Published at 26th of March 2019 12:07 am

Volume 9.5, Me and Quarrels and Unbelievable Idiots

“Yuuji, you’ll be late for the opening ceremony if you don’t go out now, you know?”

Mom said as she saw me relaxing in the living room.

It’s now 8.30am. Considering the distance from my house to Fumitzuki Gakuen, I should be able to barely make it to the opening ceremony at nine.

“It’s embarrassing if you’re late for the opening ceremony, you know?”

She had been nagging me over and over again, yet mom’s voice had merely a tinge of fatigue.

Middle school life was over. From today onward, my new life in high school will begin. Actually, I don’t want to be late.

“Yuuji, are you listening?”

It’s just that there was a very high chance that I’ll meet that troublesome person if I left at this time. I’m wearing time down to avoid trouble.

“Really…having such an attitude even at the opening ceremony…”

Speaking of which, I had already tried to avoid going to the same school as that person before I actually said something, so I didn’t tell anyone other than the teachers which school I wanted to go to. But why…

“It’s rare for this okaa-san to tell Shouko-chan Yuuji’s choice of school so that you two can go to the same school together…”

“SO IT’S YOU—!!!”

“?? What’s the matter, Yuuji?”

Mom actually showed a ridiculous face without any signs of remorse. What do you mean by ‘what’s the matter’! Don’t just tell anyone else my secret!

“Also, Yuuji. How can you call okaa-san ‘you’?”

“Un? Ah, is that so…sorry, mom. I just blurted it out.”

“People nearby will think that we’re a couple, you know?”

“IT’S TOO EARLY FOR ME TO GET MARRIED AND YOU’RE MARRIED TO DAD AND WE’VE BEEN GETTING ALONG WITH THE NEIGHBOURS FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS SO EVERYONE KNOWS WHO THE COUPLE IS AND ALSO ANYONE CAN TELL THAT THERE’S A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN AGE BETWEEN ME AND MY MOM AND SPEAKING OF WHICH WE ARE REALLY BLOOD-RELATED HERE—!”

“Amazing, Yuuji. Impressive lung capacity.”

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!”

I seemed to hear my nerves been worn out like a chopping board being scratched. My body really can’t take this situation that I have to handle so early in the morning…

I looked up to see the time, and 5 minutes passed. It’s about time.

“Then, I’ll slowly…”

I got up from the sofa.

I used up enough time. Time to go to school.

“Oh yeah, Yuuji. What time should okaa-san leave?”

I was stopped by this sudden question. To be honest, this mom of mine who was like a gathering of airheads will be troublesome if she comes along. I’ll just make up a lie here.

“Fumitzuki Gakuen’s opening ceremony doesn't allow for parents to come in.”

“Oh, is that so? What a pity~”

I started to worry about this mom of mine who doesn’t suspect others.

“Then, okaa-san will wear a uniform.”

And then, this mom of mine who could think of such an idea worries me even more.

“THINK OF YOUR AGE! IT’S OBVIOUSLY IMPOSSIBLE HERE, RIGHT!?”

“Yeah~I can definitely go in if I’m younger by two years.”

“2 YEARS!? YOU MISSED OUT ON AN EXTRA ZERO!”

“Really…you’re a man, Yuuji. Don’t worry about such a trivial thing. I just made a mistake in the number.

“IT’S JUST A MISTAKE, BUT THE MISTAKE IS THE DIGIT HERE!”

This is really a shameless mistake. I couldn’t help but sigh. Mom seemed to think of something and clapped her hands to say.

“Oh yes, Yuuji. Don’t buy any snacks on the way home, alright?”

Don’t buy snacks? What does she mean—wait, don’t tell me,

“Mom. Are you thinking of cooking again?”

“Yes. I want to make a few dishes to celebrate.”

Mom’s face showed a happy smile. No way. I understand that intention, but…

“Allow me to ask, what are you intending to make?”

“Oh yes, I went shopping yesterday, and the thing that’s similar to sea urchin is extremely cheap.”

“CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC ABOUT THAT ‘SIMILAR’ THING!? I CAN’T TELL WHETHER IT’S EDIBLE OR NOT!”

It’s okay if it’s chestnut, and kiwi is still acceptable, but I can’t agree if it’s a scrubbing brush…!

“And also, it came with detergent for washing dishes.”

“AND IT’S REALLY THE LAST ONE—!”

Looks like I have to clear up the cooking that will shock the whole world after school when I get home.

“Haa…anyway, I’m going to school now.”

“Okay, take care.”

I grabbed my bag, got up, and walked to the corridor.

“Say hi to Shouko-chan for me.”

“…”

I didn’t answer those words before I stepped out of the house.

☆

Fumitzuki Gakuen is built on a slope. No, it’s more like a hill. The slope steepness is different for each path chosen, and on this one, we have to get off our bicycles to go up. It’ll be a lot easier to go back, however,

“This slope…”

It’ll be dangerous if the cyclist doesn’t brake to slow down. Thus, the energy used to go up the slope in the morning will all be for naught when the bicycle has to keep braking and creating friction when going down. The energy will be all wasted.

“Do I have to climb up every day…”

I’m walking up to school, so I’m not having it as tough as the people riding the bicycles. However, I’m rather bothered when I think about the future. What in the world was the school committee thinking, choosing such a place?

“Oh yeah, the reason is just that simple.”

It’s either because the land price is cheap or that it’s easier to ensure a large land. This place is closer to the residential streets, but a lot further from the city. One can reach the outskirts if he goes off in the opposite direction, so there won’t be any competition for land.

“The scenery is fine though.”

I stopped to look around. Below me, I could see two sceneries that unfolded in front of me, the city I know of and the outskirts leading to the unknown road.

As expected of an Opening Ceremony, most of the students have already arrived at school. I can’t see any students climbing up this slope behind me. Also, it’s obvious why I chose to come to school at such a time.

There were still 5 minutes till the Opening Ceremony. I heard that everyone will be gathered at the sports hall and leave the class sorting aside first. Once the Ceremony’s over, everyone will then be assigned to their classes.

I might as well be late since I’m going to hear such stupid nonsense. I thought as I climb up the slope leading to the school gate.

“…Yuuji.”

And then, just when I was about to enter the school compound, I heard a faint voice.

Immediately, my mouth feels bitter. I was relieved that I didn’t see her at my house. So, she’s been waiting here…

“…”

I forcefully ignored those words and continued on.

“…Yuuji.”

“……”

“…Yuuji.”

“……”

“…Yuuji.”

“……”

“…My breasts have grown to size C.”

GANK!!

My eyes saw stars as I knocked into the telegraph pole.

“…Yuuji. Is your head alright?”

“I’LL RETURN THOSE WORDS RIGHT BACK AT YOU!!!”

I roared at my worried looking childhood friend. It’s like we had such a conversation when we were young!

It can’t be helped. I can only give up on ignoring Shouko and face her.

“Shouko. We promised before about what you should do when we’re going to the same school, right? Don’t talk to me in school.”

“…But it’s still outside the school.”

“Then, I’ll correct that. Don’t talk to me on the streets too.”

“…That’s too much.”

Even I don’t understand why I want to keep my distance from her. Perhaps somewhere inside my heart, I want to abandon that embarrassing past of mine.

“…I want to talk to you, Yuuji.”

Shouko has never changed her attitude about this worthless me ever since grade school—or rather, she’s been treating me better.

“…Yuuji, what should I do to make you willing to talk to me?”

“Who knows?”

Ever since that incident 5 years ago, I consciously realized that I have to change my lifestyle in the future. I tried to argue, train myself and get away from studies. The opinions of the people around me went from ‘prodigy’ to ‘problematic’. But deep inside my heart, ever since 5 years ago, nothing has changed at all.

“…Yuuji, does being with me hurts you?”

I’m immediately left speechless.

Even as I continued to push her aside, this girl still looked over at me with innocent eyes. No matter how much I hate myself, she always said that she likes me. To me, that’s…really, really painful.

“…Yuuji, you hate yourself, right…?”

“………”

I can’t answer.

However, Shouko suddenly says something weird.

“…I’ll be patient.”

Patient? What about it?

“…I’ll be patient with you until you’re willing to be with me, Yuuji.”

I’m really amazed by those words that were said inadvertently, and thinks,

(This girl is, really mature… compared to me…)

The person she likes is treating her so coldly; and yet she is not angry but thinking about others. If this is not maturity, I don’t know what is.

(Compared to her, I’m…)

My heart is filled with darkness.

Her worry seems to reveal my immaturity, and I feel even more damned…this is embarrassing.

Shouko ignores my self-loathing and continues,

“…I’ll be patient, so—”

“Un? What?”

“—I want to kiss you.”

“……(ACK ACK ACK)!!!”

I’m being too foolish. My opinion on this girl really changed this moment.

“…Yuuji.”

“……”

“…Yuuji.”

“……”

“…Don’t ignore me.”

“……”

I continued to walk fast in front, and Shouko’s complaining followed behind me. Ahh, this is annoying.

How about if I run off like this? Just when I was thinking about that, someone suddenly called out.

“We, well, that student over there.”

It’s a voice I never heard of before. Most likely, it’s a student who’s coming to the same Opening Ceremony as us. From the sound of it, he sounds like a decent guy. He must be an idiot who’s trying to be kind after seeing me ignore Shouko.

How troublesome. I might as well ignore this guy as well.

I increase my pace again. It seem that Shouko has given up halfway as there are no movements at all.

However,

“That’s weird. Did he not hear me?”

I have no idea who continues to yap without backing away.

Never mind. I’ll just ignore him.

“Oi—the student over there—”

Anyway, I’ll just ignore him.

“Oi— oi—do you hear me—?”

I’ll still ignore him.

“Uu…this is troublesome…are his ears not working well…?”

It seems that he has finally given up. This weird battle of ignoring ends with the opposing stranger giving up.

How annoying. I sighed slightly and turned my gaze slightly to see the owner of the voice.

Standing over there was a male student of the same age, over 165cm, messy out-of-bed hair, and has an idiotic look.

—And for some reason, he’s wearing a sailor uniform.

“HOW CAN I IGNORE THIS—!!??”

I can’t help but exclaim.

What’s with this guy!!? A pervert!!? If not, someone with an abnormal personality!!?

“Ehh? What, what? What’s wrong? Is there something behind me?”

“IT’S ABOUT YOU! THE ONE STANDING THERE WITH A BLANK FACE AND WEARING A SAILOR UNIFORM!!”

WHY THE HELL MUST I BE LOOKING AT THE PEOPLE BEHIND!? DON’T YOU REALIZE HOW WEIRD YOU LOOK!?

That guy finally noticed that the ‘you’ was referring to him when I pointed at him, and says with a shocked expression,

“Ahh…! No, that’s not it!! This is!”

“Not it!? What about it?”

“This is a middle school uniform!”

“OI, WAIT A SEC! WERE YOU WEARING A SAILOR UNIFORM IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!?”

HASN’T ANYONE TOLD HIM ANYTHING ABOUT IT!? HIS FRIENDS HAVE GONE THROUGH THREE YEARS WITH HIM EITHER WAY, RIGHT!!?

“No, it’s not like this! This uniform belongs to Seiran Girls Middle School! Nee—”

“AND A GIRLS SCHOOL AT THAT!? LETTING A GUY IN TOO!! ARE THE TEACHERS IDIOTS JUST LIKE THE STUDENTS!!??”

“AARRRGGGHHH!! THE MISUNDERSTANDING JUST GOT WORSE!!!”

“RELAX! I’M NOT MISTAKEN AT ALL!!’

THIS GUY’S MOST DEFINITELY A PERVERT! IT’S HARD TO MISUNDERSTAND THIS!

“LI, LISTEN TO ME!”

“DON’T GET NEAR ME!! PERVERTEDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS!!”

“THAT’S WHY I SAY THAT IT’S NOT—!!”

“DO, DON’T COME NEAR ME—!!

Before I realized it, I’m sprinting down the field, but I just can’t shake him off. This, this pervert, he’s really fast!

“I GOT IT! I KNOW, IT’S A MISUNDERSTANDING! STOP CHASING ME NOW!!”

“LIAR! YOU WILL STOP AND LISTEN TO ME IF YOU KNOW THAT IT’S A MISUNDERSTANDING!”

“STOP SPOUTING NONSENSE! HOW CAN I STOP WHEN I’M BEING CHASED BY A PERVERT!!?”

“THAT’S WHY I SAY IT’S A MISUNDERSTANDING! DAMN IT! LOOKS LIKE I HAVE TO GO ALL OUT!”

“ALL OUT!? STO, STOP JOKING AROUND—!!”

“OHHH—!? A misunderstanding created another one? This is bad—!”

I still can’t shake off the pervert as I continued to play tag with him. No, it’s an understatement to say that we’re playing tag. The one chasing me is really a devil, a messenger of hell spreading fear and despair.

In this type of crisis which I have never experienced before, my sanity finally gives up on working as my instincts are the only thing driving me.

I, who’s trying to escape from the terror, instinctively thought of seeking help as I dashed towards the opening ceremony in the sports hall.

<<First, let us have the principal address us. Principal, if you please.>>

<<Okay. Uh um. Ehh— congratulations to all incoming students. I’m the principal of this school—>>

“PERVERT—!!!”

“LISTEN TO ME!!!”

*Chatter—*

*“Pe, pervert!?”*

*“Is the principal here a pervert!?”*

*“No wonder the school fees are so cheap…!”*

<<Wait…!? Why am I treated as a pervert!?>>

As I ran into the sports hall, I’m already surrounded by buzzing. It can’t be helped since there’s a pervert appearing here!

However, I find myself calming down slightly because of the other people around me, who are already panicking. There’re a whole lot of people in the sports hall. With so many people around me, maybe I can shake off this pervert. If I have to ask for help, now’s the time!

I take a deep breath.

“LISTEN UP, YOU GUYS! ANYONE CONFIDENT ENOUGH IN THEIR FIGHTING ABILITIES, STEP RIGHT UP! THOSE NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH WILL ONLY GET IN THE WAY. BACK DOWN!”

My voice echoes through the hall.

“EH!? WHAT!? A FIGHT THIS TIME!? WHAT’S WRONG TODAY!?”

On hearing the voice, the pervert chasing me panicked. Idiot! I’ll finish off this pervert who’s attacking in the middle of daylight!

Just like a certain scene in the <<Ten Commandments>>, the crowd scattered with me at the center. Just like I ordered, those guys who weren’t confident in their skills kept their distance.

In that case, there won’t be people getting in the way. That’s good.

The problem is—

“ISN’T ANYONE CONFIDENT IN THEIR OWN FIGHTING ABILITIES!?”

The problem is that no one was willing to help me take on the pervert. Eh…! Even though this school isn’t ordinary, it is still a prep school. To think that there is a gathering of students who can’t fight.

All of them moved as I move, with me still at the center. Damn it! Someone, someone help me…!

I continued to move, and the space moves as well. However, a student remained still even with everyone moving.

(Good! Someone’s willing to come over!)

I gave myself a victory sign secretly as I look at the courageous person. That person has long limbs, a long ponytail, and the head was swaying.

…Sleeping.

“YOU’RE SLEEPING AT SUCH A MOMENT—!!?”

THAT’S JUST NOT RUNNING AWAY! YOU Itsuki! YOU GOT MY HOPES UP FOR NOTHING! SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHY ARE YOU ABLE TO SLEEP IN SUCH A SITUATION!? DO YOU HAVE SOME DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE FROM ORDINARY HUMANS!?

“Forget about that. ANYONE WILLING TO STEP UP!?”

I change my mood and call the people around me. Damn it. No one is coming out. In this case, I can only go alone…!

Getting mentally ready, I stopped there.

After a while, a male teacher appeared there.

“Are you two freshmen?”

*BOING* A terrifyingly deep sound can be heard from the abdomen. The male teacher had muscles that look like they can rip up his suit. This presence just feels like a fighter who’s been through countless battles. This, this guy’s way too reliable…!

“It’s only just the start of school. You sure got guts.”

The muscled teacher folds his arms and smirks as he looks impressed. I’m really embarrassed to be praised by such a muscular man.

“Don’t say that. I’m not that amazing.”

I have to deny his words.

Unlike me, who’s being chased, that teacher’s guts can’t be underestimated, even though he’s taking on a pervert for his students’ sake. How can I accept the praise when I’m the one asking for help? I really can’t accept that.

However, that teacher says the same thing again.

“No no. You really have guts.”

And then, he got into position.

“—Both of you.”

“……Eh?”

After that, the muscled teacher glares at me and the pervert. Un? Why are you standing opposite me?

“O, OI! WAIT! YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PERVERT DOWN THERE!”

“WE, WELL! I’M DIFFERENT FROM THIS GUY! I’M NOT LOOKING FOR A FIGHT!”

“YOU TWO—IDIOTS!!!”

““GGGYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!””

An unprecedented terror strikes me as a huge force I have never experienced hits me. Wha, what’s going on!? Is, is this teacher…really human…!?

“Why…did it end up like this…I’m just about to, tell you, that there was a girl talking to you…”

Before I fainted, that faint voice can be heard beside me.

☆

Just like that, the worst ever opening ceremony ended (while I was still unconscious), and now, we’re sorted into our classes and introducing ourselves.

My body endures the pain as I put my hand on my cheek and looked forward.

“—Ryo. Nice to meet you.”

There’s nothing out of the ordinary. Just a simple self-introduction in order.

“My name is, Shimada, Minami. Nice to meet you.”

The strange feeling isn’t because of the words, but the pronunciation. It doesn’t sound Japanese.

I thought that she’s an overseas student and opened my eyes wide to check. However, the owner of that voice doesn’t look like a foreigner, but a Japanese I’m used to seeing.

(Un? Isn’t that person the one sleeping in the midst of the buzzing—?)

Whether it’s the strange pronunciation or the attitude during the opening ceremony, I’m rather bothered by them. I then look at the name on the blackboard. Over there, the name ‘Shimayumi Mikare’ is written there. Since she calls herself Shimada Minami, I guess she probably wrote the wrong name.

“Shimada-san is a Japanese from Germany, and she has just returned, so everyone, please help her out.”

The teacher helped Shimada finish off. She’s a girl who came back from overseas? No wonder the pronunciation and kanji are wrong. She was sleeping not because she was bored or it was spring, but the time difference. Maybe that’s the reason.

*Snickers* I can hear people around me snickering. Most likely, they’re laughing at Shimada for writing the wrong kanji.

(Tch, how stupid.)

Deep inside, I mocked those idiots who were snickering away.

Just now, the teacher mentioned that ‘she just returned’. Also, I can tell from the pronunciation just now that Shimada has just started learning Japanese not too long ago, but now she’s speaking Japanese and using kanji to write her name. She’s entering what’s considered a high school life, and now has to be independent in such a different culture, yet she’s still pulling herself through like this. This itself is worthy of praise. However, I can tell how impatient this crowd is when they’re laughing away. The people laughing are laughing at their own ignorance.

“I hope we can get along!”

As I was thinking about this, Shimada’s self-introduction ended. Then, based on the order, it’s my turn now.

I slowly walk to the front and immediately say my name out clearly.

“I’m Sakamoto Yuuji from Kannazuki Middle School.”

That one sentence caused everyone else to start muttering.

“That guy’s Kannazuki’s…”

“The infamous devil…”

“That guy seems really amazing…”

It seems some of them knows about my middle school past as they give me probing and disgusted looks. With the action during the opening ceremony just now, I’ll be viewed as a violent student with many problems.

“…Fu”

It’s fine. I don’t have to deliberately explain to them.

I slowly walk back like how I walked to the podium, and returned to my seat.

And then, the next student introduced himself.

“My name’s Kinosheeta Hideyoshi. I’d hope we can get along.”

That weird tone caused me to widen my closing eyes to check…what’s going on? Why isn’t that person there wearing a girl’s uniform? No, wait, the name’s Hideyoshi, so that’s a guy, right/ but he doesn’t look like a guy in the first place…

I tilted my head to wonder, and Kinosheeta’s self-introduction ended. The next student walked in front. I’ll just leave this memory of Kinosheeta being ‘a really weird guy with an unspecified gender’ in my mind. Yeah, at least I should remember a name. Besides, there can’t possibly be a second strange person like this.

“…Tsuchiya Kouta. Interests are perv…no”

……There is one. And what follows next is.

“…speciality is stealing pho…nothing much.”

After saying that, a camera and recorder can be seen from Tsuchiya’s pockets.

………

……

…

(Why, why isn’t anyone telling him off yet…!?)

His interest is to take photos secretly, specialty is to eavesdrop, and the gadgets on him really have a criminal feel. That’s too weird. That’s way too obviously weird.

My common sense was about to collapse, and there was another self-introduction.

“I’m Yoshii Akihisa from Nagatsuki Middle School. I hope we can get along.”

The one who said that as he kept his head low is that idiot who was wearing the sailor uniform this morning. I see, so this guy’s called Yoshii Akihisa. I’ll remember that as an important person to be wary against. He’s a pervert.

After that, there weren’t any strange self-introductions, and the HR time ended. In the end, amongst the names I remembered, the once with the most common sense is that girl who came back to the country, huh?

As I got ready to leave, I heard the voice of that girl who came back from afar.

“Shut up, you swines.”

Looks like I have to take that back, I thought.

☆

Before I noticed it, it’s been a week since that chaotic opening ceremony.

I managed to get used to school life, and I can finally enjoy a peaceful life.

—But that’s impossible.

“That guy is that Sakamoto…”

“He challenged all the students and teachers to a fight during the opening ceremony…”

“Looks like he’s looking for someone to fight against…”

“I heard that he had some grievances against people from other schools…”

I had been going through every single day uncomfortably with the strange stares coming at me from afar.

Let me state this first. I had never personally tried to look for trouble. What happened during the opening ceremony was a misunderstanding caused by an unfortunate situation.

They aren’t completely baseless, but these are rumors I don’t really want.

Even so, I can accept that. The problem is,

“I heard that Sakamoto-kun and Yoshii-kun had something strange going on between them.”

“Ah, I know. Those two were chasing each other during the opening ceremony, right?”

“Both of them were late at the same time. What did they do?”

The problem is the rumors coming from here. At this point, it isn’t a question of whether I can handle it. I have to eliminate this completely. This is the worst possible kind of rumor.

However, I couldn’t talk to the girls staring at me like this and tell them ‘It’s not like that between me and that guy. That’s a misunderstanding’. Not only that, the way I tell them might cause the opposite effect. It will be bad for me to let the rumors subside quietly. Anyway, Yoshii and I don’t have that kind of relationship, and we haven’t even interacted normally before—

“Ah, Sakamoto-kun. Do you have time later? I have something to talk to you about after school.”

“YOU LOOKING FOR A FIGHT HERE!?”

“EH? WHAT WHAT!? WHAT’S GOING ON!?”

Actually choosing such timing to appear too! I couldn’t help but grab Yoshii on the torso. This guy really doesn’t know what the situation is like now!!

“Sa, Sakamoto-kun. Why are you already so angry when I’m just talking with you?”

“Can’t you sense the mood now?”

“Erm…are you thinking, Sakamoto-kun?”

“THAT’S NOT IT. I’M SAYING TO CHECK THE SITUATION AROUND US BEFORE TRYING TO TALK TO ME! CAN’T YOU SEE THE STARES AROUND US!!?”

“Heh? Surroundings, as in…”

“Wah. Looks like they’re worried about others staring at them…”

“As expected, in places we can’t see…”

“There’re really people like this. High school is amazing…”

“??? What are those people over there talking about?”

Yoshii just stood down there, stunned with a perplexed expression. So he can’t choose the timing properly and has such bad understanding ability? This idiot.

“…They’re saying that my relationship with you is very weird.”

“Ha? What does that mean?”

“Who knows? Also, don’t approach me randomly, to prevent further misunderstandings.”

“Eh? That means…”

After thinking hard for a little bit, Yoshii seemed to finally understand what’s going on, and then,

“I, I’ll be bothered here! I’ll go correct it!)

He panicked and went to the girls talking away. Fm, this might be better for me anyway.

(If I were to go, I might not even be able to talk to them…)

I’ll wait for him to clear the misunderstanding.

After talking to the girls for a moment, Yoshii returned. Now, what happened?

“Is the misunderstanding cleared?”

“‘Have they actually GONE to such a relationship!?’ they said in a shocked manner…”

“WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU TELL THEM!?”

Didn’t this make the misunderstanding worse!

“MOVE ASIDE. MY TURN!”

I pushed Yoshii aside and walked to the girls. I was worried whether they would run away in fear because they were scared, but luckily, the girls were willing to listen to me normally this time as Yoshii went to them before.

Several minutes later, I went back to my seat. This time, Yoshii looked uneasy as he asked me.

“How is it? Do they understand?”

“Ahh, no problems.”

I straightened my back and answered.

“Really. That’s great~”

“I told them that you were a pervert who like to cross-dress, and I ran away in fear after seeing that. They immediately understood after they heard that.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY—!?”

There’s nothing to deny about that. That’s the fact after all.

“GO CORRECT THAT, SAKAMOTO-KUN! I MERELY WORE A SAILOR UNIFORM WHEN I ATTENDED THE OPENING CEREMONY! I’LL BE TROUBLED IF I’M MISUNDERSTOOD!”

“OI, HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! YOU CAN’T SAY ‘MERELY’ WHEN YOU’RE A GUY WEAING A SAILOR UNIFORM!”

What kind of common sense does this guy have anyway!?

“AND I JUST WANTED TO REMIND YOU THAT SOMEONE WAS TRYING TO TALK TO YOU BACK THEN!”

“THAT’S JUST YOU BEING A BUSYBODY, PERVERT!”

“Wha…! YOU’RE THE ONE WITH SPECIAL INTERESTS! IGNORING SUCH A BEAUTIFUL GIRL!?”

“AHH!? YOU DARE TO SAY THAT—”

We continued to argue with each other, and just when we’re about to grab each other by the throats.

“What are you two doing?”

The crude voice entered our arguments. It’s the muscleman teacher who’s in charge of remedials who knocked Yoshii (the pervert) and me out at the opening ceremony. He suddenly entered the classroom, perhaps getting ready for the next class.

“Tch.”

I retract the hand I reached out and sat back in my seat. My head unknowingly started to heat up, but on thinking about this carefully, there’s no point in punching this idiot up. It’ll only be a waste of time to be his opponent.

The teacher stared at the pervert and me with sharp eyes.

“Sakamoto. I heard a lot about you. Don’t do anything that will make the rumors come true.”

He warned. The ‘rumors’ the muscular teacher mentioned was most probably the violent incidents I will commit. It’s true that beside this teacher, the other teachers seem to be viewing me as a student who would use violence in school. If I make even the slightest move here, it will become a huge problem.

“Then, as Takenaka-sensei is seriously ill at this moment, I’ll take over the lessons. Flip open to page 13 of the textbook—”

The muscular teacher didn’t say anything more to me as he took the teaching materials and started to teach.

What appears in front of me is a scene of a lesson that had not changed much even though I'm a High School student now.

The explanation of the teacher just entered by one ear and went out by another ear, and I inadvertently looked out the window.

During this time, a figure of a single highschool girl entered my field of vision.

(…Still giving that bored look.)

The girl who returned back from overseas had her hand supporting her chin, and the textbook on the table wasn’t flipped opened at all, and she looked lethargic while sighing away.

(Looks like she’s still not used to life here)

I never actually saw her talking happily with others before. The words she said on the first day and her classification as someone who returned from overseas caused the people in the class to keep their distance from her.

“Yoshii. Do you know the meaning of this term?”

“Yes? E, erm, it means ‘interesting’—that would be great.”

“Why is it that your answer has your own wish mixed in at the end…”

The muscular teacher sighed, and everyone in the class laughed heartily. Shimada was staring at Yoshii, who’s standing in the midst of the laughter, with envy—hatred.

(That guy is being completely hated.)

I thought as I watched the eyes full of hatred. Looking at this, it’s not impossible for Shimada not to pull Yoshii out and vent her frustrations. This will only be a disaster for Yoshii, who doesn’t know that Shimada hates him.

Even so, I can understand the feeling, why Yoshii infuriates others. That’s because, even if my reason is different from Shimada, I don’t like Yoshii.

(Even if that’s the case, I can’t think of anything…)

I’ll only waste my time and effort getting involved with such an idiot. It’ll be better if I don’t.

After making this conclusion, I give up on thinking and close my eyes silently.

Just like that, the boring day ended.

☆

A few days passed, and it’s been two weeks since the Opening Ceremony ended.

There was no change in the stares from the teachers and the students at me or the surrounding situation.

“How stupid…there’s nothing to talk about, and yet they’re nitpicking at my habits. Really…”

I muttered to myself.

After school, I was told to go to the staff room, so I thought something was up, but it seemed that a neighboring school had an incident of violence that caused the teacher to nag. It seemed that I was convicted just by suspicion, and I really wanted to actually take action.

“Damn it, judging others just by looks and rumors.”

I can understand that ‘it can’t be helped when others misunderstand’, but it’s a completely different thing emotionally. Nobody will be happy being told off for something they never did.

The few people who were chatting on the corridors after school either looked at me or hurriedly left for the exit while looking terrified, thinking that I would find trouble with them, perhaps because they saw me being all unhappy. What idiots. How can I possibly fight them if they don’t provoke me?

I was really unhappy and walked back quickly to my classroom to hurry up and head home. Is everyone already going out with their friends or taking part in club activities just two weeks since the school opening? I don’t know the specific reasons as there’s no one in the classroom.

“What reason? What time is it now?”

After looking at the watch, I understood. Normally, students would have already gone home at this time.

I silently listened to the teacher silently and got detained for a long time with a ‘what’s with that look, are you thinking of fighting back’? If it wasn’t for the muscular teacher in charge of remedial returning to the staff room to stop that teacher, it could have been much longer.

Why must I suffer so much? I thought as I grabbed the bag that was placed on my own table and got ready to go home. As I was too forceful, I knocked into the table on my way out.

“…”

A lot of textbooks dropped out from the table. The owner of this seat didn’t bring the textbooks back home and only put it that.

“Already like this soon after school opening? How enthusiastic you are in your studies.”

I muttered this line that could be said to myself and reached out my hand to put the dropped textbooks back.

And then, I saw that pitiful state.

“That’s, way too much…”

The cover was wrecked and the pages were all messed up. Books that should have been just given were already in such a pathetic state. It wouldn’t be possible for this to happen if it’s used normally.

I picked up this book and looked at the thoroughly tattered cover, and the cover had the name ‘Shimayumi Mikare’ on it. Such a weird name…that’s the name the girl who just came back from overseas wrote wrongly.

“Speaking of which, she called others in the class swines back then.”

In that case, this disaster happened because of Shimada’s words and enraged a certain person enough to bully her.

“Doesn’t look that way…”

To me, the people in our class merely felt that the line was like ‘some foreigner who couldn’t speak Japanese well said something weird’ and ended it there. It shouldn’t be at the level where someone would bully her, and also, no idiot will enthusiastically get near anyone who said that.

Anyway, it’s really hard to imagine someone bullying her. In other words, it’s because this girl herself was enraged as she couldn’t get used to Japan, right? And this method of wrecking is way too weird…

“…Well, never mind. It has nothing to do with me.”

I’ll just observe for the time being and put the tattered textbook back to its original position.

At this moment.

“!?”

A fast moving thing flashed past my eyes.

My body naturally reacted before I could make a decision and backed away from there. I dodged the danger at the last moment, and a certain person’s fist grazed right past the front of my eyes. At this moment, I finally saw what was trying to hit me.

I adjusted my position and watched the owner of the fist.

Standing over there was,

“…”

That idiot who had quite the fate with me ever since school started.

“What are you trying to do, you bastard?”

Yoshii asked silently.

Both of us know that we hated each other, but even so, it’s not so bad that we would actually start punching each other.

“……What…are you doing……”

Yoshii rotated his fist as he said. Asking me what I’m doing?”

“I’m about to ask you—”

“I’M SAYING WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE DOING AT HER SEAT!!!”

Yoshii let out a roar that I couldn’t even imagine. Then, his eyes moved to my right hand…or more accurately, the tattered textbook in my right hand.

Right now, my hand has a thoroughly tattered textbook, no one’s inside the classroom, there’s all sorts of rumors in school, and Yoshii’s words just now.

I got a conclusion from this.

“…Don’t tell me—”

That Yoshii, does he think that I wrecked this textbook to bully Shimada?

“Oi, wait a sec, Yoshii. I’m”

“GRIT YOUR TEETH HARD, YOU PIECE OF TRASH!!”

“Tch—this idiot…!”

Yoshii couldn’t listen to my words at all as he clenched his fist hard to attack. I bent my waist to dodge and said to Yoshii.

“Calm down! I didn’t do this!”

“I’LL KILL YOU!!!”

“LISTEN TO ME!!!”

Not good. I’ve been misunderstood completely.

…Can’t be helped.

“Then, I’ll play along with you!”

He was already someone I didn’t like anyway. Fine, I’ll just give him two, three punches to shut him up! That’s the best way to deal with such an idiot!

Just as expected of an idiot, he won’t cry until something’s smacked into him. Yoshii attacked from the front for the 3rd time. I dodged it from aside and hit the defenseless face.

“KGAA!”

The tables and chairs got involved, and Yoshii flew out in an exaggerated manner. I didn’t use all my strength, but there’s a huge difference in our body types. He’s less than 170cm tall, and it’s to be expected for him to be sent flying by me, who’s almost 180cm tall.

“…That…bastard!”

Yoshii again stood up and leapt over. This time, I grabbed him on the chest and threw him back in the opposite direction.

The tables and chairs have collapsed there on the floor where Yoshii landed.

“!!”

And then, he pushed aside the tables and chairs clinging onto his feet and stood up. I really couldn’t tell from his appearance, but he’s really a stubborn person.

Yoshii continued to leap over like before, and this time, I sent him flying back with a kick. He landed between the tables and the chairs again, and again stood up.

Again and again, this process continued to repeat.

“…Must definitely…send you flying…!”

“You really can take hits, huh! WANT SOME MORE!?”

I couldn’t help but roar as I saw Yoshii try to stand up again.

He got punched, kicked, thrown and I never got hit even once. That’s to be expected. Yoshii was fast, but his body was too light and his movements were too direct, and to be honest, he wasn’t much of an opponent to me. He should have given up a long time ago when he was losing to me like that.

“…!!”

However, Yoshii gritted his teeth and stood up again.

At first, I just wanted to calm him down by punching him 2, 3 times, but before I knew it, it’s been more than 15 rounds.

“Damn it…! How many times must I beat you before you give up…!”

As the one dealing the beating, I started to grumble as I continued to repeat the same motions, again and again.

At this moment, a certain thought appeared in my mind.

(Why isn’t this guy giving up…?)

He’s been beaten so badly, and he knows he can’t beat me no matter how stupid he is. Or rather, he should have expected the outcome before we started fighting.

(Isn’t it obvious who’s the stronger one between us…)

On a side note, I can tell the huge difference in ability between us. It’s the skinny and short Yoshii versus the physically strong me, who’s already used to this kind of situation to a certain extent, like how the rumors went. A normal person will never rush at me after seeing such a thing in the classroom after school. Normally, that person will pretend not to notice and run away or call a teacher here. That’s a smart and correct choice.

“…”

Suddenly, I was reminded of a painful emmory.

In a classroom after school, opponents I couldn’t beat, being bullied, a girl without friends. That was 5 years ago, when we were still in grade school. It was—a painful memory I didn’t want to remember.

I roared to Yoshii, who was standing up again, to shake aside these memories.

“THAT’S ENOUGH, YOU IDIOTIC BASTARD!!!”

My brain was filled with blood, and my face felt hot; my emotions were agitated, and my eyes were red. How can I continue to play around with him!!

On hearing my words, Yoshii trembled as he got to his feet, and finally responded.

“…Don’t you feel…it’s really pitiful…”

“Aah?”

I didn’t understand what he was saying at first, and asked back,

“DON’T YOU FIND HER PITIFUL!? SHE JUST CAME BACK TO JAPAN, DOESN’T HAVE ANY FRIENDS, DOESN’T UNDERSTAND JAPANESE, BUT WAS STILL WORKING HARD ALONE! WHY MUST YOU BULLY SUCH A PERSON WHO’S WORKING HARD!!”

The thoroughly wounded Yoshii yelled with a powerful voice.

Pitiful? Working alone? I know that. You don’t have to explain that. I saw such a similar situation before.

Yes. Under the same situation, the same conditions.

—No, it’s different.

While the person who summoned her courage for my sake was being bullied right in front of me, I was hesitating beside her, trembling, thinking of running away. I put myself first.

However, this guy—

“HOW CAN I FORGIVE SOMEONE LIKE YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!”

This guy actually…!

GANK!! A loud sound rang.

Yoshii was sent flying with such force that couldn’t be compared to those hits before.

And I took Yoshii’s punch right in the face. My vision starts to waver. It was because I didn’t think of dodging and only focused on hitting him…however, it doesn’t matter whether I want to dodge or not. I’ll just focus on beating this guy up…!!

“FINE, IF YOU DON’T LIKE ME THAT MUCH, YOSHII, TRY AND BEAT ME UP THEN!! I’LL BEAT YOU UP UNTIL YOU CAN’T STAND UP!!!”

My mind was blank. This guy in front of me really pricks my nerves to the worst. No need to hold back! I’ll thoroughly beat this annoying idiot into a pulp.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I’LL SEND YOU FLYING AND MAKE YOU REGRET IT !!”

“SHUT UP! YOU TRASH!!”

He doesn’t consider his own defenses as he swings his own fist in a momentum that can crush the cheekbones. This idiot…! I’ll really beat you up!

And then, while both of us are so close that we can beat each other up,

“…That’s enough.”

““—!!??””

A shadow suddenly butts in and pointed pen tips in front of Yoshii and me. Thi, this guy…this guy’s called Tsuchiya, right? When did he get in!?

“DON’T GET IN OUR WAY! IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!”

And I temporarily diverted my target from Yoshii and Tsuchiya.

“…I’ll be troubled if you continue to wreck havoc like this.”

Tsuchiya continued to say to us while pointing the pens at us, but his eyes were looking at a corner of the classroom. What’s going on?

“…The camera will be wrecked.”

““…………Hah?””

The vague words caused Yoshii and me to have question marks above our hand. At this moment, the guy who appeared in front of us lowers the pens and walks over to a corner of the classroom, rummages through there to find something. Is that…a CCD camera? Is he saying that he doesn’t want us to wreck it with our fighting? That’s not really a prob—but why did he have a camera there?

“Were you taking shots secretly?”

“…!(Shakes head violently)”

He shook his head hard to deny it. Speaking of which, this guy seemed to have said something about this during his self-introduction…

I recall what happened on the day of the opening ceremony, and Tsuchiya was checking his camera will fail. He himself denies that he was taking shots, but I can only imagine it like that when he placed it at such an angle…or is there any other motive? I’m not sure.

“…Tch. Lost my interest.”

The rage within me immediately diffused. It’s pointless going hard on an idiot. Better go home early.

“You managed to keep your pitiful life there, Yoshii.”

I again sling my bag on my shoulder, face Yoshii and turn around.

At this moment.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YOU BASTARD!!”

“KGAA!”

I realized that my shoulder was grabbed, and then there was a punch to my face. This…bastard…! It’s rare for me to say that I let you go…!

“…Looks like you still want to fight, Yoshii.”

“Of course! Do you think I’ll let you go unless you apologize to Shimada-san!?”

I said before that an idiot’s an idiot, but to be honest, I never expected him to be so stupid. As expected, taking on such a guy is—

“WILL YOU UNDERSTAND WHEN I SEND YOU TO YOUR GRAVE!?”

“THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO SAY, YOU BASTARD!!”

It’s already the umpteenth round. However,

“DAMN YOU, WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING!!”

““EHHH!?””

This time, we were stopped by a familiar gruff sounding voice. Wait…this voice belongs to that muscular remedial teacher…!

Better hide my fist and pretend nothing happened now. But even so, I can’t hide the terrible state of the classroom. This is bad…! Getting into trouble after entering school like that…!

I can’t escape, and I don’t know how to deal with this situation.

My heart sinks as I turn around.

“How’s that? Have you calmed down?”

Standing over there is the weird classmate of mine who has a feminine face and speaks in an old-fashioned manner.

“Was that voice just now your doing?”

“How about it? Sounded like it, didn’t it?”

He smiled happily as he said this. I had an impression on this guy as well. I remember this guy’s name is called Kinosheeta Hideyoshi. It’s really hard to forget anyone with such a special appearance, tone and gender.

As my attention was diverted over there, Yoshii immediately rushed over here.

“MOVE ASIDE, KINOSHEETA-SAN! GO TO HELL, YOU SCUMBALL—”

“Tch! Such an annoying person—”

“DIDN’T I TELL YOU TO STOP!!?”

““Urk!!!???””

My eardrums and even my muscles trembled. Yoshii and I had to stop. How large of a vocal range does this guy have?

“Really, just look at this mess. For what reason are you fighting for?”

It looks like a typhoon just swept by the classroom as the tables and chairs were scattered all over the place. Looking around, I realize that we really created quite the ruckus.

“I understand your feelings, Kinosheeta-san. But it’s dangerous for a girl here, so please quietly—”

“You’re called Yoshii, right? I’d just realized that you’re treating me as a girl.”

“Un. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“……Yoshii yo.”

“Anyway, hurry up and leave this place, Kinosheeta-san.”

“Tei!”

Stick.

“………Hee!?”

Kinosheeta grabbed Yoshii on the hand and pressed it against his own chest. Oi oi, what’s going on now? What’s the situation?

“………(Pacha pacha pacha)”

And then, at a corner of the classroom, there’s a pervert with a camera aimed over here like a tank. That’s too weird. The development of things here are far beyond my common sense.

“How about that, Yoshii? You can tell that I’d am a man, right?”

“Ki, Kinosheeta-san…”

“Un?”

“You’re already a high school student. It’s better for you to wear a bra…”

“Has my words fallen on deaf ears already!!?”

Yoshii blushed as he drew his hand away from Kinosheeta’s chest.

“…!!(Pacha)”

Beside him, Tsuchiya moves behind Kinosheeta at such a speed where only afterimages can be seen. Is he trying to check if there are any signs of bras there? This guy’s…really an enigmatic guy…!”

“…Such immeasurable…feelings……!!! (Bushaa)”

After getting a satisfactory result from his investigation, Tsuchiya collapses onto the floor with a nosebleed. Why, why is it that he’s the one bleeding the most when Yoshii and I were the ones fighting?

“Anyway, you can tell that I’d am a man, right?”

“…”

Yoshii looks troubled as he can’t eliminate the possibility of a small-breasted girl.

“Muu…if you insist, I’d have to take off my bottoms reluctantly…”

“DON’T DO THAT! IT’LL FEEL LIKE A CERTAIN FORBIDDEN LINE WILL BE CROSSED IF YOU DO THAT!!!!!!”

Regarding this, I agree with Yoshii.

“Never mind. Since you’ve said it to such an extent, Kinosheeta-san, I’ll have to treat you as a guy for now.”

“Hold it. In that case, why are you calling me ‘-san’?”

“More than that, I have to beat up this scumbag good!”

“Tch! Try it if you can!”

This guy still doesn’t seem like he will give up. How stubborn is he actually? No, it’s an idiot’s trait to run in a straight line.

Just when we were getting ready to fight,

“Really? Do you really want me to roar again?”

Kinosheeta’s words caused us to freeze. If that loud voice rings again, I don’t know what will happen to my eardrums.

Seeing that we barely managed to keep our fists back, Kinosheeta sighs and says,

“Really…I don’t know the reason, but the other classmates and I can’t ignore it when you’re messing around in the classroom. Can you let bygones be bygones?”

““…Fuun””

Even if I’m to explain, I don’t exactly know what to say. Also, Yoshii beside me seems like he doesn’t know what to say like me too. This guy, even though he’s an idiot and a really weak fighter, he doesn’t intend to talk about how I bullied Shimada (even though it was Yoshii’s misunderstanding)? Such a weird guy. Small fry will say things like small fry, distorting facts all over the place. Go beg others for mercy.

“Yare yare. My head hurts. It’s really hard to explain.”

“…(Suu)”

“Un? What’s that?”

“…Just watch.”

At this moment, Tsuchiya operates the camera and shows a certain recorded part for us to see.

“Tsuchiya yo, what’s that?”

“…The entire situation will be cleared with this.”

It’s a little hard to understand Tsuchiya’s overly simplistic explanation.

Anyway, I’ll just look at the screen like him—

However, even if he said that it’s the entire thing,

“…Nothing else other than the legs?”

“Tsuchiya, you’re really taking shots secretly, huh?”

“…!!(Shakes head violently)”

Tsuchiya continues to shake his head to deny it. Why is it that he’s still denying it when the decisive evidence is right in front of our eyes? In a certain sense, it’s really scary.

I’ll ignore that for now and continue to watch the footage Tsuchiya provided. Yoshii is somewhat unhappy, but intends to watch it first before continuing,

“Oi, Tsuchiya. When was this?”

“…Cleaning time?”

“Cleaning?”

Tsuchiya pressed a switch to fast forward the image, and at this moment, the tables and chairs were moved to the back as they started to clean up.

“So what about the cleaning?”

The crystal display shows the students feet as they walk around the class.

“…Watch this.”

Tsuchiya pauses the image and points at a certain place.

The image is very small and couldn’t be seen easily, but I can still see something had dropped onto the floor. That’s…

“Is that…a textbook?”

“Hoeh?”

It’s just like what Kinosheeta said. On the screen, a textbook dropped onto the floor, and the students in the class didn’t notice that as they continued to drag the tables and chairs back. The book got caught under them.

“Everyone was busy talking and didn’t notice what was below their feet.”

The people in charge of cleaning didn’t notice the textbook held underneath as they moved the table filled with stuff back to the classroom.

Fuun, I see. So that’s how it is.

“Ah, arre? Don’t tell me, that’s…”

I ignored the flabbergasted Yoshii, and Tsuchiya presses the switch to move to the next scene.

The speaker of the camera let out some voices.

“…This is, what should we do…”

“This is bad…we didn’t notice it…”

“Isn’t this the textbook of the girl who came back? If that’s the case, even if we go explain it—”

“She won’t listen to us and call us swines…”

“An, anyway, let’s put it back into the table. We’ll think of a way tomorrow.”

“Tha, that’s right. Let’s do it.”

“……This is the truth.”

Tsuchiya switches off the image of the camera. At this moment,

“Sososososorry!!!”

Yoshii lowered his head and bowed hard at me…ha?

“What’s with that out of a sudden?”

“We, well, how should I apologize here…! Anyway, Sakamoto-kun, just beat me up until you've calmed down!”

“No no, I don’t want to beat you up anymore.”

“Ah, in that case. Eh, well—”

What’s with those words? Yoshii just continues to look around the classroom in a frantic manner. Seriously, what’s with this guy? Where has the momentum he had up till now gone to?

Seeing Yoshii change his attitude so quickly, Kinosheeta asks,

“What is it, Yoshii? Is there something wrong?”

“Ah, un. Well—”

“—It’s like this. I misunderstood Sakamoto-kun.”

“I see. So that’s the reason for this terrible state.”

“Un…I’m really sorry about this, Sakamoto-kun…”

Yoshii looks at me, seemingly trying to probe for my expression. Ahh, damn it, what’s with this guy actually?

“But you’re also in the wrong too, Sakamoto. Couldn’t you have explained it well just now? Don’t you feel that Yoshii could have listened to you when you saw him like that?”

“…Fuun.”

Kinosheeta’s words made sense. I might be able to convince him if I explained things. In fact, I was planning to do this right from the beginning, but I gave up on this thought halfway through…because I thought of something unnecessary.

“Are there any hidden feelings inside you?”

“You won’t understand even if I tell you this, Kinosheeta.”

I don’t want to explain the feelings back then, and besides, I’m not really on such good terms with this group of people.

“Alright, if there’s nothing, I’ll be going.”

“Ah, un. See you tomorrow. Also, I’m really sorry about that.”

“Ke.”

He got tangled up with me while we were fighting, and this guy is apologizing non-stop now. Really, if he’s so worried, he should have used his brain so that things wouldn’t have happened like this. Even if this never happened, the textbook is still like that—Shimada, she might be hurt emotionally after seeing her textbook end up like that because of this bullying that never existed in the first place.

“…”

The hand that reached out for the bag stops for a moment.

There was a slight yet stupid thought appearing in my mind.

What will Yoshii do after this?

A normal person will just go home and explain the reason why the textbook was tattered to Shimada. That will just solve this problem easily and beautifully. It doesn’t matter to Yoshii whether Shimada can understand Japanese well. Once he tells her what he needs to say, there’s nothing else for him to do.

Yes, that’s the normal trail of thought.

“Kinosheeta-san, do you know where you can get new textbooks?”

“Un? No, I have no idea at all. Also, I am a guy.”

“What about you, Tsuchiya-kun?”

“…(Shakes head)”

“I see…u~n…”

That should be the case, yet the conversation I’m hearing doesn’t seem to have that intent. Their brains are really stupid.

“Can we get it if we go to the shops?”

“How do we do that? The textbooks are all given, and even if we go to the shops, they might be sold out at this point. Also, the shops right now should be closed at this time, right?”

“Then, how about we sneak in or something?”

“……That’s very risky.”

“I really don’t know. That action is really too risky. There’ll be the suspicion of illegal trespassing and criminal theft.”

“Even though I definitely won’t go steal money, u~n…that’s really not a good idea…”

Well, never mind. It has nothing to do with me. Better go back home to rest. I only took two punches, but my face does hurt.

“How about we make a copy of the book?”

“There’s a lot to print…”

“…And we can’t make a real book.”

I’ll just go shopping on the way home. There’re a lot of things I need to buy.

“How about we go iron this book?”

“It’s not even a book. The creases can’t be ironed flat…”

“…The tattered edges can’t be repaired.”

Alright, time to shop.

“I’ll replace this tattered book with my own then.”

“Didn’t everyone have to write their names when the textbooks were given out? You can’t change it if it has your name.”

“…And it doesn’t solve the problem in the first place.”

I’ll go and shop…

“How about we wreck everyone’s books…”

“Shimada’s book won’t be so obvious then…”

“…But that’s just vandalism.”

…………………………………………………

“Then, then,”

“AH—REALLY, YOU IDIOTS! COULDN’T YOU HAVE JUST TOLD THE TEACHERS THAT YOU NEED ANOTHER BOOK!!?”

I couldn’t help but butt in on hearing their stupid words. These guys are way too stupid! Even I will feel anxious hearing such things, you bastards!

“Ah, yeah! That’s right! We didn’t do anything wrong here!”

“That’s true. It’s just like what you said, Sakamoto yo.”

“…That’s a blind spot.”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THIS IF YOU’RE NORMAL!!”

Ahh damn it!! Are these guys serious!? They’re not kidding me now, right!?

“Really, use your brains more, you idiots…alright, I’m going home then.”

“Ahh, un.”

I sling my back and leave Yoshii and the rest behind. Damn it, this isn’t really my style.

“Ah, Sakamoto-kun.”

“Naa? Is there anything else?”

On hearing Yoshii’s voice, I turn around for the last time.”

“Thanks a lot for your help.”

And that guy said that with a hurt look.

“…”

Such a strange guy.

Immediately, I feel that there’s a need to clean up the classroom, but it should be alright to leave it to Yoshii. If he’s worried that I’m angry over being misunderstood, I’ll feel more grateful if he could do something about this other than apologizing.

Just when I thought about this and put my hand on the door handle.

“Hold it, Sakamoto. What are you doing here!?”

“““!?”””

A gruff voice stopped me. This voice, this pressure, it’s for real…!

“Mu, muscular sensei…!”

“Call me Nishimura-sensei.”

The muscular teacher in charge of remedial appeared, calling himself this,

This is bad…! The classroom’s in such a state, and Yoshii and I are hurt. It’s impossible to find an excuse…!

I’ll just say that it’s troublesome and try to get away…even though I thought so, this muscular teacher’s body isn’t just ordinarily big. He continues to close in on us while looking like he’s not letting us escape as he blocks the exit.

In that case, I can only take the risk and duck under his arms.

I’ll at least kick one of the tables and chairs on the floor right at him to escape. At this moment,

“Sorry, sensei.”

“Muooh?”

Just when I got ready to take action, Yoshii takes off his blazer and drapes it over the muscular teacher’s head,

“…Excuse me.”

Also, Tsuchiya used some sort of cable to tie the shirt and make it hard to break free. At this moment, I put enough obstacles at the feet of the muscular teacher.

“Use this chance to get away from here!”

Kinosheeta then said with a cornered voice and opened the window with a loud sound. However, we escape normally from the corridor instead of leaping through the window.

“Dam, DAMN YOU! YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY!”

The muscular teacher’s vague voice can be heard from afar. Even if he manages to see something, he will check the window where no one is around.

The escape from the classroom I thought was impossible succeeded so easily.

“…”

These guys…

“That was dangerous~ it would be bad if that teacher caught us.”

“…I heard that we would be punished severely.”

“A very strict teacher at that.”

They continued to say things like this as we walk down the stairs. We finally managed to get away. Time to go home.

“Yoshii yo, what do we do about the textbook just now?”

“What about it?”

“Such a thing happened just now. It’s impossible to explain the situation to the teachers and ask them to give a new book.”

“Ah…yeah, that’s right.”

On the other hand, even though things got tougher, this group of idiots just wants to get their hands on the textbook no matter what. Fine, whatever you want to do, just do it. It has nothing to do with me.

I take my bag again and head towards the corridor.

“Do you have any good ideas, Sakamoto-kun?”

“…Haa?”

I’m going already, but Yoshii just asked me in a matter-of-fact manner. Is this guy’s head underwater or something?

“Why must I—”

Help you think of ideas? Just when I was about to say that, the teachers’ voices can be heard from afar.

“Ahh…this is bad…”

“What is it?”

“The waste disposal recovery vehicle took the new textbooks away wrongly…”

“Ahh. That’s a waste.”

“Yeah. That’s because I won’t have extra textbooks for the year. Yare yare…”

On hearing these words, I couldn’t believe my ears. That voice definitely belongs to the teacher in charge of classics, either Tanaka or Takenaka, and Shimada’s wrecked textbook was classics. What luck, this idiot’s luck is so good it’s scary. No, I think that’s strong bad luck for him. He wouldn’t be chased away from the classroom if he had good luck and could have ended things smoothly.

“I see. So the teacher’s bothered over not having textbooks…everyone’s really bothered over textbooks today…”

“That’s true.”

………Ha?

“But that teacher has one, so there’s no problems for him. Compared to him, over here…”

“Yeah. Muu…what should we do…?”

The, these guys…!!

“ARE YOU ALL IDIOTS!? THAT’S IT!”

“Eh!? What, that?”

“THE TEXTBOOK! CAN’T YOU JUST GET BACK THE ‘THROWN TEXTBOOK’ THEY JUST MENTIONED!?”

““…Ohh, I see!””

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!? ANY HUMAN CAN DEFINITELY REALIZE THIS!”

What’s with this group of guys? Do they think that textbooks will become scrap paper once they enter the waste recovery truck!?”

“But how do we get the book?”

“Hear out the name of the waste recovery company and make a call to them! We can then identify the vehicle that came to school to collect the trash!”

“Ohh, that’s right. You’re really amazing, Sakamoto.”

“YOU GUYS ARE JUST TOO WORTHLESS!”

These guys will definitely be streamed into F class next year with such brains!

“Then, we’ll just hear the name of the recovery company—”

“BASTARDS! I GOT YOU!”

The muscular teacher’s voice suddenly rang. Tch! That guy revived!?

We run off in the opposite direction of the origin of the voice. The enemy just had to come running out from the corridor. Now we can’t escape like we wanted.

“WHAT SHOULD WE DO AT SUCH A TIME, SAKAMOTO-KUN!?”

“HOW WOULD I KNOW!? JUST RUN WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT!!”

I can feel the presence of the muscular teacher slowly closing in. How does he have such leg strength!? Speaking of which, that teacher seemed to have mentioned that his interest is an Ironman triathlon. It’s not correct to call him muscular anymore; that guy’s nickname will be Ironman!

Even as I continued to run, I can’t pull the distance apart in this situation of despair, and beside me, Kinosheeta sighs and says to us,

“There’s no other way out. I’ll lure the sensei away. I am leaving the textbook to you.”

““Haa?””

After saying that, he stops and turns to face Ironman.

“O, oi!”

“Kinosheeta! You bastard, what’s going—”

“Nishimura-sensei, things aren’t good now!”

“Not good? What’s not good?”

“When I’d entered the classroom just now, a few unfamiliar students from other schools appeared, saying ‘hand Sakamoto over’ and made a ruckus.”

“…What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what’s going on either, but I just thought of running away when people were making a scene in the classroom…those guys may still be there.”

“Okay, lead the way.”

Kinosheeta led Ironman away to another place.

That guy wouldn’t blink even when lying, huh? Normally, people will hesitate somewhat when facing such a ferocious teacher (and a muscular one at that in this case).

However,

“Now we can get away!”

“…Good job, Kinosheeta!”

We managed to escape Ironman’s demonic clutches, and we should use this chance to hurry and get out of the school.

“But we can’t ask the name of the company from the teachers. What should we do?”

Yoshii asked as we ran towards the corridor.

“We’ll just have to chase after it! Since they said that it just left, if we’re lucky, we might be able to catch up when the vehicle is caught at the traffic light!”

I immediately answered according to the mood right now. Damn it! How can I just let myself get pulled around like this!?

“We’ll have to hurry then!”

Yoshii changes into his shoes at the corridor and gets ready to rush out of the school gate.

“…No, over here.”

Tsuchiya called him and turned away. What is it? What is he planning to do?

“…It’ll be faster here.”

He leads us to a bicycle parking lot for the bicycles students use. I see. The front of this school is a slope, so it’ll be a lot faster to ride down it than to run.

“You’re going to lend us your bicycle, Tsuchiya-kun?”

“…Give me 4 seconds.”

Tsuchiya squat down in front of a certain bicycle, kacha kacha, and fumbles with the lock. Oi oi…that way of unlocking is definitely stealing.

“Eh!? Is that good?”

“…It’ll be fine if you return it properly later.”

As he said that, the locks are undone, and the bicycle is ready.

“Alright! I’ll borrow this now, thanks!”

Yoshii gets up on the bike to ride the pedal. And that’s fine in itself…”

“…Where will you go first?”

“Ah…erm…”

As expected! This guy doesn’t know where he’s headed to first! He’s just moving according to instincts!

Not only does he not know the destination, it’s practically crazy for him to chase after a vehicle in such a state after being battered all over in the fight against me. He’ll either collapse halfway through or fall down, and it’s really madness for him to go chase in such a state.

But even so,

“Let’s look for it first! It’s better than not doing anything!”

Yoshii said without hesitation. Just for a classmate, he’s working so hard for a girl who returned to the country, who doesn’t like him, and even loathes him.

I really can’t understand this guy at all. Normally, will you do such a thing? You’re already injured, you know? Shimada hates you, you know? No one will thank you even if you get the textbook, you know?

His irrational thinking causes me to be worried.

What’s going on? What’s with this guy? Really, this guy’s really…!

“Ah seriously. Move aside, you bastard!”

“Eh…? Sakamoto?”

“Hurry up and sit! I’ll take you down the road the vehicle may have gone down!”

Why is it that this guy is so stupid! Getting into a fight without being sure of what’s going on, unable to think of the obvious, always rushing forward without thinking. This guy is the one saying that he wants to help the transfer student, but isn’t he the most useless one in the end? He doesn’t have anything normal people have! He doesn’t understand a thing that can be understood if you just think a little! And, and—

“Thanks!”

And…he only has one thing, the one thing that I don’t have, and the one thing I had always hoped for.

“Hang on tight! I won’t stop and go after you if you fall!”

“Got it!”

I let Yoshii ride on the back seat of the bicycle and bore the weight of my whole body onto the pedals. That was the only bicycle in the parking area. I don’t have the duty to chase alone, but if I let Yoshii go alone, I won’t know where he will go to or whether he will even fall along the way. It can’t be that it’s a two-seater bike here…but why must I be riding it with someone who’s trying to patch things up with me after we just fought each other?

“Ahh, damn it! This isn’t fun at all!”

The bicycle flies out as if it’s being chased by something invisible as it glides down the slope in front of the school. The bicycle lets out a creaking sound, but I’m not slowing down at all.

“Listen up! I’ll only lead you there! It doesn’t matter to me what you do after that!”

“That’s enough! I’ll handle the negotiations after that!”

“Tch! Of course you will!”

Our speed is so fast that I can’t even open my eyes, but Yoshii continues to grab onto my shoulders tightly without fear. This guy only beats out others in terms of guts!

I recall the map of the area in my mind. The waste recovery plant isn’t located inside the city, but in the suburbs. The road leading to the outside will split into four forks at a certain point, and if the truck goes by there, we’ll be at a loss as we won’t be able to tell where it goes. Thus, we have to get to the intersection first before blocking the vehicle. Right now, the most important thing is speed.

“We’re going to turn! Tilt your body!”

“Got it!”

If I turn the handle suddenly at this speed, we’ll definitely fall off. We can only tilt our bodies to shift our weight if we don’t want to slow down.

I shifted my weight forward, seemingly trying to hold down the a vehicle that is going amok, and Yoshii turns to the right.

I move the handle with the intent to tilt the front wheel slightly horizontally. If the front wheel slips, it’s over. Don’t wobble now…!!

Zuri zuri, the irritating sound could be heard. The front wheel was steady, but the back wheel seem to slide.

“You…oOOH!!!”

Behind me, Yoshii steadied it again, and the bicycle managed to maintain balance, keeping a constant speed as it moves forward.

“Oi, you bastard! You’re using too much force on your hands! My shoulders are aching because of you grabbing me!”

“You told me to hang on tight!”

As we said that, we arrived at the next turn. We manage to keep our balance as the wheels seem to fly again, but this time, there doesn’t seem to be a similar anxiety from before.

“Ah! That mini-truck!”

“Ah!? You see it?”

“Un! Right in front of us!”

I didn’t see it, but since Yoshii says it’s in front, I’ll just follow the direction he’s pointing!

“UOOOHH!!”

I continue to move my legs with all I have and transfer my strength to the wheels. At this speed, there’s no need to consider turning; I just need to focus on moving forward.

“Alright! We’re going to catch up, Sakamoto-kun!”

I forgot the traffic rules of having to move down both sides of the road as I continued to step on the pedal. The target stops because of a red light.

“Caught up!”

We stopped right beside the truck that stopped. Yoshii gets off the bicycle once I braked and knocks on the door of the mini-truck. Yare yare…is this mission accomplished now…

I heave a sigh of relief and stop my feet.

However,

“Eh!? Arre!? Wait!?”

Once the traffic light turned green, the mini-truck moved forward as if nothing happened. Wait!? What’s going on!?

I let myself rest for the time being to calm myself down, and finally notice the situation around me. I lifted my head, and what I saw was,

“No go! That driver’s not listening because he’s paying attention only to the music!”

The driver has headphones on as he listens to the music. No way! I heard that industrial trucks aren’t fitted with stereos, but this one just had to have headphones on him!

Ehh! Since we came all the way here, we might as well go on until the end!

“Get on, Yoshii! We’re going after it!”

“Got it!!”

As I exert all my strength onto the pedal, Yoshii immediately rushes over from behind like he’s crashing into something and leaps on. The bicycle immediately reaches almost top speed in an instant.

“Can you catch up with it, Sakamoto-kun!?”

“Shut up! Who are you asking here!?”

Our last chance will be the traffic light at the end of the slope in front of us. After that, it’ll be uphill, and there won’t be many traffic lights, so it will be impossible for a bike to catch up.

I continue to step on the pedals as I think about this.

The lactic acid gather at my feet, and my breathing feels erratic. There’s no way to do this from now on other than old-fashioned determination. This really doesn’t suit my original character. Such an action isn’t like me.

That should be the case—

“What—the hell am I doing, damn it!!”

For some reason, I’m using all I got to do this thing that’s not like me.

“Are you alright, Sakamoto-kun!?”

I can hear Yoshii’s worried voice behind me, and it seems that he can feel my legs trembling.

“Don’t you mind! I haven’t fallen to such an extent that I need a twerp like you to worry!’

“But—”

“More than this, this me here will help you out on this! No matter what method you use, get that book back!”

“…Of course!”

I’m not looking in front now as all my strength is focused at my feet. This is a contest behind human power and engines, there’s no chance of me winning this reckless challenge, and it’s something I will normally snort at.

But even though, there’s another me that I don’t know of, cheering me on while my mind’s in a blank as I move forward.

I suddenly lift my head, and several meters away, the mini-truck appears right in front of me.

At the front of the slope, the traffic light shows a red color.

The mini-truck slows down to stop.

We continue to accelerate to catch up.

The distance between the bicycle and the truck is gradually decreasing.

There’s still one step.

One more step, and we can get what we want. Yoshii will get the textbook for the sake of the girl who returned back from overseas, and I will get a certain thing I had been chasing after for 5 years, which even I can’t understand. That’s what I feel.

I continue to prompt my lungs to receive oxygen as I desperately let the bicycle catch up to the truck

Our distance now is almost 0, and the bicycle catches up to the truck.

Now, we just have to move to the front while the red light is right in front of us and call out to the driver when he can see us. We just need to stop the truck and get the textbook.

That’s all we had to do.

However, right at the end, the goddess of luck never stood on our side.

“Ahh…”

The traffic light turns from red to green.

The truck stops decelerating as it accelerates.

The distance that was zero expands again.

In the end, we couldn’t make it. Whether it’s the strength to take even one more step or stepping on the pedal with all I got, it wasn’t enough.

“DA—MNNN IIIITTTT—!!!”

Whether I roar or yell, I couldn’t do it. This is already my limit. My feet can’t generate a faster speed any more.

—However,

“AAALLLLLRRRRRRIIIIGGGGGHHHHTTTT—!!!”

As I hear the voice, the pedal suddenly feels lighter.

Yoshii, who was supposed to be sitting behind me, is now beside me.

The final step I couldn’t reach is filled up.

A landing sound can be heard on the hood of the mini-truck.

—And after that, the time that slowed down mysteriously reverts back to normal.

“OH—UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The bike that acted as Yoshii’s jumping board loses balance as the handle shakes. Even if I put my feet on the ground to press the brakes of the front and back wheel, I won’t be able to reduce this momentum as it falls on the roadside.

“UWAAAAAAHHH!!!”

About 10m in front of me, there’s also the sound of something falling. I don’t even need to look to tell that it’s Yoshii who leaped off the truck. That bastard, even if our speed slowed down with the uphill, there’s a limit to how reckless one should be. If he wasn’t careful, it won’t even be just injuries he would've received.

“Ar, are you two, alright!?”

An unfamiliar voice can be heard.

The truck we tried so hard to catch up to stops in front of Yoshii, and the driver gets out from inside. Ah, I see, so he was shocked by the impact when Yoshii jumped on and stepped on the brake. No wonder Yoshii only got minor wounds.

“Ah…sorry, I’m fine. Just a fall.”

“Eh…? But…”

“Please don’t mind. It’s not some accident. We’re fine here.”

“Is, is that so. Since you say so…”

The driver barely accepts his explanation, returns to the truck, starts the engine again and leaves.

“Ha…hhaaa, haa…”

Yoshii let out a voice that’s either laughing or panting there.

“So, so tiri…ng…”

He holds onto the textbook with both hands like he’s dealing with treasure there. That’s really a strange sight. It’s really inexplicable to see that idiot treasure a learning tool like that.

This out-of-place sense is really too weird, and I let out a voice that’s either laughing or panting as well.

☆

“Looks like you got the target item.”

I ask to check with Yoshii, who regains his breath and walks over.

“Un, it was successful.”

Beaming, Yoshii happily raises the book in his hands.

“I see. That’s really good.”

I smiled back at him and raised my hand up.

“Humph!”

PAK. This hand of mine swings down on the top of his head.

“Wha…!?”

The sudden knock caused Yoshii to roll blank white eyes.

“At least tell me when you’re going to jump!!”

I lashed out at Yoshii loudly.

And then, Yoshii seems to recover from his shock and realizes everything, glaring at me as he gets ready to argue.

“Wha, what!? Didn’t you say that I have to get the book no matter what, for your sake!?”

“But who in their right mind would consider leaping off the bike that is going full speed!? It’s so dangerous that I nearly died there!”

“That’s what I want to say! What’s with you not even using the brakes when two people are riding down a slope! I didn’t even know where to tilt my body because I couldn't see anything if front of the bike behind your huge body!”

“SHUT UP! IF YOU HAVE COMPLAINS, HOW ABOUT YOU PEDAL IT, TWERP!”

“I WANTED TO, BUT DIDN’T YOU TAKE THE BIKE AWAY FIRST, SAKAMOTO-KUN!?”

“ARE YOU AN IDIOT!? YOU DARE TO SAY THIS WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING WHERE THE TRUCK WAS GOING!?”

“WHAT!?”

“WANNA FIGHT!?”

We continued to glare at each other—and suddenly, I recovered.

“Never mind…we’ll just waste our strength fighting here…”

“Yeah…we still have to get back to school…”

We went a long way going downhill, and we’ll have to take a long walk back uphill now. In this situation, we’re already tired even on flat ground, and thinking about the very sloppy road back up makes me really unwilling to waste my energy on this idiot.

“Let’s go back then…are you going to ride back, Sakamoto-kun?”

“Don’t be stupid. What about you? How about I let you ride back?”

“No no, allow me to refuse…I’ll just push it back.”

“Well, that’s still a decent choice.”

Of course, there’s no need to even mention me when who had just pedaled at full speed, but Yoshii must also have been worn out trying to maintain his balance, as his footsteps seem abnormally heavy. He was thoroughly beaten up by me just now, and there was no place for him to put his legs on when the two of us were riding on a bicycle. Of course, it’s correct to say that it’s the right choice to walk back.

We dragged our tired bodies back slowly down the road leading to school.

“Well, even though we went all out like this.”

“Ah? What is it?”

I was pushing the bicycle, and behind me, grabbing the backseat and pushing it from behind was Yoshii, who said to me,

“I remembered the name of the company of that truck just now, so I just need to make a call over later.”

Now he’s saying such things at this point. I blankly answered,

“If you say that, we can just explain what happened after the teachers tell us off in school, and let them help out. We’re helping out others here anyway.”

“…That’s true.”

Also, I found that I didn’t need to spend so much energy if I just let Yoshii ride alone when we discovered the truck. This ending itself will be much plainer. It can only be said that we abandoned all sorts of reasonable means and chose the most taxing one.

That was supposed to be the case,

“Really, I suffered so much just to tag along with you.”

That should be the case, but what’s with the happy feeling inside me?”

“Hahaha…thanks, for helping out…”

Yoshii thanked me. That idiot who was hurt the most, the one who was hated by that transfer student the most thanked me earnestly as if he was helped out for some reason.

Several seconds later, we pushed the bicycle wordlessly.

“…Speaking of accompanying me, what will happen to Kinosheeta after this?”

“Kinosheeta…who knows?”

Even though things won’t end that easily if he falls into that muscled teacher’s hands…then, what will happen next?

“Even though you say it like that, the kid is still a girl, right? Is the kid emphasizing a guy's gender for some acting role or something?”

“No no, I do feel that he’s really a guy. I saw him go into the guys toilet before.”

“Impossible…unbelievable…”

“That’s the fact. Accept it.”

“Uu…I can’t accept this…”

“Prompt yourself then. It’ll be bad if you fall for him.”

“Tha, that’s right…un. Kinosheeta-san is a guy, Kinosheeta-san is a guy, Kinosheeta-san is a—”

Yoshii repeated these words like a mantra or something.

It’s true that Kinosheeta’s appearance is really a waste as a guy.

“Tsuchiya-kun looks like he has lots of mysteries around him. Like how he stole the bike just now.”

“He’s already not normal when he set up the camera in the classroom.”

“He’s definitely taking the photos of the girls’ legs.”

“No other possibilities there, even though he himself denies it.”

“A severe Muttsurini…”

“Well said.”

He normally doesn’t even say anything. It’s like he’s a Muttsurini amongst silent perverts.

“Ah—speaking of which.”

“Un? What is it?”

“Why were you still in school at such a time? Club activity?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then what is it?”

“I went to check on some foreign language…”

Foreign language? This idiot?

“Must be tough on you then.”

It’s really amazing that this guy would actually do English seriously, and a foreign language makes things feel even more out of place. However, it feels that I don’t have to ask about this any further as we continued to talk about other useless stuff on the remaining road.

“Yare yare…we finally managed to make it back…”

“My legs are exhausted…”

As we step past the school gate, we walked towards the park and returned the bike. Luckily, the bike itself wasn’t severely damaged, and it looked fine.

We latched the lock Tsuchiya unlocked, and walked back to the corridor.

At this moment.

“Sorry, everyone! I couldn’t hide the truth!”

“…Sorry.”

““Heh?””

Kinosheeta and Tsuchiya came running out from the corridor and said this as they went by us. They couldn’t hide it. Don’t tell me…!

“Hohou…perfect timing, Yoshii, Sakamoto. Let’s have a long talk about the trashed state of that classroom.”

““ACK!!””

The one who said that as he grabbed our shoulders is that muscled teacher (Ironman).

“Yoshii, Sakamoto. You just had to fight each other in the sacred school compound?”

It’s a voice that seems to come from deep within the abdomen, one full of terror. This isn’t good. My instincts are telling me that we’ll definitely be messed with here if we’re caught here.

I glance secretly at Yoshii, and Yoshii looks back at me as both of us nod at each other. Fuun, so we can get along in such a situation.

“What nonsense are you talking about, sensei? Why must the two of us fight?”

“We may not look like it, but we’re really good buddies here, right?”

Yoshii and I laughed out loud to ease the suspicion Ironman has on us. All existing differences between us don’t matter for the sake of escaping from this teacher that looks like he’ll teach with his metallic fists.

But Ironman remained unmoved as he watches us and roars with his loud voice,

“STOP KIDDING AROUND!! AS A TEACHER, I KNOW BOTH OF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN GETTING ALONG EVER SINCE SCHOOL STARTED!!”

It was a merciless decisive tone. Tch! Such a paranoid guy! So he won’t believe the words of his cute students?

“No no no! We’re really on good terms here! Right ! Sak—”

“Of course! We can’t possibly be fighting, right! Yo—”

At this moment, both of us exchange glances. Really… it’s been one disaster after another today, damn it!

“Hey, we’re on good terms with each other, right, Yuuji?”

“That’s right, Akihisa!”

Both of us put our shoulders on each other. Why must I pretend to have good feelings for this idiot here!?

“…”

Ironman stared at both of us.

Then, he sighs softly.

“That might have solved the differences between you two.”

“What’s with those ridiculous words? Oi oi, we did say such things before, but how did you get such an impression from that?

As both of us show question mark signs above our heads, Ironman continues,

“That’s fine. Since both of you managed to build your friendship, spend some time to talk in the life counselling room.”

““EHH!?””

Do, don’t kid around! Several lives won’t even be enough if we take that teacher’s life counselling session!

Got to find a way to get away from here. I moved my sights and find that the idiot beside me is giving an expression that shows that he’s thinking the same thing as me. Not good! I’ll take the initiative first!

“Sensei, actually—”

“Go!”

The idiot seem like he wants to say something, and I kick him right at Ironman.

“Eh!? Ah, wait!?”

“Sorry Akihisa! I’ll leave the explaining things to you!”

And then, I immediately dashed away. Besides, even if I don’t betray him here, that idiot will have to return to school. As for why, it’s because he has to put the textbook into Shimada’s table. Besides, it’s rare to have a chance to be a bait for my retreat!

“Tra, TRAITOR! I WON’T FORGET THIS GRUDGE!”

“IDIOT! AS IF YOU CAN REMEMBER THAT WITH THAT STUPID BRAIN OF YOURS IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

I used up my last ounce of strength to run down the slope in front of the school.

I forced myself to support my tired legs as I continue to run, and suddenly, I realized something.

“That guy, will he just write ‘Shimada’ on Shimada’s textbook…”

As Shimada remembered the wrong kanji, it’s impossible for her to write ‘Shimada’, so he has to deliberately write it wrongly and write it as ‘Shimayumi’. However, it’s really hard to imagine that idiot realizing this.

And before this, it’s impossible to believe that Shimada remembers the full correct kanji.

—But nevermind.

“Let’s just let him do whatever he wants. They’re all a bunch of idiots anyway.

I thought as I walked down the end of this slope.

Those guys are really idiots that are hard to understand.

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