Volume 5, The Second Question

Volume 5, The Second Question

Please answer the following English sentence into proper Japanese.

“Die Musik gef?llt Leuten und bereichert auch den Verstand.”

Shimada Minami’s answer:

“Music can make people happy and enrich the soul. #This should be German, not English.”

Sakamoto Yuuji’s answer:

“The question’s in German, not English. I can’t answer that.”

Teacher’s comment:

I’m really sorry. Sensei made a mistake by mixing up the question. Shimada-san’s translation into Japanese is correct, but this is honestly sensei’s mistake. Thus, sensei decided to award marks to everyone, including those who didn’t write the answer—

Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:

“ <-Invisible Ink”

Yoshii Akihisa’s answer:

“ <-Only idiots can’t see the answer”

Teacher’s comment:

—I really wanted to give the marks, but you two will be the exceptions, so you two won’t get any marks in this question.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really…feel like going home.”

As I head towards, school, I sent the mail to Yuuji. Yuuji was supposed to come over to my house today to challenge that boxing game, but since nee-san came back, I had to change the plan.

It’s normal to try and make sure other people don’t find out about my sister here when she’s so weird. More importantly, I don’t really want to go back to that house. I should be able to get back my deducted marks before the end-of-term exams. But if I continue to stay at home, maybe she will even deduct points from me for other reasons. So I have to ask Yuuji to let me stay at his house for a few days no matter what, so that I can protect my happy life of living alone.

After checking that the mail was sent, I put the phone back into my pocket.

Just when I was casually walking up the slope leading to a school, a surprised voice called me from behind.

“Nm? Isn’t this Akihisa?”

“Ah, morning, Hideyoshi.”

“Morning.”

Trotting over beside me was my classmate Kinosheeta Hideyoshi. He, who’s wearing a male uniform, is really a pretty girl like what everyone can see here. He calls himself a guy, but I heard that the school tailored a female uniform for him.

At this moment, Hideyoshi was starting at my face as if he was inspecting me. Is there something wrong?

“? What’s wrong, Hideyoshi? Why are you staring at my face?”

“No, well…Akihisa, I think you look different somewhat?”

“Ueh? Are, aren’t you thinking too much? I’m the same as before. Nothing changed here, you know?”

I averted my gaze and didn’t dare to look at Hideyoshi’s stare. Was I found out too quickly? But I have to hide the fact that I have a super ridiculous sister even if I have to lie to Hideyoshi!

“I say, I’m referring to how you look chirper than usual. Did you get some instant income and have a good breakfast?”

Sha, sharp…!

Hideyoshi’s right. I’m very energetic this morning, and of course, it’s because I ate breakfast.

While under nee-san’s supervision, I have to pretend that I’m living a normal regular life. Because of that, I had to eat breakfast. I had to sell my beloved games and books to get enough money so that I can live my own life of freedom. I have to create a false impression of a healthy and regular lifestyle.

“Kind, kinda…even I would occasionally have breakfast anyway.”

I couldn’t find any excuse for now, and could only try to end the topic.

“And your shirt and pants look like they were ironed.”

“Tha, that’s because, it’s the start of the week. It’s nothing much anyway.”

“…Very suspicious.”

“I, it’s really nothing!”

There’s a height difference between us, so Hideyoshi’s looking up at my eyes. I really couldn’t stand Hideyoshi’s probing eyes that seemed to read through everything, and couldn’t help but turn around to avoid Hideyoshi’s stare.

Hideyoshi darted in front of me and continued to stare at my eyes.

“I told you there’s nothing, right?”

I then turned to look in the other direction.

“In that case, it should be alright if you at least talk to me, right?”

Hideyoshi followed me.

“What disgusting thing are you doing so early in the morning?”

“Yoshii-kun, that sempai’s right. I feel that you two have to keep some distance between each other.”

My battle against Hideyoshi was noticed by the upperclassman, one of the Toko-Natsu pair (Tsunemura Yuusaku) and 2-A’s Kubo Toshimitsu, ranked second in our year.

“That’s not it. I didn’t say anything passionate to Akihisa. Besides, including you two, aren’t everyone here guys…”

At that moment, Hideyoshi’s attention was diverted.

“Sorry Hideyoshi! I’ll go ahead first.”

It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to lose. I immediately left Hideyoshi and ran to the school.

“Ugh, damn it, Akihisa! Are you trying to run away!?”

Hideyoshi didn’t manage to catch up, but we’re classmates, so he might continue to ask when we reach the classroom. What should I do? I have to think of a good reason…

I panted and ran up the slope right in front of the school gate, entered the campus, put on my overshoes, and darted towards the 2-F classroom.

“Morning—oi Yuuji? What’s with you? Why are you in gym pants instead of the normal pants?

As I entered the classroom, I saw my classmate, my super bad friend Sakamoto Yuuji, sitting on the cushion in a strange get-up.

“Damned Akihisa! It’s all your fault that I ended up in a super Cool Biz attire on my lower half when I came to school! Repay me with your death, you bastard!!”

“EEHH? What are you going all crazy about? What’s going on!?”

“Shut up! Die! Give me your uniform!”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. What’s with Yuuji this morning—

“Oi, did you hear about Sakamoto?”

“Ahh, I heard he came to school with only a Y-shirt.”

“Really, got to hand it to him…maybe he saw too much crossdressing, but that was really scary…”

My classmates’ whispering could be head.

“…”

“…”

What should I say now?

“Yuuji…I’m willing to chat with you if something bad happened to you…”

“That, that’s not it! I wasn’t wearing it willing! Also, I managed to salvage my last bit of pride by protecting my boxers!”

“Un un. That’s right. It’s because something tragic happened that caused Yuuji’s mental state to become like that…”

“DIDN’T I SAY THAT IT ISN’T LIKE THAT? IT’S BECAUSE SHOUKO SAW THE MAIL YOU SENT THAT MY PANTS WERE TAKEN BY HER, YOU IDIOT!!”

Yuuji looked extremely agitated. Why is it my fault here? What is he talking about?

“Yuuji, what are you saying? Even if it’s Kirishima-san, she can’t possibly mess you up like that just because she saw a guy’s mail, right?”

It’s still understandable if it’s a girl who sent the mail, but how can my mail make her angry? This is really unreasonable.

“No, I’m telling you the truth. Your mail’s really obscene…”

“Obscene? What kind of mail is that?”

The one who suddenly appeared in front of me is Himeji-san, the rare minority of oasis in this class 2-F that’s full of stinking boys. Her cute actions and savage breasts are still very dazzling today.

“That’s just a mail to ask you about something.”

“Hoho, if you really think so, read that mail loud and clearly!”

“? Whatever, I’ll read it then.”

Yuuji looked like he was really concerned about that mail. I took out my phone and opened my mail history.

“Errm, I’m going to read it then—ahem!”

I cleared my throat and loudly read the message I sent to Yuuji.

“Can I stay at your house? Tonight, I don't really…feel like going home.”

GARAKK!!

The moment I read it out, the classroom door was suddenly opened forcefully.

“…”

Standing outside the door was my classmate, Shimada Minami-san.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT AKI’S THINKING ANYMORE!”

“Eh? What’s wrong? Why are you retreating just as you appeared, Minami!?”

My classmate who had the trademarks of the ponytail, nice slender legs and pettanko threw the bag in her hands at me for some reason and ran off.

“Wha, what are you saying, Akihisa-kun!? Shouldn’t that…well…you should be saying that when you become an adult!”

Himeji-san’s words were just as ridiculous. Yuuji would often come over to my house to play too. Even if you ask me to be an adult first, it’s a little…

“You guys are really making noise in the morning like usual…Akihisa just ran from me, and Shimada ran off from the classroom. What happened?”

Hideyoshi was later than me by several minutes and entered the classroom.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s going on? You ran off in front of me. Is there something you’re hiding from me? That, feels kinda lonely…”

Hideyoshi sadly lowered his eyes. What the heck, it’s like there’s a sudden rush of guilt in me!

“Hideyoshi, listen to me. It’s this idiot who publicly made such a declaration that completely violates morality.”

“Akihisa…I say, what obscene words are you saying in the morning?”

“That, that’s not it! I won’t do that kind of thing like Muttsurini!”

“…How rude.”

A somewhat dejected whisper came from behind. I turned around, and found that my classmate Tsuchiya Kouta (nicknamed Muttsurini) was already standing at a place where I couldn’t even detect his presence.

“Morning, Muttsurini. What’s going on? You look like you brought lots of baggage here today.”

He was holding his school bag and a large carrier bag. There’s no PE lesson today, so the bags shouldn’t contain gym clothes.

“…Just pillow covers.”

“Pillow covers? Your bag’s really big though.”

“…Not true.”

Muttsurini shook his head to deny my words. The way he’s denying things shows that he has some secret he wants to hide…that’s too suspicious.

“Sorry, Muttsurini. Let me see what’s inside.”

“…Ah.”

I snatched one of the bags from Muttsurini, who was a little slow due to the bags. What’s inside them? Did he get something really nice and was ready to keep it for himself?

“Let me see. What’s inside…hmm…?”

What I took out from the bag was—a printed white background cloth with my picture on it (in sailor uniform).

“…Muttsurini…what’s this?”

“…Just an ordinary cushion cover.”

“Just an ordinary—RIGHT! THERE’S A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PILLOW COVER AND A CUSHION COVER! KNOW THAT WELL! AND WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS MY PHOTO ON IT!?”

“…There’s something called a maniac in this world.”

“What in the world are you saying? How could anyone want a cushion of me—”

KON KON!!

“Sorry, is Tsuchiya-kun around? The cushion cover I requested before…”

A-class’ Kubo-kun appeared.

“Arre? It’s rare for you to appear here, Kubo-kun. Why are you looking for Muttsurini?”

“—Nothing. Just thought of something important I have to do. Sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

The moment I thought about that, he went off without looking at me. What’s going on?

“Muttsurini, do you have some business contact with Kubo-kun?”

“(Nods head)…He became my main client ever since the study camp.”

“That guy’s already revealed himself completely.”

Unbelievably, I seemed to have a chill up my spine whenever I see Kubo-kun nowadays.

“Haa…anyway, Muttsurini, I’m going to confiscate this cushion cover. I’ll confiscate everything else and change the photo to Hideyoshi’s…”

“Akihisa, don’t think of making a cushion cover of me in this chaos.”

“That’s right, Akihisa-kun. How can you just take other people’s things like that and modify them? …And one of them is mine…”

Really, I’ve been thinking how a poor student like Muttsurini could afford such high-priced materials. So he managed to earn them through this.

“Speaking of which, what were you talking about?”

“Well…where were we?”

So many things happened in quick succession that I couldn’t really remember what I said. Haa, why must I be so busy in the morning…

“We were talking about how I was forced by Akihisa to wear my trunks to school.”

“Akihisa, you…”

“YUUJI! DON’T SAY SUCH MISLEADING STUFF ON PURPOSE!”

No matter how I listen to it, I feel that he left out a lot of parts that’s to be explained!

“Well, that was really a joke though…anyway, the mail Akihisa sent over was misunderstood by Shouko, which is why I ended up with such a tragic fate.”

“Mail? Is it related to how Akihisa’s looking abnormal this morning?”

Hideyoshi’s careless words made me feel that my heart was crushed and that I couldn’t breathe. Damn it! I forgot that Hideyoshi already realized that there’s something different about me!

“Something different about Akihisa-kun? Now that you mention it, he looks chipper than usual, his uniform’s neatly ironed, and his hair isn’t messy…”

“That’s really suspicious. He looks rather healthy for once, but his uniform is even neatly ironed. That’s really weird.”

“…This isn’t like Akihisa at all.”

They actually started analyzing me. This isn’t good if it keeps up.

“At, at least I’ll come to school neatly once in a while! Let’s not talk about that. It should be time for the bell, right? Got to get back to my seat before Ironman comes back! So, I’ll do that!”

I forcefully ended this topic and ran away.

“““Really suspicious…”””

I ignored the piercing stares behind me and head to my seat to get ready for the lessons.

☆

“Yoshii, go to the infirmary.”

This line was said to me 7 times during morning lessons. Is it really strange that I’m taking notes seriously?

“Really, you guys are way too rude…”

I have to get an improvement of at least 20 marks in the upcoming end-of-term exams, or else things will be really bad (wouldn’t that be the case when my sister’s at home?) I had such an idea and studied more seriously than usual…you don’t have to be that amazed.

I was really sad that the teachers would feel like this as I put away my textbooks and notes from the 4th period. Just when I was about to have lunch, Minami suddenly came to my seat.

“Aki, what happened? You weren’t normal since this morning.”

Minami’s voice really showed concern. I thought that she would hate me for what happened then. But if it’s like what Yuuji and the rest said, Minami reverted back to her old attitude.

“Nothing happened to me. It’s just that I feel that I need to work harder.”

“Aki, lift your head. I have to check whether you have a fever or not.”

“Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m sick when I just want to study hard…”

Minami still reached her hand over as I felt really bothered. She must be trying to touch my forehead and see if I have a fever. Really, aren’t you guys way too concerned—

“Ugh, this won’t do!”

“WAH!”

As I suddenly jumped back, Minami couldn’t help but shriek.

“Oi! What’s with that reaction! It’s rare enough for me to see whether you have a fever!”

“So, sorry! There’re a whole lot of reasons…”

If it were Minami’s sister Hazuki-chan doing this, I don’t think there’ll be too much of an afterthought. But if nee-san saw Minami touching my head to see if I have a fever, I guess it would fall under the definition of ‘Illicit Sexual Relationships’, right? In that case, my points may be deducted by 150. If nee-san knows about it, my happy life of living alone will be even more distant from me. It’s because I don’t know where a certain someone might be hiding that I have to eliminate all possibilities of danger.

“Reasons? What do you mean?”

Minami doesn’t understand my frustrations right now as she stared at me in a puzzled manner.

This is bad. If I explain everything to her, I won’t be able to hide the fact that my sister’s around. Looks like I have to change the topic.

“Uu…erm…o, oh ya, let’s have lunch instead of talking about this! Lunch break will soon be over!”

I hurriedly took out my lunchbox that I prepared from my bag and put it on the table. The way I changed the topic might be a little forced, but Minami will start taking out her lunch, I guess?

This was what I expected, but,

“Eh!? Aki, you brought a self-made bento? What happened?”

Unexpectedly, this made Minami even more suspicious.

“Ehh!? Akihisa-kun brought a bento?”

For some reason, Himeji-san came running over and showed a shocked look.

“Eh, you two don’t have to be so surprised…I’m human here, and I may die if I don’t get nutrition once in a while.”

Even though I say that, I’ll spend all my money whenever I get my living expenses.

“That’s right…but today’s really different from before.”

“Yeah. Even if Aki would have lunch in the past, he would mostly bring a bento he bought. But it looks like he brought a handmade one today.”

Both of them widened their eyes and stared hard at the lunch that was put on the table.

This is bad. I didn’t expect them to even scrutinize such minor things.

What they said was true. If I had the money to buy lunch, I would mostly buy a bento from a convenience store or a supermarket. It would be more worth it money wise to buy a bento than to make one, but I didn’t do it today.

“Akihisa-kun, why are you having a specially-made bento?”

Himeji-san tilted her head and asked me.

The reason is simple. It’s that I have to pretend that I’m living a healthy life. But if I explain it to them, I have to say that my sister is around. This is something I have to prevent no matter what. What should I do…

“Don’t tell me, someone made this for you?”

Minami narrowed her eyes slightly. Not good, she’s getting ready to attack.

“I really made it for myself.”

To ensure my personal safety, I honestly answered Minami’s question. Besides, there’s no need to hide this.

But the response I got was,

“Liar.”

“You’re lying.”

WHY IS IT THAT YOU TWO DON’T BELIEVE ME!?

“Aki can’t cook anyway. I advise you to answer honestly. Who made this bento for you?”

“And it looks rather good…the people around Akihisa-kun who can make such nice bentos are—”

“Is it either Sakamoto or Tsuchiya?”

I didn’t even say anything, but the topic just diverged further in a strange direction.

But it doesn’t matter. If they can accept it, it’s fine by me. I’ll just let them guess randomly.

“Oh well…just think whatever you want.”

I showed a nonchalant look and shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s just like what we thought—Aki, have you become so filthy?”

“EH!? WAIT A SEC! MINAMI, WHAT KIND OF UNBEARABLE IMAGINATION ARE YOU HAVING!? AND WHY IS HIMEJI-SAN’S FACE ALL RED NOW!?”

What does she mean by being filthy? I’m really wondering about it, but I just feel that if I hear the answer straight from her mouth, I will be so stunned that I won’t be able to pick myself up.

“Speaking of which, Aki even sent a message to Sakamoto saying ‘I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“In that case, that means, Akihisa-kun and Sakamoto-kun are really…”

Really? What are you trying to say?

“…So Yuuji’s really having an affair with Yoshii.”

Heh? Affair? What topic are we at now?

“Ugh Kirishima-san!? When did you appear?”

“…Only just.”

This pretty and cool girl with such a quiet temperament is the class rep of A class and the valedictorian, Kirishima Shouko-san. She’s great at both studies and athletics, and her appearance and family background are both first class. The only sad thing is that she was only fond of Yuuji, and that’s really a waste.

“Kirishima-san, are you looking for Sakamoto-kun?”

Himeji-san asked Kirishima-san.

“(Nods head)…I want to return Yuuji his pants.”

Hanging from her hand was the pants of the familiar male uniform. Yuuji probably came to school in half-pants this morning because his pants were taken by Kirishima-san.

It looked like she deliberately came over to return Yuuji his pants…but right now, it looks like Kirishima-san’s giving off a strong killing intent and doesn’t looks at peace like how she should be when returning the pants.

“Hn? Shouko? I got it. So you finally found your conscience and decided to return me my pants.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

As I looked over at where the voice came from, Yuuji was staring at the pants in Kirishima-san’s hand as he walked over.

“…Those who have affairs should be punished.”

That was an icy cold mutter that will almost freeze my spine. This is bad, Yuuji! Hurry up and run away…!

Yuuji was already standing in front of Kirishima-san, completely oblivious to my warning while I deliberately hushed myself down.

“Really, now I can wear my clothes properly—hn? Why aren’t you returning me my pants, Shouko?”

“…Yuuji.”

“What?”

“…I don’t want to do something cruel to Yuuji.”

“You don’t want to do something cruel to me? I don’t understand what you mean, but it’s good that you have such an intention.”

“…That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Warning me?”

“…Hand over your trunks.”

DA!! (Yuuji suddenly dashed off)

“Ahaha. Yuuji’s really an idiot.”

“Erm, Akihisa-kun.”

“Nn? What is it, Himeji-san?”

“Do you want to eat that bento?”

“Un. Of course I’m going to. It’s prepared anyway.”

“Really…I understand. In that case, please compare the taste.”

“Taste?”

“Yes. Actually—I made some special cookies last night…”

DA!! (I suddenly dashed off)

“Ahh! Oi, Aki! Explain your relationship with Sakamoto!”

“Akihisa-kun! Why did you run away without eating? The cookies I made should be more nutritious than Sakamoto-kun’s bento. Please try it!”

“…Yuuji, you two are actually trying to escape. Unforgivable.”

Behind us, the sound of footsteps and killing intent continued to pursue us.

“Akihisa, you damned bastard! Did you say something to Shouko? Why did she suddenly attack me!?”

“How would I know!? I’m about to ask you whether you said anything to Himeji-san and Minami! They look like they have a lot of strange thoughts about me!”

“How would I know, you idiot!? The strange imaginations are all because of your bad behaviour!”

“What did you say!? You scum!? I’ll return these words right back at you!!”

Yuuji and I continued to yell at each other as we continued to dash down the corridor. I don’t have much self-confidence in my physical abilities, but Yuuji's and my running-away speeds are a lot faster than an ordinary person’s. Let alone Himeji-san, who’s already weak, even the athletic Minami and Kirishima-san can’t possibly catch up—

“You two again! Yoshii, Sakamoto! What are you two arguing about!”

““ACK!!! IRONMAN!!!”

Our sworn enemy appeared in front of us. He’s a devil with muscles all over him, living in modern society—Nishimura-sensei, a.k.a Ironman.

““…””

At that moment, Yuuji and I glanced at each other. From his eyes, I can tell that he’s thinking of what I’m thinking.

((If I can get that that guy to be a sacrifice for Ironman, I will be able to buy some time, right…?))

Such a touching thought, but Ironman’s not the only enemy right now. The girls chasing us from behind are huge threats as well.

In other words, though it’s regrettable, even if I want to use that method to live peacefully, there’re too few people for me to sacrifice.

“Can’t be helped! Let’s work together, Akihisa!”

“Okay! Better put our lives as priority!”

At that moment, we made the best decision and got ready to take action. Let’s begin—

“—Activate!”

“—Summon!”

As Yuuji turned on the summoning field, my summoned beast appeared.

Then, we got ready to attack Ironman who’s blocking us.

“Take this, Iron—man…!?”

Suddenly, my summoned beast disappeared vaguely like a blur mist.

“That’s weird? What’s going on?”

The summoned beast didn’t hide itself. Well, to put it, it’s like there was no response at all. I’m rather familiar with controlling a summoned beast, but such a thing never happened before. It’s not like the ‘interference’ from before. What happened?

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you standing around for!?”

“Heh—UOWAAAAHHH!!!”

A sudden gust of wind that caused my hair to be lifted up came flying from besides me. Is this Ironman’s fist? I thought it was an iron ball from a shot put tournament being thrown at me!

“You two! I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but you’re using the summoning system to do bad things here! Didn’t I warn you not to use your summoned beast as you wish other than for the summoning battles!? Looks like I have to correct that rotten core of yours!”

EEKK!! Ironman’s angry. Looks like we angered him completely by trying to use the summoned beast to break through.

“Wait, Aki! Eat the cookies Mizuki made and tell us everything.”

“…Yuuji, if you still want to resist, I’ll make you lose all your clothing.”

The voices of the assassins came from behind. Why did a normal casual lunch break become like this!?

“Akihisa!”

“Got it!”

While Ironman’s falling forward with the attack, I used my fastest speed to escape the scene.

We’re stopped on both front and back, but luckily, the stairs are right beside us. Since we’re still not at a dead end, we can continue to run!

Yuuji and I ran down the stairs at the same time.

“Very good, Akihisa! We’ll split once we get down the stairs! I’ll be a bait to lure them away. Hide behind the pillar and run off once they leave!”

“No way, how can I sacrifice you just to save myself, Yuuji! I should be the bait and lure them away. Try hiding and run off secretly, Yuuji!”

“Now’s not the time to think about it! Only one of us can live on!”

“That’s why I want to give the chance to you, Yuuji!”

“Nonono, Akihisa! You should be the one hiding!”

We’re considering our safeties as priority, and naturally, we wouldn’t back off. Just when we continued with this argument, we reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the lowest level.

“Really, you, in that case, I can only force you to hide! (DONK)”

“Ah! Yuuji, what have you done!”

While we’re still at a deadlock, Yuuji suddenly pushed me behind the pillar and ran off in the other direction.

“Yu, Yuuji! That idiot!”

I ducked and hid my body behind the pillar and couldn’t help but think of my classmate that ran away. That idiot’s definitely—

“IRONMAN, SHIMADA! AKIHISA’S HIDING BEHIND THAT PLACE!!”

HE DEFINITELY BETRAYED ME AS EXPECTED, THAT SWINE!

“DAMN YOU, YUUJI! I WON’T FORGET YOUR BETRAYAL!!”

I immediately jumped out from behind the pillar and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction of where Yuuji ran off to. Damn it! What I intended to do was done by him! It really infuriates me!

“Yoshii! Stop and come and have tea in the remedial classroom!”

“I DON’T WANT TO! I FEEL THAT I’LL BE DRINKING TEA MIXED WITH MY OWN TEARS IF I END UP DRINKING TEA WITH YOU!!”

Yuuji’s hard knock caused my feet to become a little unsteady, and Ironman soon closed in.

Guuu…! I can’t get away now…!

Ironman slowly closed the distance between us, and I’ll be in his demonic clutches a step later.

“End of the line, Yo—Nuohh!!?”

Ironman let out a shocked cry and seemed to trip, while my body felt a mysterious pain. This pain…is it the feedback from the summoned beast?

I turned around to look behind, but didn’t slow down at all.

“Eh? How did…”

I looked closely, and found that about 3m behind me, my summoned beast was lying there, having tripped Ironman.

“Great! I don’t know what’s going on, but I better run!”

To think that such a great chance appeared. Of course I have to make use of this. I’ll just use my obstacle clearing skills to escape through the window. I even ran a little more to shake off those people who were chasing me.

“Speaking of which, why did the summoned beast appear? I didn’t summon in the first place.”

I managed to save my own life, but I just couldn’t help but be concerned about it. The summoned beast I summoned at the upper level disappeared without doing anything…

I continued to think as I ran around the school, and just so happened to see an open window.

“Fuu…I guess they won’t be able to find me if I ran that much.”

I slowed down and stopped running for my life, went near the window, leaned on the window frame, and leaped in.

What room is this? Why do I have a nostalgic feeling…

There’s a sofa and a turn-table for accommodating visitors, and a bookshelf full of special titles that would make me get a migraine. Also—

“Damned brat, what do you want?”

“There’s a strange and ugly old man statue!”

“And you just insulted me on seeing me!? Such a rude damned brat!”

—No, it’s actually the principal.

“Really, you’re really such damned brats that worry me…you two came in without saying hello, and even cursed out at me. Do you want to be suspended again?”

“So, sorry…”

I just stated what I thought.

But isn’t it a little weird? Did she just say…two?

“What the heck, Akihisa! You came to hide here too.”

“Ah, Yuuji. So you came to hide here.”

A familiar voice could be heard beside me.

I didn’t notice his presence as he was blocked by the bookshelf. Yuuji, who split up from me, is hiding in the principal’s office too.

“Because they won’t find us if we hide here.”

“It’s true that they won’t think that we’ll be hiding here.”

But it’s really a coincidence that I came here.

“I don’t know what you two are blabbering, but this isn’t a place you can just come in whenever you want to. The air in here just feel contaminated whenever you two damned ugly brats come in. It’s annoying.”

Now that she mentioned it, we do come in here often. But those rude and humiliating words aren’t exactly something an educator should say. The principal really looked unhappy. Did something happen?

“Yuuji, did you say something that made the principal unhappy?”

“You idiot. Don’t compare me to you who would treat the principal as some strange, ugly and heinous looking person that I can’t stand looking at. I was just a little shocked that I saw a demon in the principal’s office.”

“Yuuji, aren’t those words of yours rather rude? It’s not like the principal wanted to look like a demon.”

“…Looks like there’s a need for you two to know who’s the one with the highest authority in this school.”

Am I thinking too much? It looked like the principal’s mood got worse.

“Humph, I don’t want you two damned brats to critique my looks. You two are the second-year version of the Toko-Natsu pair, and you even have the cheek to talk about me.”

““WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU DAMNED OLD HAG!!!””

On hearing the worst description ever in this world being used on us, Yuuji and I couldn’t help but roar. However, I’m rather surprised that the principal knew about the Toko-Natsu nickname.

“Okay okay. Really, what do you two want to talk to me about? You can see that I’m busy here.”

The principal said as she looked down at the pile of documents beside her. I don’t really have anything to say to the principal…

“Oh yeah. I have something I want to ask you.”

But Yuuji looked like he had something to say. What can he talk about with the principal?

“We called out a summoned beast just now, but it randomly disappeared for no reason without even doing anything. Did something happen?”

So that’s it. I’m rather concerned about how the summoned beast disappeared randomly. Luckily, I managed to escape, but we will be bothered if such a situation happens during the summoning tournament. It’s best to check with the principal.

“Do you two know how to talk? Oh well, honorifics may be too difficult for idiots like you, so I can’t blame you there.”

After a little humiliation on both sides—

“That’s just one of the current problems.”

The principal coldly answered Yuuji’s question.

“Problem…are you talking about my platinum bracelet?”

I nearly forgot that the platinum bracelet will malfunction once in a while. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but if a student with good grades use it, it may cause a situation where it will go rampant as it can’t be controlled. Speaking of Yuuji’s recent grades, it’s not impossible even if the bracelet breaks. In that case, is it because of that that the summoned beast ended up being weird?

Just when I thought it was like this,

“No, I’m talking about the test summoning system.”

The principal answered with an irritated look. So it’s not like how I imagined.

“Speaking of which, there seemed to be some maintenance or something. Is the summoning system really alright?”

“There’s a little situation at the moment, but there’s no need for you two damned brats to worry. Right now, we’re readjusting, but we should be able to use it again before summer vacation.”

Really? We can use it before summer vacation…in that case, wouldn’t that mean,

“In other words, we wouldn’t be able to start the summoning war immediately,”

“Can only wait till the next semester.”

“What should we do? We’ll be bothered here!”

Our ‘3 month ban from declaring war’ punishment after having lost in the summoning war will be over soon, and now we have to wait and wilt!

“Can’t you do anything?”

“It’s not that we can’t use it completely…but I just don’t want you two to use it. And I ordered the other teachers to refuse the students’ requests to declare war.”

The principal coldly answered.

“Since it’s not like we can’t use it completely, why ban it! This just feels like some sick joke!”

“It’s not ‘like’. This is a joke I’m playing out of my own bitterness.”

She said something that an educator shouldn’t be saying again.

“Why must you do this? It has nothing to do with letting us use it, right!?”

Seeing me being all agitated, the principal answered coldly.

“Why? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t understand if I don’t explain it clearly to you.”

“Of course I don’t understand! What in the world is this!”

“This requires lots of insight for you to understand. Is that thing above your neck just a decoration? It does look like a flawed item from its appearance.

This, this damned old granny.

“In that case, I’ll tell you directly. The reason’s simple. It’s because you two are usually bad, and I’m not just talking about the faces and the grades.”

Can’t this person talk normally with others without saying ill words?

Just when I was about to open my mouth and argue back, Yuuji, who was behind me, suddenly grabbed my elbow. What’s the matter?

(Calm down, Akihisa.)

Yuuji softly whispered to me.

(Why!? Aren’t you angry that she’s describing you like that!?)

(How can I not be angry? But what help does arguing back in the heat of the moment do? We can’t change the fact that we can’t have a summoning war here.)

(Uu…)

Yuuji’s right. If we make the principal angry at this point, it’ll really do us no good.

(In that case, why don’t we try to get on the old hag’s good side and ask her to remove the ban on the summoning wars? Just endure this for a while.)

It’s unexpected that I will hear the word endure from Yuuji of all people, but to this guy, the current situation is such that we can’t act on our own. Besides, whether we can get the extension of the summoning war here is a battle of life and death now.

(Got it, Yuuji. Now we have to grit our teeth and endure no matter how much she humiliates us.)

(Yeah. We have to do this for the sake of our goals.)

That’s right. No matter how vicious that principal’s mouth is, we have to endure. Endure endure endure…

“Really, no matter how you people adore me, you shouldn’t have gathered all the second year boys to peep on me bathing…”

““SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DAMNED OBNOXIOUS SELF-CENTERED OLD HAG!!!!””

We couldn’t help but scream out our thoughts.

“When, when was I being self-centered here? You were excited and started a riot just to peep on me. That’s a fact!”

“YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT AKIHISA BEING AN IDIOT, A BUTT UGLY GUY OR GAY, I DON’T CARE SINCE THAT’S A FACT. WHAT I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS THAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I’LL GET EXCITED AND PERVERSE OVER AN OLD GRANNY!! DAMNED OLD GRANNY, CORRECT THAT!!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! CORRECT THAT! YUUJI’S THE ONLY ONE WHO’S DUMB, UGLY AND WILL GET EXCITED OVER AN OLD GRANNY!”

“Ahh, you two are really noisy! No matter how you ask me, I won’t go about having a romantic relationship with students!”

““I DON’T WANT TO DO IT WITH YOU EITHER!!!””

And that’s it for the casual talk.

“So, why must you ban the summoning war? If it’s just a minor error, you should be able to repair it, right?”

Having regained his calm, Yuuji sat on the sofa and asked.

“Do I have to mention it? Of course it’s because you people have no idea on the real nature of the summoning system.”

“Summoning system’s nature?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what you are mistaken about, but the summoning system in this school was originally meant to ‘increase the drive in students to learn academically’. But tell me, what have you done? Starting with destroying the wall of the school, blowing up the staff room, leading the second-year boys to peep on the girls’ bathroom, and igniting a summoning war commotion—you people didn’t just cross the line as students, you went even further! Have you people been studying seriously?”

“Uu…”

Can’t deny that here.

“But after those commotions, our grades did improve. We aren’t going to lessons obediently, but we’ve been having remedials all day long.”

“Ye, yeah. We did do what we have to do well here!”

“This isn’t a question of whether your grades improved, but about how the public would feel about this.”

The principal couldn’t hide her fatigue as she said that.

Fumitzuki Gakuen is being watched by all sorts of people because of the test summoning system. This allowed for a lot of sponsors and lowered the school fees drastically, but there’s the flaw of being debated and criticized. Even if the people in the school can clearly feel the effects of the test summoning system, the school may not be able to continue operating if society can’t agree and accept this. The principal’s probably being bothered by this.

“That’s why I set this ban, and it’s not like you won’t be able to use it forever. In about a week, it’ll be the end-of-term exams, and summer vacation’s after that, isn’t it? The second semester will be here in the blink of that eye.”

The time till the second semester still feels rather far, but to the school, it’s just a mere 3 weeks. It’s really not very long now that she mention it.

“In other words, you actually mean this, right, principal? The summoning system really has some malfunction, but the ceasefire is just something said to the public. You’re banning us from having the summoning war to let the students focus on the end-of-term exams, right?”

“Your observation skills are really sharp. That’s really the case.”

The conversation continued, but I couldn’t catch up anymore.

Errm, that means…?

“Basically, what she meant is ‘the summoning war’s being banned for the time being, so we’re to focus completely on the end-of-term exams and show good grades’.”

Yuuji explained it to me at the right moment. Fm fm, I see, so that’s how it is.

“Even so, even if I ban the summoning war completely, you brats most likely won’t study…”

The principal put her hands below her chin for support and looked like she was thinking.

“If your grades don’t improve with this coming end-of-term exams, we’ll have a special summer remedial then.”

WHAT IDIOTIC WORDS IS THIS DAMNED OLD GRANNY SAYING!?

“Tha, that’s too much, principal! You banned the summoning war, and now you’re going to take our summer vacation away!? Isn’t that too cruel!!”

We can’t have the summoning battles we so wanted, and now we’re forced to study for the end-of-term exams. This may be normal to an ordinary student, but no student will be happy because of that.

“You damned brats are way too talkative! I might as well finalize the summer vacation remedial and delay the summoning war to the third semester to make you all focus on your studies.”

“Ugh…”

Whatever the case here, please spare us here. A chill went down my spine as I simply imagined that I will have to continue exchanging looks with Ironman in that classroom during this half year. Besides…if Himeji-san’s to have such facilities, it will be too…

“It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings anyway. I intended to announce it tomorrow. It’s not just you brats though, since it’s not hard to imagine the other students protesting against this violently.”

However, the ones protesting will most likely be our F class students.

“So I decided to give some benefit to you and restart the system.”

“Restart the system?”

What kind of benefit is that?

“As there was maintenance before, I intend to reset all the data that exists in the system to zero. You’ll be more motivated, right?”

“Hoo…that’s quite a good idea.”

It seemed that Yuuji understood what the principal meant, but I still couldn’t understand at all. What’s this good proposal?

“You still look like you aren’t sure of what’s going on. This system reset will mean that the summoned beasts’ equipment will be reset to zero.”

“In other words, the marks we get in this end-of-term exams will become the equipment of our summoned beast, and may be even better than before.”

“Eh! Is that so?”

So my summoned beast’s equipment can change from a wooden sword to a real one? Isn’t that great?

“Originally, the equipment of the summoned beasts can only be changed at the end-of-year final exams, so I’ll give this to you as a special benefit.”

The summoned beast equipment we have is exchanged from the scores before the steaming, the first year end-of-year exam. After that, no matter how much I got, my wooden sword was still a wooden sword, and my school uniform couldn’t change into protective armor. This already restricted me a lot. If it can improve, it’ll be really great news for me.

“Studying’s not for anyone’s sake, but for your own hard work. I know this may not be a good thing…but we’ll do things one at a time. This situation is just a little special.”

It’s rare for the principal to actually say something an educator should say.

Studying is for our own sake, and she’s right there, but this added incentive will make us work even harder, which I can’t deny. Also—

“Got it! I’ll do my best for the end-of-term exams!”

“Akihisa, what’s with you? Being so motivated out of a suddenly…”

And also, considering this special benefit, it will be too much of a coincidence. Until now, I forgot that nee-san shifted back as an inspector. If I don’t do well for my end-of-term exams, my happy life of living alone will be over. But with a reward, I can go all out to study. Once I get my results, I’ll definitely…

“Alright! Let’s do our best, Yuuji! If we can get good results during the end-of-year exams, we’ll be able to beat A class decisively in the next term’s summoning war.”

“Ohh, that’s right.”

I have to really work hard here! For the sake of chasing my sister out, and to get the high-class facilities of A class during the next semester!

“It’s great that your dumb brains can understand. Alright, you damned brats. If you have nothing else to do, scram.”

“Yes! We’ll make a move then!”

“Ah, oi! Akihisa! If we run onto the corridor now, those guys may…”

I grabbed Yuuji’s hand and walked out of the principal’s office. In that case, let’s work hard.

KACHANK.

““““Welcome””””

—But right now, it looks like I have to deal with the four people in my way first.

Current score [-20 points]