Book Girl Ascends the Stairway of the Gargoyles and Idiots Chapter 1

Book Girl and the Summoned Beast summoned by the girl

“—Challenge—”

The ‘Book Girl’ declared in such a poignant voice as she tossed the greenish-blue thread that was laid on her back.

Ahh…she finally said it out~

I couldn't help but clutch my head the as I stood beside Touko-sempai, who has completely lost it.

Everything began here.

“Hey, Konoha-kun, I found a great library here!

It was a little far away, but soon, we found ourselves heading there to look. I was doing up a map of the library. As a member of the literature club, I had to know what kind of books there were in which libraries, what kind of facilities they had, and so on.

The books were stacked heavily like a graveyard in the clubroom without the air-conditioner, giving off a fragrance. It felt hard to breath during this hot weather as I loosened my uniform collar with one hand while fanning myself with a paper fan with the other.

She answered,

“How tiring. I don’t want to go. It’s your own interest anyway Touko-sempai. It has nothing to do with club activities, right?”

“Seriously~ you’re younger than me, Konoha-kun, but you always act so lifeless~ This is sempai’s order. Go~”

Touko-sempai’s braids swayed slightly as she started pouting like a kid. I could only stare at her in a dumbstruck manner, and finally succumbed under her continuous persuading.

We took a long ride on the train, and finally reached that library. It was surrounded by many lush green trees, and had 3 storeys. It looked like a new building, and it was very spacious inside.

“Ahh, it’s a mountain of goodies! I can’t look away!”

Touko-sempai’s eyes were glittering.

“Please don’t eat them all.”

I reminded. Touko-sempai is a youkai who will rip books out and eat their pages.

However, she herself insisted, “I’m just an ordinary ‘Book Girl’! I am different from those Kitarous and Eyeball Father …”

“Really, I get it. Ahh, but but! This is the only library with the entire collection of Jean Anouilh books. There’s also the entire collection of Yoshiya Nobuko’s works here!”

Endou-sempai showed a slight blush on her face as she leapt through the rows of bookshelves with light steps. I didn’t dare to relax, fearing when she would fall for the temptation and read the book.

At this moment, Touko-sempai suddenly stopped.

“Oh my, Mizuki? Isn’t that Mizuki?”

A girl in uniform was sitting by the window that was letting the soft sunlight through, silently flipping through the books.

I suppose she would be a high school girl like us. The loose long hair lay on her back softly, and she was a petite and cute girl. She lowered her snowy white face, and her eyes that were staring at the pages were somewhat drenched with a seemingly tinge of loneliness.

“Touko…”

“It’s been a while, Mizuki.”

Touko-sempai went over happily, and the other party showed a gentle smile of an acquaintance. To think that such a tranquil girl would actually know Touko-sempai—

“This is Himeji Mizuki. She's a friend I met in another library around here. We would often meet to share our reflections on some books we read.”

Touko-sempai smiled as she said.

“Mizuki, this is my kouhai at the Literature club, Inoue Konoha. He’s a second year like you too.”

Himeji looked rather shy. Her face was red as she nodded at me. She was really someone who would give others the urge to protect her.

“Fumitzuki Gakuen. Is that the school that became hot news for the ‘test summoning system’?”

“Yes..”

“I heard that you can call out summoned beasts by obtaining points in exams.”

“Wow, it’s like magic.”

Touko-sempai always had interests in unique things as she asked with interest,

“In other words, the higher the points, the stronger the summoned beast?”

“Yes. Theoretically, that’s the case.”

“I wanna try too~ it sounds like an interesting school!”

“Eh? …It’s true that, it’s rather fun…whether it’s the school, or everyone in class…I like them all…”

Himeji's voice was rather stuttered.

Eh? Just when I felt that it was strange, a drop of clear liquid suddenly slid down her clear face. Wah!

“Mizuki, what’s wrong!?”

“So…sorry.”

She frantically apologized as tears rolled out of her large eyes.

Himeji kept holding the book in her arms, saying sorry as she sobbed while her shoulders trembled.

At this moment, Touko-sempai and I didn’t know what to do.

“What happened, Mizuki? If there’s something wrong, you can tell us, alright?”

Touko-sempai brought the sobbing Mizuki out of the library to sit at a bench surrounded by trees, handed her a violet handkerchief, and asked.

Himeji sobbed as she answered,

“Uu…A, Akihisa-kun…gave the cookies I made, uu…to Sakamoto-kun…”

“Akihisa is?”

“Uu…my classmate. He’s very kind…cheery, optimistic…treats others well…ever since a long time ago, I’d…but Akihisa-kun seemed to think that I bothered him…he said thanks when I handed him the cookies I made during cooking class and took it…but maybe it’s because he didn’t want to hurt me…uu…after that, I saw him bring it to Sakamoto-kun…and even…made him open his mouth and force-fed him”

“THAT’S SERIOUSLY TOO MUCH!!”

Touko-sempai shouted, causing me to feel a chill.

Not good. Looks like this will end up like before…

“Himeji, maybe Akihisa simply doesn’t like cookies? Maybe you can confirm it again?”

“No need for that. Even so, he made this cute Mizuki cry, and I won’t forgive him for this! This kind of person who tramples on a maiden’s heart is the worst!”

“Uu, Akihisa-kun, isn’t the worst. He’s…a ver, very nice guy…”

Touko-sempai couldn’t help but give the sobbing Mizuki a hug while Mizuki continued to defend that Akihisa.

“Ahh, such a strong girl you are, Mizuki! Okay, leave it to us! We, as the literature club members who are well-versed in romance stories of all eras will definitely help you fulfill your love!”

“You’re saying ‘us’? This has nothing to do with me! Please don’t drag me down!”

“You see? Konoha-kun here is still very enthusiastic, so he’ll definitely give you a happy end. If you can have a successful relationship with Akihisa, please allow us to write the sweet relationship between both of you. That will be very deli—no no, we’ll ensure your everlasting happiness, so please allow all copyrights to our universal after-sales services, okay?”

Himeji couldn’t help but widen her eyes after seeing Touko-sempai bring her smiling face over.

“O…okay.”

She answered.

Ahh—when stimulated by thirst and a sense of mission, Touko-sempai couldn't be stopped when she’s burning up like this.

The next day, after school, I was forcefully dragged to Fumitzuki Gakuen.

“First, we have to carefully~ observe the target, and then create a plan.”

This high school girl with long braids was holding a pair of binoculars, crouched at the side of the school gates, sure looked very suspicious. The students entering and leaving Fumitzuki Gakeun gave us suspicious looks.

“…Please, let’s go back before we shame ourselves.”

“Really, you’re so cruel, Konoha-kun. This is for Mizuki’s sake.”

“It’s for your own snack.”

“Of course not! I don’t live entirely for food! Ah, they’re here! Those two!”

I looked over in the direction Touko-sempai pointed.

The two people were walking slowly to the gates, and they were the two people we saw on Mizuki’s handphone before, Yoshii Akihisa and Sakamoto Yuuji.

The tall and muscular guy was Sakamoto, and the other one who looked like a bishounen was Yoshii.

At this moment, Sakamoto was grabbing Yoshii’s hand with both hands, and Yoshii, with his elbows tucked onto his body, was groaning while looking like he was clamped.

“It, it hurts, Yuuji!”

“Oh~ really? Now you understand the pain I suffered when I was stuffed with those killer cookies?”

“Wasn’t this yesterday’s incident? How long are you going to remember this grudge? Also, I thought you would have some resistance to Himeji-san’s cooking so…OWOWOWOW…I’m sorry, please let me go.”

“Nope, this punishment isn’t enough! You have to know that my soul floated into the Sanzu River and nearly lost my life there!”

CRAK CRAK CRAK??? I didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed they were arguing. Also, I seemed to hear them mention about cookies. Were they referring to Himeji’s cookies?

At this moment, Touko-sempai, who was being quiet beside me, suddenly showed a stern expression.

“My worst premonition has become true…those two are lovers.”

“EHH?”

I couldn’t help but exclaim, and hurriedly covered my mouth.

“I definitely can’t be mistaken here. Those people who could ignore the goodwill of a girl as cute as Mizuki and a nice girl like her would either be a forsaken idiot or someone without interest in the opposite gender.”

“That’s true…”

It didn’t seem logical to hand over a gift from a cute girl like Mizuki to someone else.

“Right? Look at this now! Such a passionate exchange of stares! Such direct body contact! Such a rude and unreasonable attitude is basically declaring fully this ‘Sakamoto belongs only to me!’ Listen to that Yoshii’s sweet fawning voice! You can already here it! It’s basically like «Vita Sexualis» , or «The Confession of the Mask» or Oscar Wilde! Ah, speaking of which, it’ll be really interesting to read «The Happy Prince» in a homoerotic subtext!”

“This is just what you want to say, right! The way I see it, Sakamoto and Yoshii are just arguing with each other!”

“Yes, this pain is also love! Sakamoto is definitely the seme, and Yoshii’s definitely the uke!”

“Don’t say it anymore! Your mind is already filled with purple and pink laces!”

Yoshii and Sakamoto kept close to each other as they moved by us. Touko-sempai bent her back as she followed them, and I could only follow her reluctantly.

“Hey, Konoha-kun, do you remember the name of that book Mizuki was reading?”

“I don’t remember…speaking of which, we better give up now. You’re walking like a duck now.”

But sempai ignored my words as she continued talking enthusiastically,

“It’s just like the story of ‘Ivanhoe’ written by Sir Walter Scott! It’s a middle-ages knight story written in the 19th century about the time Richard the Lionheart and Robin Hood were active! The young man in the story Ivanhoe was a knight of mysterious knight who fought for his beloved princess, his king, for honor! Those hearty battle scenes, those romances that were hard to separate, and the vivid descriptions of the scenery—it’s like deer meat barbecued in the outfield, sprinkled with salt, pepper, grape wine and other ingredients, filling it with a taste of boldness and romance. Ivanhoe himself had a lover in a Princess called Rowena, but there appeared a Jewish beauty Rebecca. She took delicate care of the injured Ivanhoe, and even when she was tried as a witch and brought to the execution platform, she never lost her noble image. She loved Ivanhoe until the very end, but adamantly chose to leave. One may even say that she’s the real female protagonist of the story. Mizuki must have definitely related herself as Rebecca after discovering that Yoshii had a lover in Sakamoto and started crying.”

Touko-sempai lowered her eyes with anguish, but then lifted them up and exclaimed loudly,

“But Konoha-kun, I always believed a long time ago that Ivanhoe could be with Rebecca. Even if it’s the stubbornness as a reader, I can understand Rebecca’s standpoint completely. That’s why I’ll support Mizuki with all I have! I’ll definitely help fulfill her love to prevent Rebecca’s tragedy befalling on her!”

The Book Girl stood proudly in the middle of the room and patted on her flat chest as she declared this loudly.

But at the next moment, she immediately recovered, blinked and looked around.

“Eh? Where’s Yoshii?”

“They went far away when you were talking so passionately about something so random.”

“EEEHHHHH!?”

“It looks like they went around that corner.”

“Seriously, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think you will even listen to me anyway.”

“You spoiler! Idiot!”

Touko-sempai shook her long braids and the binoculars on her neck as she sweated while dashing out.

Around the corner, we saw Yoshii and Sakamoto.

Touko-sempai panted as she shouted,

“THE LOVER COUPLE OVER THERE—! WAIT—!”

But they didn’t look back at all.

“That’s why I said that they’re not a couple in the first place.”

“Impossible! The eyes of this Book Girl who read through Plato’s <<Symposium>>and the entire collection of Inagaki Taruho’s works can’t be wrong here! STOP—! THE IDIOT COUPLE OVER THERE—!”

The moment the word ‘idiot’ rang, those two which didn’t show any reaction up till now suddenly stopped and quickly turned around.

Touko-sempai panted as she ran to them.

“You, you see…(wheeze) my instinct…(ack) are right…(pants). These two are definitely lovers…(jumbled words)”

“Don’t say anything weird when you look like you’re going to faint, okay?”

Yoshii and Sakamoto gave looks of disbelief as they looked at Touko-sempai.

Appearance alone, Touko-sempai was a girl who wouldn’t lose to Himeji in terms of beauty and delicate looks, but she sure looked dangerous while sweating, eyes bloodshot, panting heavily.

Sakamoto pointed a finger at Yoshii and asked,

“I think she called you an idiot, right?”

“You’re too much, Yuuji! On what basis am I an idiot? Must it always be me when you say idiot?”

“Because you’re an idiot in the first place.”

“I can’t argue with that, but isn’t that too much of you to say that to your own friend!”

“Oi, you finally admitted it?”

Then…

Would that person Sakamoto was making fun of that ‘Akihisa-kun’?

He looked a little…no, he looked different from the impression I had of him.

He did look like a carefree idol-like guy on first glance…but his expression, movements, and even the presence he gave all caused me associate him with…idi—

No! I shouldn’t be even thinking about this. He’s the important person to Himeji here! But even if he’s stupid, or may be a comedian with an idol’s face…ah…I accidentally blurted it out.

“If you’re looking for Akihisa, I’ll be going off then.”

“Wa…wait a second, Sakamoto!”

Sakamoto, who was planning to turn around and leave, was stopped by Touko-sempai.

“I’m looking for you.”

Sakamoto looked shocked as he turned around.

“Who are you?”

Touko-sempai put her right hand on the waist and straightened herself.

“As you can see, I’m a Book Girl.”

“Huh?”

Thoroughly embarrassed, I really wanted to find a hole to bury my face in.

Sakamoto gave Touko-sempai a ‘this person’s definitely an idiot’ look, and on the other side, Yoshii raised his hands triumphantly as he cheered,

“Hear that, Yuuji? She’s here for you! That means the ‘idiot’ isn’t referring to me, but to you, Yuuji. Yay, Banzai!”

“SHUT UP, THE IDIOT OVER THERE!”

Touko-sempai yelled, and Yoshii immediately collapsed onto the floor, unable to get up.

“I’ll go straight to the point with you. Please break up with Yoshii.”

I suddenly felt a slight dizziness. Aren’t you being too direct, Touko-sempai?

On hearing that, Yoshii inadvertently waved his hands and murmuered,

“Waiwaiwaiwait a second, what did you just say? Are you saying that Yuuji and I are dating?”

“Eh? Aren’t you two dating?”

“EEHHHHHHH!!!???”

“Don’t be mistaken. I’m not saying that boys love isn’t allowed. This isn’t the problem. Real love has nothing to do with age, gender and race.”

“WAAHH! WHAT LOVE HERE!? YOU’RE MISTAKEN!”

“But!”

Touko-sempai gave Yoshii a cold glance.

“I definitely won’t forgive you for trampling on Mizuki’s pure feelings!”

Sakamoto, who had been giving a bothered look, suddenly frowned after hearing Touko-sempai’s words.

Yoshii widened his eyes.

“Mizuki…are you referring to Himeji-san?”

“That’s right, your classmate. She’s cute, delicate, the ideal choice number 1 for a girlfriend Himeji Mizuki, and you made this kind and cheery her cry. I have to settle this debt with you.”

“Himeji-san cried?”

On hearing that, Yoshii, who had been standing there in a relaxed manner, immediately frowned.

And at this moment, Touko-sempai undid the navy-blue ribbon from her chest and threw it at Sakamoto.

The ribbon finally touched Sakamoto’s chest and slid gently onto his shoes.

“Anyway, I, the president of the Seijou Gakuen’s literature club, Amano Touko officially challenges you—Sakamoto Yuuji to a duel!”

Ahh…she finally said it out~

I couldn't help but clutch my head the as I stood beside Touko-sempai.

A duel of all things!?

Such an old-fashioned method! And it’s so reckless!

Touki-sempai is a classic literature-type girl who’ll be panting after running for 100m. it’s impossible for her to beat the athletic looking Sakamoto…

Luckily, Sakamoto wasn’t angry as he said with a calm tone,

“You mean that if I lose, I will have to break up with Akihisa.”

“Right.”

“And if you lose?”

“Let this Konoha-kun write down the sweetest love poem praising the relationship between you two.”

“WAIT A SECOND, TOUKO-SEMPAI!”

Why’re you making your own decision! A love poem praising boys love!? It’s impossible for me to write this without experience!

On hearing that, Sakamoto showed an annoyed look.

“That has no benefit to me at all.”

“Then, besides Konoha-kun’s writing, we’ll add a luxurious reward that’s out of this world.”

“Alright then.”

I, who’s left aside, hurriedly interrupted,

“Wait a second! How are guys and girls going to fight each other fairly? Have you two thought about that? How about a water gun fight?”

At this moment, Touko-sempai seemed to have a flash of inspiration as she clapped her hands,

“We’ll fight using summoned beasts then.”

“““Summoned beasts?”””

We asked in unison.

Touko-sempai seemed rather excited as she exclaimed.

“Ehh~ that’s right! We can use academics to settle this, and this will have nothing to do with the differences in physical strength between boys and girls. It’s very fair too.”

Yoshii stood right beside me as he tentatively reminded,

“But we can’t call out summoned beasts without the teachers present.”

“It’ll be fine if it’s an open match. I just happen to have lots of contacts in this aspect. I already asked for before. Hau~ I’m really looking forward to this! I always wanted to try this ever since Mizuki told me of this the last time~”

As she said that, Touko-sempai clasped both hands and looked very intoxicated.

Obviously, this wasn’t for Himeji’s sake, but for her own interest.

“Hey, let’s have a fair fight in front of everyone then!”

And so, Saturday arrived.

We gathered at the special stage in Fumitzuki.

“What? A group match!? Why must I take part in this battle too!?”

I threw the match-up schedule to the Book Girl who’s looking puzzled and questioned her loudly, but she answered with a matter-of-fact manner,

“Well, this is part of club activities too.”

“I NEVER HEARD OF A PLANNED ACTIVITY WHERE THE LITERATURE CLUB REQUIRES ITS MEMBERS TO TAKE PART IN SUMMONING BATTLES!”

“Fufu~ this is precious experience. You’ll definitely be able to write a brilliant story with the summoned beasts as the topic.”

“Oh? I see. Look forward to the next snack then.”

I swear I’ll write a super horrible snack as revenge the next time—I swore secretly in my heart as I grimaced,

“Alright, fine, you can have me take part in this. This rude and unreasonable sempai has already clamped me down with the ‘it’s part of the club activities’ aspect. But! Why! Why is Kotobuki’s name listed on the matchup!”

“Wha…what! Inoue! You have a grudge against me or something!?”

My classmate Kotobuki was flushed red as she puffed her cheeks while glaring at me.

“It, it not’s like I deliberately wasted my precious Saturday to take part in this activity for your sake, Inoue. I had to take part only because Touko-sempai requested me. Don’t me mistaken.”

Humph. She looked away.

“Well, if you won’t feel bothered by it, Kotobuki, I guess it’ fine.”

“Humph, you’re so slow-witted, Inoue. Don’t end up pulling us down.”

“I, I’ll try.”

At this moment, Maki-sempai, who looked very excited as she held a sketchbook with one hand, suddenly appeared from beside me.

“Touko~! I came to watch this battle~”!”

The wavy tea-colored hair looked rather lofty when basked under the summer sunlight, and the thick tips are happily moving slightly.

Touko-sempai, who often showed fear only to Maki-sempai, actually opened her arms widen to welcome her.

“Thank you very much, Maki~! It’s thanks to you that this summoning tournament can be held! You’re the most reliable person in this world!”

Touko-sempai continued to heap praises on Maki-sempai, who in turn gave a carnivorous expression as she smiled,

“Well, you don’t have to think me. I love you so much, Touko, and soon, I’ll get 10 times the favor back.”

Touko-sempai’s expression immediately stiffened.

“But you said that you didn’t want any payments this time.”

“Yeah. It’s a rare chance to draw Touko with the summoned beasts, so please~bear in mind that I want many benefits from here~”

Maki-sempai said that as she pointed at Touko-sempai’s flat chest, scaring her as she leaped back.

“No, no thanks. I definitely won’t do anything like being a naked model! That’ll ruin my pure image.”

“Well…”

Himeji, who had been standing around silently for a while now, finally spoke up.

“I…I didn’t expect things to get so out of hand…”

“Sorry Himeji. It’s because of Touko-sempai that you got involved in such a weird situation….”

“That, that’s not true. It’s my fault after all…”

Himeji lowered her head as she whispered. Then, she lifted her small face and looked over at the stage with flowing tears.

Yoshii, who was standing over there while surrounded by classmates, seemed to detect our stare as he looked over at us.

“…!”

Himeji and Yoshii’s stares connect.

Both of them cringe back in seemingly shock, and then looked away in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

Hmm…Yoshii seemed to be worried about Himeji. As expected, there seem to be something to why he would hand Himeji’s cookies over to Sakamoto. Maybe Touko-sempai was just overreacting…

At this moment, Touko-sempai lifted Himeji’s shoulders in a very motivated many and said,

“Relax, Mizuki! We’re the knights Ivanhoe who fight for the sake of clearing the name of Rebecca who’s accused as a which! We’re the strongest warriors summoned by you. As long as everyone unite, we’ll definitely win!”

“O, okay…I’m really grateful, but about that…”

I really couldn’t help but want to help Himeji as I saw her stutter in a tentative manner. At this moment, a stare from beside me started to hurt my face.

Kotobuki was giving me a cold smile.

“You’re looking at other girls in such a perverted manner. How disgusting.”

“Eh?”

“You’re the worst, Inoue!”

What’s with that out of a sudden…

After saying that, Kotobuki looked away, leaving me behind while staring at her back in a confused manner.

She really didn’t want to take part in the tournament?

As I looked completely confused, not knowing the current situation, a folded piece of note suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

“Here, a gift.”

Maki-sempai showed an evil smile.

“What is this?”

“The enemy’s data. You can use it for reference.”

“I won’t be doing naked cosplay either.”

“Ahaha, that’s why I say this is a gift.”

But as the wise saying goes, there’s nothing more priceless than a free item…it’s even scarier when I’m receiving a gift from Maki-sempai. Though terrified, I still accepted it cautiously.

“I’ll head to the spectator stands to watch your performances then.”

After saying that, Maki-sempai gave me a flirty look and turned to leave.

Himeji lowered her head dejectedly as she head towards the spectator stands too.

“Ah…”

“Ah…”

And right in the middle of the spectator stands, Himeji and Yoshii met each other.

Both of them immediately blushed as they lowered their heads, muttering something to themselves before sitting down.

However, neither of them talked, perhaps because they felt tense over each other’s existence as they looked around and fidgeted.

At this moment, the match between the Fumitzuki Gakuen’s group and the Seijou Gakuen’s group finally started.