If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 4

Flag 4: The Chosen Group of Braves Set Off

After school.

Under Akane’s leadership, the student president, Tsumugi, and the other classmates who came stood in rows in front of the dilapidated dormitory.

“It’s really desolate--”

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

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

“If we looked after him more, this kind of thing might not happen…”

The students expressed their thoughts, all of them looking at Souta with pity and raising sympathy flags without exception. This made Souta almost faint with a ‘faint flag’.

“It’s still faster to rebuild, 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 President Seiteikoji Mimori, everything will be OK!! Divert the student council funds and build the huge building!! No problem! Just leave it to the so-called former student president’s ‘create a fake account nobody can make out of nowhere’ abili-”

“Come help. Get the president to shut up.”

Seeing that the students seem to want to take three steps back after seeing the dark side of the academy, Tsumugi ruthlessly cut off Mimori’s words.

Having said that, whether intentional or unintentional, Mimori had changed the depressed atmosphere in one fell swoop, and Tsumugi praised Mimori in her heart for having some sense.

Since although the students wore bitter smiles, they were still smiling.

“Let’s not take appropriation of public funds into consideration yet… Right, young Akane, could you provide some financial assistance? Ah, you should have 'pocket money', right?”

Tsumugi mixed 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. This is under market price, right?!”

Even this rich girl said that kind of ‘Where did this rich girl come from?’ words, and everybody there held in their laughter, except one.

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

“Thou art too spoiled!! Aren’t thou supporting thyself, girl oblivious to the world?!”

“Huh? Huh?”

Student President Mimori stared at the two people who seemed to have a good relationship with her arms crossed in front of her chest and renewed her serious expression.

“In short, whether it’s rebuilding or remodeling, just ask the school’s professionals, fellow classmates!”

“The school’s… professionals?”

Seeing Souta feel that it’s inconceivable, the one who answered him was Tsumugi, standing next to Mimori.

“The Engineering Research Club.”

“The Engineering Research Club…”

Hearing this strange and unknown club name, Nanami exhibited a strange expression.

“It is said that it was influenced by a certain manga.

“Call them here right now!!”

Although nobody knows what was so funny, Student President Mimori laughed ‘Bwahahahahaha’ and called the Engineering Research Club members there.

Accompanying the strong club members coming to the scene was the short-haired president of the Engineering Research Club wearing a baseball cap. His first words were:

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

“Could you not say it as if I was always impulsively destroying things everywhere?!”

Unfortunately, the objections of Mimori, who constantly destroyed things on impulse, went in one ear of the Engineering Research Club president and out the other. He nodded his chin to ask ‘Is it this?’ and looked at the ruins of Quest Dorm.

“You really destroyed…”

“It wasn’t me!!”

But rather than caring about who did it, the Engineering Research 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 disagree over those two options, and a younger club member asked the president:

“President, what should we do?”

“Didn’t I say this before? Call me a craftsman!”

This is really amazing. A craftsman’s subtle pickiness is also reflected by these kinds of words and actions.

“If possible, I hope to quickly let this child live here…”

Kikuno cut in from beside Souta only to see the craftsman catch his left palm in his right fist and say:

“Okay! Then let’s remodel!!”

The president showed his energy, and the club members all smiled bitterly.

“The president likes to remodel…”

“Didn’t I say to call me a craftsman?!” This is really amazing. A craftsman’s subtle pickiness is also reflected by these kinds of words and actions.

“How long until someone can live here?”

“Well~ Since it’s quite difficult, at least a month…”

The craftsman answered Tsumugi’s question, and Nanami eyed him suspiciously, seeing that it wasn’t an act.

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

“As long as there is enough manpower, it can be done in a week!!”

This is really amazing! A craftsman’s subtle persistence is also reflected by these kinds of words and actions.

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

“One person, huh… Then two, three days…”

Akane used hard and soft tactics, and- This is really amazing! A craftsman’s backbone is also reflected in this kind of place.

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

“You need to do things yourself in your own life! Asking alumni would be against the ethos of the school promoting the spirit of student independence! You don’t understand shame!!”

Although the craftsman released so much goodwill, he was still shot down by the student president who didn’t know what was going on, but since he was quite used to Mimori’s rampages, plus the fact that Mimori apologized and said “Sorry, I was too over the line.” after being scolded by Tsumugi-baba-sama, the craftsman could only mutter “I don’t know what to do with her…”

“Need manpower… There is a group of people who seem to be doing nothing.”

Tsumugi looked at the lively class.

The classmates of the class could resent trouble to the point of playing dead, but each one was nicer than the one before, wanting to help the poor Souta-- This sentiment quickly spread, and the ‘I want to help, I want to help, I want to help’ feeling was clear at a glance.

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

As everybody was about to start working, Akane walked up front and said:

“L-listen up!!... Thank you everyone for being willing to help with my selfish project!”

Seeing Akane forcefully bow, Kikuno also joined in.

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

Seeing the two girls bow and thank everyone for him in addition to Nanami poking him from behind and glaring at him to hint ‘Letting girls do this kind of thing for you, will you just stand by and do nothing?’, 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 wasn’t Nanami’s violent reaction as the recipient of thanks. Furthermore, the retort to this reaction wasn’t even Souta himself, but Kikuno.

“No, that’s not it, that’s not it! Since Sou-kun’s very clumsy, he accidentally said it that way, but Onee-chan thinks that he is very grateful to everyone! So… So I hope everybody doesn’t misunderstand him!!”

The degree of Souta’s thanks wasn’t great nor little, but Kikuno still patted his head, expressing ‘Good boy, you worked hard.’ while protecting him.

“Such doting.”

“Way too pampered.”

“So doting.”

“Oh well…”

At this time, 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 feel disappointed!”

Akane’s extremely negative image of him made Souta depressingly discover ‘I’m actually that gloomy in the eyes of others…’

Anyways, Souta’s plaintiveness made everyone raise motivation flags. The Engineering Research Club members expressed an understanding “Ah…”, kindly saying “It’s okay.” and “Don’t worry about it.”

But, only the craftsman’s face went red, looking the other way with a “Hmph!”

“I-I’m not doing it just for you!”

Starting from the craftsman…

“It’s not what you think!”

“Don’t get the wrong idea!”

“But if you don’t feel grateful, you won’t be spared!”

It went until the smiling rascal who suddenly said these words one by one spread everyone out to their respective jobs.

Souta didn’t understand what was going on with the continuously face-changing mini-drama, so Mimori explained to him:

“That girl’s confession failure record is updated at a rapid rate thanks to that personality, but in terms of remodeling, she is the school’s number one, so you can rest at ease, 'yo'!”

“‘That girl’?? She’s actually female?!”

“If it was male, I wouldn’t have said ‘girl’.”

Putting it that way, that’s right, Souta silently agreed, observing the craftsman again. Should she be said to be gender neutral? If she’s said to be a girl with very short hair, then she does feel like a girl.

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

“That’s really 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 ‘I have 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 create good relationships with friends. But I find that that’s not actually the case.”

“?”

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

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

“For the first time, I realized that by bringing happiness to the people around you, you yourself will also feel as happy as they feel!”

“Akane, that’s because of your gentle care.

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

“Following my seeing Akane’s happy expression, I feel happy, too. Akane is just like an artful cake made from happiness.”

“Nanami… You’re a poet!!”

Akane, as if discovering a beautiful line of verse, had twinkles in her eyes 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 Akane’s hands away.

“Huh?! Th-that doesn’t count! What I just said doesn’t count!!”

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

“Enough! Do not tarnish youthfulness, nyaa!!

Nanami ran away after saying this, waving a huge hammer brought by the Engineering Research 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 very suitable for destroying things…”

Tsumugi laid a waterproof cloth nearby, set up a cushion on it, and leisurely sipped tea in a manner as if retiring with glory while looking at Nanami from afar and actively muttering to herself.

“Then, Onee-chan will do her part for Sou-kun, too!”

“I’ll also go help.”

Kikuno and Akane swung their bodies side to side, happily going afar. Souta was about to chase them, but Tsumugi suddenly stopped him from behind.

“Young Souta.”

“?”

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

“Look closely, then engrave it into your heart. This isn’t 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!”

“Aaugh, you scared me!”

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

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

“Baba-sama is so strict…”

After letting off steam discontentedly, Mimori said the horrifying words of “Then, I will go forge the 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 you 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 other than humans can have flags?!”

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

On the roof, a ‘new role debut’ flag was raised.

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 looking for good spirits, aren’t they more likely ghosts?”

““Huh?! There’s a ghost?!”

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

“... It’s just you two being close. That’s unfair.”

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

“Huh?! What?! It’s actually like that?!”

Kikuno, not knowing the right time to come up behind Souta’s back, startled Souta and made him jump in surprise.

“Aaugh, you scared me!”

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

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

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

“Is it the gentle Akane? Or ~ Nanami? After all, you call her name directly ~ you’re very close… Ah, or you like both?”

The smiling Kikuno might have intended to talk secrets with Souta quietly, but since the subjects of the topic were very close by, Akane and Nanami both heard this clear as day.

The person 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 Nanami and co.

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

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

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

“......”

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

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

So far, since the feeling of Kikuno’s existence was so strong, Souta forgot to be afraid of flags. He thought back to the circumstances on top of Kikuno’s head, and said, almost to himself:

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

“What kind of flag?”

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

This scope of that kind of flag might have been too narrow. But, reflecting Kikuno’s kind of love for a brother, it seemed infinitely possible.

At the same time, Nanami thought, as long as that flag broke, perhaps it would curb Kikuno’s desire to guess at her 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…”

Souta had to choose to only listen at this kind of time. Nanami let loose an angry, intimidating “Tch!!”

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

“... What’s wrong with that?”

“Enough! Thou has completely fallen into the habit of a younger brother!”

It seems he’s already been completely brainwashed by Kikuno! This time, Nanami shouted “Grrr!”

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

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

Nanami became shier and shier 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, my relationship with Okiku-nee isn’t like that.”

Souta said this without blushing or panting. Nanami glared at him, the look in her eyes neither dumbfounded nor angry nor irritable.

“Stop saying nonsense, just break it already! If thou dost not break it, I 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.

“Hee hee hee hee hee. What kind of secrets did you talk about? Sou-kun, is there a secret between you and Nanami that you can’t tell Onee-chan? Are you… actually in that kind of relationship? Did Onee-chan guess it right? Can you tell Onee-chan? Can Nanami also call me Onee-chan?”

“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!! Souta!!”

Suddenly almost getting another sister, Nanami deepened the misunderstanding and angrily stomped her feet.

“O-okay…”

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

“I’m not a kid anymore; I’m tired of always being together…”

“Ah…?!”

Hearing Souta’s flag-breaking words, Kikuno was suddenly shocked awake.

“Onee-chan understands!”

She seems to have understood.

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

She doesn’t understand at all.

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

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

“It seems the flag avoided it…”

“Avoided it…?”

“Yeah, avoided it super quickly…”

Nanami and Souta both trembled at Kikuno’s unfathomable potential, stepping back three steps and looking at Kikuno together.

“?”

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

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

“Couldn’t thou have deftly, straightforwardly broken it?!”

“...”

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

Glancing at the flag on Kikuno’s head, Souta smiled bitterly, opening his mouth to probe.

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

“Ah…!!”

Hearing Souta’s flag-breaking words, Kikuno was suddenly shocked awake.

“Onee-chan understands!”

This time she seems to really understand.

“This is what Nanami wants Souta to say. Hee hee, rest assured, Nanami, Souta and I aren’t like what you think. You don’t need to worry, I won’t steal Souta away.

This time she seems to still not understand.

“I’m also not like what thou thinks, alright?!”

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

“The flag avoided it with godlike speed again…”

“This type of circumstance exists?”

As for Nanami’s question, because Souta also saw the existence of a special flag surpassing human imagination, he said, half totally selflessly:

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

Seeing the terrifying creature known as an ‘Onee-chan’ in person made Nanami and Souta get goosebumps.

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

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

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

Upon entering, the craftsman immediately said to Souta: “I just want you to clean up the almost-decayed cabinet in the locker room in front of the bathroom, don’t get me wrong!!” But it’s quite difficult to find the misunderstood elements of this sentence.

The evidence is that Souta didn’t get it wrong at all and went straight to the locker room.

There was a loud rattling sound from inside the bathroom, and as he hurried to work, Souta just glanced briefly before returning to the task at hand, finding the old cabinet.

But, no matter how you look at it, that cabinet doesn’t seem like something one person can move alone. Just as Souta tried to think outside the box, a male classmate happened to pass by the hallway, so Souta hurriedly called out to him.

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

That called-to male classmate had a male uniform on his top half and shorts and striped knee socks on his lower half. 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 said to be 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 is also a fact.

As if embodying that kind of image of male-female indistinguishability, the dainty male(?) classmate said “Boy…?” and looked around.

“Boy, boy, boy… me?!”

Because 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 shockingly seeing a thick striped kneesock during PE class that day as he added an apology. The male (?) classmate seemed to have taken a heavy hit, his feet bow-legged and trembling, armpits pressed tight, and his whole body shaking.

“Uh, hey…”

“I-I… I… ! I’m a boy!! That’s correct!!”

So he claimed.

Although he claimed thus, his bow-leggedness was serious to the point his knees practically fused together and his hands and fists were placed in a boxing position, moving erratically in a cute way, essentially contradicting his own words.

“For me… it’s the first time meeting someone who treats me as a boy! And, because of my set of morals, even people I know are only willing to treat me as a girl… But, Souta-kun is willing to treat me as a boy, so I am 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, although a flag, were countless flags tied together joined to the sky like a model of an international flag exhibition, extending endlessly upwards and slightly backwards, penetrating the wall.

“International flag exhibition… International flag exhibition? Fl-… flag?... This a flag?”

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

If it wasn’t a flag, it would mean Souta could see things other than flags, so it would be terrifying sooner or later. Because that was so terrifying that he wouldn’t want to continue talking, he just assumed that he could only see flags.

The male classmate was originally following Souta’s gaze at the top of his head, looking up at the sky, but he suddenly remembered something and clenched his fist into the palm of his hand.

“Ah, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Touzokuyama Megumu.”

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 the surname was too exaggerated. As he decided to introduce himself to Megumu, Megumu cut him off.

“You must be Hatate-kun. I saw you introduce yourself when you transferred, so I know.

“Just call me Souta.”

“M-me too! Just call me Megumu.”

He said this excitedly as the international exhibition of friendship flags fluttered on his head. Perhaps the result of the common ‘People should get along no matter what country they’re from’ mentality was this international exhibition of friendship flags.

“I think I can establish a manly friendship with Souta-kun!”

Souta’s first reaction had been a perplexed ‘Why is there a girl mixed in with the boys’ PE class…?’, so he remembered her clearly... No, it’s his business, but Souta can’t say it. In order to hide this, he hurriedly changed the subject.

“Really… On the other hand, the name ‘Megumu’ is... really cool.”

“Th-that’s not true. I kind of hate this girlish name. Because everyone likes to call me by nickname, calling me Megu-chan, so it seems even more girlish.”

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

“Souta-kun is really cute♡”

Megumu clamped his arms tightly, lightly covering his mouth, his entire body shaking with laughter. No matter how you look at it, it’s a cute girl.

Perhaps it was because of guilt that the conversation was too yielding to the other party. Although Souta thought his own personality would only hurt the other party, as luck would have it, he still had a good conversation with Megumu.

“... I’ll call you Megu-chan too.”

“Hey~! Souta-kun, you bully!!”

Faced with accidentally saying something excessively girly, Megumu pouted cutely, puffing his cheeks.

“On the other hand, Megumu, I just want to know one thing…”

“Yeah! I’ve been working out before bed to become more manly, I’m a bit stronger now, right?”

Megumu showed his biceps after saying so. Souta asked Megumu ‘Can I touch?’, and the other party gave permission. He touched it and found that the muscle was so soft that it gave people a sense of guilt, but because the sound ‘Hah mm~!’ that Megumu made as he flexed was too cute, Souta gave up. What’s more, Souta didn’t intend to ask such a thing.

“No, I wasn’t talking about that. It’s 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. Obviously, nothing much could be seen, and the other party was male, yet Souta inexplicably blushed and his heart rate sped up.

“This is…”

“N-nothing, sorry. Did I offend you? Everyone has different hobbies. It’s fine, and it really suits you…”

Seeing the fluttering international flag exhibition flag fall weakly, Souta anxiously mediated.

“No! No no no! No no!!”

Megumu lightly hammered Souta’s chest with unparalleled cuteness.

“This is because… Onee-chan said this way was definitely cuter… said it was approved by the school authorities… My sister is responsible for designing this uniform… so…”

The phrase ‘onee-chan’ scared Souta for a moment.

“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 school’s uniforms anymore!?”

Megumu’s eyes have become empty.

“This way of dressing isn’t just conspicuous, it also makes me like a girl, so it annoys me. But Onee-chan cried, saying that it’s definitely cute, and made me wear it…”

“Since your Onee-chan cried and begged, there’s nothing you can do about it…”

As a comrade who loses unconditionally to big sisters, Souta felt his heartstrings tugged with sympathy for his fellow sufferer.

“Yeah… and I’m the youngest of four siblings, with sisters all above me.”

“Your life is 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♡’.

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

Megumu seemed to push people out of the way to hug Souta.

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

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

“Huh?” Megumu, his height only up to Souta’s throat, raised his watery eyes to look at Souta in a manner 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, using her hands to cover her face, used the gaps between her fingers to stare at the scene of the hug.

“I-I’m good at supporting others’ love! The sweethearts supported by me always welcome new love under my leadership, with plentiful concrete results, just leave it to Akane!”

“That means failure, Akane!”

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

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

Akane was enthusiastic to the point of headaches, making Megumu and Souta smile bitterly.

“Let’s save that for later. How come you two suddenly become so close?”

Akane anxiously looked at Megumu and Souta, who had kept hugging. This sentence of hers finally made the two realize the current circumstances, and their bodies instantly separated.

“N-no, no!! This is different from that!!”

“Th-that’s right. How to put it… ah! We were just confirming our friendship, uh-huh, 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 show such warm friendship to me.”

Seeing Akane so depressed, 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 manly friendship!!”

“???”

Megumu revealed an unusually cute smile because Akane, with a question mark on her head, treating him like a boy made him very happy. Please note that this does not mean flying kick cuteness. Speaking of flying kick cuteness~ it was so cute that it made people want to flying kick… was it really that cute?

“Y-yeah…”

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

Speaking of which, does manly friendship really include that kind of enthusiastic hug? Of course, this kind of question never appeared in Akane’s mind, she was just jealous.

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

As Akane said this, her relieved expression replaced the 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, were you worried about me that you came to check? There’s no problems here. I already found a boy to help me.

“Really?... But, where is that person?”

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

Seeing Akane’s natural manner completely devoid of malice, or, it should be said, a manner unfortunately absolutely without malice, Megumu nearly cried out, apprehensively raising his small, cute hand.

“Th-that… is me.”

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

Since Akane laughed ‘Ahaha’ without a care in the world, it was obvious that she wasn’t bullying, but that it was completely what she deeply believed. After all, she was a ‘if she believes it, she will deeply believe it without doubt to an unbelievable degree’ kind of girl.

“... Akane, Megumu’s a boy though?”

“Nyahahaha, stop joking-”

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

“Huh? Huh? I-is it 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 can actually notice that!!”

In Akane’s eyes, this was like an era-making undertaking.

“It was like that… That’s why I didn’t see Megu-chan in the girl’s PE class… Excuse my lack of manners. This mistake is unlike me.”

“No, in a sense, 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 force a balance, Akane…”

Akane nodded with much feeling, faced Megumu - he had bent the second knuckle of his index finger at a right angle, 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 such that even the logic of me, Mahougasawa Akane, could not see through.”

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

Akane seems to think that the world is packed in many secrets, but the vast majority are over-packed, it could be said that it’s over-packaging.

In short, although it was an epoch-defining fact to Akane, now she thought back to what she said before, inadvertently exclaiming “Wah!”

“Huh?! I almost wanted to support your unsuccessful love!! Why did things become like this?!”

Megumu and Souta wanted to ask her. But they chose to remain silent, only smiling bitterly.

“I’ll go ask Nanami!!”

““Why did things become like this?!””

Megumu and Souta sounded out perfect harmony. Akane had a ‘Two people are really close, only I was excluded again…’ type of resentful expression, and ran to find Nanami.

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

“Th-then, let’s just start work.”

“Th-that’s right.”

They seemed to have finally remembered their original purpose. Because they deviated too far from the subject, it almost made people doubt whether or not they honestly 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 steadily. Dangerous, really dangerous.

And, there were two endurance-exhausting stages. As if to remind what this meant, Megumu’s face reddened as he exerted all his strength, so 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 willingness to find me since he was sure I was a man. If I give up, I would fail to live up to Souta-kun’s kindness!!”

“No… it’s not that serious…”

Megumu almost cried aloud. But, although his steps were unsteady, he still displayed a strong will.

This atmosphere made it difficult for Souta to open his mouth and say ‘I can probably move it alone.’ So he could only do his best to carefully prevent Megumu from bearing too much weight while moving steadily. As a result, it was his own effort and strength that was taken away.

There was now one more cabinet on the scrap wood hill used by the Agriculture, Forestry, Seafood, and Horticulture Club. Megumu put his hands on his hips, bent forward slightly, 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 swords seemed to make Megumu a little uncomfortable. Megumu spoke guiltily and shook his head.

“No, you especially took the trouble to not let me bear weight, right? It was obvious that you moving it alone would be easier, but I kept clamoring about being a man, and so persisted in pointlessly hurting you…”

“It wasn’t pointless.”

“Eh…?”

“To become your ideal self, this kind of persistence… I feel it isn’t pointless.”

“... Souta-kun♡”

Souta empathized, respecting 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 charming smile, like a flower bursting into full bloom.

Souta, fostering a friendship between men, worked around everywhere with Megumu completely attached to him. When he met with Kikuno and Nanami, the sun was almost setting.

“Onee-chan looks away for a moment and Sou-kun brings another girl back, Onee-chan is so troubled!!”

“Okiku-nee… Megumu isn’t a girl…”

“Nyahahaha, stop joking~”

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

“You see that his uniform is more like a boy’s?”

“You can actually notice that!!”

In Kikuno’s eyes, it was like an era-making undertaking.

Megumu’s gender was so unknown to everybody that it made people wonder if, when Megumu introduced herself when he came to the school, he once blurted out that he was a girl.

“Huh~ I thought Megu-chan was a girl. Since Megu-chan always goes to the girls’ restroom.”

“Megumu?!”

Souta thought that this piece of information was really hard to explain to people.

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

“......”

This whole thing sounded like it was hard to determine the right from the 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?”

Excluding those of the Engineering Research Club who worked through the night, looking at the sea of people getting ready to go home, it felt like there were a lot more people compared to the beginning.

“Oh, that’s because President, Baba-sama, me, and Akane-chan found a lot of friends to come.”

“Huh…?! I feel sorry… to do this just for someone like me…”

“I begged them to say that it was for my beloved younger brother, the precious child, and everyone came.”

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

Souta wholeheartedly wanted to escape the scrutinizing eyes, directing the conversation towards Nanami, pretending not to hear those words.

“Did Nanami also help call people to help?... I’m really sorry. It seems a princess is just different, should it be said to be moral prestige?”

“......”

“Nanami?”

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

“I…”

“I?”

“I, I didn’t call anybody here, alright?! It should be said, I absolutely don’t have any acquaintances to call!! I’m so sorry, obviously the princess doesn’t have any 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 this kind of 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.

“Stop… Stop comforting me, nyaaaaa!!”

Nanami became angry out of embarrassment.

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

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

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

… It made the people seeing this inadvertently say this -- brightly reborn. Repeating the phrase ‘reborn’ twice was to express how much this rebirth changed it, not because the author’s literary powers had dried up, thus lacking ideas. Hope everybody understands this.

“So amazing… Rather than saying it’s almost unrecognizable, it’s virtually no longer the same thing.”

“Praise it a bit more!!”

Suddenly appearing, the student president Mimori proudly - actually really proudly - stuck out her chest.

“The student president didn’t actually participate in the operation at all, okay?!”

The Engineering Research Club president - aka Craftsman - crossed out Mimori.

“Because I have Sick Building Syndrome

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

“Because I have Natural Building Syndrome…”

It seems that this person is unable to live indoors no matter what… As Souta thought this, Akane, who was beside him, delightedly smiled at him.

“It became a place someone could live in in one fell swoop.”

“Mmm.”

“It became a place unsuitable for spirits.”

“There are spirits?!”

“Hehehe, I said it randomly.” Akane’s laughter even sounded like casual comforting words, which was terrifying.

“Let’s not talk about it, according to our original arrangements, I need to display my skill to clean up Souta-kun’s room!”

“We just finished renovating, I think there’s nowhere to clean though?!”

Akane jabbed her index fingers together depressedly as if Judgement Day had come. Seeing this state, Souta hastily added:

“Uh - but if you can help me unpacked the unpacked luggage, that would be a big help!”

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

“Onee-chan too! Onee-chan also wants to unpack luggage together!!”

Seeing Kikuno raise her hand and join this heartwarming topic, Nanami’s mouth tightened.

“Since you’re the onee-chan, can’t you get any closer to him--”

To the side, Megumu, who was doing squats for no reason, was so tired his legs almost fell off by the sixth repetition.

Seeing that the group’s mood was like hot tempura right out of the pot, the pensive President Mimori mumbled. It is said to be hot tempura because the Cooking Research Club, to commemorate the rebirth of Quest Dorm, was frying it outside, not because Souta and co were heating it. Tempura looks really delicious, although it has nothing to do with the aforementioned situation.

“But, this is a headache…”

“What’s wrong, President?”

In truth, this is because ‘mood and tempura’ was accidentally written, but one has to make the best of it when at the end of their rope - but Mimori and Tsumugi didn’t care about this at all, secretly eating 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 this phrase that cannot be ignored, the surrounding people cried in unison.

“I’m the self-proclaimed matchless emperor of late reactions Mimori, who dares curse at me?”

“Somebody shut up the President.”

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

“Rules are rules! It’s actually finished, so it needs to be taken down!”

“Are thou a demon?!”

Nanami couldn’t help but roar back.

Reacting sharper than anyone else to Souta’s imminent fall into a miserable situation in front of her, Akane also stepped in to do her best to salvage the desperate situation at this time:

“E-excuse me! At least how many people does it need to house?!”

“... Four…?”

“Why are you so unconfident?”

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

“Correction, it’s five people.”

“Five people, huh…”

“Thankfully, I heard that thanks to the increase in manpower, we took preventive measures and renovated a few extra rooms, and now the amount of usable rooms is about ten… gathering just four friends should be possible, right?”

Mimori chuckled lightly, and towards this Nanami and Akane filled with rage.

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

“In other words, it’s too much!!”

“... S-sorry.”

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

Because Nanami and the others spoke up for him, although the student president apologized, Souta appeared to be even more like a good-for-nothing. The atmosphere became very indescribable.

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

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

“Not allowed, not allowed!! Being like that… being very lonely… is very sad, too sad!!”

Looks like the Akane with the can’t-leave-pitiful people-alone sickness has lost her temper.

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

“But… if someone wants to live here, then it wouldn’t matter.”

Akane’s eyes brightened, clenching her fist.

“Souta-kun needs dorm-mates, right? Because he’d be lonely, right? This is the situation! This cannot be allowed! I know! I, Mahougasawa Akane, shall move into this dorm!”

“Hey, isn’t this a boys’ dorm?!”

“Really?”

Akane looked at Tsumugi, her movement regarding school matters requiring her to ask the living dictionary.

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

“Then this is 'No problem'!”

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

Souta thought that having young men and women live 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’s mouth.”

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 it inappropriate for a boy and a girl?!”

Souta refuted.

Kikuno raised her hand to refute back.

“Then Onee-chan 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 refuted Kikuno’s refute to Souta’s refute. Now it’s already impossible to tell apart front from back and out from in.

“E-excuse me!! C-can I also live together?!”

“I said, Megumu…”

“Okay, this way we have achieved balance with one boy and three girls!”

“Where, why? Where is the balance?”

Disregarding Souta’s retort towards Mimori, the Megumu who was 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’s already nobody else who will move here.”

“......”

“That’s right… Why don’t we find one of Onee-chan’s friends…”

“......”

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

“How about the Craftsman?”

“How about the President?”

“How about Baba-sama, Sou-kun?”

“......”

Nanami started wordlessly kicking the door post of Quest Dorm. It is said that door post and ‘want you’ sound very similar, though this is insignificant to the situation.

“... Bladefield’s Princess-san is almost crying, everyone…”

Megumu, not knowing the right time to revive, 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, of course the last person must be Nanami who is very close to Sou-kun.”

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

“As long as Nanami is here, Onee-chan will also be at ease.”

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. However, since, in any event, thou all are persistent and want me to come, I 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, that was a joke?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

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

“Absolutely not! Unless it’s the room at the far end, 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.”

“Thou group of idiots--!”

Souta was inexplicably hammered many times by the Nanami who didn’t want to be alone.

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

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

Souta(?) thought with a smile, not bad, the luggage will have to be brought in again anyways. Kikuno was so touched by her little brother that she hugged him tightly.

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

Souta, who was panicking and trying to escape Kikuno’s captivating breasts, was given an envious look by everyone.

“N-next is me! I want to hug!”

Akane, who was pretending to be jealous of Souta but was actually jealous of Kikuno, lined up behind Kikuno.

“M-me 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 big problem…”

Akane agreed, but Tsumugi showed signs of reluctance.

“The problem has become bigger, right?! You don’t think that it has essentially become a girls’ dorm?!”

“Leave it to me, Mimori, the one known as the unsurpassable concealer of problems!! Bwahahahahaha!!”

Although how it is funny is a mystery, anyways the Mimori who seemed to really plan to conceal the problems burst into laughter.

Translator notes and references

From what I can tell the only archaic aspects of Nanami’s speech are the pronouns. It’s the same for some of the other characters, but English doesn’t have enough personal pronouns for me to use. I’ll use the archaic English pronouns when I can for Nanami so people can tell who is speaking and also because I’m not very good at Shakespearean English.

Also, I realized that all the -kun’s I’ve been using should technically be -san, but since in the anime it’s all -kun, I’ll just keep using that.

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