Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume6 Author's Notes

Author's Notes

I AM REALLY SORRY, EVERYONE! by Inoue Kenji

I am really sorry for this sudden apology. I am the author in charge of writing this volume, Inoue Kenji.

Actually, there was a mistake in a test question in the last volume <<Baka to Tesuto to Syokanjuu 5>>, so I will begin this afterword by talking about this, correcting it, and ask for an apology from all the readers. The wrong question here is the 7th question.

Wrong: In 334 BC, the final king of the Achaemenid Empire, (___________) started the (____________).

Correct: In 334 BC, having beaten the final king of the Achaemenid Empire, Darius III, (___________) started the (____________).

The last king of the Achaemenid Empire was Darius the Third, and Alexander the Great did not lose in his battles against Darius the Third in the battle of Issus and the battle of Erbil. [1]

This modern school-life story Baka Test now has some fictitious war history mixed in. To prevent this from happening again, I will work hard in the future. I sincerely apologize to everyone here. I am really sorry.

Alright, talking about this here makes me really tentatively and tense such that my tongue is dry. I will talk about those usual trivial stuff in my afterwords like usual. If you do not mind, please read on.

It is a short story that happened in the winter after I became a college student.

Our family had a rare chance of getting together during the New Year period, and my older brother and I, my parents had this rare opportunity to keep drinking and chatting. Dad was drinking much faster than usual, probably because he was relieved that his sons are now old enough to drink, and soon fell victim to the power of booze and started sleeping.

As for mom, she was not used to drinking, and got drunk and excited.

At this moment, mom suddenly started chatting with us about the past.

Mom: “Your dad always had a huge crush on me.”

Mom started describing her love story with dad as he himself was sleeping and unable to verify this. My brother, who never got drunk, could only give a wry smile and answer mom’s drunk words with ‘yes yes’.

Mom: “Your dad was really~ devotedly attached to me!”

Brother: “Really? That’s great.”

Mom: “I never had to worry about him cheating on me outside.”

To be honest, even if it were my parents we are talking about here, I do not have much interest in other people’s love stories. My older brother and I felt bothered, but we could only continue hearing out mom.

Brother: “Then, how did you two know each other?”

My brother, who knew how to deal with such things, asks mom.

The encounter between mom and dad? It is slightly more interesting than their love story. How did those two know each other, what happened, and what caused them to tie the knot to live their lives together? Such developments happened before, bringing about me as an existence, so I started to have a little interest in this topic.

Mom: “Eh~well, your dad and I were working in the same company…”

Brother and I: “Fm fm.”

Mom: “I remember, the first time we met—”

Mom tried to search her drunken mind for her memories.

The kind mother and the respectful father. The encounter between these two…

Mom: “I remember the first thing I told your dad was to shout at him really loudly ‘you obscene man!’”

All respect I had for my dad vanished at that instant.

Brother: “What did dad do exactly to you?”

Brother looks extremely intrigued as well.

It can’t be helped. No matter how anyone thinks about this, this first line is not about love, but a criminal charge, right? If mom told us that they fell in love in the court, what should we as their children react?

Me: “What happened back then? Why did you say such a thing?”

Mom: “The ‘You obscene man’ line?”

Me: “Un.”

My mom (according to her) graduated from a school that specialized in raising noble girls, so anything that might be something trivial to others may look damning to her. Also, they got married later on, so I guess it should not be anything much,

Mom: “That night, your dad and I were the only ones in the lift, and then he…”

Not good. I sense a crime!

Brother: “Speaking of which, you two managed to get managed in the end after such an encounter. I would say that dad is rather amazing in a certain sense…”

My brother muttered beside me. I have the same feeling.

The impression dad gives me went from ‘an amazing dad who built an outstanding position in his workplace’ to ‘a man who started a love relationship after being scolded and got married’, but my dad is really amazing, if I have to say. Unfortunately, this son of his here does not have his overwhelming chick magnet moves. Our dad has such an important duty of passing this skill down besides just helping to solve our homework…! Speaking of which, my mom recently has been encouraging me over the phone that ‘marriage isn’t everything in life’. I say, what is wrong with her? Is it really that interesting to bully her son like that? (*On a side note, my dad did not do anything criminal back then, but it really left a bad impression on my mom.)

Let us leave such stupid stuff aside for now. It is about time for me to say my usual thanks.

To Haga-san in charge of illustrations, Akira in the colored illustrations is way too cute! That was really eye-candy to me!

Kagaya-san in charge of design, I am really sorry for forcing you to finish the design in such a short time…

And to my editor-in-charge N-sama. The next volume, the next volume, I will go according to plan…! I am really sorry for troubling you all the time…

And of course, to all the readers, I have very grateful that you read this idiot story. Thanks to all the readers who pointed out those mistakes. You really helped me out there. It is because of every reader’s care that I can continue to work hard. It will be this author’s greatest happiness if everyone is still willing to support this story.

Then, regarding the content for the next volume…I guess I will be writing some short stories. I will begin first with the ‘Hideyoshi and Yuuko’ everyone looks forward to, and I expect to add ‘the overnight seaside trip (front & back)’ to the story. It should be the easier to read the short stories as compared to the main story where the romance is getting stronger, and I heavily recommend it to all those who wish for simply stupid comedy. I also intend to write a short story about how Shouko fell for Yuuji…this will be the first time I will be writing a love story in the 3rd person narrative. It is very different from the usual Baka Test, so I am really fearful here…I wonder how every reader will feel. However, I will make sure not to say such things like sou-uke so easily, and I have to restrain myself especially when I am surfing websites…!

Then, let us meet on the next volume of the Baka Test stage.