Volume 2 - CH 2

Lunch break ended, bringing us to the afternoon’s summer supplementary classes. I glanced outside the window, reminding me of the first strategy meeting Kurumi and I held. It was when we made the eraser stamps. And just like back then, today was a clear summer day. We left the school to shop in the middle of the rainy season. At that moment, in this whole world, only the both of us existed.

—Hey, let me join your ranks.

I was worried about what would happen when she uttered that line. But in the end, it could have ended so much worse. All Kurumi and I have to do is not accept her, and that will allow us to use our club room again for our strategy meetings and active kisses. That being said, we’re not fully in the clear yet. Evidently, things might go south again. Finally, someone appeared who knew of the work we had invested behind the scenes. And if our work became public, we would get harshly sanctioned by our school. Not to mention that the person who found out was some playful mind like Nanaougi.

I managed to keep her in check by recording our conversation that day…But she must be aware that it didn’t hold much value. After all, this recording only showed Nanaougi’s statement that she would cause some act of terrorism…But it wasn’t like she had already done anything. Not to mention that Nanaougi is at the top of the higher-ranking classes of my year. The teachers are definitely spoiling her, so some recordings like this won’t do much.

Meanwhile, Kurumi and I are terrorists that have committed a crime already. If this came out, it was more than obvious who’d get their ass beaten by the school…But even so, the best thing I can do is pray that the worst-case scenario doesn’t happen.

“…”

I know there was nothing more for me to do, but I couldn’t stop worrying. I let out a faint sigh and then continued to look outside the window. It’s still summer. Large white clouds covered the blue sky. Sadly, none of them gave me an answer to my problems.

“Are you shitting me? You’ve made about zero progress over the course of this summer break. Do you even understand the meaning of supplementary classes? Summer homework? Ring a bell? Tsk, worthless shit.”

Meanwhile, an endless barrage of insults and abuse flew around inside the classroom. Even after Nanaougi’s arrival yesterday, the supplementary classes at Saigou High were as awful as always. Right now, we are in the middle of reporting the progress of our homework again. The teachers would check the students’ progress on their summer homework, lecturing and insulting those who haven’t made much progress. Once you stood up, you were practically guaranteed to be one-sidedly abused. It’s been 15 minutes since this class started, yet there was no writing whatsoever on the blackboard. I see no signs of the teachers here actually trying to do their work and teach us.

Granted, a lot of people say that the school-intern supplementary classes make them cheaper in return, but what’s the point if we’re not even learning anything. It’d be a lot more efficient to just attend a regular prep school. Honestly, it’s so ridiculous. We’re paying heaps of money to this shit school and don’t get anything in return. The classes we suffer through are the exact same ones during our regular semesters. If only we could get rid of this abuse, this discrimination, and this boycotting of classes. But alas, everything in this school is rotten to the core.

“Make sure to put work into your summer homework. Let’s start class. Open up page 5. This is a question that you people from the lower-ranking class couldn’t solve before, so—”

The students all sat back on their chairs and class finally began for real. I didn’t want to stick out in a weird way

“…Hm?”

But then, the smartphone in my pocket vibrated. We were still in the middle of class, but I doubt the teacher would realize if I gave it a quick glance. I took it out below my desk and checked for new messages. I happened to find one, too, coming from a person with a black cat as her icon—Kurumi.

‘Near the school gate.’

Looking up on the left side of the phone, I saw that it was currently a bit past 2 pm. Right before our promised time. It seems like Kurumi decided to leave school a bit earlier. I’d rather not make her way outside in this awful heat. Can’t risk her getting a heatstroke. And since the teacher was done lecturing us, I figured it’s time for me to act, too. As only the sound of scribbling could be heard, I stood up and loudly declared.

“Sensei, I don’t feel too well, so could I go home?”

With that line, all the attention was focused on me. The teacher stopped writing on the blackboard, turning around.

“You don’t feel well? You better not be lying to me.”

“…If you want proof, I don’t mind throwing up all over the place?”

“Tsk. Get out already.”

Is this how you treat someone who feels sick? Let alone as a teacher, you’re a disgrace of a human being. I gathered up my belongings and left the classroom through the back door. On my way, Tanaka-san asked me “Are you okay?” with a quiet voice, and I nodded. Of course, I am…Because I’m just faking this. Since summer supplementary classes didn’t have mandatory participation, you could easily leave if you weren’t feeling well. Good thing it worked out as planned.

I walked down the empty hallway with no signs of people, went down the stairs, headed my way to the shoe lockers, and changed into my outdoor shoes. The sun outside shone brightly, making me feel like I was being cooked alive. But since the rainy season was past us, the sky was clear and blue. And the closer I got to the school gate, the better I could make out a silhouette hiding next to the tree.

“Sorry it took me so long.”

“Oh, Senpai. Finally.”

When I called out to her, Kurumi stepped out of the shadows to greet me. She was in her regular black hair mode, hiding her inner color, with a bag hanging down her shoulder. I judged as much from when she contacted me, but it seems like she got out just fine.

“…Don’t think anybody’s watching right now…So, let’s go to the station.”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

We lined up next to each other and started walking. We decided to skip today’s classes to meet up and discuss how we would proceed with Nanaougi from now on. Since she knows we’re using the astronomy club room as our base of operations, we’d rather not have that discussion there. So, this would force us to borrow another palace for use, but we also can’t afford to be seen together. We wanted to avoid having more people find out that Kurumi and I share a connection, so it was important to avoid too much contact in public. So with all that in mind, we decided to leave classes early and hold our meeting during this time.

“So, did you come up with a place where we could stay?” I asked.

“I sure did. In fact, I already had an idea when we talked about leaving classes early.”

Really? Well, I guess the place doesn’t really matter. We can always just rent a room at a karaoke box. But as I was not giving it much thought, I felt a strong gaze glued to me. Looking over, Kurumi stared at me with a teasing grin.

“…What?”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be asking what place I have in mind?” Kurumi stood on her toes to whisper into my ear. “It’s my home. Right now, nobody is home.”

…Now hold on. I wasn’t told about this.

*

Surrounded by the bright sunlight and the glittering light of the asphalt, we made our way down the street. Gazing at the planes drawing lines in the sky, we eventually reached the train station.

“Maybe it’s outside your ticket range, though, Senpai.”

“No worries about that.”

“I never told you where we were going after all.”

“It’s okay. I think I’ve got some money on my card, and I have my wallet with me.”

“I see, then you should be fine. Let’s go.”

After paying the fee, we passed the ticket gate. With perfect timing, a train just entered the platform, so we entered and waited a bit until we reached the next terminal, changing trains. I simply followed Kurumi’s orders and got into whatever train she told me to. Even though we knew where we were going, it felt like we went on a journey. This is actually pretty fun. It tickled my adventurous heart like I was challenging the unknown. Yet for some reason, Kurumi seemed even more excited than me. As we sat on the train, she looked over at me with a smile and dropped a bomb like this.

“This feels like we’re running away together, doesn’t it?”

“Now hold on, that’s a bit of an overstatement, right?”

“Is it? Not to me, at least,” Kurumi said and rested her head on my shoulder.

And like that, she began undoing her hairpins to show her inner color. Since I had no reason to push her away, I just gazed out of the window. Shortly after, I could see more green with several fields outside. Most houses I spotted were brick houses, with tall mountains in the distance. It’s starting to look more and more like the countryside. Everything was colored in a deep green and vibrant blue. It was so bright it almost made my eyes hurt.

Both outside the train and inside, there were almost no people. We were the only people in this world. We could do what we wanted without being interrupted by others. I don’t know if this is what it feels like to run away together, but…this feeling definitely is freeing. And our final station ended up being a train station with nobody else around, either. It was just Kurumi and I standing around, the train leaving us behind. The scenery of the forest and fields was almost overwhelming.

“You were living all the way out here? I had no idea.”

“Not quite, my home is a bit closer to Tokyo. It’s a regular residential district.”

“Say what? I thought we were going to your home?”

Kurumi looked at me and laughed, leaving me in the dark. What’s this about? Is she keeping the exact place secret until we get there? C’mon, you’ve got me all curious now. Then again, it’s something to look forward to. I don’t know what’s gonna greet me, but it won’t be anything bad, right? At least not when Kurumi is involved…

We talked about this and that as we walked down the path of nature. Entering a path between fields, when Kurumi suddenly said “We’re here” and stopped. The building in front of us looked even older than anything I spotted on the way here. It was made of brick with paper sliding doors. A classical Japanese house that will make any elderly person overwhelmed with nostalgia.

“This is the place you live?”

“Not quite. My relatives are managing this old-fashioned cafe.”

“Ah, right. That explains the stylish outer appearance it has…So, we’ve come here to drink some tea?”

“Mhm, not quite. But for now, let’s go inside.” Kurumi took out a key from her pocket and unlocked the door.

We took off our shoes and entered when Kurumi continued from before.

“The thing is, I’m actually living here by myself during summer break. My auntie said that since they’re not getting any customers during this time, they’re gonna close shop, so I got permission to stay here.”

I see. That’s why she’s so confident that we’re by ourselves here.

“Makes sense why we came all the way out here.”

“Absolutely. And seeing you so confused and flustered was pretty cute, so I went ahead and teased you some more, hee hee,” Kurumi giggled and stuck out her tongue.

You’re the cute one, so I’ll forgive you. But honestly, I’m a bit relieved we didn’t actually go to Kurumi’s home. I wouldn’t know how to explain the relationship we have to her parents. Can’t say that we’re partners in crime, and I’m not her boyfriend, either. That being said, pretending to just be senior and junior…I didn’t like that, either. It’s like I’m chewing on something…although I bet Kurumi must be having similar feelings. I neatly lined up my shoes and then entered the building. White sliding doors lined up in the hallway.

Kurumi opened the nearest one, which revealed a wooden living room. The inside looked surprisingly like a cafe. Wooden tables and chairs, with a warm feeling coming from the design. There were three sets of tables fit for two people, but more seats were available at the kitchen counter, meaning they could fit a good amount of customers. They must have remodeled this building because it had the feeling of a stylish store.

“I’ll turn on the A/C right now. Just have a seat anywhere you’d like.”

“Thanks. And I have to say, this reminds me of the first time we met up at the astronomy club room.”

“Hahaha! That’s true. Ah, are you fine with drinking coffee?”

“Yeah, don’t mind me.”

Since Kurumi started preparing everything in the kitchen, I decided to sit down at the counter. It was a leather seat, no less.

“Senpai! How much gum syrup would you like? And would you prefer milk?”

“Don’t need either, I prefer black.”

“Waah, such an adult! I’ll just go ahead and add three for you.”

That’s too much, okay? But before I could complain, she already carried an iced coffee over on a tray. She placed the two glasses on the counter and sat down next to me.

“Here you go~”

“Thanks. I was just feeling thirsty, so this couldn’t have come at a better time.”

A cold bitterness gushed down my throat. I’m not a coffee connoisseur by any means, but the taste wasn’t bad at all. As you would expect of a cafe…Then again, no idea if this is the same coffee they serve. I placed the glass back on the tray and then looked around.

“Honestly, this feels like some luxury. Like we’ve rented out a whole cafe.”

“Well, that’s exactly what this is. Because during summer break, I live here all by myself,” Kurumi said and put her lips to the glass, only to let out a faint “Ah” gasp. “Hey, Senpai? Why don’t we make this place our hideout for the entirety of summer break? Since club activities are put on halt during the break, it’d be suspicious if we still met up every day at the club room.”

“That’s true. Wouldn’t want something like yesterday to happen, either. If you’re okay with it, then I’m down.”

“Okay, okay. It might be a bit bothersome to get here every time, but I can’t change that.”

Well, it’s a twenty-minute walk from the station, so it’s not that bad. And the fee itself isn’t that much higher than usual, so it’s not gonna financially cripple me.

“Okay. Then let’s get to the main agenda for today,” Kurumi said.

The main agenda obviously was the existence of Nanaougi and the problem she presented. Kurumi took out her Revenge Note from her bag and opened it.

“What do we do about Nanaougi-senpai…I guess at this point, the best thing would be to watch over her?”

“Yeah, I was thinking that, too. I don’t know what she’s planning on doing, but it doesn’t look like she went ahead and reported us, so we just have to chase her away after the break ends.”

“Right…But, I don’t really like this…” Kurumi leaned over the desk and stretched her back.

I understand how she feels. Can’t stand being powerless like this.

“It’s like the higher-ranking classes see our terrorism as some game.”

“Yeah, I absolutely agree with that.”

She did say she hated our school, but I think there’s a big difference between us. Basically, she was doing this as a pleasure crime, whereas we were actual terrorists. We’re not doing all this because we were bored out of our minds. We’re trying to change this school. Over the past few days, we felt no passion or activity from Nanaougi. She just looked like she was having fun, nothing more. And I don’t think we can ever see eye to eye. Droplets of water covered the glass as moving it made the ice inside hit the wall. I forgot about my anger toward Nanaougi for a moment and brought up my own idea.

“Kurumi…Let’s continue our terrorism against the school.”

“Huh? Well, that was my plan from the very beginning,” Kurumi said and looked at me in disbelief.

Ah, crap. I was complicating my thoughts so much, I failed to make my intention clear.

“Sorry, I meant that we should be more vigorous about our terrorism.”

“Vigorous? So what would be different from before?”

“Well…Why not aim for terrorism that’s much greater than whatever Nanaougi is planning?”

The moment I voiced my intention, Kurumi’s upper body shot up.

“I see. That’s what you meant.”

“She said she’d do something that will leave us baffled. And I don’t really like the way she made that sound.”

“Yes, that’s true. She’s clearly looking down on us,” Kurumi pouted. “So we’re going for a terrorism that surpasses Nanaougi-senpai’s?”

“Yeah. But, being annoyed isn’t the only reason. The whole idea of this bet is that she can produce something even better than us, right? The higher we go, the bigger the hurdle for her.”

“That’s true. Because then we can reject her much easier.”

“According to our promise, if she can’t produce the right results, she’ll pull back and leave us alone. If she can’t beat us, then that makes it easier for us to push her away.”

“True, true. If we show her what true terrorism against the school looks like, then she won’t have any room to argue with us.”

This idea might be a bit distanced from our original goal, but at the same time, it actually isn’t. We’re going to show those higher-ranking classes that this isn’t just us playing around. And it will still allow us to show our determination to change the school, connecting to our original goal.

“The two of us despise this school, and are filled with a desire to completely mess it up.”

“That’s right. We are more motivated than anybody else,” Kurumi showed a mischievous smirk. “That sounds good. Then let’s aim for an act of terrorism greater than anything Nanaougi-senpai could think up!”

“That’s decided then. Let’s show her how serious we are.”

“Yes! Now I’m getting excited! I think we should jump into our strategy meeting right away!”

*

In the blink of an eye, the time of day had turned to night. We spent most of the time thinking up ideas, when we both started feeling hungry, heading out to go shopping at a nearby supermarket. Kurumi said she’d make something, so I decided to rely on her kindness. We walked around inside the supermarket with its oddly familiar BGM, grabbed the things we needed, and then headed back. We stuffed the ingredients in the fridge, talked some more about our ideas, and Kurumi started preparing.

Time passed on like that, and by the time Kurumi finished preparing the dinner, it was already close to 6 pm. We sat at a table for two and started our dinner.

“Here you go. Eat up, Senpai.”

“Thanks for making this. It looks delicious.”

We both grabbed our chopsticks at the same time. Today’s menu consisted of ginger-grilled beef with sliced cabbage, as well as miso soup with nuts and some white rice. Since it had been a few hours since I had last eaten, I was quite hungry. I grabbed a bit of the beef and carried it to my mouth. Pairing that with white rice, I also reached for the miso soup.

It’s delicious. And not just that…It’s sweet. No, it has an odd taste. A different warmth from what I was used to. It was distinctively different from when I was ordering food or eating out somewhere. It was delicious, pleasantly warm, and it filled me up…Not to mention that it was delicious.

“Are you good at cooking, Kurumi?”

“I think I’m average? I just make it based on the recipe.”

Maybe it’s just a difference in the ingredients and spices that she uses? I continued stuffing my cheeks to find out where this difference came from when Kurumi let out a snicker.

“Senpai, were you always the type to eat this much?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I was just so absorbed in the food, I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Oh my, you’re making me happy now. Just this once, I’ll give you seconds.”

Kurumi seemed very pleased as she grabbed my bag and headed to the kitchen. In the end, the dinner ended after I asked for seconds twice. It’ll probably weigh down on my stomach tomorrow, but her cooking was just that delicious. Until we finished, we sat facing each other, too.

“Thanks for the food.”

“Yes, I’m glad you liked it.”

It was genuinely delicious. I feel like I just had my final meal or something. For dessert, we had some ice cream and then washed the dishes. And as we spent our leisure time, it began getting dark outside. Soon after, we reached 7 pm.

“It’s pretty late, huh? I should probably head home.”

“Already? You can still stay a bit longer if you’d like. Unless you have a strict curfew?”

“Not really. In fact, I’ve never had one.”

“Oh, huh? I guess your parents must be rather free about this.”

“Not really. My parents are rarely home, even now, so we never set up rules like that.”

“Ah, really? I see…”

The tone of Kurumi’s voice suddenly dropped. I guess I shouldn’t be bringing up some gloomy story like that.

“I just figured I should head back in case I run the danger of missing the last train.”

“Huh? But it’s barely 7 pm, right? You have lots of time for that.”

“But I don’t know my way from left to right here, so I’d like to get back with a bit of leisure in terms of time.”

Not to mention that in a rural area like this, trains might be stopping as early as 10 pm. With that discussed, I grabbed my belongings and headed for the entrance. I put on my shoes, put my bag on my shoulder, and checked if I had grabbed everything. Seems good, I didn’t forget anything. I should really head home now before the sun sets.

“Anyway, Kurumi, thanks for the food again.”

When I put my hand on the doorknob, Kurumi stepped out of the room to see me off.

“I remember the way, so you don’t have to come with me to the train station,” I said to not let her voice any weird ideas, but she remained silent even now.

“…”

I turned around and was greeted by Kurumi with a grim expression. It’s not like she was lonely to see me go. Rather, she had narrowed her eyes like she was doubtful of something.

“…What’s wrong?”

“Hey, Senpai…There’s really no need for you to go home, is there?”

“Say what? What do you mean?”

“Since nobody’s waiting for you at home, there’s no need to rush, right? You can stay here a bit longer.”

“But…Like I said, I wanna get home before the last train leaves.”

Kurumi pouted.

“I understand…But who cares about the last train?”

“Are you telling me to camp in the wild or something?”

I still couldn’t grasp the meaning behind Kurumi’s words, to which she blushed and averted her face. She then muttered under her breath.

“I’m saying you can just stay over for today.”

“…”

Say what? That’s what she was trying to hint at? How would I get that? While playing with my bangs, I started thinking. I get what she’s trying to say. And she’s not wrong, either. Nobody is waiting for me at home. Nobody will get angry even if I don’t come home. Or rather, nobody would know if I stayed out. At the same time, Kurumi is living here by herself. I wouldn’t bother anybody by staying over. And with Kurumi’s permission, I can just stay here.

…But even so. It would mean that I’d be staying over at a girl’s home…while it’s just the two of us. Should something like this really happen? Wouldn’t this bring too many problems with it?

“S-Senpai, please say something. This is embarrassing.”

Lost in thought, I only now realized that Kurumi’s face was beet-red. Okay, I get it. I have to reach my conclusion…And after my mental heated discussion continued for about a minute—

“…I don’t think an adolescent boy and girl should be sleeping in the same place, all by themselves.”

A sigh of disappointment and despair could be heard from Kurumi.

“Your old-fashioned values never cease to amaze me, Senpai…”

“I mean…Well, you know. Staying over…It’s not something that should be decided so lightly, and—”

“Yes, yes, I get it. Fine, I guess I’ll have you be honest with me the direct way,” Kurumi stared at me and took a step forward.

She got down the step in front of the door and then pressed her lips onto mine.

“Mnnn…I swear…You constantly need my work, Senpai…Mnn…”

It was a passionate and fierce kiss as she fought with my lips.

“Mnnn…Hey…What’s this about…?”

“Yes, yes…Mn…Shut up…Just keep quiet…Bleh…”

I did as I was told as Kurumi played with my lips and tongue. Her breath tickled me, her grip as she wrapped her arms around my back strong, and I could not fight back. And just to make myself clear, I didn’t get my hopes up or anything. That I want to stress.

“Mnnn…Pah…!”

Kurumi finally pulled her lips away, ending our long kiss. I felt hot. My head was on fire, yet my thoughts were clear.

“Huff…Huff…That sure caught me off guard…”

“Mhm…It’s your fault, Senpai.”

Her face was close. It’s like her black eyes stared directly into my soul, leaving me unable to escape.

“So? I’m listening.”

“…I wanna stay with you a bit longer, so I guess I could stay over.”

“Heh, you can just live here if you’d like.”

…Anything’s possible now? But, all right. Now that it’s come to this, I might as well take her up on the offer. Who cares about the small details? We don’t need common sense. That’s what we’ve decided. I took off my shoes once more and entered Kurumi’s home again. I placed my bag in the corner of the room, and took out my wallet and a box of cigarettes to place them on the table. Loosening the necktie of my uniform, I opened one button of my shirt. And during all that, Kurumi watched me with a passionate gaze.

“Hee hee…You best resign yourself, Senpai.”

“Resign myself…about what?”

“I do have two futons ready, but I’m not going to prepare one for you.”

“Hold on, why? You don’t need to be nasty now.”

“Oh please, don’t worry. I’ve made the necessary preparations. It may have been very embarrassing, but I went ahead and bought some…Although I had to go with random ones since I don’t know your size.”

Huh? Embarrassing to buy? Size? …Wait, wait, wait, is she talking about that?

“…Kurumi, are you being serious right now?”

“We did talk about illicit relationships being one way of revolting against the school, remember?”

Yes. We did talk about that. But this and that are two different things. My heart began racing faster. I could tell my cheeks were as red as tomatoes. I couldn’t tear my gaze from Kurumi’s body. Her slender shoulders, her small but definite mounds on her chest, her squishy thighs that were the right mix between meaty and supple. Everywhere I looked, it felt like my eyes would get blinded. Even so, I tried to keep my reason and forced my mouth to move.

“That…is something you should do with someone you truly treasure.”

“Well to me, you are the most important person in this world and in my life. I care about you more than about anybody else.” Kurumi said with an innocent yet bewitching tone, as she smiled. “Or…is the problem here that you don’t feel the same way, Senpai?”

“…You’re also an important person to me.”

“Then what’s the big deal? I’m doing this because I want to, but it also matches our motive. In this world, it may be something normal, but we’re giving in to the urges we feel, and fall into this abyss together. And I think that holds incredible value to us.”

On the surface level, it sounded complicated, but I could understand what she meant. Be it a means of rebelling, an illicit act, or even to show rotten love, there is value in us doing whatever we want. Worrying about the world, other people, and common sense…It’s a waste. Kurumi’s eyes were damp as she placed her hand on my cheek.

“Senpai, do you give up now?”

“…Yeah, yeah. I give up. You win.”

She wrapped her hands around my neck, whispering into my ear. She pushed me onto the futon and placed herself on my stomach, removing button after button of my shirt. And I spotted something in the corner of my eye.

“Hey, Senpai…Now that it’s just the two of us…How far do you think we can go?” Kurumi said with cheeks red like never before, and I could not tear my eyes away.

It was the beginning of August, and I experienced a vivid reality in this world. For the first time, I experienced a day that became only hotter after the sun had set. We have no more purity left. And there’s no wordplay intended in this. For the rest of the night, Kurumi and I kept our fingers intertwined as we went as far as we wanted—That’s all it was.

*

I woke up to excessive heat. I turned around to check the time, but the clock was not at the place I was used to. The wooden ceiling above me was unfamiliar to me, too, faintly illuminated by the sunlight entering through the window. And then, the realization hit me, as I held my head. This vivid reality I experienced wasn’t just a dream. Yesterday’s events connected to what was today.

“…”

Now I remember it all. I spent the night at Kurumi’s home…No, just spending the night would cover up a certain reality. Well, it’s too late to regret it now. What’s done is done. I’m just gonna get up and turn on the A/C. Otherwise, I might die from the heat in here. With that decision made, I wanted to push up my upper body but failed to do so. My body felt heavy. And it was getting a bit hard to breathe, too. What’s going on with me…? I pushed up my head to look down at myself. And the moment I saw what was going on, all the sleepiness left over inside of me vanished without a trace. The reason I couldn’t get up—was that Kurumi used my bare chest as a pillow for her to sleep on.

“Kurumi, wake up. Hey, Kurumi.”

“Mmm…Zzz…”

“Heeey! Get up! I can’t move like this!”

“Yawn…What…? Is it morning?”

Kurumi slowly pushed up her body and rubbed her drowsy eyes.

“Mnnn…Good morning, Senpai.”

“…! M-Morning.”

Finally free, I raised my upper body while averting my eyes. The reason I couldn’t look directly at Kurumi was her outfit. All she wore was a single white shirt, her right shoulder in plain sight, and even the area up her thighs was almost visible to me. How defenseless could she be? This stimulus was too much so early in the morning. I don’t know where to look…Even more so after what happened last night. But, there’s a bigger issue.

“Hey, Kurumi, do you know where my shirt is? I thought I put it on before falling asleep, but I can’t find it.”

“Hm…That’s probably the one I’m wearing. It feels a bit too big for the ones I have, so it’s probably yours.”

“Then that’s decided…But why are you wearing my shirt?”

“Ah…Well, I actually can’t sleep unless I wear any clothes.”

That doesn’t mean you should go around stealing other people’s clothes, though. Now I’m the one who might catch a cold.

“Oh? This shirt…It smells like Senpai! Sniff sniff sniff…”

“Wha…hey?! Stop that! Give it back!”

“Hahaha, nooo! Senpai is going to tear off my clothes!”

Kurumi put her hands together in front of her chest to protect herself. Hey, what are you doing?! Now I can’t even get my shirt back! Not knowing where to put my hands, I was frozen stiff, met with Kurumi’s mischievous smirk.

“Ohhh? What’s wrong? Don’t you want your shirt back?”

“…Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You’ve seen all of me just last night, so what’s there to be embarrassed about?”

“…Shut up.”

I get it now. I’ll never get used to this. I’ll stay embarrassed forever. And yet, Kurumi just continued laughing as she stood up, still wearing my shirt.

“Anyway, I’ve supplied my Senpai nutrients for now, so I guess it’s time to get up!” She pushed her arms in the direction of the sunlight from the window and did a long stretch.

“You can go and wash your face, Senpai. The bath is the door in the middle of the hallway, so go ahead. And you can use shampoo, towel, and whatever you’d like.”

“Y-Yeah, got it. Thanks.”

“I’ll go to work for breakfast. What should I do, I wonder…”

Kurumi headed to the kitchen on light steps. But on the way out of the room, the shirt she wore fluttered in the movement, revealing two white mounds. I couldn’t spot any underwear that could protect her, so I guess she really is only wearing my shirt. But, I pretended that I hadn’t seen a thing…Also, gimme back my shirt already.

*

I finished washing my face and taking a shower, met with a finished breakfast ready on the table. Bacon, scrambled eggs, paired with two slices of bread you could put butter and jam on. I sat down at the table and waited for Kurumi to finish her shower. Once we were both ready, we started eating. I grabbed a knife to start eating as we exchanged standard comments like ‘It’s so fluffy and delicious’ or ‘These were expensive eggs’ and whatnot. Around halfway through, we started discussing our next terrorism.

“So, what do we do next? What options do we have?”

“If we’re going to face off against Nanaougi, it can’t be something half-baked. That’s for sure.”

“And it’s important that the school doesn’t figure us out…Quite complicated.”

The sound of our tableware moving filled the silence. I don’t think we’re getting any closer to coming up with something.

“Waiting to see what Nanaougi does to blow past her would be best…But we might as well get the jump on her. She’s pissing me off,” I grumbled.

“That’s right. We’ve got our pride to carry us, too.”

Of course, we wouldn’t want to do anything half-baked. Changing the school had the utmost priority.

“To come up with a new act of terrorism, we should probably watch how the situation at school unfolds, but we can’t take it easy, either. It all depends on what kind of terrorism we want to do.”

“So something timely and sensational. I like it.”

Kurumi stuffed her cheek with bread as she nodded to herself. I had a bit of trouble trying to understand what she said, but it was probably something along those lines.

“For now, we should attend the summer supplementary classes as always. I wanna keep an eye on what Nanaoudi is up to.”

“Mhm, sounds good. Then let’s finish eating and prepare for school.”

We quickly ate up the rest of our breakfast, cleaned up the dishes, and then made our way to school. Putting on the uniform, I grabbed all my necessities and checked my appearance in the mirror. Just on a side note, I was actually wearing a new shirt, not the one that Kurumi had on when we woke up. Since it’s easy to get sweaty during the summer, I always keep a reserve with me. Keeping my cleanliness is one way to keep my sanity during the day. And considering we both were wearing that on a hot day, no way I could keep that on for school. It’d give off an odd scent…in a lot of ways.

“I’m done over here. Are you ready, Senpai? You have everything with you, right?”

“I’m good, too. Since we got here right after school, I only had my phone and wallet.”

“I guess that makes sense. Then let’s head out.”

We grabbed our bags and then headed for the entrance. I figured I should get out quick so I won’t get in the way, but right after I put on my shoes, my hand on the door—

“Mmm!”

I heard a weird voice like that behind me. Turning around, I found Kurumi glaring at me, her lips puckered.

“What’s that face about? You okay?”

“Do I really need to spell it out? Don’t you get it? This is your goodbye kiss, Senpai.”

Yeap, I don’t get it. I did not expect an answer like that.

“…Isn’t that for when you see someone off? We’re leaving the house at the same time.”

“Gosh! Why do you have to be so boring all the time?! That doesn’t matter!”

“You don’t have to get so angry…”

“Whatever! Senpai! Mmm!” She pouted as she once again puckered her lips.

She’s definitely not stepping back, I bet. Okay, I get it. No point in arguing about this. It’s embarrassing as all hell, but I guess I have to do it.

“Here, get it over with.”

“Good, good. Mnn!”

Kurumi placed her hands on my cheeks to keep me in a hold as she kissed me on the cheek. I was surprised that it wasn’t on the mouth, as Kurumi continued with a beet-red face.

“Would you have preferred a kiss on the lips? That…is something you can look forward to later…”

“…What are you even saying?”

She made it sound like I’d be staying over again today…Well, I’m not complaining.

*

Summer supplementary classes kept us busy as a few days passed. It was getting close to the point we should be coming up with something like an idea, when an incident happened. During the third period, the teacher finished checking the status of our homework and was about to start class, when—A single student caused an uproar in our class 2-5 classroom.

“…Hey. Hey! What the hell are you doing?”

Our male teacher called out to a boy sitting about three seats ahead of me. Looking over, I could tell why the teacher was so furious—The boy was asleep. And not just dozing off, he had his eyes closed and rested his upper body on the table, breathing faintly. I see what’s going on. Here at Saigou High with our law of discrimination, being asleep in class was the biggest taboo you could break.

No matter how calm and collected a teacher may be, sleeping during class is the one thing that ticks them off equally. After the student is woken up aggressively and forcefully, they receive some harsh verbal abuse, as well as some ridiculous punishment. Maybe they have them stand in the hallway, maybe they’re not allowed to use a chair again, or maybe they’re forced to sit on their knees while attending class. In the worst-case scenario, you’d have to write a written apology. Honestly, it all depends on the mood of the teacher…so let’s see how things will evolve from here. I swallowed my breath to watch the situation unfold, realizing that we had reached critical levels.

“Hey, I’m telling you to get up! How long do you plan on sleeping like that?!”

Bangs filled the classroom, as the teacher kicked the student’s desk. As everything shook, writing utensils and notes flew everywhere. Losing his final hold, the student fell over and slammed onto the ground.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’m offering my own time to teach you, and this is how you thank me? Not to mention you paid money to be here, and you’re wasting it all? Don’t you feel bad?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Fine, whatever. I’m tired of this. Just do as you want, you worthless garbage.”

The teacher gathered up all their belongings and got away from the teacher’s desk. They slammed the door open and left the classroom. And…there it is. The class boycott. I’m the one who’s tired of this. You act like you’re the righteous one, but you’re just slacking off. The students paid to be here, so don’t you feel bad for scamming them and their parents off their money? I’d get it if you were doing this as a last measure against some rough children in elementary school…But we’re in high school. You won’t change a thing by boycotting classes. Not to mention that these are supposed to be summer supplementary classes. And yet, they don’t care about this one bit, just trying to maintain their pride. And just as the teachers had their way of doing things, so had the students.

“…Let’s all apologize together. Please follow me.”

With the class rep at the front, the majority of students from class 2-5 stepped out of the classroom. But I know what’s about to happen. We’re all gonna stand in line and say “We’re sorry for sleeping in class. We’re going to take class seriously now so please teach us,” right? I’m done with all this. You’re wasting my precious time.

“Natsume-kun, let’s go.”

Tanaka-san also stood up and called out to me. I honestly can’t be bothered, but standing out alone in the class would only come to hurt me. I reluctantly got up and lined up after my students. And on the way, I secretly texted Kurumi a message.

‘I came up with a terrorism I want to do.’

After I sent the message, I was about to stuff away my phone, only to feel my phone vibrate.

‘Are you okay?’

…Hey now. Not ‘Which one?’ or ‘Let’s go it’ but ‘Are you okay?’ instead? Now that’s a surprise attack. It might look weird to other people, but between us, this was a regular conversation. Well, it’s also a relief to know that Kurumi worries about me no matter how shit the school is.

*

And in the end, Kurumi and I continued to live together. After I first stayed over, we stayed together not having any fights or any grave misunderstandings. As the complete opposite of our school life, our days outside were peaceful.

“…Already this late, huh?”

The evening arrived, and the mountains were colored a strong purple color from the setting sun. And while watching the sky change color, I listened to the disaster protection broadcast. It was a special broadcast for this region to allow children to get home safely. Something about ‘Good children should go home,’ but after staying with Kurumi for almost a week now, I started thinking that maybe I didn’t have to. Surely, that thought process would have been impossible before meeting Kurumi. Is this growth? Or am I regressing? It might be a bit of both…but it’s definitely not just one. I couldn’t fully tell myself. I’m probably just tired, so I should get inside.

“Senpai, do you have time right now?”

I went inside, as Kurumi showed her face from the kitchen.

“I do. What’s up? I already cleaned the bath, just so you know.”

“I wasn’t asking you to help me with housework.”

Guess she read my next move, huh? But I wonder what’s up, then. My head was filled with doubt, as Kurumi trotted toward me. She wore a light-blue shirt with thin pants today, and each step she took made her black and ash-gray hair sway.

“Hee hee…Senpai, let’s have some fun.”

“Huh? I mean, I don’t mind…But what fun? What are we doing?”

“Y-You dummy! I wasn’t talking about anything lewd!” Kurumi blushed and hit me on the shoulder.

Excuse me? I didn’t even say anything.

“That’s not what I mean. I was talking about this!” Kurumi said “Tada!” as she took out what she hid behind her back.

The bag looked awfully colorful, like a variety of candy almost.

“How about it? I even bought some big ones!”

“…Sorry, what’s that?”

“You’re joking, right? These are fireworks!”

She looked at me like she had seen an alien, but I genuinely had no idea. The package was just that misleading. And since we never had any fireworks at home even when I was a kid, I never had a chance to actually look at them from up close before they went into the air.

“I spotted them at the supermarket, so I bought them on a whim! Sounds fun, right?”

“Well, I guess. I never did any fireworks myself, so I wouldn’t know.”

“What?! People like you exist?! Unbelievable!” So she said.

Is it that weird? I do think that not everybody on this planet has ever played around with smaller fireworks…But, Kurumi cleared her throat once to get back on track.

“I see, I see. I understand. If that’s the case, then we definitely have to do these fireworks now. And that will be the second first-time experience I will offer to Senpai…Well, including the kiss, it would be three, I guess?”

“…Oh shut up.”

“Haha! You’re so flustered!” Kurumi laughed like she was watching a comedy special.

Either way, with that decided, we began preparing for the fireworks. We stepped out onto the garden and cleaned up everything that could get in the way. I’d rather avoid causing a wildfire here, so we also kept a bucket of water around. Also, we’d need a lighter, lighting up a candle near the bucket of fireworks. It was the only light that saved us from the absolute darkness slowly creeping up on us. But with this, we were now ready to go. Honestly, I was already pretty excited, but looking at Kurumi, she didn’t seem too happy.

“Doing it normally…feels a bit boring.”

“Is there a special way to do fireworks or something? Maybe two in both hands?”

Kurumi didn’t answer me and instead headed to the back of the house. What she brought with her after…an 18-liter can. She kept her phone at her side as she began opening the can and working away at it. I watched her in puzzlement for the next five minutes or so, as she placed the can in the center of the garden.

“Are you done? What’s this about?”

Lit up faintly by the candle, there was a faint grin on Kurumi’s mouth.

“It’s a simple incinerator. I made it using the internet as a reference!”

“Ah, you’re lighting up the fire inside…But what are you going to use that for?”

“We’re going to burn our summer homework. And with that fire, we’ll light the fireworks.”

…For real? That’s definitely something else. Kurumi grabbed the bag of summer homework from her home and put it into the incinerator. Only the newest paper she kept and lit it with a lighter, adding it inside.

“You won’t be able to hand it in, remember? What do you plan on doing once summer break ends?”

“Who cares about that?” Kurumi grinned.

Behind her, the mountain of paper lit up in flames. Math formulas began turning black, melting away, and disappearing. It fueled the hellfire inside.

“Looks good. Then let’s start with the fireworks.” Kurumi opened up one bag and grabbed a long firework, putting the tip into the incinerator.

It lit up immediately, as sparks came flying out.

“How is it? Look, Senpai! You can hold them in your hands!”

It was a mixture of a strong burning red and a radiant white. It was beautiful. And burning the homework alongside the firework, it felt like some sort of ritual. It was a mystical sight. Finally, the fireworks Kurumi held grew weaker, as she put it into the bucket of water, creating a sizzling sound.

“You do it too, Senpai!”

“…Hold on.”

I got up on the porch to enter the house and grabbed my homework from my bag. I rolled it all up and threw it into the incinerator, which made the fire inside even stronger.

“As I’d expect, Senpai!” Kurumi praised me with a mischievous but equally love-struck expression. “And now, here’s your fireworks. We’ve got lots, so don’t hold back.”

“Will do, thanks.”

I accepted one of the sparklers Kurumi offered me and put the tip into the incinerator. Not too long after, mine lit up, too. We then moved next to each other as we let the fireworks burn. The scent of smoke tickled my nose. It made me feel like I was experiencing a type of summer I’d only ever dreamed of.

“Senpai, how should we reveal our next terrorism?”

“Good question. I don’t think the teachers will be able to laugh it off anymore if we keep going on.”

“Let’s take our time thinking about it. We have plenty of time after all.”

Our passionate feelings were nothing naive. We had to change this school no matter the cost. And for that, we can’t let Nanaougi get in the way. And as he watched the flames, we continued to talk about all this.

*

[Detailed Payment Statement]

As the detailed statement of the supplementary class you were handed is wrong, I went ahead and provided the correct version.

Total Cost – Summer Supplementary Classes: 156,000 yen

Details:

Workbook – 12,500 yen

Lesson Fee – 86,640 yen

Abuse Fee – 50,160 yen*

Self-Study Fee – 72,000 yen**

*Calculated based on the 22 minutes of verbal abuse, lecturing, and insults present per single school period.

**Calculated based on the class boycotts by the teacher that happens around once or twice a week.

Now, the biggest selling point of these summer supplementary classes is that they supposedly cost half of what you would be paying at a regular cram school…But is that really true? The general fee for a cram school’s summer classes rounds up to around 1933 yen per hour. Extracting the time for verbal abuse and boycotts from the supplementary classes at Saigou High, you’d be looking at approximately 1894 yen. It’s not all that much cheaper. So wouldn’t you agree that it’d be a lot more efficient to pay an extra 39 yen to send your children to a cram school with trained professionals who actually value the students’ time and don’t verbally abuse them?

*

After the abuse broadcast and the beheaded head terrorism, the school was most definitely wary of our next actions. Searching our bags became a regular occurrence, and whenever we had any self-study time, the teachers would patrol the hallways. They wanted to make absolutely sure that nobody could act out of line. But of course, we weren’t naive enough to be weakened by that. We came up with terrorism behind the scenes and enacted that—And we called it the ‘Abuse Payment Statement.’

The main idea was to show that the price of the supplementary classes here didn’t match the value you got, especially compared to a regular prep school. And we showed that a lot of the money the students paid actually went toward being insulted and abused. And we’d produce a payment statement from this to show the whole school. The idea was to use the magic of math to show the evilness behind the supplementary classes. And then we planned on putting up these payments at all sorts of places. One spot a day, and in hidden places like the toilet stalls or the storage room for cleaning tools.

By doing so, the teachers will take longer to realize and won’t be able to act as quickly. And by the time they catch on, most of the students have already seen it. And this situation is what we aimed for. We executed this terrorism over the course of a whole week, putting up these papers here and there. And as it turned out, it had quite the effect. During recess, I asked Tanaka-san about it and she gave this response.

“Hey, did you hear about the payment statement thing they’ve been putting up around school?”

“Ah, yeah…It’s made the rounds with my friends, too.”

“Do you know when they started putting those up?”

“I wonder? My friends said they saw it the day before yesterday…” Tanaka-san responded with a troubled expression, which spoke plenty of our success.

And following that, I could hear people discussing things like “50k to get abused, eh?” or “Let’s go to a cram school next year” and so on. It was a thrill. It really felt like more and more people realized that something wasn’t right. And I was hoping that this poison could continue to spread until it effectively killed these rotten supplementary classes.

*

Before the teachers could catch us, we decided to stop our terrorism. On a Saturday afternoon, we put up the final paper at the self-study space, ending our operation. Checking that nobody had seen me, I quietly and quickly left the place behind me. I decided to head home and then celebrate this success with Kurumi. And I chose to take the path by the staff office so that I wouldn’t stand out.

“…Hm?”

On the way, I encountered a mysterious scene. A small female teacher and Nanaougi were walking next to each other. Neither of them talked, but the atmosphere seemed tense between them. I just couldn’t stop myself from tracing after them…When I realized that they were heading to the student guidance room. Did Nanaougi do something? Usually, only the problematic students would be called to this room, but she’s a higher-ranking student…so it’s hard to believe. Maybe she got caught while planning her terrorism?

That would be a shame…But I have no sympathy for her, either. She said she’d overcome our acts of terrorism, so it means that this is her limit.

“…Not like I care,” I grumbled to myself and decided to turn around and walk away.

However, right at that moment, I caught a glimpse of something and turned back around again. I could see Nanaougi holding something familiar—It was the payment statement that Kurumi and I had created and spread across the past week.