Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

I once saw this scene on a nine o’clock drama on a Monday night.

On a rainy night, and the lead character guy A’s ex-girlfriend showed up at his house.

Guy A allowed his soaked ex to come in and use his shower—— but it so happens that his current girlfriend comes over, and ends up encountering his ex-girlfriend.

Mayhem ensues.

At the time, I thought the protagonist was just stupid.

First, it"s already strange that he lets his ex-girlfriend in.

They had already ended their relationship, so he shouldn’t have been so reckless. A could have driven back or lent her money for a cab, and his ex-girlfriend would have gotten home fine.

Furthermore, it"s bad not being able to explain himself properly to his girlfriend.

Since it was nothing but a misunderstanding, as long as he calmly and systematically explained himself, his girlfriend surely would have understood. But A panicked and was incoherent. Really, just how fearsome is that girlfriend? Pitiful.

Finally, the biggest problem is——— love itself is a mistake.

If you ask ｢Anti-Love｣ people like me, being sandwiched between one’s girlfriend and ex-girlfriend is just a joke. It’s called ‘you reap what you sow’. To someone who isn"t captivated by love, it"s wouldn"t be possible to get caught in such a mayhem.

It"s just wouldn"t be possible to get caught in such a mayhem.

Impossible.

Wouldn"t...... be…….

"Eita-kun, open up the door! Please do so quickly."

"Ei-kun, open the door! Don’t put up unnecessary resistance!"

They aggressively kept knocking on the door.

This was the infirmary of our Hanenoyama High School.

I— Kidou Eita —felt sick in cla.s.s during the third period, so I was resting in bed.

There is no problem with that, however when I woke up I noticed my ｢ex-girlfriend｣ was sharing the bed with me.

"Hey, Hime."

"What is it, Eita?"

"Why are you lying here?"

When I asked, Hime puffed nose and said:

"This is because of karma determined in the distant past. As the reincarnated Holy Dragon Knight descended from heaven, liberating the shackles of fate, he drew his sword—"

"Don’t be so denpa [1]around other people’s ears—!"

Hime or rather Akishino Himeka is, truly beautiful girl. With silky black hair on a doll-like head, she had the cute traditional j.a.panese image, extremely delicate skin, and possessed the power to ｢cover up three flaws with a single virtue｣. If only she acted like a normal person, she definitely would have been popular.

But—Hime was infected with ｢Chuunibyou｣.[2]

In this girl’s imagination, I was chosen in a previous life to fight the Evil Dragon ClanWyvern, as well as act as a soldier of Hime’s love.

She was my girlfriend from my past life.

Or so we say ｢ex-girlfriend｣.

Really, why doesn’t this girl just get admitted to a mental inst.i.tution?

"Explain to me! What’s the meaning of this?"

"......It"s my first time."

"That"s not the explanation I want!"

At this rate I"m the one who is going to end up hospitalized!

"I want you to explain, why you’re lying next to me—!"

"Because of love. Is that not sufficient reason to do so?"

"Very insufficient!"

"Then hug me a little tighter."

Hime squeezed closer to me.

Her smooth white shoulders were exposed from under the sheets, as she leaned against my chest.

—Ah?

Smooth white shoulders?

"......Hey, Hime."

"What is it? Are you going to hurry and hug me now?"

Hime’s indecipherable face looked up at me.

At that moment, the sheets slipped a step further, revealing Hime’s slender chest with unexpectedly well-developed cleavage.

"Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—————! Why are you naked?!"

"Because of love. Is that not sufficient reason to do so?"

"You actually think love can explain everything?!"

What an intimidating woman.

Although she’s had delusion denpa waves from the start, I get the feeling her actions are getting bolder and bolder.

"Eita-kun? For the well being of your body shouldn"t you open the door while we are still smiling-?"

"Right, Ei-kun. If you don’t open up, you won’t know whether to laugh or cry."

File:Oreshura v03 010.jpg

Bang! A noise came from the other side of the white-colored door.

"......They seem to be knocking very hard."

"This is probably the work of some noisy poltergeist, a low-level spirit controlled by the wyvern."

Hime gently pulled my shirt sleeve.

"I think if you say, ｢Hime-chan, I love you so much｣ ten times, the poltergeist will leave…… come on, please recite it enthusiastically." [3]

"How can I do that enthusiastically?!"

"Then please do it indifferently—"

"That’s not the pointtttttttttttt—! Co, cough coagh aghWho would cough cheerfully!" [4].

Because I was tsukkomi-ing [5]excessively, I started coughing. Hime gently stroked my back and said: "Is Eita okay?" Even if you say that, this is entirely your fault!

"Harusaki-san, shall we break down the door? Ahaha."

"Sounds good—even though it might get the teachers angry. But, it was all Ei-kun’s fault anyways, Uhuhu."

They continued to knock on the door, and with so much energy that I thought they would actually break down the door.

If the two of them saw the scene right now, they definitely wouldn’t stop even after dismembering me into eight pieces. [6]

I stared at the clock on the wall, and the time was half past twelve. Because the school day is shortened due to summer vacation, this time was already considered ‘after school’. In either case, a trace of the nurse couldn’t be found anywhere. If the teacher was somewhere eating lunch, I didn’t think she would be back any time soon.

"Eita, leave it to me."

Hime whispered, after seemingly sensing my anxiousness.

"I will cleverly trick them."

"R-really?"

"These lowly poltergeist, they are child’s play for my Holy Dragon WisdomHolly Aura."

Hime smiled slightly, got off the bed and stood on the ground. She wrapped the sheets around her like a cloak, and shifted her pose. She probably thought she was dressing up as a demon lord or a vampire. It was pitiful, as she was going naked in a cloak and definitely crazy. Oh well, at least the sheets covered her entire body well.

—Hmn?

Naked in a cloak?

"Okay Eita, I’m going now."

"Wait a momentttttttttt———— at least put on some clothesss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

From a certain death, I desperately stretched out my hand.

But regarding the sheets, it was quite close— yet I couldn"t grab it!

Hime’s pattering footsteps approached the door, and she unlocked it.

At this rate the only option will be disaster. I sprung out of the bed, wrapped myself with the curtain and hid myself.

The door crashed opened, and two beasts rushed to get into the health center first.

"Okay Eita-kun, it"s time for the dogeza!" [7]

The beast that just entered and asked for me to prostrate was Natsukawa Masuzu, who I tentatively consider my ｢girlfriend｣. But really, she’s asking for the dogeza first thing after she gets in? Does this that after this there are higher levels of punishment?

"Ei-kun! Katsu Donl! Beef Steak! Hamburger!"

The other one was Harusaki Chiwa, my ｢childhood friend｣ who lived next door. The menu that she just shouted was her way of saying, ｢If you don’t make the food I like tonight, you won"t be forgiven｣! In any event, can’t she just pick one of those, that greedy Chihuahua!

"......Strange? Himecchi is by herself?"

"Affirmative."

They looked at each other gloomily.

"Akishino-san, where is Eita-kun?"

"Unknown."

"I heard the teacher say he went to the infirmary to rest because he wasn’t feeling well in cla.s.s."

"I also heard too. That’s why I came to see him, but I don’t see Eita."

Masuzu and Chiwa looked around the entire infirmary with their eyes.

In order to avoid being found, I tightened my shaking body hidden in the curtains. Even though the weather was nice, I was dripping with sweat and it soaked into the curtains. It made me afraid that the two of them would find me.

"—It seems like he’s really not here."

Masuzu muttered to herself. I was so relieved, I nearly collapsed to the ground on the spot.

"But I definitely did hear—Ei-kun and Himecchi’s voices."

"The sound of ｢wind｣ being noisy, that"s probably at fault."

"Wind?"

"That wind in the corridor is brought along by bad things. You could say it was a challenge that came from the demon realm—"

Hime said expressionlessly with her usual poker face.

"Ah. It came from the demon realm? There is that and that."

"Somehow? Was I being over-suspicious?"

The desire of those two to investigate weakened. Hime’s chuunibyou was finally used for good! It was a really memorable moment.

"However, I still have this little feeling."

"What?"

"Ei-kun’s scent."

Chiwa said, her nose sniffing. Really, was this girl a dog?

"I think he was definitely here before. Did we miss him when he went home?"

"Akishino-san, what time did you come to the infirmary?"

"Five minutes after twelve."

"So you came right after home room ended?"

"So Ei-kun went straight home?"

"He left his bag and went straight home?"

I stole a peak from the gap in the curtains, and found that Masuzu was holding my bag against her chest.

Although I was very grateful that she specifically brought my bag...... that actually worsened the situation.

"Right, Akishino-san."

"What is it?"

"Why are you naked?"

Masuzu finally noticed it.

—You need to come up with a really good excuse, Hime!

Bearing my expectations, Hime slightly straightened her chest and replied:

"It was my first time."

—You said that earlierrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly shouted that tsukkomi from my throat, but I restrained myself just in time. d.a.m.n, so dangerous. My blood is flowing with so much tsukkomi, it’s scary.

"When you say first time, what first time do you mean?"

Chiwa asked, bewildered.

Hime must also be thinking ｢d.a.m.n｣; with her eyebrows twitching, she said:

"T-that was the first time I received a challenge letter from the Demon Realm."

Who could stand that receiving two or three of those?

"Why is Akishino-san sweating? The air conditioning is on."

"These are tears shed by my pained soul."

"......Hmuun?"

Masuzu leaned her face close, and stared at Hime’s face.

"Akishino-san."

"W-what is it?"

"The curtain over there has been shaking this entire time, hasn’t it?"

I almost cried out, but I restrained my self just in time.

This d.a.m.ned Masuzu, she is really sharp-eyed!

Chiwa tilted her head slightly and said:

"Could it be the wind from the air conditioner blowing?"

"From this position, that shouldn’t be a possibility."

"But is the window closed?"

"If we open the curtain, we’ll know."

My hands were full of sweat, and I grabbed my chest.

Masuzu approached me step by step.

—Hime, hurry up and think of something!

I looked at my only hope—my ex-girlfriend…… but she was lying in bed wrapped in sheets and staring at the ceiling with wide eyes.

She seemed to be painfully and incessantly twitching when she said:

"No. We need to restrain the ｢Shadow｣. We cannot let it transform here a second time……. no……. could it be using that forbidden technique? No good, calm down quickly, my right hand……!"

She, in the world of her delusions, suddenly began to struggle violently.

—Hime youuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!! I"ll remember thiiiiisssssss!!!!!!!!!!

I swallowed the tsukkomi that nearly came flying out of my throat, as I saw Masuzu’s white fingers reaching towards me.

"Fufufufufu, so what is actually hiding right here?"

Noooo! Stoppp, Masuzu-san!!!! Noooo mayhem! Please don’t open the curtainssss!! Wahhhhh!!!!!!!!

"What are you doing here?!"

The infirmary resounded with a clear and bright sound.

Masuzu’s approaching hand stopped right in front of me.

I gingerly peeked through the slit in the curtains towards the direction of the sound, and saw the female student wearing the armband of the disciplinary committee.

At first impression, I felt her appearance was definitely what would be considered ｢cute｣ or ｢pretty｣. It was a different kind of cute than Chiwa’s puppy-ness, but rather she had a kind of tsun beauty like a Siamese cat [8]. Although she didn’t match up to Masuzu’s formal appearance, and was different from Hime’s natural beauty, her facial expression was quite stern. Even during the five seconds I was staring at her, her facial expression had already changed three times. In my aunt Saeko-san’s opinion (occupation: gal-game producer), she would definitely cla.s.sify her as the ｢high spirited type tsundere bishoujo｣! But no, it doesn"t matter how I look, I can"t see that dere part about her.

File:Oreshura v03 019.jpg

Her name is Fuyuumi Ai.

Her ident.i.ty is someone who would approach any figure she sees, straighten up their clothing, inspect them for violations of school rules, and make small crying children terrified of the devil from the disciplinary committee.

"Really, do you all have no ｢common sense｣? You even turned the infirmary into a place to play. "

"I-It"s not like we are playing!"

Fuyuumi faced the denying Chiwa and severely pointed her finger:

"Your excuses have been more than enough, you Self-Performance Club!" [9]

"Self Performance?"

"｢Self-Recreation｣ can be abbreviated to say ｢Self-Performance｣ right? "

I almost cried out ｢Oooh｣.

Someone finally discovered original secret abbreviation for our club that only Masuzu and I knew.

"Horrible! What a thing to say?!"

"I spent so much effort to come up with the name, ｢Society for the Self-Recreation of the Maiden｣. To be abbreviated like that-"

Masuzu was raging in anger next to Chiwa, displaying a drama of fake tears. Incidentally, she was the one who originally said, ｢The abbreviation is ｢Jien-Otsu｣. Just kidding—♪｣. Again with this self performance!

"By the way......"

Fuyuumi brought her gaze towards Hime on the bed.

"What’s with that girl? It’s almost like she’s immersed in another world."

Hime continued rolling inside the sheets, muttering: "Eita, I"m so happy you finally remembered the bonds from out past life. Yahoo, we’ll never be separated again."

The lines themselves, were quite like something that would come out of a romantic comedy, but ｢Hiyaha｣ was not like something the female lead would say. Was your past life from the end of the previous century?

"Well, today was rather hot......"

Masuzu lazily stared out of the window. Although she was the president, she didn’t try to follow the act of her club members at all.

Fuyuumi shook her head as if to say, ｢Deplorable｣!

"This is what you call, ‘one rotten apple spoils the barrel.’ Akishino-san was always a very serious student!" [10]

Regardless of whether or not Hime was a serious student, she was definitely affected by our influence. Ever since joining ｢Jien-Otsu｣ Hime has definitely become more energetic than before. I thought this was a good change, but I guess from the perspective of the disciplinary committee, it was an ｢increase of problem behavior｣.

"As I told you yesterday, it’s already decided that your club is going to be shut down. It’s something that you brought upon yourself, so you should seriously reflect on it!"

As soon as Fuyuumi Ai finished declaring this, Masuzu and Chiwa immediately looked upset.

Yes.

Yesterday after school, we ｢Jien-Otsu｣ was sentenced by Fuyuumi that ｢Club will be Disbanded as a Disciplinary Action｣."

While there it was the ｢Dora live event｣ and ｢Toast Attack incident｣, along with many other problematic occurrences, Masuzu’s younger sister · Mana, was the final blow. Although Masuzu tried to play down the incident, the rumors that our club ｢was up to no good｣ had already spread widely. In the end, they decided in the staff meeting that our club was going to be shut down.

And the person who took the lead in attacking us viciously was this Fuyuumi Ai. Although her voice played a very large role, the voice of the disciplinary committee president also couldn"t be denied.

Yeah......

Oh well, after all, we have behaved rather poorly up until now.

"Come on, Natsukawa. There’s no reason to stay here, right."

"That’s true, being scolded is more than enough."

Maybe they realized that saying anything further was a waste of time, but Chiwa and Masuzu were thinking of leaving the infirmary.

Fuyuumi immediately stopped them:

"Take Akishino-san with you. She’s obviously not sick, but she’s taking a bed. It will give people trouble."

Chiwa replied somewhat impatiently:

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah."

"Answering once is enough."

"Woof!"

Fuyuumi’s slender eyes were stretched tight.

"You’re still resisting it with your att.i.tude? You need to figure out that you need to be ｢Pitiful Chihuahua｣!"

"P-pitiful is saying too much, you idiot idiot!"

Chiwa forcibly raised her eyebrows to fight.

"Which of us is the idiot? Your wishful aim to be ｢popular｣ is not normal at all. Your brain is full with ridiculous thoughts!"

"And what’s wrong with that?! Becoming popular is a very exciting thing! Maybe I’ll receive a lot of food too!"

Was your original motivation for becoming popular really that, Chihuahua-san?……

The battle scene of monster-human conflict began to escalate, but Masuzu indifferently walked up to the bed.

I thought she would wake Hime up from drifting in her delusional world, but Masuzu actually sat straight down on the bed.

Then she began to slowly lift the sheets that covered Hime’s leg.

—Hmn?

Masuzu-san, what are you doing?

If you do that, I’ll see.

Hime wasn’t wearing anything under there.

I’ll see Hime’s smooth and naked b.u.t.t.

There- it’s a flawless and beautiful b.u.t.t just like I imagined. From my hiding place in the curtains, I could clearly see how delicate and compact it was, and so tender just like a plum…..

—That being said, what in the world are you doingggggggg?!?!?!?!?!!!?!??!!

Masuzu ｢smiled smugly｣ and stared at the shaking curtains where I hid.

She mouthed at me silently:

Are

You

Excited

Now?

—So this girl, so she did realized it?!

Hime had fallen asleep when we weren’t paying attention, and she was mumbling to herself while traveling in the dream world. Her b.u.t.t was so shiny and thin, but she obviously had no idea it was exposed.

The girlfriend. Shows the ex-girlfriend’s a.s.s to her boyfriend. To tease him.

I don"t get any of this.

This mayhem far exceeds anything found in fiction.

This definitely wasn’t the kind of crude plot found in TV dramas or romantic comedies. Today I was experiencing a glimpse of something even worse.

That being said, it"s my girlfriend this is about!

......Let"s up break up soon......

At this time—

"Hahan, I get it!"

Chiwa exclaimed especially loudly.

Fuyuumi, in a daze, said:

"What did you realize?"

"In short, you’re jealous, right?"

"Eh?"

"You envy us who strive to be popular? The disciplinary committee’s members are all girls, everyone is scared of you, and you don’t get a chance to talk with the guys. That’s why you envy us, and want to shut down our Young Maiden’s Club.

"...... - ......"

Fuyuumi, who had formerly been countering articulately, suddenly started to tremble incessantly, and her face flushed red. This change was rather unusual. Not even mentioning her ears, even her neck was bright red.

"Could it be, did that hit the mark?"

After seeing an opportunity to go on the offensive, Masuzu immediately pursued it.

"When the disciplinary committee, which should be upholding the interests in the entire school, suddenly decides to shut down a legitimate club activity against the rights of ordinary students due to a ｢private interest｣—this is a problem. I should probably tell this to a teacher."

"If that’s the case, the club shut-down will be canceled!"

Wow! Chiwa’s fists were clenched, and it seemed like she was overjoyed with the victory.

Fuyuumi’s clenched fists trembled as she said:

"......Don’t take me for a fool."

"Huh?"

"Don’t take me for a fooooooooooll—! As for a mere boyfriend, of course I have one, you fool———————!"

The infirmary suddenly fell silent.

Only the twilight cicadas chirped outside the window as the old-fashioned air conditioner ｢whirred｣ and echoed in the room.

"And that boyfriend, is he from our school?"

Masuzu broke the silence and asked.

"H-h-how can a boy the same grade as me be good enough for me? Y-Yes, he’s a college student!"

"Which university?"

Fuyuumi’s eyes wandered uncomfortably, as she said:

"......K-keio University?"

I don’t really know why she phrased it as a question.

"When you say Keio, do you mean that Keio University that the rich kids go to? Are you sure you don’t mean Tokyo University?"

"R-right? He’s the son of a big conglomerate. Even though we don’t meet each other that often because of our long-distance relationship, he texts me every day, is very gentle, and cherishes me very much!"

"That and that, it"s very enviable ♪"

Although Masuzu had a grinning response on the surface…… her cheeks were subtly stiff. As an ｢anti-love｣, she probably wanted to spit and say, ｢It"s fine if you die｣. Luckily, she could bear it.

"Of course. Compared to you all who can be satisfied with merely Kidou-kun, my level is entirely different."

"It"s fine if you die, peh!"

She lost the limit of patience too fast!

"Really~? Do you really have a boyfriend~?"

Chiwa stared at Fuyuumi, her eyes revealing a significant amount of doubt.

"If that’s the case, why don’t you show me a picture from your phone? You should definitely have that kind of thing, right?"

"I"m sorry, I’m completely different from those bad students who bring their phones to school!"

"Then when are you going to meet each other during the summer?"

Tomorrow was the Haneoyama High School’s end-of-school a.s.sembly, which the day after marked the first day of the long-awaited summer vacation.

"I"m very busy in the summer with cram school! And why do I have to tell you that?"

"Well, can’t you just tell us your boyfriend’s name?"

As soon as Masuzu began to question her carefully, Fuyuumi bowed her head and began to tremble.

This time it wasn’t only the lips, even her shoulders were shaking.

After a period of silence that made even a spectator like me uncomfortable—

"......................................................Michel."

"Eh?"

"His name is Murata · Michel · Daigoro! His mother is American. Isn"t that cool? Isn"t that great?!"

The infirmary was again entirely silent.

And this silence was different than before. It was a kind of speechless silence where nothing more can be said.

"Well, well, I think we should start going back now."

"Okay."

Chiwa easily agreed with Masuzu’s proposal, even though she had just been burning for a fight. Now it seemed like the moral was greatly reduced. Nevertheless, Chiwa still did not seem to believe in Fuyuumi, and her eyebrows looked like an inverted V-shape.

"Okay, Himecchi, lets go home—"

"......Ah, Mama?"

"How could there possibly be such a beautiful mother?"

Hime rubbed her sleepy eyes, and Chiwa handed Hime her folded uniform.

After Hime finished changing clothes (while I stared at the ceiling), and Masuzu and the others were about to leave the infirmary, Fuyuumi stopped them.

"Wait a moment."

"Eh, what else do you want?"

As soon as Fuyuumi met the eyes of Masuzu and the others, she immediately looked away.

With her head bowed and her fingers twiddling, she said:

"Ta…… And Kidou-kun? Today he isn"t here?"

Eh, me?

Why is she asking for me?

She was always annoyed with Masuzu or Chiwa, but she shouldn’t have any conflicting issues with me.

"Who knows?"

Masuzu glanced grimly at the curtains where I was hiding, and said:

"It seems he went home earlier today."

"...... I see"

"Why are you looking for Ei-kun?"

"N-nothing. How could that possibly be?"

I don’t know why Fuyuumi said this angrily. Afterwards, she pushed aside Chiwa and the rest as she left the infirmary first.

"What was that? That att.i.tude!"

"So outrageous."

"......So sleepy......"

The three of them each gave a complaint and left the infirmary one by one.

When Masuzu was closing the door, she stuck her head out from the doorway and said:

"Don"t forget this, Eita."

She whispered these frightening words to me.

After I confirmed that the thumping noise of footsteps gradually moved far away, I liberated myself from the curtains and laid flat on the bed.

The wind from the air-conditioning blowing my cheek was very comfortable. Although I wasn’t Hime, I also really wanted to fall asleep.

"Ahh......"

Somehow, I just feel really exhausted.

Even though I was only listening to their dialogue, it felt like my HP was dropping madly.

To deal with those guys, one needed more than just a few lives.

After abolishing the ｢Jien-Otsu｣, opportunities for these kinds of headaches should be reduced, right? Or will this intensify into chaos because they’ve lost the purpose of club activities?

…….Well, it wasn’t worth thinking about it. Asking for trouble was not the answer.

In either case, the day after tomorrow is summer vacation.

I was just like Fuyuumi. My summer would be spent buried in cram school. A month ago I began to study each cram school’s brochures to think over the most suitable plan. I was sorry for Masuzu and the others, but compared to a shut-down club and so forth, this was more important to me.

In order to obtain a recommendation for the Department of Medicine at the National University.

Goodbye ｢Jien-Otsu｣.

Goodbye, mayhem.

My summer is going to be a productive one!

♦

With this kind of feeling, and a strong motivation to press forward, it came to the first morning of summer cram school.

In the crowd of students in the hall waiting for the start of cram school, I met a familiar face.

The first words she said were:

"W-why are you here?"

Fuyuumi Ai pointed with the finger in a familiar posture, and glared at me, as she still dutifully wore her uniform.

"What can be said? Well I’m here for summer cram school."

"T-t-t-t-that can’t be. You co-co-couldn"t be in Cla.s.s Z, aren"t you!?"

"It"s in that Cla.s.s Z that I"m in."

Fuyuumi’s face lit up instantly, and excitedly raised her fist up.

"Yaa, this, awesome ♪ Ai-chan"s great victory——————!"

The noisy hall suddenly became quiet.

"W-what is it? So suddenly?"

I asked her, greatly on edge. Fuyuumi suddenly became aware of herself, grabbed her head, and said:

"This isn"t about a great victoryyyyyyyy—————! Right now that doesn"t counttttttttt—————!"

"......"

Somehow, this one has some high tension.

It’s causing everyone around me to stare, and its very embarra.s.sing.

Fuyuumi cleared her throat with coughs, returned to her calm look and said:

"Why are you in the same cla.s.s as me? You’re such a shameless person!"

"How would I know?"

I didn’t know why I felt so sad. Why did someone have to call the summer cram school that I picked ｢shameless｣?

"Since you’re in cla.s.s Z, your aspirations for college must be very high, right?"

The cla.s.s Z that I signed up for was meant for people with high aspirations towards famous private and public universities, and included preparatory cla.s.ses for the medical departments.

"I don’t have very clear-cut plans for where I want to go, but it’s better to have the best preparation."

"Yeah, it’s better to have more options."

"Although it’s possible to work hard after finding what you want to do, the exams are still compet.i.tive, right?"

"So, you are the type that goes for the pre-emptive strike."

"Aha! So true. I don’t want to wait until the whirlwind of the third year of high school [11]. Ah, that being said, you better not cause trouble in cla.s.s you idiot!"

"What" with that, right off the bat?"

Even though it was clearly such a smooth conversation, she suddenly got mad at me and called me stupid!

"How can I talk with you peacefully? Especially with all of your hostile relations with me?!"

"Hostile?"

"Don’t play innocent. It’s obviously your Self Performing Club VS. our disciplinary committee." [12]

Ah......

Did this girl really want to fight each point one by one?

"Don"t get close to me. I might get infected by your self performance thing!"

Without even time to tsukkomi about the Performance thing, let alone infect her, Fuyuumi hurriedly walked off.

Yeah

I guess I can see that "too d.a.m.n serious" that Chiwa mentioned once.

At this time, someone patted me on the shoulder from behind me.

"Good morning, Eita."

My best friend Asoi Kaoru raised his small hand while smiling. His smile was cool and carefree as usual. I always felt if I received this every day, my blood would flow better.

"Even though the people here are only first years, there’s still a lot of people. Everyone really has impressive energy to study."

Kaoru wiped his sweat with a handkerchief as he looked around and spoke with a leisurely voice.

"I"m sorry, I always feel like I’m pushing you to accompany me."

"Not at all. My parents were urging me to go to summer school anyways, so when Eita asked me it was perfect."

Kaoru looked around the hall again.

"It seems like the only first-years from Hane High School are the two of us."

"No, I just met another one."

"Eh, who?"

"Fuyuumi Ai, from the disciplinary committee."

"So A-chan came! No, for real?"

Kaoru’s eyes were opened with wide eyes.

"So, you know her?"

"Ah, this......"

Kaoru looked hesitant for a moment, and stammered:

"Yeah, I know her. A-chan and I— Fuyuumi Ai was my elementary school cla.s.smate."

This was something I never heard of, and he never revealed these kinds of feelings until today.

Kaoru was really a guy with many secrets.

"Ah— so A-chan is coming? What a coincidence, heh—"

Kaoru nodded repeatedly, but I didn’t know why he snickered.

"Then I guess I’ll go say h.e.l.lo."

"Okay, she’s already in the cla.s.sroom."

After Kaoru finished saying ｢thank you｣, he excitedly ran away from the hall.

It was really surprising.

Kaoru actually knew Fuyuumi.

When I told him about how ｢Jien-Otsu｣ was going to be shut down, Kaoru didn’t have any particular reaction. He only said, ｢On this issue, I won’t voice an opinion｣."

Now that I think of it, it was perhaps Kaoru’s ｢neutral declaration｣. If he was in a dilemma between me and Fuyuumi, it must have been very painful.

And like this, this was the opening prologue of my ｢summer｣.

It wasn’t a ｢summer mayhem｣ with Chiwa, Masuzu, and Hime.

But it was a ｢studious summer｣ with Fuyuumi Ai and Asoi Kaoru.