The Seventh QuestionPlease answer the following question.
On which year (AD) was the Kan"i Jūnikai[1] system created?
Himeji Mizuki"s answer:
"603"
Teacher"s comment:
That"s correct.
Sakamoto Yuuji"s answer:
"603".
Teaher"s comment:
What happened? Sensei"s surprised that you got it correct.
Yoshii Akihisa"s answer:
"603".
Teacher"s comment:
Please forgive sensei for giving you an "X" upon seeing your name.
"Morning, Aki~"
"Good morning, Yoshii-kun."
"Ah, good morning girls."
On the second morning of the school festival, Himeji-san and Minami arrive at school.
My mind is carefully thinking about what to say.
"Ah, yes...did you two sleep well last night?"
"Eh? Yeah, I did sleep rather soundly."
"Really? Then...did you finish your breakfast?"
"Yes, I came here after eating my breakfast."
"Erm, then, did you have any weird dreams last night or--"
"*Giggles* Yoshii-kun. Looks like you were thinking too much?"
Oh my, looks like I was seen through. However, since they were nearly raped, it would be normal to worry about the impact on them.
"Don"t worry. It was scary, but I"m really calm, so calm that it"s inexplicable."
"Really?"
"Yes, because everyone was alright in the end...and Yoshii-kun came to save us."
After saying that, a natural smile appeared on Himeji-san"s face.
"Instead of Aki, I suppose it"s better to say that we were saved by Sakamoto and Tsuchiya."
Minami also looks rather indifferent. These two sure have guts, I"m somewhat feeling a bit sorry that I underestimated them.
"I"m relaxed now that you two are so energetic. Then, this morning, we"ll be--"
"...No abnormalities."
"Nothing strange"s going on here."
"Really, thanks guys."
Hideyoshi and Muttsulini also arrived in school. Because of what happened yesterday, I requested Hideyoshi and Muttsulini to accompany the girls to school. I even lent a taser that I borrowed to them.
"There"s no need to thank us over such a small thing, and I didn"t really help out yesterday anyway..."
"Nope, it can"t be helped when you"re tied up."
Or it"s better to say that Hideyoshi"s fate was really bad, such that he was touched on the b.u.t.t several times.
"Oh, are you two okay today?"
Yuuji scratches his head as he enters the cla.s.sroom. Seems like he"s not too worried about the girls, maybe it"s because Muttsulini and Hideyoshi were accompanying them.
"Eh? Sakamoto, you"re here already?"
"Yoshii-kun and Sakamoto-kun really came early today."
"We came here early in the morning to take some exams. Hooo..."
I give a yawn due to fatigue. Of course, this can"t be helped when I pulled an all-nighter.
"Really, won"t it affect the results later? The opponents are third years."
"Seems like it, and it"s said that they have some of the best grades."
In terms of how they took action, those two really look stupid, especially that baldy.
"There shouldn"t be any difference. The third years" exams are much more difficult, and the battle conditions are the same."
"It"s not that, I"m worried that you two may be too weak to take them on..."
Minami"s words seem to indicate that she"s already giving up. Why so rude?
"If you have time to worry about this, go open the shop, huahhh..."
"You really are not interested in what"s going on with the store. Aren"t you going to help out with it?"
"I"m sorry, can you let me sleep for a while? I didn"t really sleep much nowadays, and my mind"s now a bit dazed because I stayed up all night."
No matter what, it"s hard to maintain concentration like this. I"m rather confident in my fitness, so I should be able to recover after taking a little nap.
"Is that so? Then please go and take a nap."
"That"s right, leave the teahouse to me."
"...(nods head)"
"Can"t be helped. I"ll call you two up if you two aren"t awake later. Okay?"
"Thanks. then can you please wake me up at 11?"
"11? Isn"t the match"s at 1pm?"
"I"ll come and help during the busy lunch period."
Even though we have only 3 hours to sleep, that"s enough for Yuuji and me.
"Then, wake me up as well. I"m going to the roof to sleep. Yawn..."
Yuuji uses his hand to cover his mouth as he uses his other hand to reach for the door handle.
I see, to the roof. The audio equipment that"s set up for the night festival is located there, and we won"t be disturbed. The weather today is extremely good, so it"s good for taking an afternoon nap.
"Then I"ll go up and sleep as well. I"ll leave it to you later."
I press down on my heavily dazed head as I stand up.
(They"re going to sleep together...)
(Can"t be mistaken, he"s going to lean on Sakamoto"s shoulder...)
Well, I might as well abandon all the noises behind me as I leave, or else I"m going to have nightmares.
"Then, let"s go, Yuuji."
"You"re right. Shimada, is it alright if we go first?"
"I can"t do anything even if I say no, right? You"re going to compete in the finals anyway."
In the end, Yuuji and I only managed to help out for half an hour. As they saw that we were really tired, they compa.s.sionately allowed us to sleep a little more. No matter what, I do feel that our cla.s.smates are really gentle.
"We"ll go over to cheer for you guys later."
Himeji-san"s cheongsam get-up today is as ever dazzling. Her charm is definitely one reason why the earnings on our second day increased dramatically.
"It comes down to this. Don"t get careless, okay?"
"...(win)."
"I got it. I won"t make the same mistake twice. Then, I"m leaving."
"Really, those words are irritating my ears."
After Yuuji and I gently punch Hideyoshi and Muttsulini"s outstretched hands, we head off to the arena.
"I thought we might get distracted before the match. Didn"t expect nothing to happen though."
"If it"s not because they gave up due to being unable use those petty tricks, then it"s because they didn"t know where we were."
"I see. Only those people who want to use the audio equipment would go up and use it."
And the audio equipment will only be used during the night festival later. It"s basically a tailor-made hiding spot for us.
"Hideyoshi and Muttsulini were watching the shop as well."
"I heard that the taser is a dangerous thing that can also conduct electricity through clothes."
"It"s alright, at least it"s not fatal."
I strongly feel that the taser I gave to those two is a forbidden item, and it looks dangerous anyway. Most people would run away in fear, so there shouldn"t be a problem.
"We"ve done everything, and now, we just need to win this."
"You"re right."
After that, we remain silent, and walk down the path to the arena.
"Oh, there"s quite a lot of spectators."
"As expected of the finals."
My heart paces as I arrive at the front of the arena. I"ll be lying if I say that I"m not nervous.
"Yoshii and Sakamoto, please hurry up, it"s time to go in."
The teacher in charge of the arena waves to us on seeing us. They even arranged for duty personnel at the arena, the finals is really different from all the other matches we had up till now.
"Then ladies and gentlemen, we"ve kept you waiting! The finals of the summoning tournament that uses our test battle system is about to officially start!"
The audio broadcast airs a voice that I have never heard before. Maybe the school hired some professional emcees. Since this is a highly antic.i.p.ated event, it"s possible that such a thing may happen.
"Will the partic.i.p.ants please enter the arena!!"
"Then, please go in."
The teacher pats us on the back, and moves off to the audience in front.
"These two are Sakamoto Yuuji of Cla.s.s 2-F, and Yoshii Akihisa Of Cla.s.s 2-F! Will everyone please give a round of applause!"
The huge rain-like applause descend on us. There"s quite a lot of people watching this, and Himeji-san"s father would definitely be here watching as well.
"The group that managed to beat the best, Cla.s.s A, is unexpectedly the lowest combination of Cla.s.s F! Maybe we need to change our rigid view of Cla.s.s F!"
(Those words sound good for once.)
(Ya. It can also give Himeji-san"s father a good impression.)
Perhaps the reason the spectators are giving us an ovation is to promote the test summoning system by showing that "because of the test summoning system, even those who are weak would work harder". But no matter the motive, we can"t ask for anything better than that.
"And on the other side, we have Tsunemura Yuusaku from Cla.s.s 3-A, and Natsukawa Shunpei, who"s from Cla.s.s A as well!"
The ones who were called up and appearing in front of us are the Toko-Natsu group that caused us a whole lot of trouble yesterday.
"Though they"re one of the few third-years partic.i.p.ating, they did make their way into the finals. Now, will we see them display the prowess of the third-years?"
While receiving the applause from the crowd, both of them slowly move towards us.
"Then now, I"ll briefly explain the rules of the match. The strength of the summoned beast is equivalent to the grades-"
The announcer starts to explain the rules, and we ignore it as we"re already familiar with them, continuing to glare at each other.
"Yo, sempais, have you run out of your bad ideas?"
Yuuji folds his arms as he looks like he"s treating the sempais as idiots. He sure looks cool in this situation.
"We"re very understanding, we don"t want you guys to embarra.s.s yourselves in front of the crowd. However, for your F-cla.s.s brains, you probably won"t understand it."
The baldy-sempai won"t give up as he replies Yuuji, taunting us while stroking his chin. Seems like both sides are really able to agitate their opponents.
"Such a pity, I can"t understand your words even if you"re from Cla.s.s A. You should polish up your j.a.panese first, you baldy king of the ape mountain."
"You, you kiddos dare to treat your sempais..."
Both sides continue to taunt each other with a volume only they can hear. Looks like Yuuji has quite a lot of unhappy words he want to express as well.
I also have something that I want to confirm with them.
"Sempais, I have something to ask you."
"Huh?"
"What"s your reason for helping the head of teaching staff?"
Hearing this, the baldy-sempai reveals a shocked expression.
"...Is it? Looks like you guys know all about this."
"Sort of, so why?"
"For our graduation. If we"re successful, he will write a recommendation letter for us. We would have no need to study for the entrance exams."
"Really? Then--Natsukawa-sempai, you"re the same as well?"
"Sort of."
"...I see."
I slightly nod my head as I end this conversation. This is all I want to know.
"Actually, we didn"t need to use any tricks. There"s a whole world of difference in level between Cla.s.s A and Cla.s.s F."
"Really? Since you two went all the way with those things, I suppose both of you are afraid of Akihisa and me, right?"
"Ha! And you dare to say this! Your methods of winning is to use some cheap tricks by making use of the opponents" personalities and weaknesses. If your opponents are us, you would have absolutely no chance of winning."
Maybe that"s true, the reason why we were able to win up till now was because we clearly understand our opponents. We can"t beat these opponents if we"re to use the same trick now.
"And now, the match will begin! All contestants, please get ready!"
After the explanation, the refereeing teacher stands right between us.
""""SUMMON""""
We shout out and summon our summoned beasts.
Our opponents" equipment are of traditional swords and armour. As they have rather high grades, even their equipment looks impressive.
A cla.s.s, Tsunemura Yuusaku, j.a.panese History 209 points & A cla.s.s, Natsukawa Shunpei, j.a.panese History 197 points.
As expected of Cla.s.s A , their marks are pretty impressive. If they can get such good marks, that means that their summoned beasts are rather strong, and not swiss cheese.
Looks like these two are rather good with their homework as well.
"So now, can you see that our marks are great?"
"Since these are marks that Cla.s.s F can never see, it"s expected for you to have this response."
Seeing the sempais show off like this, I"m speechless. These really are marks that they can brag about. Very, strong.
But since they can get these grades, it means that they can graduate with their own ability, since those marks can get them anywhere.
However, they didn"t challenge themselves with something that they can definitely do, but tried to wreck our one and only second-year school festival, preventing us from creating wonderful memories--even almost creating a tragedy of us being unable to keep the most important person to me.
"Alright, let everyone see your atrocious marks."
"Tsunemaru, don"t bully them too much. They"re going to show it now anyway, right?"
The mohican-head sempai lets out an irritating laugh.
Facing these two, a strong surge of emotions wells up inside me.
Because of these guys, I"m unable to prevent Himeji-san from transferring schools? THIS IS SO STUPID!
"A while ago..."
"Hm?"
"A while ago, a certain girl in my cla.s.s said this."
"What? She told you how to escape before embarra.s.sing yourself?"
The baldy-sempai laughs out.
Himeji-san"s words during the summoning battle echoes in my mind. Yes, she said this.
"She said, "I can continue to work hard for the one I like"."
"EH? What dreamy words are you saying?"
"--I"ve had a similar feeling recently."
F cla.s.s, Sakamoto Yuuji, j.a.panese History 215 points & F cla.s.s, Yoshii Akihisa, j.a.panese History 166 points.
""WHAT!?""
On seeing the scores on the display screen, both of them are shocked, immediately turning pale.
"THIS TIME, WE WON"T USE ANY PETTY TRICKS! WE"LL BEAT YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.dS HEAD ON WITH OUR ABILITY!!"
The summoned beasts wield their specialized weapons as they get into a battle stance. The fight begins now.
"Akihisa, I worked hard with you all the way to this extent. I won"t forgive you if you lose!"
"I know. Thanks for teaching me. Didn"t expect your mind to be pretty good."
"Everyone"s good when compared to you--now, we"re going!"
Yuuji"s summoned beast is the first one to move. Its equipment is a lot lighter, and thus, it"s a lot more agile.
"Tsunemura! Leave this to me!"
The mohican-head sempai frantically stands in front of Yuuji. As he was too slow, he let Yuuji"s summoned beast get close to him.
"Then my opponent would be sempai."
"Bring it on! I just got distracted, stop getting c.o.c.ky!"
The baldy-sempai"s summoned beast raises its sword as it attacks me from the front.
It"s fast, but--
"Sempai, you"re too panicky, you know? This simple sudden attack is basically inviting me to dodge--"
I slightly move my upper body aside. This straightforward attack that wasn"t even thought through won"t even cut the edge of my jacket.
"d.a.m.n it, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d...!"
Though the opponent reveals his belly as he attacks, he still manages to turn around and swing his sword over.
"Ho!"
I slightly move my body away to avoid this attack, and in this instant, I strike him 3 times.
"GWAAH!"
The baldy sempai barely manages to use his sword to shield himself and takes a huge step back to regain his posture.
"You d.a.m.n brat, you averaged only about 60 points during the summoning battles..."
The baldy-sempai"s tone changes as he glares at me. Seems like they collected some information on our battles.
"Except for this subject, my standard now isn"t a whole lot different from what it was before."
"d.a.m.n you...you planned this right from the start...?"
"That"s right. You"re pretty understanding."
I swing my wooden sword at baldy-sempai, who"s biting his teeth hard and revealing a vengeful expression. Since my marks are so high, my wooden sword"s so strong that it won"t break in a direct clash with the opponent"s sword.
"What now? Sempai doesn"t look so good."
"You two b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, you"re from cla.s.s F..."
The conversation between Yuuji and the mohican-head sempai can be heard. Yuuji"s light summoned beast is matching his opponent"s attacks with his agile moves.
"Can"t be helped. Though it"s a bit childish to use this on second-years, let me teach you what"s the difference in experience!"
After saying that, baldy-sempai"s summoned beast moves back. Besides me, even baldy-sempai himself is a lot further away. If even the controller"s a lot further away, what"s he planning? It"s tougher for a summoned beast to do battle if he"s standing a lot further away.
"There"re some tricks you don"t know."
Baldy-sempai said some unexpected words to me while I was still confused. Now that he said this, I"ll be focused on the opponent"s summoned beast whether I like it or not. Just as I"m focusing on every single motion of the opponent"s summoned beast, the opponent summoned beast looks like it"s about to charge forward.
Do the sempais really have some unknown power that we don"t know of?
"WOOOHH!!"
Baldy-sempai focuses all his strength. Though I don"t know what the enemy will do, I"ll take him down before he does anything!
"GO!"
I let my summoned beast charge head on. Though the battle distance is too great for me, this disadvantageous condition should also apply to the enemy.
"See, you"ve been tricked."
Baldy-sempai"s mocking voice can be heard, and at the same time, something flies into my eye. This...a stone? The enemy hurt my eye with a stone!
"d.a.m.n--IT!!"
That"s why he purposely made such an exaggerated action. The witnesses and audiences are all focused on the summoned beasts that"s far away from each other, so no one noticed Baldy-sempai"s actions. I was tricked!
"This is the difference in experience."
Not good! The enemy"s attacking!
"Guu!" As I haven"t regained my vision, I can only jump aside on instincts. After that, I can only feel a sharp pain on my left abdomen.
I rub off this pain as I force myself to open my eyes, and what"s appears in front of me explains the pain--my summoned beast got cut on the left side of the abdomen by the enemy"s sword.
"So you"re a "punishment inspector"? The next hit will be painful, you know?"
After that, the enemy hits me on the chin with a punch, and I can only see blank as my head gets concussed.
With the feeling of the head being shaked up and the burning pain on my abdomen, I feel like puking. Looks like this isn"t good...
This unbearable pain makes my vision all blurry, and my consciousness start to sway.
"AKIHISA, LET ME SEE YOUR DETERMINATION!!"
"--!"
POM!
I stamp hard onto the floor and regain my footing.
"Well done, partner. Ready to continue on?"
"...Of course!"
Yuuji"s roar helped me. Yes, I can still fight. And yes, I don"t want to lose to this sort of person EVEN IF I DIE!
"STOP TRYING TO HANG IN THERE, I"LL GIVE YOU A BASHING YOU"LL NEVER FORGET!!"
Baldy-sempai"s summoned beast charges forward again.
My summoned beast has lost some strength. I won"t have a chance of winning if I don"t settle this now!
"--HA!"
I endure this pain as I let my summoned beast go past the enemy, and then send a kick to the enemy while he"s completely exposed at the back.
"AIYA!"
Though the injuries caused me to be weakened badly, it"s enough to make the enemy lose balance and allow me some time.
"YUUJI!"
"Ho!"
Yuuji confirms my situation before letting his summoned beast charge directly at the other enemy, the mohican-head sempai.
"DON"T LOOK DOWN ON ME!"
Mohican-head sempai swings his longsword, yet Yuuji doesn"t let his summoned beast dodge.
"GOT YOU!"
The blade"s about to hit the head of Yuuji"s summoned beast. However, at that instance--
CLANG!
My summoned beast tosses its wooden blade and hits the blade precisely, changing the trajectory of the blade.
"Ugh! OH NO..."
Just as the blade misses, Yuuji"s summoned beast lands right at the best position.
"WATCH ME SEND YOU FLYING!!"
The huge impact of the punch moves towards the enemy, as Yuuji"s shout is complimented with the roar of the crowd.
"YOU BRAT! YOU DARE THROW YOUR FAVOURITE WEAPON AWAY!"
After that, baldy-sempai"s summoned beast charged over. I"m unarmed, and the enemy"s a 3rd year student, so it"s different from students of the same year who aren"t used to controlling the summoned beast, since I can"t just take him head on barehanded.
However, if the opponent"s distracted, I can still dodge the first hit.
"ACK! WHAT"S THIS--?"
Baldy-sempai"s summoned beast freezes for a moment because mohican-head sempai"s summoned beast was sent flying over in front of him. This is revenge for the little stone just now.
I use this gap to let the summoned beast advance. Baldy-sempai"s summoned beast missed the best chance to land his longsword since his rhythm got messed up, and so, I can dodge past it!
"CHEH!"
Pulling back the sword, the enemy tries to come up with another attack. This time though, it"s my turn.
"WATCH THIS!"
I use this momentum to let my summoned beast headb.u.t.t him. Though the power isn"t great, it"s enough to restrain his actions.
I endure the minimal pain on my head as I wait for my partner"s response.
"AKIHISA!"
Yuuji"s summoned beast kicks the wooden sword that I threw just now right back at me. He"s not used to controlling the summoned beast, yet he can pa.s.s it rather well!
"I"VE KEPT YOU WAITING!"
I let my summoned beast quickly pick up the wooden sword. With this, it"ll be over!
"d.a.m.n IT! HOW CAN I, A THIRD-YEAR, LOSE TO YOU SMALL FRIES--"
"GO AND DIE!!!"
CRACK! A sharp pain can be felt in my left wrist, and the pain spreads from the hand to the fingers, as if my entire hand got sliced off.
The back of my abdomen got injured as well. I can no longer fight on, but--
"Oh, for your standard, that"s rather good, Akihisa."
The enemy"s blade slices my left hand--and I manage to use my wooden sword to inflict a critical wound by stabbing through the throat.
"Sakamoto and Yoshii"s group wins!!!"
"Gr...eat...!"
The pain corrodes my entire body, and I can"t restrain this vomiting feeling for long. However, I"m so happy that I feel like I"m on clouds.
"It"s been tough for both of you. It"s really impressive."
"Ah hahaha, not really."
"Baka onii-chan was brilliant~!"
"Hazuki, you"ll make Aki feel really troubled, you know?"
Minami can only smile awkwardly as she looks at Hazuki, who"s constantly rubbing herself on my chest.
If this keeps up, it would end up being a fatal injury for me. Thus, I politely push her away. Though Hazuki does looks unhappy, she obediently follows what I did.
"Erm, Yoshii-kun."
"Ah, Himeji-san. Did you see my exciting performance just now?"
"Yes! It was really brilliant! It was so great that I wanted to get a tape from Tsuchiya-san!"
Himeji-san"s eyes are glittering. Seeing her like this, it seems like my hard work finally paid off.
"Erm...the tape. Did Muttsulini record it?"
"Yes. He was very focused in filming it, right?"
"...(Turning the face away)"
Muttsulini looks away. Did this guy ignore the match and go on to film some of the audience wearing mini-skirts?
"You did rather well for your j.a.panese History, Sakamoto, considering that your grades were really bad during the summoning battles."
"It"s because my grades were really bad during the summoning battles that I worked hard on this subject after that."
"So you can get such good grades because of that?"
"It"s simple saying it, but it was tough for us. Especially after Akihisa heard about those things (Himeji-san transferring schools), I"ve been forced to stay back every night and study it with him."
"Oh...forget about Sakamoto, it"s really unexpected for Aki to get such good grades."
"That"s because that guy wanted to see what he could do if he really worked hard. Also, it"s also a case of "hard work overcoming stupidity". To be honest, his concentration is really amazing."
Yuuji continued to converse with Minami while their backs were facing Himeji-san. This is to prevent the rest from knowing that we knew about Himeji-san transferring schools.
"Erm, about, about that..."
"Hm, ah, is there anything?"
Himeji-san continues to play with her fingers in front of her. She really looks like a cute kouhai girl confessing to a male sempai.
"I have something to say after the night festival, please come over to the carpark!"
After saying this while blushing like a tomato, she runs off to continue her work as a waitress.
Oh, that really sounds like a confession. Looks like I just saw something good.
"...Eh?"
Suddenly, I feel that something"s amiss. What the h.e.l.l? Eh--who was Himeji-san saying those words to?
[That"s you. Yoshii Akihisa.]
Oh my--it"s been a while since I last saw my inner devil. You"re still trying to trick me with that smooth talk. As expected of a real devil.
[Nope, I"m not lying. This is real. You should know if you think through the whole conversation, right?]
The whole conversation? If so...
[THAT"S A LIE!! HOW CAN STUPID AND UGLY AKIHISA END UP WITH THIS? I CAN"T LET THE DEVIL"S WORDS TRICK ME!]
"GET OUT, O WHITE ANGEL!"
I thought that it would finally come out now, yet I didn"t expect the words to come out of my mouth!
[Then check it out for yourself. If I"m wrong, go ahead and finish off Himeji-san"s cooking.]
[Bring it on! If I"m wrong, you"ll do the same!]
I"m sorry, but can you please stop ignoring the host and saying it like this? If I have to say it, no matter which side loses, I"ll be the one who would undergo this test of life and death.
"Sakamoto, Akihisa, sorry to interrupt you, but can you help out at the teahouse? The number of customers has increased because of your win, so we"re really busy here."
Just as I was worrying about how to try and calm myself down, Hideyoshi, who"s in a really skimpy cheongsam, comes running over. Come to think of it, what"s he wearing underneath the cheongsam?
"Ah, you"re right. Oi, Aki! The tournament"s over, so you got to do your best and help out, okay?"
"Mm, I"ll make up for the lack of effort before this."
"Ooo, I feel so weak."
"Sakamoto, stop complaining!"
"I know, this is for Himeji-san, right?"
Yuuji intentionally looked at me, but I turned away.
Himeji-san, huh? What did she mean when she said those words?
"From now on, the cool summer festival will be officially closed to the public. Will all students please quickly clear up."
"It, it"s finally over..."
"So tiring..."
"...(Nods head)"
The moment I heard the audio broadcast, my entire body went limp.
Serving the food to the customers who are coming in like waves, and getting back on standby after serving the food, I"ve never known that a waiter"s work can be so tiring.
"Oh yeah, what did Himeji-san"s father say?"
"Hm? Are you mindful of your father-in-law"s view?"
"Wha? No, no, that"s not the case!"
"She said that she would talk to her father after the night festival, so we"ll have an answer then."
Hideyoshi answered my question.
I see. Though we don"t know the conclusion, it should be alright. But why am I feeling a bit uncomfortable...
"Then, we"re going to change."
Just as I"m deep in thought, these even more cruel and unreasonable words reach my ears.
"EH? WHY!?"
"Why are you asking this...if you want to know, it"s that it"s really embarra.s.sing? "
"Sorry, I"ll be back soon."
"WAIT! CAN YOU TWO THINK ABOUT THIS!? COME BACK!!"
My plea isn"t effective, as Himeji-san and Minami leave the scene and head off to the changing room. What a pity.
On a side note, Hazuki just wore the waitress costume as she went out. One would certainly worry about her future.
"Mm, then I"ll go and—"
"WE WON"T LET YOU! NO WAY WILL I LET HIDEYOSHI CHANGE CLOTHES!"
I desperately cling my tired body onto Hideyoshi"s leg. At least I can"t let this person change back!
"Wha? What are you doing, Akihisa?"
"...(Nodding head violently)"
Muttsulini"s doing the same thing as well. As expected of someone who"s thinking the same thing.
"Oi, Akihisa, stop playing. We"re going to the princ.i.p.al"s office."
Our cla.s.s rep doesn"t look tired at all as he stares at us with a "can"t be helped" look.
"The princ.i.p.al"s office? You two got something with the princ.i.p.al?"
"We"ve got to clear the debt of the deal. Though it"s late, we didn"t have time just now thanks to the teahouse, so we"re thinking of going over."
Though the princ.i.p.al would fulfill the deal with us, a deal is still a deal, so at least we should go over and report.
"Then I"ll use this time to go change."
"NOO!! TAKE HIDEYOSHI ALONG WITH US!!!"
"...(tugging slightly)"
"Ah, Muttsulini wants to come along as well?"
"...(Nods head)"
As expected of someone who"s thinking of the same thing, he sure knows what a player should do.
"So troubling. Yuuji, can"t you say something?"
"Hm...ah, nevermind, Hideyoshi and Muttsulini can come along with us. Besides, it"s tough to convince Akihisa."
Oh, it"s rare to see Yuuji being so understanding.
"Really, even Yuuji...can"t be helped, I"ll change later."
"Alright, Akihisa and Muttsulini, release Hideyoshi"s legs."
"Mm."
"...(Nods head)"
"Sigh, seeing me in such an ugly state is useless, you know..."
I personally feel that that"s not the case.
"Excuse me."
"Sorry to disturb you."
After knocking the door and saying some greetings, I push the door of the princ.i.p.al"s room aside.
"I do feel that you two aren"t respectful at all..."
"Really? But we did knock the door and say h.e.l.lo."
—Besides, I feel that I"m a lot more polite than Yuuji.
"Didn"t I tell you people to only enter after there"s a response?"
"Ah, princ.i.p.al. We came to report our win."
"You don"t need to tell me that. Who do you think was the one who presented the prizes to you?"
This old granny is still as rude in her tone as ever. I suppose she should understand other people"s plight even more.
"Come to mention it, you did bring quite a lot of companions along."
On seeing Hideyoshi and Muttsulini, the princ.i.p.al said to us in a rebuking tone. She probably has some things that she wants to complain about.
"These guys were troubled greatly because of what you did, so letting them see the person behind all this shouldn"t merit a punishment."
"...Humph, really? Then I"m sorry."
The princ.i.p.al gives a bored sound. She sure isn"t a cute granny; but then again, if she is, it"ll be really troubling.
"Then, do we have to return you the platinum bracelets?"
Actually, the platinum bracelets are different from the gold bracelets that appear when the controller has high marks, since they are worn on the controller.
"No need, you can return it to me anytime later. Besides, I can"t fix those malfunctions so soon."
"Eh, Akihisa? What"s with the malfunctions?"
"Ah yes, Hideyoshi doesn"t know about it, right? These platinum bracelets have a little flaw, and that"s if this is given to someone with high scores, the owner will lose control of it.
"I see...oh? What"s wrong, Yuuji?"
Yuuji looks like he"s in deep thought again. Does he like to think so thoroughly in this room?
[Come to think of it, how did those guys know that we had a deal with that old granny...]
Though I don"t know what Yuuji"s muttering about, it"s better not to bother him. Besides, I won"t understand anything if he doesn"t explain it anyways.
"So we had a deal with the princ.i.p.al to use this tool as an exchange for the repairs to our cla.s.sroom—"
"HOLD ON, AKIHISA! YOU CAN"T SAY IT OUT LOUD!"
"Eh?"
Yuuji suddenly looks extremely serious. What"s going on?
"...Someone"s listening."
"So we fell for their trap?"
After Muttsulini said this, Yuuji immediately runs over and pushes the princ.i.p.al"s door aside. At this moment, he can hear multiple footsteps.
"It"s those guys...! Let"s go, Akihisa!"
"Wait...Yuuji, what"s the situation?"
"They"re eavesdropping on us! Those guys installed a bug here!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"They should have heard everything we just said. If they recorded it, this would be bad!"
"Recorded it? Stop joking!"
If this is to be revealed like this, all our efforts till now will go to waste! The school will lose all credibility, and even its existence would be questioned. If it ends up like this, forget about Himeji-san alone, all the students in this school would have to transfer out! We have to quickly destroy the evidence!
"Hurry up!"
"Got it! Hideyoshi, Muttsulini, come help too!"
"No problem!"
"...(Nods head)"
The four of us dash out of the princ.i.p.al"s office at the same time.
"Yuuji! It"s the Toko-Natsu group again, right?"
"Yeah, I got a glimpse of their hairstyles, it got to be them!"
"In other words, there"re two of them! Let"s split up into two groups!"
It"ll be bad if we split up and get counterattacked. It"s better to split up into two groups and look for them.
"Then tell me the special characteristics of those guys."
"The baldy and the Mohican-head! You"ll recognise them immediately!"
"Got it! I"ll go and look for them outside with Muttsulini!"
I see. It"ll be bad if they ran off to copy this, so Hideyoshi intended to look for them at the school gate.
"...Akihisa."
"Hm?"
Muttsulini continues to run as he pa.s.ses something to me. This—
"The binoculars that Muttsulini likes to use?"
"...For standby purposes."
Forget about standby, I don"t think there"s even a need for a telescope here in school. However in this situation, I"ll take it as goodwill and borrow it thankfully.
"Thanks Muttsulini."
"...I love this school."
It"s because of the girls and the cute uniforms, right? No matter what, we don"t wish for this school to close down.
"Contact each other if we see our targets!"
"Got it!"
After this, we form up into two groups, the indoor group and the outdoor group. Speaking of which, I"ve been running around all over the place these two days.
"Akihisa! To the broadcast room!"
We hurry off to the broadcast room, which is the most dangerous. If they"re to broadcast it, it"ll be impossible to shut so many witnesses up. Thus, even if we take back the medium, it"ll be futile. This is something that we can"t fail.
~Broadcast room~
"Excuse me."
"You, what are you doing here!?"
"Yuuji, there are only idiots who"re smoking here and people selling pirated p.o.r.n DVDs in this school festival here!"
"Really? Then let"s confiscate these cigarettes and pirated DVDs and head off to the next place!"
"You"re right, they broke the rules anyway."
"Th, thief! THIEF!!"
~Corridor~
"Eh? Aki, Sakamoto? What"s the rush?"
"Sorry Minami, we"re going on first! We"ll talk later"
"Ah, wait! You dropped something! Eh—"The Bondage Life Story of a High School girl"..what is this?"
"RUN, YUUJI! I"M SEEING A BATTLE AURA GATHER AROUND MINAMI!"
"Wait! Why do you have this kind of thing?"
"ARGH! SHE"S CHASING US!"
~In front of Cla.s.sroom 2-A~
"...Yuuji."
"Shouko! Sorry, I have no time to bother you!"
"...No problem. I can go to the district office myself. I just need to hand the wedding application over."
"What are you—HOLD ON, I DON"T REMEMBER STAMPING IT, NO?"
"Yuuji, there"s no sign of them here. Onto the next place!"
"WAIT, AKIHISA! I HAVE A SUDDEN SITUATION THAT I NEED TO HANDLE HERE!"
"Then see ya, Kirishima-san!"
"OI! AKIHISA! PLEASE WAIT!!!"
As there was no sign of them from the 1st level all the way up to the 4th level, Yuuji and I begin to focus on places that are hard to spot, like the corners of the field.
"Not good...we lost quite a bit of time."
"That"s right. Where are they anyway—hm?"
Something foreign was placed on the school grounds. What"s that?
"You found it...what, it"s just fireworks."
"AH, it"s those things that they use during a closing ceremony? Wow~so they place them in these kind of places?"
I seem to have seen it on television before. They would use cloth to wrap it up and put it on the floor.
"EH? Why don"t they have a cannon here to shoot it up into the air?"
"The cannons have to be placed somewhere so that they can fire them, right? Fireworks are still a form of pyrotechnics, so putting them someplace else where there"s no fire is a rule to be obeyed at all times."
Pyrotechnics, huh? Then it"s no different from dynamite then. The only difference I can see is whether there would be pretty fireworks created or not.
"As expected of a school, to be so rich. To think that they actually prepared such large fireworks."
"Is this the time to be impressed? The enemy"s about to make their move—"
Dururu Dururu!
At this moment, a cold, hard and inorganic handphone ring can be heard. The sound comes from the handphone in my pocket.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"As expected of Muttsulini, to be able to see them from afar."
This is Hideyoshi"s voice. Good job!
"NICE! Where"re those guys?"
"Inside the new campus."
"In the new campus? How can it be!? Yuuji and I looked through every corner—"
"No, they"re not inside the building. They"re on the rooftop!"
d.a.m.n it! We didn"t check the roof!
"Yuuji! At the roof of the new building!"
I pa.s.sed Muttsulini"s binoculars over to Yuuji. It"s hard to see the roof from here with just the naked eye.
"d.a.m.n it! Those guys are preparing to use the audio equipment over there!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"
To think that those guys are planning to use the equipment that"s meant to be used for the night festival!
"Hideyoshi! Where are you guys?"
"At the club societies building."
It"ll take them about 5 minutes to get from the club societies building to the roof.
"Akihisa! Looks like they"re about to start playing!"
It"ll take about the same amount of time for us to get over there. And since it looks like they"re going to play it now, it means that we won"t be able to make it.
Now how are we going to stop them from playing the contents of the recording—
"...Yuuji."
"...You thought of it as well."
"Yeah. There"s no other way."
"You"re right. There is no other way."
"Then Yuuji, I"ll leave it to you."
"Got it—activate!"
"You done over there, Natsukawa?"
"No problems. Hehe. With this, it"ll be a reverse win for us."
"Yeah. Even if we don"t prepare for the entrance exams—WWOOOAAHHH!!"
"What"s with you, Tsunemura—WA!! NO WAY!!?"
"ANYWAY! GET DOWN!!"
BOOM!! Pakarararara—
"You missed! Akihisa! A little lower!"
Yuuji, who"s looking through the binoculars and aiming at the enemy, gives this instruction. d.a.m.n it, did I make a mistake on the first shot?
F cla.s.s, Yoshii Akihisa, Modern j.a.panese 70 points & UNKNOWN, Modern j.a.panese UNKNOWN.
The test marks are displayed. I heard that the test subject is randomly decided, and it looks like it"s modern j.a.panese this time. Good thing it wasn"t j.a.panese History.
"A little lower!"
I remember the feeling, and slightly adjust the trajectory of my summoned beast"s cannonball throw.
"Go, light it!"
"Got it!"
After that, I use a lighter to ignite the fuse before throwing the ball of fireworks at the roof.
Whoosh......BOOM!!
The firework ball flies to a place where it would definitely be unable to be thrown at—exploding right above the roof. As expected of a summoned beast which has numerous times the strength of an ordinary human, even throwing is a piece of cake for it.
"Alright! We destroyed the audio equipment!"
"Fireworks are really scary..."
This is Yuuji and my final tactic. We"ll call it the "Sure-kill fireworks attack" (All good kids shouldn"t try this, alright?)
"There"re more audio equipment! Fire another one slightly right!"
"Got it!"
I followed Yuuji"s instructions and aim right this time.
Now, why can I use a summoned beast without a teacher around? It"s because of the platinum bracelet that Yuuji"s wearing. This platinum bracelet is unable to give any special functions to the summoned beast, but it can create a summoning field around the user. In other words, it can replace the teachers as a witness.
"Prepare the next shot!"
"I know!"
The summoned beast holds the fireworks ball steadily. The function of being able to touch physical objects really comes in handy here.
"Here I go, Yuuji!"
"Go!"
"FIRE!"
I use the lighter that I confiscated just now and let the summoned beast throw the 2 metre long fireworks ball with all its strength. I never expected myself to be able to personally get the experience of firing fireworks.
"Alright! We hit the audio equipment! They should be unable to do anything now!"
"Really!? Then we shouldn"t stay here for long!"
"You"re right. Let"s fire another one at the Toko-Natsu group before getting out of here."
"Mn."
Yes, we have to get rid of as much evil as possible.
"You got to aim a bit left this time. Wooh, they moved away slightly. Make it a little right."
"...Here? Then let"s make the final shot! Ready—"
"YOU TWO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!"
"WA!"
The low and hoa.r.s.e roar can be heard from behind. d.a.m.n it! I didn"t managed to control the summoned beast!
Whoosh~......BOOM!
"Ah, Akihisa! You hit the school!?"
"AH! The school"s now a pile of ruin!"
The misfired fireworks. .h.i.t splendidly onto a corner of the school. The walls and doors is now reduced to a pile of rubble.
"YOU, YOU TWO! YOU TWO ACTUALLY CHOSE TO HIT THE HEAD OF TEACHING STAFF"S OFFICE DIRECTLY!"
Sensei lets out a frantic voice. Looks like this is the first time something this big has ever happened ever since this school was established.
"YOSHII!!! SAKAMOTO!!! DON"T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY ALIVE!!!"
After that, the familiar low voice can be heard. This is the only voice I don"t want to hear.
"IT"S IRONMAN! AKIHISA! LET"S RUN!!"
"OOH!"
"DON"T THINK ABOUT RUNNING AWAY! I WON"T LET YOU GO BACK TONIGHT!!!"
"SENSEI! YOU"RE MISTAKEN! WE WERE TRYING TO SAVE THE SCHOOL!!!"
"SAVE THE SCHOOL!? CUT THIS NONSENSE! WEREN"T YOU TWO DESTROYING EVERYTHING JUST NOW!?"
"THERE, THERE"S A REASON!!"
Speaking of which, I feel that Ironman"s the cause of all this.
"AKIHISA! I OWE YOU ONE! THANKS FOR LURING IRONMAN AWAY!"
"d.a.m.n IT! YUUJI, YOU"RE TOO SLY! SENSEI! SAKAMOTO RAN TO THE OTHER SIDE!!"
"I"LL SETTLE WITH YOU FIRST, YOSHII!!"
"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME!? SOMEONE HELP ME!! HENTAI-SENSEI"S TRYING TO HARa.s.s ME—!!!"
"YOU DARE SCREAM THAT!!"
And thus, the marathon with Ironman begins. To think that fear and muscle aches will fill my school festival memories.