>, the crowd scattered with me at the center. Just like I ordered, those guys who weren’t confident in their skills kept their distance.In that case, there won’t be people getting in the way. That’s good.
The problem is—
“ISN’T ANYONE CONFIDENT IN THEIR OWN FIGHTING ABILITIES!?”
The problem is that no one was willing to help me take on the pervert. Eh…! Even though this school isn’t ordinary, it is still a prep school. To think that there is a gathering of students who can’t fight.
All of them moved as I move, with me still at the center. d.a.m.n it! Someone, someone help me…!
I continued to move, and the s.p.a.ce moves as well. However, a student remained still even with everyone moving.
(Good! Someone’s willing to come over!)
I gave myself a victory sign secretly as I look at the courageous person. That person has long limbs, a long ponytail, and the head was swaying.
…Sleeping.
“YOU’RE SLEEPING AT SUCH A MOMENT—!!?”
THAT’S JUST NOT RUNNING AWAY! YOU Itsuki! YOU GOT MY HOPES UP FOR NOTHING! SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHY ARE YOU ABLE TO SLEEP IN SUCH A SITUATION!? DO YOU HAVE SOME DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE FROM ORDINARY HUMANS!?
“Forget about that. ANYONE WILLING TO STEP UP!?”
I change my mood and call the people around me. d.a.m.n it. No one is coming out. In this case, I can only go alone…!
Getting mentally ready, I stopped there.
After a while, a male teacher appeared there.
“Are you two freshmen?”
*BOING* A terrifyingly deep sound can be heard from the abdomen. The male teacher had muscles that look like they can rip up his suit. This presence just feels like a fighter who’s been through countless battles. This, this guy’s way too reliable…!
“It’s only just the start of school. You sure got guts.”
The muscled teacher folds his arms and smirks as he looks impressed. I’m really embarra.s.sed to be praised by such a muscular man.
“Don’t say that. I’m not that amazing.”
I have to deny his words.
Unlike me, who’s being chased, that teacher’s guts can’t be underestimated, even though he’s taking on a pervert for his students’ sake. How can I accept the praise when I’m the one asking for help? I really can’t accept that.
However, that teacher says the same thing again.
“No no. You really have guts.”
And then, he got into position.
“—Both of you.”
“……Eh?”
After that, the muscled teacher glares at me and the pervert. Un? Why are you standing opposite me?
“O, OI! WAIT! YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PERVERT DOWN THERE!”
“WE, WELL! I’M DIFFERENT FROM THIS GUY! I’M NOT LOOKING FOR A FIGHT!”
“YOU TWO—IDIOTS!!!”
““GGGYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!””
An unprecedented terror strikes me as a huge force I have never experienced hits me. Wha, what’s going on!? Is, is this teacher…really human…!?
“Why…did it end up like this…I’m just about to, tell you, that there was a girl talking to you…”
Before I fainted, that faint voice can be heard beside me.
Just like that, the worst ever opening ceremony ended (while I was still unconscious), and now, we’re sorted into our cla.s.ses and introducing ourselves.
My body endures the pain as I put my hand on my cheek and looked forward.
“—Ryo. Nice to meet you.”
There’s nothing out of the ordinary. Just a simple self-introduction in order.
“My name is, Shimada, Minami. Nice to meet you.”
The strange feeling isn’t because of the words, but the p.r.o.nunciation. It doesn’t sound j.a.panese.
I thought that she’s an overseas student and opened my eyes wide to check. However, the owner of that voice doesn’t look like a foreigner, but a j.a.panese I’m used to seeing.
(Un? Isn’t that person the one sleeping in the midst of the buzzing—?)
Whether it’s the strange p.r.o.nunciation or the att.i.tude during the opening ceremony, I’m rather bothered by them. I then look at the name on the blackboard. Over there, the name ‘Shimayumi Mikare’ is written there. Since she calls herself Shimada Minami, I guess she probably wrote the wrong name.
“Shimada-san is a j.a.panese from Germany, and she has just returned, so everyone, please help her out.”
The teacher helped Shimada finish off. She’s a girl who came back from overseas? No wonder the p.r.o.nunciation and kanji are wrong. She was sleeping not because she was bored or it was spring, but the time difference. Maybe that’s the reason.
*Snickers* I can hear people around me snickering. Most likely, they’re laughing at Shimada for writing the wrong kanji.
(Tch, how stupid.)
Deep inside, I mocked those idiots who were snickering away.
Just now, the teacher mentioned that ‘she just returned’. Also, I can tell from the p.r.o.nunciation just now that Shimada has just started learning j.a.panese not too long ago, but now she’s speaking j.a.panese and using kanji to write her name. She’s entering what’s considered a high school life, and now has to be independent in such a different culture, yet she’s still pulling herself through like this. This itself is worthy of praise. However, I can tell how impatient this crowd is when they’re laughing away. The people laughing are laughing at their own ignorance.
“I hope we can get along!”
As I was thinking about this, Shimada’s self-introduction ended. Then, based on the order, it’s my turn now.
I slowly walk to the front and immediately say my name out clearly.
“I’m Sakamoto Yuuji from Kannazuki Middle School.”
That one sentence caused everyone else to start muttering.
“That guy’s Kannazuki’s…”
“The infamous devil…”
“That guy seems really amazing…”
It seems some of them knows about my middle school past as they give me probing and disgusted looks. With the action during the opening ceremony just now, I’ll be viewed as a violent student with many problems.
“…Fu”
It’s fine. I don’t have to deliberately explain to them.
I slowly walk back like how I walked to the podium, and returned to my seat.
And then, the next student introduced himself.
“My name’s Kinos.h.i.ta Hideyoshi. I’d hope we can get along.”
That weird tone caused me to widen my closing eyes to check…what’s going on? Why isn’t that person there wearing a girl’s uniform? No, wait, the name’s Hideyoshi, so that’s a guy, right/ but he doesn’t look like a guy in the first place…
I tilted my head to wonder, and Kinos.h.i.ta’s self-introduction ended. The next student walked in front. I’ll just leave this memory of Kinos.h.i.ta being ‘a really weird guy with an unspecified gender’ in my mind. Yeah, at least I should remember a name. Besides, there can’t possibly be a second strange person like this.
“…Tsuchiya Kouta. Interests are perv…no”
……There is one. And what follows next is.
“…speciality is stealing pho…nothing much.”
After saying that, a camera and recorder can be seen from Tsuchiya’s pockets.
………
……
…
(Why, why isn’t anyone telling him off yet…!?)
His interest is to take photos secretly, specialty is to eavesdrop, and the gadgets on him really have a criminal feel. That’s too weird. That’s way too obviously weird.
My common sense was about to collapse, and there was another self-introduction.
“I’m Yoshii Akihisa from Nagatsuki Middle School. I hope we can get along.”
The one who said that as he kept his head low is that idiot who was wearing the sailor uniform this morning. I see, so this guy’s called Yoshii Akihisa. I’ll remember that as an important person to be wary against. He’s a pervert.
After that, there weren’t any strange self-introductions, and the HR time ended. In the end, amongst the names I remembered, the once with the most common sense is that girl who came back to the country, huh?
As I got ready to leave, I heard the voice of that girl who came back from afar.
“Shut up, you swines.”
Looks like I have to take that back, I thought.
Before I noticed it, it’s been a week since that chaotic opening ceremony.
I managed to get used to school life, and I can finally enjoy a peaceful life.
—But that’s impossible.
“That guy is that Sakamoto…”
“He challenged all the students and teachers to a fight during the opening ceremony…”
“Looks like he’s looking for someone to fight against…”
“I heard that he had some grievances against people from other schools…”
I had been going through every single day uncomfortably with the strange stares coming at me from afar.
Let me state this first. I had never personally tried to look for trouble. What happened during the opening ceremony was a misunderstanding caused by an unfortunate situation.
They aren’t completely baseless, but these are rumors I don’t really want.
Even so, I can accept that. The problem is,
“I heard that Sakamoto-kun and Yoshii-kun had something strange going on between them.”
“Ah, I know. Those two were chasing each other during the opening ceremony, right?”
“Both of them were late at the same time. What did they do?”
The problem is the rumors coming from here. At this point, it isn’t a question of whether I can handle it. I have to eliminate this completely. This is the worst possible kind of rumor.
However, I couldn’t talk to the girls staring at me like this and tell them ‘It’s not like that between me and that guy. That’s a misunderstanding’. Not only that, the way I tell them might cause the opposite effect. It will be bad for me to let the rumors subside quietly. Anyway, Yoshii and I don’t have that kind of relationship, and we haven’t even interacted normally before—
“Ah, Sakamoto-kun. Do you have time later? I have something to talk to you about after school.”
“YOU LOOKING FOR A FIGHT HERE!?”
“EH? WHAT WHAT!? WHAT’S GOING ON!?”
Actually choosing such timing to appear too! I couldn’t help but grab Yoshii on the torso. This guy really doesn’t know what the situation is like now!!
“Sa, Sakamoto-kun. Why are you already so angry when I’m just talking with you?”
“Can’t you sense the mood now?”
“Erm…are you thinking, Sakamoto-kun?”
“THAT’S NOT IT. I’M SAYING TO CHECK THE SITUATION AROUND US BEFORE TRYING TO TALK TO ME! CAN’T YOU SEE THE STARES AROUND US!!?”
“Heh? Surroundings, as in…”
“Wah. Looks like they’re worried about others staring at them…”
“As expected, in places we can’t see…”
“There’re really people like this. High school is amazing…”
“??? What are those people over there talking about?”
Yoshii just stood down there, stunned with a perplexed expression. So he can’t choose the timing properly and has such bad understanding ability? This idiot.
“…They’re saying that my relationship with you is very weird.”
“Ha? What does that mean?”
“Who knows? Also, don’t approach me randomly, to prevent further misunderstandings.”
“Eh? That means…”
After thinking hard for a little bit, Yoshii seemed to finally understand what’s going on, and then,
“I, I’ll be bothered here! I’ll go correct it!)
He panicked and went to the girls talking away. Fm, this might be better for me anyway.
(If I were to go, I might not even be able to talk to them…)
I’ll wait for him to clear the misunderstanding.
After talking to the girls for a moment, Yoshii returned. Now, what happened?
“Is the misunderstanding cleared?”
“‘Have they actually GONE to such a relationship!?’ they said in a shocked manner…”
“WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU TELL THEM!?”
Didn’t this make the misunderstanding worse!
“MOVE ASIDE. MY TURN!”
I pushed Yoshii aside and walked to the girls. I was worried whether they would run away in fear because they were scared, but luckily, the girls were willing to listen to me normally this time as Yoshii went to them before.
Several minutes later, I went back to my seat. This time, Yoshii looked uneasy as he asked me.
“How is it? Do they understand?”
“Ahh, no problems.”
I straightened my back and answered.
“Really. That’s great~”
“I told them that you were a pervert who like to cross-dress, and I ran away in fear after seeing that. They immediately understood after they heard that.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY—!?”
There’s nothing to deny about that. That’s the fact after all.
“GO CORRECT THAT, SAKAMOTO-KUN! I MERELY WORE A SAILOR UNIFORM WHEN I ATTENDED THE OPENING CEREMONY! I’LL BE TROUBLED IF I’M MISUNDERSTOOD!”
“OI, HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! YOU CAN’T SAY ‘MERELY’ WHEN YOU’RE A GUY WEAING A SAILOR UNIFORM!”
What kind of common sense does this guy have anyway!?
“AND I JUST WANTED TO REMIND YOU THAT SOMEONE WAS TRYING TO TALK TO YOU BACK THEN!”
“THAT’S JUST YOU BEING A BUSYBODY, PERVERT!”
“Wha…! YOU’RE THE ONE WITH SPECIAL INTERESTS! IGNORING SUCH A BEAUTIFUL GIRL!?”
“AHH!? YOU DARE TO SAY THAT—”
We continued to argue with each other, and just when we’re about to grab each other by the throats.
“What are you two doing?”
The crude voice entered our arguments. It’s the muscleman teacher who’s in charge of remedials who knocked Yoshii (the pervert) and me out at the opening ceremony. He suddenly entered the cla.s.sroom, perhaps getting ready for the next cla.s.s.
“Tch.”
I retract the hand I reached out and sat back in my seat. My head unknowingly started to heat up, but on thinking about this carefully, there’s no point in punching this idiot up. It’ll only be a waste of time to be his opponent.
The teacher stared at the pervert and me with sharp eyes.
“Sakamoto. I heard a lot about you. Don’t do anything that will make the rumors come true.”
He warned. The ‘rumors’ the muscular teacher mentioned was most probably the violent incidents I will commit. It’s true that beside this teacher, the other teachers seem to be viewing me as a student who would use violence in school. If I make even the slightest move here, it will become a huge problem.
“Then, as Takenaka-sensei is seriously ill at this moment, I’ll take over the lessons. Flip open to page 13 of the textbook—”
The muscular teacher didn’t say anything more to me as he took the teaching materials and started to teach.
What appears in front of me is a scene of a lesson that had not changed much even though I"m a High School student now.
The explanation of the teacher just entered by one ear and went out by another ear, and I inadvertently looked out the window.
During this time, a figure of a single highschool girl entered my field of vision.
(…Still giving that bored look.)
The girl who returned back from overseas had her hand supporting her chin, and the textbook on the table wasn’t flipped opened at all, and she looked lethargic while sighing away.
(Looks like she’s still not used to life here)
I never actually saw her talking happily with others before. The words she said on the first day and her cla.s.sification as someone who returned from overseas caused the people in the cla.s.s to keep their distance from her.
“Yoshii. Do you know the meaning of this term?”
“Yes? E, erm, it means ‘interesting’—that would be great.”
“Why is it that your answer has your own wish mixed in at the end…”
The muscular teacher sighed, and everyone in the cla.s.s laughed heartily. Shimada was staring at Yoshii, who’s standing in the midst of the laughter, with envy—hatred.
(That guy is being completely hated.)
I thought as I watched the eyes full of hatred. Looking at this, it’s not impossible for Shimada not to pull Yoshii out and vent her frustrations. This will only be a disaster for Yoshii, who doesn’t know that Shimada hates him.
Even so, I can understand the feeling, why Yoshii infuriates others. That’s because, even if my reason is different from Shimada, I don’t like Yoshii.
(Even if that’s the case, I can’t think of anything…)
I’ll only waste my time and effort getting involved with such an idiot. It’ll be better if I don’t.
After making this conclusion, I give up on thinking and close my eyes silently.
Just like that, the boring day ended.
A few days pa.s.sed, and it’s been two weeks since the Opening Ceremony ended.
There was no change in the stares from the teachers and the students at me or the surrounding situation.
“How stupid…there’s nothing to talk about, and yet they’re nitpicking at my habits. Really…”
I muttered to myself.
After school, I was told to go to the staff room, so I thought something was up, but it seemed that a neighboring school had an incident of violence that caused the teacher to nag. It seemed that I was convicted just by suspicion, and I really wanted to actually take action.
“d.a.m.n it, judging others just by looks and rumors.”
I can understand that ‘it can’t be helped when others misunderstand’, but it’s a completely different thing emotionally. n.o.body will be happy being told off for something they never did.
The few people who were chatting on the corridors after school either looked at me or hurriedly left for the exit while looking terrified, thinking that I would find trouble with them, perhaps because they saw me being all unhappy. What idiots. How can I possibly fight them if they don’t provoke me?
I was really unhappy and walked back quickly to my cla.s.sroom to hurry up and head home. Is everyone already going out with their friends or taking part in club activities just two weeks since the school opening? I don’t know the specific reasons as there’s no one in the cla.s.sroom.
“What reason? What time is it now?”
After looking at the watch, I understood. Normally, students would have already gone home at this time.
I silently listened to the teacher silently and got detained for a long time with a ‘what’s with that look, are you thinking of fighting back’? If it wasn’t for the muscular teacher in charge of remedial returning to the staff room to stop that teacher, it could have been much longer.
Why must I suffer so much? I thought as I grabbed the bag that was placed on my own table and got ready to go home. As I was too forceful, I knocked into the table on my way out.
“…”
A lot of textbooks dropped out from the table. The owner of this seat didn’t bring the textbooks back home and only put it that.
“Already like this soon after school opening? How enthusiastic you are in your studies.”
I muttered this line that could be said to myself and reached out my hand to put the dropped textbooks back.
And then, I saw that pitiful state.
“That’s, way too much…”
The cover was wrecked and the pages were all messed up. Books that should have been just given were already in such a pathetic state. It wouldn’t be possible for this to happen if it’s used normally.
I picked up this book and looked at the thoroughly tattered cover, and the cover had the name ‘Shimayumi Mikare’ on it. Such a weird name…that’s the name the girl who just came back from overseas wrote wrongly.
“Speaking of which, she called others in the cla.s.s swines back then.”
In that case, this disaster happened because of Shimada’s words and enraged a certain person enough to bully her.
“Doesn’t look that way….”
To me, the people in our cla.s.s merely felt that the line was like ‘some foreigner who couldn’t speak j.a.panese well said something weird’ and ended it there. It shouldn’t be at the level where someone would bully her, and also, no idiot will enthusiastically get near anyone who said that.
Anyway, it’s really hard to imagine someone bullying her. In other words, it’s because this girl herself was enraged as she couldn’t get used to j.a.pan, right? And this method of wrecking is way too weird…
“…Well, never mind. It has nothing to do with me.”
I’ll just observe for the time being and put the tattered textbook back to its original position.
At this moment.
“!?”
A fast moving thing flashed past my eyes.
My body naturally reacted before I could make a decision and backed away from there. I dodged the danger at the last moment, and a certain person’s fist grazed right past the front of my eyes. At this moment, I finally saw what was trying to hit me.
I adjusted my position and watched the owner of the fist.
Standing over there was,
“…”
That idiot who had quite the fate with me ever since school started.
“What are you trying to do, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?”
Yoshii asked silently.
Both of us know that we hated each other, but even so, it’s not so bad that we would actually start punching each other.
“……What…are you doing……”
Yoshii rotated his fist as he said. Asking me what I’m doing?”
“I’m about to ask you—”
“I’M SAYING WHAT THE h.e.l.l YOU ARE DOING AT HER SEAT!!!”
Yoshii let out a roar that I couldn’t even imagine. Then, his eyes moved to my right hand…or more accurately, the tattered textbook in my right hand.
Right now, my hand has a thoroughly tattered textbook, no one’s inside the cla.s.sroom, there’s all sorts of rumors in school, and Yoshii’s words just now.
I got a conclusion from this.
“…Don’t tell me—”
That Yoshii, does he think that I wrecked this textbook to bully Shimada?
“Oi, wait a sec, Yoshii. I’m”
“GRIT YOUR TEETH HARD, YOU PIECE OF TRASH!!”
“Tch—this idiot…!”
Yoshii couldn’t listen to my words at all as he clenched his fist hard to attack. I bent my waist to dodge and said to Yoshii.
“Calm down! I didn’t do this!”
“I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
“LISTEN TO ME!!!”
Not good. I’ve been misunderstood completely.
…Can’t be helped.
“Then, I’ll play along with you!”
He was already someone I didn’t like anyway. Fine, I’ll just give him two, three punches to shut him up! That’s the best way to deal with such an idiot!
Just as expected of an idiot, he won’t cry until something’s smacked into him. Yoshii attacked from the front for the 3rd time. I dodged it from aside and hit the defenseless face.
“KGAA!”
The tables and chairs got involved, and Yoshii flew out in an exaggerated manner. I didn’t use all my strength, but there’s a huge difference in our body types. He’s less than 170cm tall, and it’s to be expected for him to be sent flying by me, who’s almost 180cm tall.
“…That…b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
Yoshii again stood up and leapt over. This time, I grabbed him on the chest and threw him back in the opposite direction.
The tables and chairs have collapsed there on the floor where Yoshii landed.
“!!”
And then, he pushed aside the tables and chairs clinging onto his feet and stood up. I really couldn’t tell from his appearance, but he’s really a stubborn person.
Yoshii continued to leap over like before, and this time, I sent him flying back with a kick. He landed between the tables and the chairs again, and again stood up.
Again and again, this process continued to repeat.
“…Must definitely…send you flying…!”
“You really can take hits, huh! WANT SOME MORE!?”
I couldn’t help but roar as I saw Yoshii try to stand up again.
He got punched, kicked, thrown and I never got hit even once. That’s to be expected. Yoshii was fast, but his body was too light and his movements were too direct, and to be honest, he wasn’t much of an opponent to me. He should have given up a long time ago when he was losing to me like that.
“…!!”
However, Yoshii gritted his teeth and stood up again.
At first, I just wanted to calm him down by punching him 2, 3 times, but before I knew it, it’s been more than 15 rounds.
“d.a.m.n it…! How many times must I beat you before you give up…!”
As the one dealing the beating, I started to grumble as I continued to repeat the same motions, again and again.
At this moment, a certain thought appeared in my mind.
(Why isn’t this guy giving up…?)
He’s been beaten so badly, and he knows he can’t beat me no matter how stupid he is. Or rather, he should have expected the outcome before we started fighting.
(Isn’t it obvious who’s the stronger one between us…)
On a side note, I can tell the huge difference in ability between us. It’s the skinny and short Yoshii versus the physically strong me, who’s already used to this kind of situation to a certain extent, like how the rumors went. A normal person will never rush at me after seeing such a thing in the cla.s.sroom after school. Normally, that person will pretend not to notice and run away or call a teacher here. That’s a smart and correct choice.
“…”
Suddenly, I was reminded of a painful emmory.
In a cla.s.sroom after school, opponents I couldn’t beat, being bullied, a girl without friends. That was 5 years ago, when we were still in grade school. It was—a painful memory I didn’t want to remember.
I roared to Yoshii, who was standing up again, to shake aside these memories.
“THAT’S ENOUGH, YOU IDIOTIC b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!”
My brain was filled with blood, and my face felt hot; my emotions were agitated, and my eyes were red. How can I continue to play around with him!!
On hearing my words, Yoshii trembled as he got to his feet, and finally responded.
“…Don’t you feel…it’s really pitiful…”
“Aah?”
I didn’t understand what he was saying at first, and asked back,
“DON’T YOU FIND HER PITIFUL!? SHE JUST CAME BACK TO j.a.pAN, DOESN’T HAVE ANY FRIENDS, DOESN’T UNDERSTAND j.a.pANESE, BUT WAS STILL WORKING HARD ALONE! WHY MUST YOU BULLY SUCH A PERSON WHO’S WORKING HARD!!”
The thoroughly wounded Yoshii yelled with a powerful voice.
Pitiful? Working alone? I know that. You don’t have to explain that. I saw such a similar situation before.
Yes. Under the same situation, the same conditions.
—No, it’s different.
While the person who summoned her courage for my sake was being bullied right in front of me, I was hesitating beside her, trembling, thinking of running away. I put myself first.
However, this guy—
“HOW CAN I FORGIVE SOMEONE LIKE YOU, YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!”
This guy actually…!
GANK!! A loud sound rang.
Yoshii was sent flying with such force that couldn’t be compared to those hits before.
And I took Yoshii’s punch right in the face. My vision starts to waver. It was because I didn’t think of dodging and only focused on hitting him…however, it doesn’t matter whether I want to dodge or not. I’ll just focus on beating this guy up…!!
“FINE, IF YOU DON’T LIKE ME THAT MUCH, YOSHII, TRY AND BEAT ME UP THEN!! I’LL BEAT YOU UP UNTIL YOU CAN’T STAND UP!!!”
My mind was blank. This guy in front of me really p.r.i.c.ks my nerves to the worst. No need to hold back! I’ll thoroughly beat this annoying idiot into a pulp.
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I’LL SEND YOU FLYING AND MAKE YOU REGRET IT !!”
“SHUT UP! YOU TRASH!!”
He doesn’t consider his own defenses as he swings his own fist in a momentum that can crush the cheekbones. This idiot…! I’ll really beat you up!
And then, while both of us are so close that we can beat each other up,
“…That’s enough.”
““—!!??””
A shadow suddenly b.u.t.ts in and pointed pen tips in front of Yoshii and me. Thi, this guy…this guy’s called Tsuchiya, right? When did he get in!?
“DON’T GET IN OUR WAY! IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!”
And I temporarily diverted my target from Yoshii and Tsuchiya.
“…I’ll be troubled if you continue to wreck havoc like this.”
Tsuchiya continued to say to us while pointing the pens at us, but his eyes were looking at a corner of the cla.s.sroom. What’s going on?
“…The camera will be wrecked.”
““…………Hah?””
The vague words caused Yoshii and me to have question marks above our hand. At this moment, the guy who appeared in front of us lowers the pens and walks over to a corner of the cla.s.sroom, rummages through there to find something. Is that…a CCD camera? Is he saying that he doesn’t want us to wreck it with our fighting? That’s not really a prob—but why did he have a camera there?
“Were you taking shots secretly?”
“…!(Shakes head violently)”
He shook his head hard to deny it. Speaking of which, this guy seemed to have said something about this during his self-introduction…
I recall what happened on the day of the opening ceremony, and Tsuchiya was checking his camera will fail. He himself denies that he was taking shots, but I can only imagine it like that when he placed it at such an angle…or is there any other motive? I’m not sure.
“…Tch. Lost my interest.”
The rage within me immediately diffused. It’s pointless going hard on an idiot. Better go home early.
“You managed to keep your pitiful life there, Yoshii.”
I again sling my bag on my shoulder, face Yoshii and turn around.
At this moment.
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!”
“KGAA!”
I realized that my shoulder was grabbed, and then there was a punch to my face. This…b.a.s.t.a.r.d…! It’s rare for me to say that I let you go…!
“…Looks like you still want to fight, Yoshii.”
“Of course! Do you think I’ll let you go unless you apologize to Shimada-san!?”
I said before that an idiot’s an idiot, but to be honest, I never expected him to be so stupid. As expected, taking on such a guy is—
“WILL YOU UNDERSTAND WHEN I SEND YOU TO YOUR GRAVE!?”
“THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO SAY, YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!”
It’s already the umpteenth round. However,
“d.a.m.n YOU, WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING!!”
““EHHH!?””
This time, we were stopped by a familiar gruff sounding voice. Wait…this voice belongs to that muscular remedial teacher…!
Better hide my fist and pretend nothing happened now. But even so, I can’t hide the terrible state of the cla.s.sroom. This is bad…! Getting into trouble after entering school like that…!
I can’t escape, and I don’t know how to deal with this situation.
My heart sinks as I turn around.
“How’s that? Have you calmed down?”
Standing over there is the weird cla.s.smate of mine who has a feminine face and speaks in an old-fashioned manner.
“Was that voice just now your doing?”
“How about it? Sounded like it, didn’t it?”
He smiled happily as he said this. I had an impression on this guy as well. I remember this guy’s name is called Kinos.h.i.ta Hideyoshi. It’s really hard to forget anyone with such a special appearance, tone and gender.
As my attention was diverted over there, Yoshii immediately rushed over here.
“MOVE ASIDE, KINOs.h.i.tA-SAN! GO TO h.e.l.l, YOU Sc.u.mBALL—”
“Tch! Such an annoying person—”
“DIDN’T I TELL YOU TO STOP!!?”
““Urk!!!???””
My eardrums and even my muscles trembled. Yoshii and I had to stop. How large of a vocal range does this guy have?
“Really, just look at this mess. For what reason are you fighting for?”
It looks like a typhoon just swept by the cla.s.sroom as the tables and chairs were scattered all over the place. Looking around, I realize that we really created quite the ruckus.
“I understand your feelings, Kinos.h.i.ta-san. But it’s dangerous for a girl here, so please quietly—”
“You’re called Yoshii, right? I’d just realized that you’re treating me as a girl.”
“Un. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“……Yoshii yo.”
“Anyway, hurry up and leave this place, Kinos.h.i.ta-san.”
“Tei!”
Stick.
“………Hee!?”
Kinos.h.i.ta grabbed Yoshii on the hand and pressed it against his own chest. Oi oi, what’s going on now? What’s the situation?
“……..(Pacha pacha pacha)”
And then, at a corner of the cla.s.sroom, there’s a pervert with a camera aimed over here like a tank. That’s too weird. The development of things here are far beyond my common sense.
“How about that, Yoshii? You can tell that I’d am a man, right?”
“Ki, Kinos.h.i.ta-san…”
“Un?”
“You’re already a high school student. It’s better for you to wear a bra…”
“Has my words fallen on deaf ears already!!?”
Yoshii blushed as he drew his hand away from Kinos.h.i.ta’s chest.
“…!!(Pacha)”
Beside him, Tsuchiya moves behind Kinos.h.i.ta at such a speed where only afterimages can be seen. Is he trying to check if there are any signs of bras there? This guy’s…really an enigmatic guy…!”
“…Such immeasurable…feelings……!!! (Bushaa)”
After getting a satisfactory result from his investigation, Tsuchiya collapses onto the floor with a nosebleed. Why, why is it that he’s the one bleeding the most when Yoshii and I were the ones fighting?
“Anyway, you can tell that I’d am a man, right?”
“…”
Yoshii looks troubled as he can’t eliminate the possibility of a small-breasted girl.
“Muu…if you insist, I’d have to take off my bottoms reluctantly…”
“DON’T DO THAT! IT’LL FEEL LIKE A CERTAIN FORBIDDEN LINE WILL BE CROSSED IF YOU DO THAT!!!!!!”
Regarding this, I agree with Yoshii.
“Never mind. Since you’ve said it to such an extent, Kinos.h.i.ta-san, I’ll have to treat you as a guy for now.”
“Hold it. In that case, why are you calling me ‘-san’?”
“More than that, I have to beat up this sc.u.mbag good!”
“Tch! Try it if you can!”
This guy still doesn’t seem like he will give up. How stubborn is he actually? No, it’s an idiot’s trait to run in a straight line.
Just when we were getting ready to fight,
“Really? Do you really want me to roar again?”
Kinos.h.i.ta’s words caused us to freeze. If that loud voice rings again, I don’t know what will happen to my eardrums.
Seeing that we barely managed to keep our fists back, Kinos.h.i.ta sighs and says,
“Really…I don’t know the reason, but the other cla.s.smates and I can’t ignore it when you’re messing around in the cla.s.sroom. Can you let bygones be bygones?”
““…Fuun””
Even if I’m to explain, I don’t exactly know what to say. Also, Yoshii beside me seems like he doesn’t know what to say like me too. This guy, even though he’s an idiot and a really weak fighter, he doesn’t intend to talk about how I bullied Shimada (even though it was Yoshii’s misunderstanding)? Such a weird guy. Small fry will say things like small fry, distorting facts all over the place. Go beg others for mercy.
“Yare yare. My head hurts. It’s really hard to explain.”
“…(Suu)”
“Un? What’s that?”
“…Just watch.”
At this moment, Tsuchiya operates the camera and shows a certain recorded part for us to see.
“Tsuchiya yo, what’s that?”
“…The entire situation will be cleared with this.”
It’s a little hard to understand Tsuchiya’s overly simplistic explanation.
Anyway, I’ll just look at the screen like him—
However, even if he said that it’s the entire thing,
“…Nothing else other than the legs?”
“Tsuchiya, you’re really taking shots secretly, huh?”
“…!!(Shakes head violently)”
Tsuchiya continues to shake his head to deny it. Why is it that he’s still denying it when the decisive evidence is right in front of our eyes? In a certain sense, it’s really scary.
I’ll ignore that for now and continue to watch the footage Tsuchiya provided. Yoshii is somewhat unhappy, but intends to watch it first before continuing,
“Oi, Tsuchiya. When was this?”
“…Cleaning time?”
“Cleaning?”
Tsuchiya pressed a switch to fast forward the image, and at this moment, the tables and chairs were moved to the back as they started to clean up.
“So what about the cleaning?”
The crystal display shows the students feet as they walk around the cla.s.s.
“…Watch this.”
Tsuchiya pauses the image and points at a certain place.
The image is very small and couldn’t be seen easily, but I can still see something had dropped onto the floor. That’s…
“Is that…a textbook?”
“Hoeh?”
It’s just like what Kinos.h.i.ta said. On the screen, a textbook dropped onto the floor, and the students in the cla.s.s didn’t notice that as they continued to drag the tables and chairs back. The book got caught under them.
“Everyone was busy talking and didn’t notice what was below their feet.”
The people in charge of cleaning didn’t notice the textbook held underneath as they moved the table filled with stuff back to the cla.s.sroom.
Fuun, I see. So that’s how it is.
“Ah, arre? Don’t tell me, that’s…”
I ignored the flabbergasted Yoshii, and Tsuchiya presses the switch to move to the next scene.
The speaker of the camera let out some voices.
“…This is, what should we do…”
“This is bad…we didn’t notice it…”
“Isn’t this the textbook of the girl who came back? If that’s the case, even if we go explain it—”
“She won’t listen to us and call us swines…”
“An, anyway, let’s put it back into the table. We’ll think of a way tomorrow.”
“Tha, that’s right. Let’s do it.”
“……This is the truth.”
Tsuchiya switches off the image of the camera. At this moment,
“Sososososorry!!!”
Yoshii lowered his head and bowed hard at me…ha?
“What’s with that out of a sudden?”
“We, well, how should I apologize here…! Anyway, Sakamoto-kun, just beat me up until you"ve calmed down!”
“No no, I don’t want to beat you up anymore.”
“Ah, in that case. Eh, well—”
What’s with those words? Yoshii just continues to look around the cla.s.sroom in a frantic manner. Seriously, what’s with this guy? Where has the momentum he had up till now gone to?
Seeing Yoshii change his att.i.tude so quickly, Kinos.h.i.ta asks,
“What is it, Yoshii? Is there something wrong?”
“Ah, un. Well—”
“—It’s like this. I misunderstood Sakamoto-kun.”
“I see. So that’s the reason for this terrible state.”
“Un…I’m really sorry about this, Sakamoto-kun…”
Yoshii looks at me, seemingly trying to probe for my expression. Ahh, d.a.m.n it, what’s with this guy actually?
“But you’re also in the wrong too, Sakamoto. Couldn’t you have explained it well just now? Don’t you feel that Yoshii could have listened to you when you saw him like that?”
“…Fuun.”
Kinos.h.i.ta’s words made sense. I might be able to convince him if I explained things. In fact, I was planning to do this right from the beginning, but I gave up on this thought halfway through…because I thought of something unnecessary.
“Are there any hidden feelings inside you?”
“You won’t understand even if I tell you this, Kinos.h.i.ta.”
I don’t want to explain the feelings back then, and besides, I’m not really on such good terms with this group of people.
“Alright, if there’s nothing, I’ll be going.”
“Ah, un. See you tomorrow. Also, I’m really sorry about that.”
“Ke.”
He got tangled up with me while we were fighting, and this guy is apologizing non-stop now. Really, if he’s so worried, he should have used his brain so that things wouldn’t have happened like this. Even if this never happened, the textbook is still like that—Shimada, she might be hurt emotionally after seeing her textbook end up like that because of this bullying that never existed in the first place.
“…”
The hand that reached out for the bag stops for a moment.
There was a slight yet stupid thought appearing in my mind.
What will Yoshii do after this?
A normal person will just go home and explain the reason why the textbook was tattered to Shimada. That will just solve this problem easily and beautifully. It doesn’t matter to Yoshii whether Shimada can understand j.a.panese well. Once he tells her what he needs to say, there’s nothing else for him to do.
Yes, that’s the normal trail of thought.
“Kinos.h.i.ta-san, do you know where you can get new textbooks?”
“Un? No, I have no idea at all. Also, I am a guy.”
<>