In the morning cla.s.sroom one month away from summer vacation, the topic of final exams and schedule for vacations shakes the cla.s.s with the shrill noises of students.Shortly before homeroom begun; Yuu was laying his cheek on top of his desk as if he let his consciousness be cradled on it. Throughout the week, due to his various duty and exam study, Yuu is lacking sleep.
“Oi Yuu~. For the English pa.s.sage, we only need to study till the part where Ted will have surgery in the gas station right?”
The one who spoke to him while not reading the mood at all was Itono Kouta. As a friend who had known him from middle school, his high school debut with dyed brown hair looks so painfully soothing. That’s him, one of the few friends that Yuu had.
Yuu answered without hiding any of his drowsiness.
“I thought it ends at the scene where Aregura sees a weird lizard. If you’re unsure, just check in the summary site through the school LAN”
“Is that so?” As he said that, Kouta sat down on the seat in front of Yuu. He rested his chin on the backrest, and continued to talk to Yuu who continuously emitted the aura of “please let me sleep”. It maybe because of his simple innocence, but his behavior feels so refreshing.
“Somehow the teacher is late today”
When Yuu tapped the {{Furiganasingle platemonolith }}-type terminal placed on the corner of the desk, the default display of the Holoskin [1]and the current time is shown. It sure had pa.s.sed the usual time for homeroom.
“Did something happen?”
Yuu had no words to answer Kouta’s restless question. If he answered, it would lead to the catastrophic question of “why do you know that?”.
Then Yuu went silent, and Kouta (without permission) later confirmed his doubt about the English pa.s.sage with Yuu’s terminal, in mid of that, the answer for his question arrived in front of the cla.s.sroom.
“My name is Ku-Kugimiya Miharu……”
A transfer student who transferred in this overly subtle timing right before the exams naturally caught everyone’s interest.
“Kugimiya-san transferred here from her school in Kansai because of family circ.u.mstances”
While the homeroom teacher Higuchi-sensei straightforwardly told the reason for her transfer ──which was not exactly a lie──, everyone in the cla.s.sroom noisily exchanged gazes. The girls, meanwhile, were looking at the boys going “Uoooo!!” in a way like seeing a koala in the zoo while grasping their fists.
It was Yuu alone who, when he saw Miharu, stiffened like a mirror. It appeared she noticed him and so she occasionally sent a restless gaze at him.
Natural as it is, the fact that both of them are living together is a secret to everybody in the school. They also can’t afford to let Haruha be known to the public. The submitted residential data is also a forged one made by Hajime.
Because of that Yuu couldn’t openly help her, and the only thing he could do was give a 『CtG』 hand sign “do your best” each time their eyes met.
“……There are only a few more days before the summer holidays, so it is nice if we can get along well. P-pleasant to be here”
Taking account of how timid she was, to be able to say that without biting her tongue was a great accomplishment.
Shortly after the homeroom cla.s.s was over , Miharu was instantly surrounded. She didn’t even have the chance to sit on her chair.
“Where do you live!?”
“Do you have a boyfriend back there? Long distant relationship?”
“Do you bring a lunch box? Let’s eat together ”
“Have you decided which club you want to join? Want to look for a mountain a.n.a.logy in the holy mountain club!?”
Among the girls were a group of aggressive student who surrounded Miharu and bombarded her with questions and club recruitments. Even guys and girls who are not that aggressive seemed to be turning their ears in order to hear even a little about the newcomer’s personal information.
To answer the barrage questions, Miharu groaned and answer one at a time.
“E, erm…. err, I’m boarding in one of my relative’s house……”
To be precise it is “the house her father’s uncle is managing” but in broad sense it’s not a lie.
“I don’t have any boyfriend……”
She is a respectable girl, but strangely don’t have any experience in dating (it seems).
“For lunch…… I heard there is a student cafeteria here so……”
Miharu can cook some simple food, but having the same launch box as Yuu is a bit too much, and to cook both differently would take too much time and be too uneconomical.
“I-I don’t have any plans to join any club”
Miharu had a reason to ensure her time playing 『CtG』. Haruha’s condition forces her to regularly login into the game, and Miharu herself wanted to train her avatar to protect her there.
──Like that, Miharu dutifully answered, but the rapid questions, club recruitments, and advices didn’t show any glimpse of stopping soon much like those talk-loving aunties in the neighborhood.
Her eyes then met Yuu’s and he delivered hand signs── “Follow-up” “Go” “?”.
In exchange, Miharu lightly shook her head. Before going to bed yesterday, she remembered, considering the oddities of her transfer time she wanted to get used with the cla.s.s fast.
But contrary to her will, and putting account her shy personality; her capacity had already been overwhelmed too its limit.
The continuously increasing comebacks soon turn ambiguous, and the atmosphere of the surrounding girls felt uncomfortable.
“Ah, sorry we, all of the sudden……”
“We just can’t read the mood right……”
The lapped refraining words gradually became distant ones.
“No, not at all, not at all you see…… Ermm”
Miharu’s restlessness caused a panic. She must’ve pictured the future of herself facing the summer break without getting well with the cla.s.s and then be forgotten soon after. Yuu who’ve seen lots of Miharu and Mifa’s expressions know that.
As expected, he should’ve just gone as a lifeboat for her no matter how unnatural it would be.
It was when Yuu about to stand from the chair, there──
*Foosh*
As if darkness had just descended, the atmosphere in the cla.s.sroom stiffens.
Naturally, everyone’s gazes gather towards the cla.s.sroom entrance. There stood a female student from the nearby cla.s.s. Right behind her there was three other girls standing, the ident.i.ty of the intruder was Yuu’s childhood friend with pet.i.te clam face.
Kodzuchi Fuyufu.
No one knew why silence fell upon her arrival. Could it be because of the strange force that girl had?
Or maybe, it was because Miharu who was on verge of panic went frozen in an instant.
“Oh, Yuu, it’s Kodzuchi-san”
Kouta, who was sitting on Yuu’s desk while observing the transfer student, said in teasing tone. As a friend from middle school, Kouta roughly knew about Yuu and Fuyufu’s relationship. However, Yuu, who was confused by Fuyufu’s sudden invasion, was unable to react to his friend’s mockery.
Well, there’s only one person in this entire school who would be the target of this mysterious pressure that Fuyufu emitted silently.
Who? No other than the transfer student, Kugimiya Miharu.
As if her dismay a while ago was a lie, she walked towards Fuyufu and showed a cool and collected smile.
“So you’re Kodzuchi Fuyufu-san”
“And you’re Kugimiya Miharu-san”
The moment they exchanged that normal but bizarre greetings── the entire cla.s.s went,
*shock*
It was like the static sound of rushing electricity.
One of the students who happened to be at the place later testified──
『Come to think of it, the moment the two met face to face, something was torn.
That’s what I saw from those two』
Casual-light, textured, long hair, a rich figure, and a large grin on her face.
Having contrasting appearances from head to toe, Kugimiya Miharu and Kodzuchi Fuyufu simply face each other in silence. It was just that, but the amount of mysterious Doppler Effect created by those two girls shook the morning cla.s.sroom.
“Ouch… ah, my lips got cut”
“Does this mean those two’s presences distort the s.p.a.ce and deliver atmospheric pressure……?”
The girls who were surrounding Miharu a while ago wiped their sweat in shock.
“No, that’s just idiotic ……”
Yuu finally open his mouth and retort, but the girls, who were putting on lip cream in a hurry, didn’t hear him.
“………Mmmn, this atmosphere, could it be──”
“D-do you know this, Rokkaku-san the historian woman !?”
Meanwhile, a dowdy gla.s.ses girl spoke like she figured out something, and Kouta prompted for the answer.
The gla.s.ses girl── Rokkaku Hasuko from the History research club let out a trembling voice in astonishment.
“Yes, this atmosphere is precisely… Uwanariuchi”
『Uwanariuchi』 is……
A custom surrounding marriage that was held from middle age j.a.pan to Edo era!
It was a custom where when a husband parted with his ex-wife and immediately took in a new wife, the ex-wife would raid the new wife’s house with an advance notice. At that time, numbers of women were called in accordance to their ident.i.ty on both offensive and defensive sides. The picture depicted from the brawl of both sides was the sight of a women battle!
Although it’s a way to pull out an arbitrator before the settlement, it’s known to bring out causalities due to the overwhelming heat of the partic.i.p.ants. Scary!
By the way, 『Uwanari』, one of Kabuki Jūhachiban with the motif of Uwanariuchi, is a play that depicts the love and hate relationship between two woman against one man. [2]
“Uwanari…… what an awesome textually. A guy sandwiched between two girls…… so enviable!” [3]
Kouta moaned with slightly red cheeks as he looked at the word Uwanari that Rokkaku wrote on the optical blackboard with a pen-shaped device.
In contrast, other cla.s.s members who were listening to Rokkaku’s explanation by her side easily shook their hands.
“No no, Itono-kun. After the war, [4]women and stockings have become stronger. If he got sandwiched like that, he’ll be minced meat, minced meat you know” [5]
‘Hee, is that so, minced meat huh,’ by that time, Yuu’s heart was already half-dead.
He glanced towards Kouta and then he realized.
“Uhee…… B-but, wait a moment. It’s certain that the atmosphere they’re having is that of a conflict. But, this should be their first meeting. I was in the same middle school as Kodzuchi-san, so I’m pretty sure that’s the case.”
“That…… I don’t know. But both of them know each other’s names…. they must have dark circ.u.mstances that we can’t even imagine !”
*gulp* the sound of gulping came from all sides who are witnessing the standoff between the two girls in silence. Then finally, Fuyufu opened her mouth.
“Pardon for my rudeness earlier”
It must be the day after Haruha appeared in the real world, the time when they met in the supermarket. At that time, Miharu revealed the truth of her living together with Yuu which made Fuyufu speechless and frozen in place. (Set that aside, it was the first time Yuu ever saw Fuyufu become speechless)
“I was just surprised seeing a person with courage as big as the first person in humanity who ever ate a sea cuc.u.mber”
Fuyufu glanced at Yuu when she said “sea cuc.u.mber”. Yuu’s heart then sunk into the deep sea.
Against that, Miharu tilted her neck as she clenched her fist in front of her own face.
“And so you bothered to come all the way here to greet me. Thank you very much. ──And also, Kodzuchi-san, didn’t your precious dog run off and get lost? Your face doesn’t look that well, are you okay?”
Miharu glanced at Yuu when she said “dog”. Yuu then sees a vision of himself wearing a collar and living inside a dog house.
“No need to worry, first of all I didn’t even have a dog. But── that’s right. If I happened to have such a mongrel, then I must castrate him so he won’t bother the neighbors and other ecosystems right”
“What a coincidence. I also thought the same thing from the bottom of my heart”
The conversation of the two was only exchanged between themselves. But, the will within those words ignored the law of sound wave physics and deflected painfully towards a certain boy’s nether region.
“We might unexpectedly go well each other”
“Indeed. I would like to be friends with you”
………………
Ufu……Fufufuu………
Fufuffuffu…………
Cloudless sky. In the morning cla.s.sroom illuminated with fresh sunlight, only the hollow laughter of Fuyufu with an emotionless expression and Miharu with a mask-like smile echoed.
The ghost mansion-like cla.s.sroom continued like that until the teacher came and forced them to scram.
The cla.s.s for 4th period was P.E.It was shortly before noon, the yellow sun on the cloudless sky shone brightly emitting such strong heat that it was literally screaming the word “summer”. So strong, that it hammered the students’ shoulders to the ground.
However, the heat was nothing for Miharu, who was now under the shadow of the roof hanging from the dressing room, but the same couldn’t be said for the boys who were recording the scores for high jump on the field.
“Haa…”
Sighing, breathe tingled with the smell of chlorine and her swimsuit soaked── was Miharu, after she finished her swimming trial for 50 meters not too long ago. She now appeared to be exhausted.
Both of her legs and arms had gone numb after having to furiously hit the water so many times and she still felt the feeling of being inside the water remained within her head. s.p.a.cing out, she stared at the small puddle at her feet that made from the water dripping from her bristles and swimsuit.
(I’m tired…… I like swimming though, but)
Swimming cla.s.s right on the day of her transfer. Not to mention that her body still hadn’t settled in with the environment yet, needing to wear a swimsuit that was adjusted in a hurry felt strangely tight and really uncomfortable. Now relaxed and sitting on the rocky poolside, she closed her mind and body.
Being shy of strangers, with the addition of transferring at a highly irregular time, Miharu was suffering from mental fatigue. It might also because she steeled herself, not wanting to show such disgraceful display in front of Yuu.
In such predicament, she still managed to feel a person’s presence and raised her face up.
“Uu~…… it sure is hot right?”
She was being called by the girl who appeared to have just finished her swimming trial and was now removing the goggles that was hooked on her head. For a moment there, she couldn’t recognise who it was because she was of a different cla.s.sroom and had different attire. However, she then remembered the owner of that slightly nasal voice. It’s Nogi Nao from the the cla.s.s committee. She crumpled down right beside her like as if she was about to fall.
“Are you tired? Well, a pool cla.s.s straight after transfer can sure is tough.”
Her straightforward att.i.tude puzzled her. Since this morning, Miharu received nothing but overly polite treatment from everyone in the cla.s.s. It was as if they were interacting with a executive from a mafia or something. Not knowing the reason why, Miharu became diffidence, but at that moment Nogi was open heartedly talking to her.
“No, I’m fine……”
Miharu’s answer was really awkward. When she was being Mifa she was able to actively interact with others, but when she returned as Miharu, this happened. It was a vicious cycle where her own self-hatred gradually ate away her courage.
Nogi’s smile did not waver however, but it appeared she was having trouble as to what to say next. And as if panicking, her eyes wandered everywhere.
“Aaa……Errmm…….Ah”
Then her eyes stopped. She was looking towards the ground field where the boys were doing high jump.
“Because today’s grade will go straight on their report, the boys are serious. Usually they’re lazier about it.”
“Aa…… to make up for their poor grades huh”
The pool is located on the hill. One could simply look down at the field through the fence. When she looked over where Nogi’s eyes were facing, it certainly seem like the boys were waiting in line, serious and without whispering to each other.
“Ah, it’s Kurino-kun’s turn!”
The one who cheered was one of the girls who talked to Miharu this morning. Alongside her friends, she pointed her finger towards the boy who was about to do the high jump. As if like a signal, the boy started his run-up.
Despite being showered with attention of the onlookers, he managed a brilliantly executed jump over the bar, good enough to impress the eyes of amateurs. With great posture and movement, he landed on the mat and comfortably rested on it.
“Yahoo! As expected from track and field club’s star!”
The girl from before ── Tsukami-san ── cheers. She must be his fan.
In contrast, Nogi let out a calm voice.
“Fumu, Kurino-kun huh…… Handsome Guy Spirit[6]rating── 72 points I suppose.”
“Wha!? ── why Nogi! Kurino-kun is the star hope of track and field club, he has good looks and personality, he should get a solid 88 points right!?”
Tsukami did not let that remark pa.s.s by. It appeared she didn’t like Nogi’s scoring of him and as a result, she glared at her demonically. Nogi received the stare calmly, and Miharu, who was sitting on her side, shrugged. (But still, her modesty of not giving 90 points sure is cute, Miharu thought)
“Hmph… Look at the truth Tsukami. Kurino-kun sure is a good fine thin macho man. But, he is also the person who claimed that he got the worst score in the intermediate test; don’t forget that he is a shameful macho man.”
“I-Isn’t it cute though?! Or more like he is an athlete so all that matters is his speed! What do you want, a Savannah Puma that can calculate trigonometry or something!?”
Doesn’t that mean you’re treating him the same as an animal…… is what she wanted to say, but weak-minded Miharu lacked the courage to speak. Nogi ignored her and continued scoring the other guys.
“Oh, next is Is.h.i.to-kun huh. 81 point”
“Wha, why is such a delicate weak boy receiving a higher score than my Kurino-kun!?”
“He is not yours you know~”
“Aa~, but I also like Is.h.i.to more. Gla.s.ses boys are hot”
By the time she noticed, the girls who were waiting for their turns joined them and started holding a boy rating compet.i.tion.
Naturally, Miharu, who had just transferred today, was unable to catch up to them and largely ignored the conversation── and then…
It was Kasugai Yuu’s turn came for high jump.
“Aa…………”
It appeared he didn’t notice her. From afar it appeared he was a bit tense. He was currently checking the condition of his sport shoe.
(Kasugai-kun, good luck……!)
She soundlessly cheered for him and involuntarily clenched her fist.
He was the only person Miharu knew ── excluding that certain Kodzuchi-something── in this school, and also, the person who knows about Miharu herself.
Earlier, during the break, he had stood at the hallway and waited for her to come out from the toilet to give her a strange advice “Our cla.s.s, well, is a little bit noisy and filled with a bunch of irresponsible students, they are quite noisy but they’re harmless. So just take it easy.” Honestly, it was hard for Miharu to respond to.
She was certainly troubled as to how to respond, and not even sure if she was able to do it properly, but she felt a bit more comfortable thanks to him.
──Miharu had a secret ally. That fact became a cushion that softens the damage of her negative thinking.
When she returned her attention to the field, Yuu still hadn’t taken his turn. The student before him had failed to clear the bar and the mat position was being shifted so it took time to prepare. Yuu rushed to help.
“Kasugai-kun huh……”
Naturally, his name was also put onto the chopping board named ‘gossip’. The score Nogi, who was sitting right beside her, gave, deliberately rang in her ears──
“66 points, give or take.”
*Twitch*
Miharu felt her own cheeks cramping.
“Oo, Chairman. That sure is a harsh score you gave.”
“Nnn~…… His looks and att.i.tude is not that bad though. He is also the most calm amongst the boys.”
“Yeah”.
“Well, how to say it… that is all he’s got.”
“Ooou, straight to the point.”
“Ahaha, that might be right~. He always goes home immediately after school and his private life is a complete mystery.”
“Unfriendly…… well not so much, but he sure is a little dark. He is not like that right now, but after school, he always wear such a depressing face, right~”
“And recently he also appears to be lacking sleep and all.”
“Or more like! Because Kasugai-kun told that idiot Kouta some exam test tips. Kurino-kun’s rank fell you know! Talk about needless favor!”
“That’s some unjustified hostility you know……”
As if they were at a shooting range, snapshots fired at Yuu were gradually being thrown into Miharu’s ears.
And the ‘first impressions’ spoken by her cla.s.smates unceremoniously swept away Miharu’s hesitation.
“……Is that so?”
“Eh?”
The first one to react to Miharu’s murmur was Nogi, who was right nearby. Her face showed delight upon hearing Miharu finally taking interest in the topic.
“What do you mean?”
“That person… Kasugai-kun, I had talked with him for a bit.”
“Ah, come to think of it, his seat is right beside yours.”
That’s right, for whatever reason Miharu’s desk ended up right beside Yuu’s. But this sheer coincidence surely helped her. If she’s with Yuu, she won’t feel as nervous anymore.
They had both slept next to each other every day after all. Therefore, in the matter of Yuu, she was the one who knew him the best among the girls in the cla.s.s. Even Kodzuchi Fuyufu wouldn’t know that Yuu have a mole on his inner tight.
That small pride filled Miharu’s weak heart and allowed her to speak clearly like when she being Mifa.
“Yes. He surely does look a little bit clumsy but he is kind towards me. And even though he looks sleepy, he is still willing to help his friend to study for a test, doesn’t that mean he is a good, caring person?
Even now, look, he is going to help them fix the mat.”
The girls stopped and looked at each other pondering. They were recalling memories of him.
“Aa~…… come to think of it, when I spilled my juice in the cla.s.sroom he helped me to clean it.”
“C-certainly he does seem to get along with Kurino-kun.”
With Miharu’s protest as a trigger, the girls’ opinion wavered, and the girls started exchanging glances with each other, trying to dig up more information from each other. ──Meanwhile, Miharu’s likability towards Tsukami, who was still focused on Kurino, gradually increased──.
Miharu felt glad and loosened up her face. It felt like she was being praised. Feeling her fatigue eased all of the sudden; she curled her toes.
(As I thought, like Clamp, she is the type to make a wall around herself…… Ever since I ran away from home I had no time to put on a façade)
Once she thought that way, Tsukami started to look a bit embara.s.sed. She felt like laughing straight from the bottom of her chest.
──Thus.
Like a finance share, once it started to rise, people will start to invest in it more and more, likewise as the topic heated up, the girls’ voices began to show more and more interest towards the man in question.
“……Erm? He might unexpectedly… be a high quality man?”
“Now that you mention it, his face is my type.”
“He sure gives the vibes that he will do anything for his girlfriend”
“Not long ago, Itono said that his mother was a game creator. Isn’t that cool?”
“Ah, one time, during lunch break, I woke up Kasugai-kun who fell asleep to inform him that our next cla.s.s was in a different cla.s.sroom, and then he said 『Thank you[7]』 with a sleepy voice…… he was pretty cute. Kyaaaaaaaa~kawaiiii!”
“Ouh? What a very interesting event”
……………………
It was Miharu who said in a cold voice.
With a steel-like smile, she had immediately stood up.
Nogi went “?” as she looked up at her. However Miharu ignored her, and spoke as she looked at Yuu who had just finished fixing the mat.
“Therefore, that thing is only 40 points.”
『EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?』
The girls’s united reaction towards Miharu’s re-evaluation of Yuu echoed throughout the poolside.
“I-it got lower…… really, from our conversation, it actually got… lower”
“Are you sure about that, Nogi-san?”
“Y-yeah……”
“The 『Ya』 in kindness is also 『Yuu』 in inductiveness” [8]
“So the『Ya』 in kindness is…… 『Yuu』 in inductiveness…..!”
Nogi repeated to herself as if she was just struck by lightning. She wasn’t sure but it was probably better not to pry too much into it.
“People like Kasugai-kun worry about others too much and couldn’t make any decision by himself.
For example, let’s say you ask Kasugai-kun 『What do you want to eat for today?』. His answer would be──”」
Right before P.E during cla.s.sic literature cla.s.s, because her seat was right beside Yuu, she asked him 『What should we do with tonight’s dinner?』 through a note paper. Likewise, she then wrote 『What do you want for dinner?』 on the same paper, and his answer was,
“『Anything is fine』! Is that even an answer!? And then, when I made the food as I liked he ended up making a subtly reluctant face! Unbelievable!
That’s right── if you end up dating man like him, you will end up experiencing 『If you don’t like the special spicy croquette from the supermarket in front of the station then say so from the beginning! 』situation every day!
And because he was always like that, he will surely never confess to his childhood friend whom he liked, and will continue stretching his relationship with her and irritate everyone around him!
In the end, he will end up an idiot[9]who gives the daughter he had with another woman the name from his childhood friend! Yeah, that’s for sure!”
Miss-good-styled Miharu stood up with her exquisite swimsuit figure. It appeared that her tirade was haunted by the sense of crisis approaching.
“That…… that idiot huh…… well, it certainly is idiotic…. Huh..”
Nogi hurriedly nod up and down like a Akabeko[10]
After watching them in silent, Rokkaku Hasuko, who was still wearing her swimming goggles, then said,
“I was thinking about Yuan Shao and Liu Biao”
Yuan Shao and Liu Biao are characters from 『The Three Kingdoms』whose indecisive personality brought idiotic fatal flaws to both of their ruled domain.
Under their lead, the girls exchanged feverish whispers……
“A, amazing…… unlike us who can only make vague guesses…… just by merely sitting next to him for a day, you can make such specific and detailed observation as if you’re living together with him!”
“Are you a master? A love master?”
“The strength of her word was on a different level, it’s very convincing…… that’s right, 40 point.
Kasugai-kun got 40 point, 40 point equals to idiotic Kasugai-kun!”[11]
Like this.
Miharu receive acknowledgement and strange status within the cla.s.s, whilst Kasugai Yuu had finally taken a jump. Barely jumping over the bar, he made a smile of satisfaction.
“Nnn~………”Kasugai household living room. Hajime Hidari was lying down and her throat rang like a frog on the sofa that Yuu or Miharu usually sat on when going inside 『CtG』 .
On top of her plump thin belly was a laptop displaying the biometric data taken from Haruha’s choker in real time. This psychedelic screen showing bizarre amounts of information might look like some kind of Avant-grade art to other people’s eyes, but Hajime is able to accurately grasp all of the information on it.
(As expected, with the absence of her 『parental figure』, her mental stability greatly decreases…… this is bad, considering her condition get this bad on the first day. It might be impossible to have her go to elementary school for the time being)
She muttered inside her heart and shut down the laptop. After she moved the laptop to the table, she loosened her limbs and looked at the ceiling. As a woman who appears to be around the age of a college student, her appearance right now is what you would call untidy.
Since she was not under the gazes of her boss or colleagues, she was able to laze around, however her dissoluteness is notably remarkable today. Luckily neither that adolescent boy Yuu or no-nonsense Miharu are currently absent, her light clothes of summer sweater and tights are scattered on the floor.
Meanwhile.
Her observation target, Haruha was currently lying on the table watching TV.
Since she had already finished watching all episodes of her favorite『Revive! Mystical Priest Girl Rasupu-chan 5』 up to the latest one, what she was watching now is a morning rerun of a period drama called『Kojyuurou Katanagoyomi Wanderer-Arc』.
However, Haruha whose mental age is way younger than her appearance seemed to be bored of the show excluding its sword fighting scene, and out of the blue she tried to stand up,
“Ouh”
“Gfuu!?”
As expected she abruptly jumped and did a body press on Hajime.
Regardless of her mental age her body had the ma.s.s of an eight-year-old. For Hajime’s body that has no abs in particular, the striking force from the impact wasn’t a joke.
“*cough*…… ha, Haruha-chan? What’s up all of a sudden?”
When she asked with puffed cheeks, Haruha buried her face into Hajime’s belly and answered.
“Don’t know”
“Then don’t jump out like that okay……”
“Somehow, Haruha feels itchy…… Haruha wants to break pots”
Born from a game, Haruha’s emotional expression is still a bit confusing. But it seemed Yuu and Miharu have gotten considerably used to it however.
Hajime tried to interpret it in her own way, and while stroking Haruha’s hair she asked.
“Are you bored? Want to go inside 『CtG』?”
Usually during this time of the day, along with Miharu she went inside 『CtG』, playing with the Nanny NPC Payakino, and having fun by doing some simple quest. But Haruha unenergetically rose up and shook her head.
“Somehow, Haruha can’t pull out the energy……”
(Well…… she certainly is lonely alright)
While letting out a small sigh, Hajime opened the notebook while holding Haruha. Her non-mental statuses are extremely high. With this.
“After I finish putting away my remaining work and eat lunch, do you want go outside and play”
“? Is it okay?”
“Yeah. Since now you can walk normally without falling over after all.
Let’s play outside till it’s time for Yuu and the others to return and go to pick them up”
Haruha’s cloudy face instantly wrapped in light. She then happily clung on Hajime’s chest.
“Thank you Hidari-chan!”
“Hey hey…… if you want to be spoiled do it with Miharu-chan instead”
As Hajime peeled Haruha off her while holding back her laughter, Haruha stared at her with a blank wondering look on her face. When she asked “?” with her eyes, Haruha reported with a loud voice as if she had made a great discovery.
“Hidari-chan is bigger than mommy, but has smaller b.o.o.bs!”
Hajime threw Haruha to the carpet in silence.
The student cafeteria that was said to be made as a hobby by the first princ.i.p.al who did carry out his role as a chef once, is as always crowded with many students.Since it was right before the final exam, there were students who had their meal alongside student-use tablet above the table and eat while reading their textbook or notebook in the same time. Meanwhile, there were also some groups happily talking away foolishly, either not taking the tests seriously or just being defiant.In midst of all that, a pair of a boy and a girl was being shrouded by the subtle atmosphere.
“……Just what are you trying to do?”
The one who asked that was a boy who still seemed to be confused whether or not to eat the cheapest meal listed on the corner of the menu, the drippy rice bowl (average prime) [12]he ordered. He was cla.s.s 1-C’s Kasugai Yuu.
“What?”
The one who answered back was, the girl who was currently facing him as she pierced her grilled mackerel meal with her chopstick. She was cla.s.s 1-B’s Kodzuchi Fuyufu.
This girl who was still emitting some bizarre intimidation force ever since that morning, and as usual looked a bit sleepy and low-tension, was childhood friend of Yuu.
Yuu added small amount of soy sauce onto his rice bowl and then roughly stirred it together.
“What I was trying to say is, why did you come after Kugimiya-san?”
Fuyufu did not answer. She just simply appeared to be concentrating in extracting small bones out of her mackerel. Then she flat out replied.
“So you’re not together with Kugimiya-whatever huh?”
“She is with other girls from the cla.s.s. It is best for her to get used to with everyone as soon as possible.”
The person in question actually planned to eat in the cafeteria. However, she got caught by some of the girls and forcibly taken away somewhere by them the moment lunch break began.
Tsukami who appeared to be the leader of the group said
“Master! I’ll treat you with a Sara-Udon bread[13] (but without its plate) but I have something to consult with you, please!”
Somehow, she seemed to be respected by them so it was very unlikely that she would be bullied.
Yuu put down his chopsticks, and opened his mouth as he stared at Fuyufu.
“……You see Fuyufu. I’ve explained this to you before, Kugimiya-san and Haruha are a part of a social experiment…… well, it’s basically about having those who have trouble with their family to live in one house for starter. But there are also observer-like people inside the house. So there is nothing dirty about it or anything.”
That was the setup they had established. If a third party comes to even inquire about it, this setup allows them to guarantee and establish a public benefit corporation without any actual ent.i.ty as a cover up.
……Considering the fact that Haruha had become Haruha[14], Yuu had prepared himself for the moment to reveal the truth. However, they were still under the control of a quite dangerous {{Furiganaauthoritything}}. Yuu and Miharu couldn’t run away from them with Haruha, and Yuu did not want to involve Fuyufu into all this.
“For once, this is a private experiment. So it will be lot of help if you don’t speak a word about this to others.”
“I’m not an Esper who can read other people’s minds though.”
Fuyufu did not lock her eyes with Yuu and say something that did not match the conversation at all.
“But Yuu is an incompetent fool who can’t even properly lie.”
“……It’s not a lie……”
“Heee. So from that social experiment-whatever,『Haruha』suddenly shows up?
What an awesome probability equal in a Planck scale? [15]
First of all “Haruha” was the name Fuyufu gave to her doll when she played house with Yuu when they were kids. Yuu hunched it, but it did seemed like Fuyufu still vividly remembers it.
Both annoyed and delighted by that, Yuu answered while trying his best to control himself.
“Tha…… that’s right. What an amazing coincidence!”
Seeing how Yuu was still being persistent about it, Fuyufu sighed as she locked her eyes with him.
“Like always, you’re a stubborn person. Did you forget that you ended up eating soggy cage all thanks to that boring pride of yours?”
“Wasn’t that when we were still in….. third, no, second year of elementary school? Just stop remembering old stuff.”
“I just can’t forget that kid’s boiled stupidity-looking crying face. Pfffft. Stop it. Don’t make me remember such laughable stuffs during my meal.”
Despite pretending to laugh while pressing her lips with the point of her chopstick, Fuyufu’s face still bore no expression. Although she was clearly mocking him, that gesture really made her look cute, he thought and he missed his chance to fall back. There was no way he could win.
Yuu gave up trying to persuade her and finally directed his chopstick towards his drippy rice bowl── when suddenly, he heard a small voice.
“……You sure used to cry a lot back then.”
“Well…… I was a little kid after all.”
“Is that──”
She didn’t finish her sentence.
For a while after that, both of them silently moved their chopsticks. By the time both of them were done eating, Fuyufu spoke.
“So you only eat that for today huh.”
Recently, Yuu often ate the daily special meal that had both high price and quant.i.ty. It was simply because he needed a lot of energy to deal with Haruha. However that day was an exception. There was a reason why he ate the cheap and small drippy rice bowl and he normally answered her question.
“Ah. Looks like I’ll be having that Soiren Mart super spicy croquette for dinner after all. For now, I don’t want to eat anything heavy.”
“……Mmnnn”
Yuu looked up because he felt that Fuyufu’s voice was a bit cold. And that, was just his thought.
Fuyufu who had already finished her meal faster, put her tray to the side and took a pose. She then laid both of her elbows on the table for rest and put her hand together right in front of her face. He had seen that pose somewhere. It was a pose made by a veteran detective in the middle of an interrogation in a police drama.
“Yuu, who usually hates spicy food decides to eat that h.e.l.lish croquette for dinner. ──In conclusion, he is matching his food choice with someone else’s.”
“N-no, that……”
“Even though you dared to lie to me, you seem to be quite obedient towards that transfer student.”
As if she had pinned something, Fuyufu’s eyes stopped in motion. There was no violence in her stare. But, it felt as if it would suck anyone who got in contact with it. *Bzz* she was clearly displeased.
But despite all that, Yuu was still a “daddy”. So he couldn’t afford to be a child forever.
“To-…… I just wanted to have some spicy stuff today, that’s all!”
As he said that, he grabbed a bottle of a pepper that was in a set on the table.
“I’m not going be a kid forever so my taste also changes! Look!”
As it is, he poured the pepper onto his remaining drippy rice bowl. His pitiful display was just sad and maybe because of that ── or simply just taken aback by his action ── Fuyufu easily broke her pose and let her small body rest on the seat’s back.
“……Well, I don’t care anyway because that lie of yours will soon be easily exposed after all.”
And below that definitely not so big table, Fuyufu gently kicked Yuu’s shin with her leg. Despite not being that painful, Yuu still released a gaze of protest and Fuyufu return it with a challenging glare.
“Like always, wasn’t it?”
While feeling his instep getting stepped on by Fuyufu’s toe, Yuu could only turn his eyes away.
She’s right. Fuyufu had always exposed the truth behind Yuu’s lies. That’s why, in a way, Yuu felt relieved. As long as he had Fuyufu by his side, his lie would always be set correct. But….
…. this lie is one lie that he must hold on till the end, just for Fuyufu’s sake.
Hidari and Haruha arrived at the arcade.Located right in front of the station somewhere between Kasugai household and Yuu’s school, it occupied one of the corner spot of the shopping mall’s amus.e.m.e.nt facilities which was targeted for the resident of eastern housing complex.
It was a bit too modern to call it pastoral, but at least it was an idyllic sight.
And standing in front of the store,
“Wow, this place becomes fancier every time I visit”
Hajime muttered as she stretched her stiff shoulders since she hadn’t driven a car for quite a while. In the arcade that was targeted for all ages, the walls and benches were painted in pleasantly warm colours.
(It was kind of ironic seeing a hangover place for game-loving people painted in colours that were used in a school or a kindergarten)
She then remained silent and looked down to the child who was standing by her side.
She was Miss Kasugai Haruha in her Outing clothes coordinated by Miharu. While her legs were spread wide resembling the kanji for “person” [16], her mouth was half-open as she looked around the place.
Hajime at that moment, lost to her curiosity and asked,
“This place is the infamous Hall of Fame, otherwise known as ‘The Arcade’. How is it Haruha? As a person who was born from a game.”
“It’s jumbly jumbly.”
“Well, that’s the good part.”
Is that so~…… Haruha was really impressed as she restlessly ran her eyes all over the places. From state-of-art arcade machine to ultra-longtime seller crane game, she was surrounded by varieties of game machines for the first time in her life.
“Yuu-kun and Miharu-chan just sent a mail saying that they will stop by here after school. Until then, let’s wait in a café or something”
“Okkie~”
Haruha’s face brightened the moment she heard the name of her parents. She then cheerfully nodded and turned around to the arcade.
“Still, it’s jumbly jumbly.”
Judging the shine in her eyes, it looked like she understood what Hajime meant who let out a sigh of relief and smiled as she pa.s.sed a piece of card to Haruha.
“Hmm? What is this?”
“This is your purse. You can play the game after you plug this into the machine.”
Similar to when Yuu used credit card for shopping, Haruha immediately understood everything after hearing the explanation about the arcade mechanism. Hajime felt satisfied and sent Haruha, who was about to burst with curiosity, out there.
“I’ll wait on the bench over there. So have fun playing.”
And then, Haruha was thrown into the herd full of games.
“Ooo…… It’s sparkly”
While folding her arms seriously, she challenged the rock-paper-scissors that featured a prize to the winner. It’s a game where you play rock-paper-scissor against a cute lovely mascot in stereoscopic video and receive candy for each const.i.tutive wins.
Haruha still hadn’t fully grasped the concept of common sense. But since she was good at reading, she instantly understood the system of the game. However, the card which ultimately became Haruha’s budget, only had 1000 yen in it.
“In here, a person can’t live when they run out of money…… which means money is like your HP[17].”
It’s something Yuu told her once.
Haruha fortunately hadn’t experienced “hunger” yet. So sensuously, she still didn’t knew what it meant to be poor. However, she was excited for being entrusted with something similar to money that Yuu had cherished all the time.
“Being wasteful means game over. So Haruha must be good with this and help daddy out.”
At that moment, she remembered that she once tried to “Submerge a bottle in bath to increase its volume of water to reduce water expenses”. She had learned to do that from a TV program but eventually got yelled. Turned out she shouldn’t have done that while the Cola was still inside the bottle.
After thinking for a while, she decided to ignore the rock-paper-scissor game. She could play it with Yuu or Miharu at home anyways, and that sounded many more times enjoyable.
“Wonder if there are more games worth my time.”Haruha said, as a small boy probably four years old and a preschooler, in front of her ran pa.s.s her.
You shouldn’t run. It’s dangerous.
Haruha suddenly remembered what people usually told her. Perhaps, it might be beneficial to say them to that boy.
But, she didn’t.
Haruha couldn’t really move her body properly in real world because she was not a normal child born there. So it might end up being useless for real children ──
However, as she thought of that the boy lost his balance and almost fell.
“Aa!”
She instinctively cried, but suddenly, a woman dashed forward and caught the boy. From the looks of it, she seemed to be his mother.
The boy then held the hand of his mother, turned towards and said,
“I’m sorry for scaring you, Onee-chan[18].”
With these words, he left with a smile.
Haruha then waved her hand and said “Bye-bye…”.
(……Should I have said it to him back then……?)
To her, he was a complete stranger. However, if he had gotten hurt, it would have made her heart goes muzzy. Unlike in 『CtG』, where “things to do” would be listed right in your head, she was completely clueless on how to do so in real life.
“It’s so jumbly-jumbly.”
While feeling really hazy, Haruha went on exploring until she finally came across an irresistibly attractive game to play.
It was a crane game where you had to catch a cute little stuffed doll. It was called 『Sheep Pot』, which was filled with a series of stuffed doll based on deformed sheep. Looking through the window one could see all the insides mixed in together like ingredient of a Nabe[19].
“This looks fluffly-fluffy. Haruha will get this as a gift for Mommy.”
Miharu and Yuu should be surprised by receiving a present from Haruha and that would praise her for sure. And then the two of them would give Haruha a big huggy──
Motivated by her own delusion, Haruha pulled the footstool that was next to the machine and immediately insert her card.
For 100 yen, she could play only once and for 200 yen, she could play 3 times. But it was okay if she failed several times, and if it was too hard then she could just play other game. So, relying on logic as she always did, Haruha faced the mountain of stuffed doll.
──However Haruha was not aware that once you started playing it, it would not be easy to stop…
Several minutes later.
Haruha’s face turned blue as she looked at her own card.
──Her very important budget only has about a 100 yen remain in it just from merely playing a simple crane game.
At first Haruha tried to catch the doll from the very top, thinking that it would be easy. But it turned out it didn’t go so well. She managed to get close to getting it but in the end, she couldn’t get it into the hole.
After her 100 yen + 200 yen of 4 turn failures, Haruha finally realized that her current dexterity would be insufficient for this mission. But no matter how high the risk of losing was, her desire to give Miharu a present was just too strong for her to just give up.
As result, Haruha fell straight into the Arcade’s trap of money-wasting and continued to recklessly challenge the close-to-unwinnable game.
This crane game…… for Haruha, was exactly a swamp. A man-eating…… swamp!
“……It shouldn’t be like this……?”
If Haruha still had the money she wasted on the crane game, what more could Haruha do? She could have tried the one where Haruha had to fight crocodiles, or the one with a drum, or the one where cards shows up── Haruha could no longer play those games she wanted to play after this……
Then, she lost all her strength and sat down on the footstool she stood on. After that, she tightened her grip on her near-empty card. The lightness of it was exactly that of a splurge.
“This is, poverty……”
“You’re exaggerating”
A voice from above. It was not Haijme. It was an unfamiliar voice.
Haruha raised her blank fast and saw a girl looking down at her. She appeared to be younger than Yuu and Miharu. She was a short haired girl who was wearing a sports jumper[20] that hung above her uniform.
“…? Who are you?”
In 『CtG』 you could change to {{FuriganaExtendAR}} mode to see other person’s name and simple status, but in the real world you couldn’t see other person’s information tag no matter how good your eyes were.
While playing with her dyed red tress the Jumper girl dodged the question and asked back.
“Which one do you want?
She directed her sharp gaze inside through the crane game window. Still clueless, Haruha climbed on the footstool and pointed the stuffed doll she was aiming to get up till now.
“Errm, that?”
“Geez…… you can’t even get that huh?”
The girl then set-in her own card. Then, she casually operated the control stick that Haruha was struggling with and easily got the stuffed doll. Two in fact.
“There”
She said as she pa.s.sed the doll over to Haruha. Those two dolls were the “Gla.s.ses Sheep”, a gla.s.ses-wearing sleepy-looking sheep, and the “Brush Sheep”, an expressionless sheep with a brush on its mouth.
“Ah…… for me?”
“You suck at so much that it’s irritating. Have that and go home.”
This time, it was Haruha who spoke towards the girl.
“Oh traveler, please tell me your name.”
“No…… I said you’re an eyesore.”
“But mommy said it’s not good to accept an item from a stranger.”
On hearing the child’s argument, she came to the conclusion that it would end up being troublesome.
“It’s Sakura…… Kanna Sakura. Studying in second year of middle school.”
The girl unwillingly unveiled her identify.
“Sakura-chan huh!”
Haruha grabbed the stuffed dolls one at a time in each of her hand like a cheerleader pompom, and gave a dazzling smile in return.
“Thank you, Sakura-chan!”
“………You’re welcome. Now that you know my name, scurry off home now.”
“Aa, Haruha is Haruha. Here is Haruha’s business card.”
She took out a card from her pochette. So even kids nowadays have business card huh…… Sakura thought as she receives it── she groaned.
“No…… You should never give your lost card[21]. to others you know.”
“But adults give these thing that has name on it to others you know?”
“That’s completely different thing……… Ah, that’s it. I’ll go somewhere else.”
Sakura replied as she held down her sigh.
To put it straight, Sakura was the master of game.
For starters to increase her mental focus, she cleared the slot medal game with her eyes closed. She hit all the crocodiles within one sweep, and she landed a Jolt Blow[22]on the punching machine── although for whatever reason she used her non-dominant arm for this ──
Once she had warmed up she, through Holo Skin and entire touch display, played various 2D to 3D game making her name become recorded on many new game national rankings.
And now, she was about to make a new record on a popular fighting game series──
*Clash*！ *Swoosh*！ 『Sieya！』
“Yah! Toh! Ah, he flew! He’s a Sumo-san but he flew[23]
“………………”
*Bam*！*Bam*！*Bam*！ 『Here I go！』──Dogaa！ K.O.!
“Yay! Sakura-chan’s & Sumo-san’s win again.”
“……………………”
You Win ! Perfect !!
“Haaa~…………”
Against the CPU-only boss character that was known to be “Too strong” before it got balanced by the developer, Sakura displayed an overwhelming victory, and with her ears she heard to cheering of a child.
“Sumo-san is strong”
“I’m the strong one here! That Sumo wrestler is just a s.h.i.tty unpopular character!”
She was able to stubbornly ignore her comment with concentration, but by the time she had won, she had reached her limit. Sakura stood up and turned around. Then yelled at the girl who was watching her playing the game and comment every single second.
On her lost card, the name “Kasugai Haruha” was written, a child around the age of an elementary school kid.
Haruha without hesitation, faced her with sparkling eyes.
“Once Haruha is older, Haruha want to be a Sumo-san.”
“Listen to me!?…… or more like, what are you doing like, following me like a goldfish poo[24].”
“Haruha’s game level is really low so Haruha will follow Sakura-chan who’s good with game and get her half experience point. There is nothing to care about.”
“Just stop! You can get only part of EXP by simply joining in battle only in an RPG!”
“But, Haruna got the trick now”
Haruha then tried to move her hand quickly which in the end, only looked like nonsense.
“That’s definitely just in your head……… Eh, oh well. I’m tired somehow.”
After losing her energy due to continuous session of playing games, Sakura sat down on the bench that was kept nearby.
“Haruha brought some snack from home. Haruha want to share it with Sakura-chan. Here, lets share-shary.”
Haruha dug the pochette hanging on her shoulder, and pulled out two individually packaged chocolate buns. With her doll-like small hand, she gave one of to Sakura.
“Ah, you see, share-shary is something Mommy says when eating. It sounded weird so Haruha always laughed. Pupupu”
Haruha began to laugh reminiscing what she just said. Sakura perfunctorily grabbed the bun and delivered a glare at the girl below her.
“………You’re, in elementary school right? Then, why are you here all alone?
“Haruha don’t go to school.”
“Oo, ouh…… is that so?”
Sakura’s face stiffened. It could be something she shouldn’t ask, so maybe that’s why following word failed to come out.
However, Haruha who had just unwrapped the wrapping paper of her chocolate bun spoke the words, was something beyond worse Sakura could imagine.
“Haruha, Haruha is not a human after all.”
“…………No no, you’re clearly a human.”
Looking at her again, the only thing that was eye-catching about her was only her bright flaxen hair. At least, she was way more normal in comparison to Sakura who had dyed her bangs. ……No, there was something familiar about those thick eyebrows…… Agh, can’t remember. Either ways, she didn’t look like an evildoer.
“But Haruha can’t eat things like asparagus. When Haruha chew it, Haruhra goes uggeee”
What she just spoke frankly didn’t make any sense.
“……You can’t eat asparagus. So how does that make you a non-human?”
“Because, Daddy and Mommy can eat it”
………………
For a moment, she pressed her finger on her temple and started thinking. She thought about it, but in the end she still didn’t get it.
“Wha…… wait a moment. Isn’t that completely normal? Things that you can’t eat but that your family can eat. It is a simple personal preference because even I can’t eat raw tomatoes”
Haruha, who was about to take another bite of her bun, suddenly froze and blinked her eyes in surprise.
“……Eh?”
“Eh?”
Both delivered “I don’t know” question mark through their line-of-sights to each other.
The strange child then spoke in stunned weak voice.
“Human who can’t eat human food is still a human……?”
Instead of scratching her own head, Sakura scratched Haruha’s hair who in turn squinted her eyes feeling ticklish.
“Yes, human! Or more like, it’s human-like! ……In fact, a person without any dislikes is weird.”
“Whoaaa, is that so~…… Thank you Sakura-chan! Haruha now remember that IF-Method[25]is no good!”
The scales have fallen from one’s eyes, was the idiom used best to describe Haruha at the moment.
“No, you……, haven’t you ever seen anyone having likes and dislikes before?
“Eh? No?”
Being told so frankly, Sakura couldn’t help but slam her face into her hands. Just what kind of life this kid had been living that made her to grow up this way? Restless but carefree, full of curiosity but naïve, endlessly cheerful but subservient, and somehow thinks that she’s not even a human……
(What the heck is she…… an idiot? What a strange girl I ended up with……”
Maybe I should run away, she thought on one side, as both of their eyes met. Haruha’s interest diverted back to Sakura.
“Sakura-chan’s wearing school uniform. But why you’re here?”
Haruha’s circ.u.mstance was pretty confusing to address, so it was more convenient that she diverted the conversation elsewhere. Sakura on the other hand, answered brightly.
“Well it’s obvious, I’m ditching school. For a delinquent like me, going to an arcade in this time of the day is natural.”
“Delinquent? Delinquents are good with game?”
“Of course, it’s obvious. It’s not so nowadays but back in the old days, arcade was the gathering place for the outlaws. In other word, delinquents are the master of games.”
“Uoooh~”
While being deeply impressed, Haruha devoured the bun in her hand as she raised her head.
“Haruha’s Daddy is also strong in game.”
Then she lifted her eyebrows and displayed a fearless grin ── with puffed cheeks however ── and continued.
“Super strong”
“I see…… super huh. So strong that you had to say it twice. Well, doesn’t matter though but that smile of yours is annoying……”
Ignoring Sakura’s weak voice at the end, Haruha said
“Even against Memento, Daddy went like&h