbed her index fingers together, depressed like Judgement Day had come. Seeing her state, Souta hastily added:

“Uh— but if you could help me unpack my luggage, that would be a big help!”

“Ah, s-sorry, Souta-kun. I’ve troubled you.”

“Big Sis too! Big Sis also wants to unpack luggage together!!”

Seeing Kikuno raise her hand and join this heartwarming topic, Nanami pursed her lips.

“This Big Sis, couldn’t be more close, huh…”

Nearby, Megumu, doing squats for no reason, was so tired his legs almost fell off by the sixth rep.

Seeing that the group’s mood was as warm as tempura right out of the oven, the pensive President Mimori muttered. ‘Tempura right out of the oven’ because the Cooking Research Club was frying it outside to celebrate the rebirth of Quest House, not because Souta and co were heating it up. The tempura looked really delicious, though this has nothing to do with the aforementioned situation.

“But, this headache…”

“What’s wrong, President?”

In truth, this was because a sentence about ‘mood and tempura’ was accidentally written, but one has to make the best of it when at the end of one’s rope… Anyways, Mimori and Tsumugi didn’t care about this at all, sneaking some fried sweet potatoes while emotionally looking at the brand-new dorm.

“According to the rules, dorms with only one resident must be taken down.”

““““““““““And you say that now?!””””””””””

Hearing a sentence they couldn’t ignore, the surrounding people cried in unison.

“Yours truly is Seiteikouji Mimori, the so-called unparalleled king of late reactions. Nobody would dare to accept my challenge!”

“Somebody shut up the president.”

At Tsumugi’s shouted order, Mimori had many strips of tape pasted over her mouth. After tearing off the tape in tears, Mimori yelled, half angry out of embarrassment:

“Rules are rules! Since it’s been completed, it needs to be taken down!”

“Are thou a demon?!”

Nanami couldn’t help but roar back.

Reacting sharper than anyone else to the imminent sad situation in front of her, Akane also stepped in to salvage the situation:

“E-excuse me! How many people does it need to house at minimum?!”

“... Four…?”

“Why are you so unsure?”

Mimori, her memory extremely muddled, remembered after searching the depths of her memory.

“Correction, it’s five people.”

“Five people, huh…”

“Luckily, I heard that we were able to take preventive measures and renovate a few extra rooms thanks to the increase in manpower, so now the amount of usable rooms numbers about ten… gathering just four friends is easy enough, right?”

Mimori chuckled, and Nanami and Akane filled with rage at that.

“How can thy words be so over-the-top?!”

“That’s to say, you’ve crossed the line!!”

“... S-sorry.”

“Even if Sou-kun doesn’t have any friends, you still have Big Sis, okay? Okay?”

Because Nanami and the others spoke up for him, while the student president apologized, Souta seemed even more pitiful. The atmosphere became very indescribable.

“But, even if we didn’t need to gather four more people to live here, one person living by themselves in such a big place is a bit lonely…”

“... No problem. I’m used to being lonely.”

“Nuh-uh, nuh-uh!! Being like that… being very lonely… is very sad, too sad!!”

Looks like Akane, with her can’t-leave-sad-people-alone sickness, lost her temper.

If she left this alone, Akane would probably cry again, so Souta sighed, reluctantly nodding.

“But… if someone does want to live here, I’m okay with it.”

Akane’s eyes brightened, and she clenched her fist.

“Souta-kun needs dormmates, right? Because he’d be lonely, right? Of course! This is not okay! I know! I, Mahougasawa Akane, shall move into this dorm!”

“Hey, isn’t this a boys’ dorm?!”

“Is it?”

Akane looked at Tsumugi, her movements indicating that matters regarding the academy should be asked to the living dictionary.

“This was originally a faculty dormitory. I think it did not particularly differentiate men and women…”

“Then it’s no problem!”

“God… Hey, President, you should say something, too!”

Souta thought that boys and girls living under the same roof was definitely not no problem, and he hastily begged Mimori to advise Akane to change her mind.

“Boys and girls living under the same roof is very romantic!!”

“Somebody shut this rascal up.”

Finally, even Tsumugi couldn’t be polite.

“But wasn’t it Akane who sponsored the reconstruction of the dorm out of her own pocket? Is it okay to disregard the sponsor’s ideas…”

“Nanami, I’m begging you not to say so much!”

“This is the sponsor’s authority!”

“Since it’s the sponsor’s authority, the student president’s authority can only permit it!”

Mimori, who was almost shut up but didn’t shut up, asserted. This is because her ability to not shut up is especially profound.

“But! However! Isn’t a boy and a girl inappropriate?!”

Souta retorted.

Kikuno raised her hand to retort back.

“Then Big Sis will also move in!”

“I see, so a boy and two girls wouldn’t be inappropriate.”

“Isn’t it more inappropriate?!”

The student president approved Kikuno’s idea, then retorted Kikuno’s retort to Souta’s retort. Now it’s already impossible to tell right from left.

“E-excuse me!! C-can one also come with?!”

“I said, Megumu…”

“Okay, this way we have balanced it out with one boy and three girls!”

“Where, how? Where is the balance?”

Leaving aside Souta’s retort towards Mimori, Megumu, having been regarded as a girl, lost the light in his eyes, and his small, half-open mouth drifted into an empty smile.

“Still missing one person.”

“......”

“There isn’t anyone else who will move here anymore.”

“......”

“That’s right… Why don’t we find one of Big Sis’s friends…”

“......”

Every time Akane, Souta, and Kikuno muttered their thoughts, Nanami coughed quietly.

“How about the craftsman?”

“How about the president?”

“How about Grandmother, Sou-kun?”

“......”

Nanami started wordlessly kicking the door post of Quest House. They say door post and want you sound very similar, though this has nothing to do with this situation.

“... Miss Princess of Bladefield is almost crying, everyone…”

Megumu, not knowing the right time to come back to life, saw Nanami crouch and shudder with tear-filled eyes, and his sympathetic heart almost broke.

“Come on, we’re just kidding, Nanami. You’re willing to move here, right?”

“Yeah, the last person has to be Nanami since she’s very close with Sou-kun.”

“That’s right, there’s nobody else to choose but Nanami.”

“As long as Nanami is here, Big Sis will also be relieved.”

After Akane and Kikuno continuously took turns and finished speaking, Nanami stood up, her mood having rapidly improved.

“I a-a-a-a-a-absolutely was not about to cry. But since, in any event, ye are persistent and want Us to come, We will also…”

Before Nanami, who a-a-a-a-a-absolutely did not wipe her tears with her sleeves, could finish her sentence, Souta accidentally asked Akane and Kikuno:

“Hey, you guys were just kidding?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Failure flags were raised on the heads of tongue-tied Akane and Kikuno. Nanami’s eyes filled with tears again and she angrily stamped her feet.

“Absolutely not! Unless it’s the room at the very edge, or else I won’t live here!!”

“I want the room next to Sou-kun!”

“Ah, Kikuno-senpai, you’re so sly! I also want to live next to Souta-kun!”

“Th-then, I want to live in the room opposite Souta-kun.”

Looks like that area’s population density is very high.

“Only Nanami’s room is super far away.”

“Ye group of idiots—!”

Souta was inexplicably hammered many times by the unwilling-to-be-alone Nanami.

“... I understand it now. I just need to move near Nanami’s room, right…”

“Sou-kun is so considerate!! No wonder he’s Big Sis’s good little brother!!”

Souta thought with a smile, Not bad, I’ll have to bring in the luggage again anyways. Kikuno was so touched by her little brother that she hugged him tightly.

“Whoa… Okiku-nee, everyone’s watching! They’re all watching!”

Souta, panicking and trying to escape Kikuno’s smothering chest, was given an envious look by everyone.

“I-I’m next! I want to hug!”

Pretending to be jealous of Souta but actually jealous of Kikuno, Akane lined up behind Kikuno.

“O-one too…”

Megumu lined up behind Akane.

Mimori smiled at the close boarders of the new Quest Dorm.

“In short, we have gathered five people. One boy and four girls is fine, right?”

“No problem!”

“It is a huge problem…”

Akane agreed, but Tsumugi showed signs of reluctance.

“The problem has expanded, right?! You don’t think that it’s pretty much become a girls’ dorm?!”

“Leave it to yours truly, Mimori, the so-called unparalleled problem concealer!! Bwahahahahaha!!”

What was so funny remained a mystery. But anyways, Mimori, who seemed like she really did to conceal the problem, burst into laughter.

Translator notes and references

Back to Chapter 3

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 5