The day of the end-of-term ceremony finally arrived. Since the next day would mark the beginning of summer break, there was a festive mood in the classroom during the morning homeroom class. Wanting to go overseas, wanting to get a boyfriend or girlfriend, wanting to go drink bubble tea, those were all things people were talking about wanting to do in the summer. Meanwhile, I was busy working on a roadmap for the halloween event for [The Night The Black Goat Screamed]. It being the last day of the term doesn’t change a thing for me, and since we have a bit of free time before classes start, I can get some work done.
“You’re aiming for Kageishi-sensei, right? Go invite her out on a date, would you?”
“Sorry, I’m gonna go ham at the gym this vacation.”
“Again?! You sure are working hard. When are you gonna be able to lift a car?”
“Hehe, I’m planning on working out my chest muscles next. Beauties in swimsuits are nice and all, but a muscular macho ain’t bad either, dontcha think?”
“Oh, okay… Well, if you say so.”
Thanks to the info I’d given him earlier, he turned into a total muscle maniac. I felt a bit proud I could have that kind of impact, listening to their conversation. I thought I’d lost my own youth, but at least I helped someone else achieve their own. I’m sure, that rather than trying to live in the moment like most of these idiots, he’s working towards a profitable future. Though I don’t know if he actually wishes for it, if he’s happy now, I’d call it okay.
“The public pool in the town next to ours offers free entrance for students during summer break, I heard.”
“Sounds good! Let’s go there! Who should we invite?”
“Maybe a boy as well? …Like Kohinata-kun!”
“Ehhh?! H-Hey, what are you grinning for—”
“Heeey, Kohinata-kun. We’re thinking of going to the pool during summer break, so how about you join us?”
“Eh, me?”
The three girls talking together with their high-pitched voices suddenly called out to Ozu. Though I don’t know too much about them, I knew two of them were somewhat outgoing and proactive, while the other one was more docile and mature. The docile one lowered her gaze in embarrassment as the other two approached Ozu. Just seeing that, I immediately understood what was going on. That docile girl had feelings for Ozu, while her friends were trying to help bring that love to fruition. A familiar sight in this classroom.
“Wouldn’t I be a bother in a group of girls?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You have a year-round pass to bother us, Kohinata-kun.”
“I’d rather not have the other boys with me~ But you definitely won’t look at us with weird eyes, I’m sure.”
“He’s our class’s prince, after all! Right?”
“Y-Yeah, you’re really cool…and kind…and I’d be happy if we could hang out.”
“Thank you. I’m so glad you see me like that.”
“So then—”
“But I’ll have to decline. My summer break is jam-packed, I’m going on a family trip and also have to go to cram school, so I can’t join you.”
This expression was soft and dignified, not showing any ill-will, and yet he gave them an unbreakable wall of reasons they couldn’t complain about. A textbook example of how one should reject. Polite, and impeccable.
“I see~ What a shame. You better join us next time we invite you!”
“Yeah, will do. See you.”
With the group of girls returning to their seats, Ozu waved as he watched them. Although he did reject them, he did it in such a kind and comprehensible way that their affection for him shouldn’t have dropped.
“Perfect communication, from start to finish. That’s what I love to see from the prince.”
“What are you saying? Those are all techniques that you taught me. If I’m the prince, you’re the prime minister.”
“That’s just stuff I learned by reading through a psychology paper.”
Realizing that Ozu had grown so immensely since grade school, I could feel my eyes get watery. I knew that he would turn up popular if he tried, but to think that it would be at so high a level.
“If you’d just get a girlfriend, all would be fine, but… You don’t seem too keen on doing that, I presume?”
“I don’t have anyone I like right now.”
“Well, then I guess there’s no need to force yourself. Still, you’re liked by so many girls, and you meet them in the most random of places, yet you still haven’t developed feelings for any of them? That’s pretty weird in itself.”
“You should go take a look in the mirror.”
“…Maybe not as much as you, but I guess. I do have a tendency to encounter girls, huh?”
While saying that, I threw a glance over at my seat neighbour—the sleeping Tsukinomori Mashiro. I always thought that these encounters would never lead to anything romantic. However, after that incident, I realized that it was just a weird preconception of mine. And the person who made me realize that is the softly snoozing Mashiro here. She really did give me a wake-up call, that girls who have feelings for me aren’t just mythical, and that they might be out there. Although I did reject her beforehand while prioritizing the [5th Floor Alliance], I really can’t see her in the same way as before.
“That’s quite the passionate gaze. Are you leaning more towards the Tsukinomori-san faction now?”
“…No, that’s not the case.”
“I see, so you’re still in the Iroha faction.”
“That’s not happening. When are you going to stop trying to push the two of us together? I really don’t feel any sort of romantic feelings coming from her.”
“So you like reading psychology papers, but find yourself unable to understand a girl’s heart, huh?”
“From my research, I believe if she really wanted to be liked, then she wouldn’t act like that towards me.”
“Well, that might be the efficiency freak speaking inside of you, but humans don’t always act rationally, okay? …Wait, why am I the one teaching Aki how a human functions?”
It happened as Ozu and I were having our idle talk with each other.
“U-Ugh…” A grunting voice.
Wondering where it came from, I looked over to the seat next to me. The source of the voice turned out to be Mashiro, who was resting her head on the table.
“Y-You okay?”
“……”
“Mashiro…?”
“Uuuu…Uuuuu…”
“Hey, Mashiro, are you not feeling well? Should I take you to the nurse’s off—”
“…Shut up.”
“Ehh?!”
Being warned with a voice that sounded like it came straight out of hell, my back straightened out of shock and fear. As she lifted her head ever so slightly from her arms, I could see her pale expression and bloodshot, tired eyes as she threw me a death glare, still seeming tired.
“Ah… Aki. Sorry… Saying something…cruel…like that…”
“N-No, I don’t mind it that much.”
“Mashiro didn’t sleep all too much. Deadlines…are scary.”
“Deadlines?”
“Ah… No, nothing… Not like a scenario…but a deadline from a novel… Ah, can Mashiro even tell you…? No idea. Either way, Mashiro’s brain is still mush, so don’t talk to her for a while.”
“A-Ahh, okay, will do.”
“Okay… Zzzzz…”
Leaving only these words behind, Mashiro sank down on the desk again, falling asleep shortly after. It’s like Murasaki Shikibu-sensei when I’m hurrying her for new character designs or illustrations near a deadline. Still, ‘deadline from a novel’, huh? Mashiro did say she had a hobby of writing novels in her spare time, so maybe she’s sending in manuscripts for a contest with a deadline coming up soon? Maybe she’ll become Makigai Namako’s kouhai if she takes the grand prize of UZA Publishing’s contest. That’d be pretty interesting to see. Either way, I can only admire her hard work, pushing forward so hard.
—I’m cheering for you, Mashiro.
Watching her rest like an exhausted warrior, I gave her a cheer within my heart.
*
“Zzzz… Zzzz… Munya…”
How did I not manage to anticipate that a situation like this would unfold?
A dull atmosphere filled the gym hall during the end-of-term ceremony. The entire student body was assembled, all sitting on plastic chairs, while the principal and vice principal gave their usual strict and hidebound final speech. I was just waiting for it to end so that I could do something else with my time. Well, normally I would spend this time thinking up new game ideas in my head, though granted they weren’t usually the best.
However, I wasn’t doing my usual work of thinking up new methods to lure users and ways to organize data or whatever, but rather, I was busy reciting the buddhist sutra of hannya shingyô, to rid me of these worldly desires while I was trying to endure this heavenly punishment.
“Zzz… Zz… Zzzz…”
To be precise, Mashiro was resting her head on my shoulders, asleep with a cute expression on her face! Her soft and warm breathing tickled my earlobes, and the pleasant fragrance of her hair reached up to my nostrils. It’s like I was laying on a flower bed. You know the deal, it’s basically the same as a couple riding a train home late, with one of the two resting their head on the other’s shoulders, being flirty as can be. They’d typically earn the ire of those around them and this time, I was in the position of those people I’d call bastards.
“Ooboshi and Tsukinomori-san sure are lovey-dovey.”
“They always look like they’re fighting, but I guess they’re still a couple after all.”
“Yeah, recently, Tsukinomori-san has been pretty clingy towards him.”
I heard faint voices of gossip floating our way. Really, those cursed classmates of mine would do anything to lessen the boredom of this ceremony. I feel like an animal in a zoo, really. I’d love to go around and quash their eyes, since this is really freaking embarrassing, but I’d feel bad for waking her up if I did so…
Mashiro really seemed to be working on a lack of sleep, she kept staggering on the way here and I had to support her. Seeing that she started leaning on me the second she sat down, I decided to give in for a while and be her pillow, if it could make it a bit easier for her.
“………” I gulped heavily.
For some reason, my throat started to get really dry. Seeing Mashiro’s defenseless face up close like this was a first for me. The form of her eyelashes, the gloss of her skin, her soft peach fuzz, everything on her looked hand-crafted to make her as beautiful as possible, and the more I watched her like this, the stronger my desire got to—Wait, what am I being entranced by here?
A feeling of guilt and immorality burst up inside of me as I forced myself to stop staring at her face, and I quickly averted my gaze. Even still, I could still feel the slight heaviness of her head on my shoulder, letting me unable to completely forget about her presence. My heart can’t calm down! I tried something else and looked to my surroundings. A second later, I spotted Ozu sitting on a chair, his back straight, with his usual grin… But completely asleep. Really, he has the guts to doze off with a smile on his face.
A bit further away was Otoi-san. Her hip was lowered as she rested her back against the chair with her head hanging down, making her look like a sleeping sloth. I really doubt she’d wake even if teachers warned her, really. I wouldn’t know since we’re not in the same class, but I figure that she’d probably act the same in class.It’s like she has no hidden side of her, marching at her own pace…quite the relaxing way of living.
‘And now, a word from the student year representatives. From the first year—Kohinata Iroha-san.’
“Ohhh…”
The name brought to my ears by the announcement from the broadcasting club had me unconsciously leak out a voice of admiration. After a short and determined ‘Yes’, Iroha stood up. Her red-brownish hair fluttered after that quick and nimble movement, and she made her way towards the stage. Have her wear a white one-piece and traverse a sunflower field, and it’ll surely end up in the top rankings of any photography contest.
“It’s Kohinata-san.”
“I did hear the rumours, but she really is a beauty~ Like a noble lady?”
“And the color of her hair makes her stand out by itself. Apparently, she’s Kohinata-kun’s little sister.”
“Both brother and sister being so beautiful, I’m jealous~”
“She really is cute! I soo want a proper girlfriend like her!”
“You might as well give up, man. A cute girl like her already has a boyfriend, I bet.”
“Y-You never know! Let a man dream, okay?!”
Another storm of whispers ensued. ‘This year’s student representative is crazy cute, and clever to boot’—this sort of rumour has been going around since the latter half of April. Now that it’s near the end of July, basically everyone at school has heard or talked of Iroha.
Well, if they had any idea about her real personality, their hopes and dreams would all be crushed. She got on the stage, stood before the microphone, and calmly looked around the hall. When she met eyes with me, her movement came to a sudden halt. Like a recording that was paused, she kept her proper smile, as she gave me an intense gaze… Is she planning on doing something? —Or so I had a mysterious feeling in my chest, as I gazed at her, and eventually…
“Grin”
“…?!”
For a second…no, not even a second, I felt like I saw the corners of Iroha’s mouth move up to form a grin. Nobody around me realized, that’s just how short it was. This moment of ill will. As I pondered the reason behind her sudden change in expression, I started to get a creeping, bad premonition.
“A new school building, brand new classrooms. After the entrance ceremony riddled with uncertainties, three months passed in a flash. Things have moved quickly, relationships changed in our classes, we would go make friends—”
Not showing any sign of her annoying personality, she continued on with her orthodox, end-of-term speech.
“—Some would even make lovers, acting all lovey-dovey with them.”
And thus, the orthodox speech ended. During the first year student representative’s speech, with its full distinction and pride, such a dishonorable term was jumbled in. Following that utterance, all the students gathered began to get all noisy, looking at the couples with sparkles in their eyes. Some of these became the target of whispers and giggles, and were also stared at. Mashiro and I were no exception, as bullets of intense gazes rained down on us.
—T-That girl, she saw me and Mashiro in this position, and led the topic of conversation towards us.
(“Hey, don’t joke with me. What are you doing?”)
I sent Iroha a gaze filled with my protest, as the two of us exchanged gazes. She gave me a response at such high speed so that nobody realized.
(“You reap what you sow~”)
(“Youuuuuuu!!!”)
While she was keeping up her honor student act, all I could see behind that iron mask was laughter. If she was right in front of me, I’d make her repent on her bad jokes, but rushing up the stage during the middle of an assembly would make me the suspicious one. I’ll just have to suck it up for now.
(“Hmpf. You’re the one at fault for being so lovey-dovey in public like this. A bastard enjoying his youth like you deserves to be a monument of ridicule before all. You idiot, idiot, idiot!”)
(“Ugh… I can’t deny that.”)
All I’m doing is letting Mashiro rest a bit since she’s tired. But to everyone else, we just look like another lovey-dovey couple, I’m sure.
“All these wonderful events make us happy. Be it something that happens in class, or advice for the future. All these happenings during our student life all help us stride towards a happy future, I’m sure of it. It isn’t admirable to go too far, neither is it admirable to show these things in public. Rather, keep your happiness in moderation. It’s especially, ESPECIALLY, terrible when people involve themselves in boasting about their hopes for a bright and happy future with everyone, while being lovey-dovey with every next cute girl they see.”
“Ugh… Ughhhh…!”
Every word and emphasis she made felt like they pierced deep into my chest. She’s clearly talking about me…Well, I am technically to blame for this.
In the end, around 80% of first year representative’s speech was aimed at me. A blessing in disguise that the other students didn’t do much more than just tilt their heads in confusion at Iroha’s strange wording. They never suspected a thing. Really, I’m glad that all the students of this school are such idiots. I mean, their grades had to be decent to get in this school, but when it comes to connecting two and two together, they don’t have the slightest of common sense. Well, let’s leave that aside for now.
Although it ended up getting quite intense for me, the end-of-term ceremony ended without any mishaps.
*
“There are roughly two types of people when it comes to their ideas about having fun in summer. One of them is clever enough that they don’t need to study all the time in order to keep up their grades, a true winner. The humans who can enjoy their life to the fullest without having to work very hard. And the other group consists—of idiots.”
The end-of-term ceremony ended, marking the start of the final homeroom lecture for the term.
The ice-cold female teacher, the ‘Poisonous Queen’ known as Sumire had complete reign over the classroom. Her words filled us all with tension, even on the day befoer summer break. With her teacher’s cane, Sumire tapped on the blackboard, glaring at the students in session.
“If you think that you belong in the winning group, then go ahead and enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content. But bear in mind that you’ll pay a heavy price if you indulge yourselves, taking your eyes off of doing work. Namely, the entrance exams next year will be coming for you.”
What a wonderful warning! I was almost moved to tears. Oh ,how I wish Murasaki Shikibu-sensei would be able to hear these words.
“I pray that none of you fall into the idiot caste. Anyway, homeroom is over.”
“…! S-Stand! Bow…!”
As Sumire finished her speech, the chime of the bell rang, and the class representative gave quick orders. Watching over the bowing students with a cold gaze, Sumire left the classroom, and the sounds of her heels clacking slowly grew distant. Meanwhile, some of the students who were looking forward to partying their asses off began to worry about their summer plans. Around the class, I could hear things like ‘Uh, maybe we should do some studying, right?’ It seems that her speech had some influence on the students, at least. If only they had any idea about the teacher’s true colors.
[Murasaki Shikibu-sensei]: SUMMER BREAK IS HEREEEEEE!!! THE SEAAAAAAAA!!! LET’S PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
The moment she stepped out, I got a LIME message from Sumire. See, this is what I mean!
“The roleplay this time was as amazing as ever, huh?”
“Well, nobody would have thought her personality could be like this.”
Reading the text in the [5th Floor Alliance] LIME group, both Ozu and I flashed a bitter smile. In truth, Kageishi Sumire is a good-for-nothing woman, always too soft on herself. She loves getting drunk, and is too much of a sloth to clean up her own room. This ‘Poisonous Queen’ side of her is nothing but a front, so that students won’t make fun of her. But you’ve got to praise her, it actually works. At the previous end-of-term exams, our class’s results were on par with the gifted class. During the last mid-term exams, we even managed to pass them in certain subjects. Naturally, though we might not be able to gain ground against the monster known as Kageishi Midori, many of our students have reached a level where they could feasibly make it into a high-level university.
“If you had to choose, then she’s definitely made to be a teacher, even though she doesn’t want to.”
“She’s actually pretty smart, after all. Her little sister is at the top of her year, so it probably runs in their genes.”
“Club president Midori, huh? When I was talking to her, I didn’t feel any of that clever DNA… Ozu, you’re probably way smarter than her.”
“Me? Not at all. I’m only good at things like math, English, and maybe physics,” laughed Ozu.
Coming up with genius inventions that I could only describe as magic, Ozu the super programmer has intellect and understanding that doesn’t compare in the slightest with the people in our year. However, these abilities can only be shown in subjects that rely on physics, and in cultural subjects that aren’t English, he’s only at an average level. Recently, he’s been working to improve his personal relations with others, bettering his communication skills. While he’s been getting better, he’s still unable to grasp the human heart in the most fundamental parts. Well, that’s exactly why he needs me and the [5th Floor Alliance]. If he was as smart in those fields, we’d be unnecessary. He could aim for the Moon, even. If he manages to achieve that, I’d probably be both happy and sad, to be honest.
“But, Kageishi-san is pretty amazing. Both in mid-term exams and finals, she has perfect grades in all subjects. I’m sure that it’s not just her DNA, but also back-breaking effort that she’s putting in.”
“In a certain way, she can be pretty straightforward. Your future isn’t only determined by your performance at school. I work on other things aiming for my own future, so I can’t just study like she does… Still, the way she sticks rigidly to her path gets my respect.”
“Yeah~ Oh right, are you going to invite the members of the theatre club to the sea trip as well?”
“Ahhhh…”
Thanks to the national high school division theatre fiesta a while back, our contact with the theatre club has deepened by quite a bit. Starting with the club president Midori, we’ve been inviting them to [5th Floor Alliance] meetings and events, having gotten fairly well acquainted with them, but…
“I did ask, but I was rejected.”
“Ah, really?”
“They do have prefecturals during summer break, and the nationals if they make it through those. I was told they have to prepare and practice during summer break, so they don’t have much time to play. She even told me that I should study, rather than just play around all day, heh.”
“Haha, that sounds like Kageishi-san. But, it’s weird for Aki to back off from just that.”
“Really? Well, if they’re are forcing themselves to hold off even though they clearly want to, I’d keep pushing, but she really seems like she wants to study. Though I don’t know exactly what she’s aiming for at this point. And also—”
“And also?”
“Murasaki Shikibu-sensei also said that she’d rather not spend too much time with her, or she might run the risk of having her true self exposed.”
“Ahaha…that I can’t disagree with.”
“It doesn’t seem like she was found out at the drinking party. Her personality as Shikibu is so different from her as a teacher even her younger sister didn’t realize.”
However, we won’t necessarily be drinking during the sea trip, and Sumire will be taking us by car. Her own car. The risk of being found out is higher than ever.
“I see~ Well, if it doesn’t bring more love rivals for Iroha, then I’m all up for—”
—Rattle—!!!
Before Ozu could even finish his sentence, a loud bang resounded from the classroom door, like it was just kicked open. The sudden intruder—a female student—had her head hung low, muttering something to herself. Ruffled, rough hair, haggard cheeks, wrinkles in her uniform. An aura of despair enveloped her entire body, and for a second, I thought she looked like the Kageishi Sumire we were just talking about. Well, I’d say that there’s about an 80% chance it was actually Midori.
“That’s…Club President Midori…right?”
“Speak of the devil. But something’s off about her.”
Ozu and I both looked at each other in agreement. It seems like my assumption was correct. But, I couldn’t imagine that the methodical, diligent, and horribly sensitive Midori would end up like this.
“H-Hey, what happ—”
“…You.”
“Eh?”
“Forgive…you…”
Still with her head down low, Midori walked towards us, staggering. Upon closer inspection, she was gripping a knife in her right hand.
“…You… I won’t…forgive…”
Step by step, she gradually approached us. Though I was getting a really bad feeling, I didn’t budge a centimeter from my chair. Second after second, they slowly ticked by.
“H-Hey, what’s wrong? Club president Midori. Hey, say something? Don’t come here, do—-”
“I will never forgive youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!! Die!! You heinous produceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!!!”
“Owaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!”
Midori suddenly lifted up her head, her eyes showing a glint of murder, as she swung down the knife. Just as quickly, I reacted and took out a notebook to intercept the blade above my head. As a result, the knife broke into two.
“…So it was just a stage tool… What got into you?”
“Liar!!!”
“Huh?! What are you on about? Why are you attacking me out of the blue like this?!”
“Because—Even though you told me that there was nothing between you and Sumire-oneechan!”
Her bloodshot eyes opened wide, as she pushed her smartphone screen into my face. It showed a LIME group chat, the [Kageishi Family], and a certain message.
[Sumire]: Currently, I am going out with Ooboshi Akiteru-kun, a student of mine, and we are planning on getting married in the future. Although he might not yet be at a marriageable age, he’ll graduate in about a year and a half, so would you be so kind as to wait until then?
“Shikibuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!” I screamed, holding my head in my hands.
There was nothing wrong with the phrasing, nor the contents of the message. No, it was all fine. The problem was the place it was sent in. The LIME group of the Kageishi Family shows that there are 99+ members, meaning that there are more than 100 people in this very group. It makes sense that Midori would be part of said group. She probably fell into a rage when she saw it.
Not good. Should I try to fix the situation by clearing up her misunderstanding? No, if I were to explain that we’re just faking it, there’s a high chance that I would have to explain that Murasaki Shikibu-sensei and Sumire are the same person. All I can do is keep up this fake engagement act… Sorry about this, Midori…!
“I knew you had some sort of indecent relationship with Sumire-oneechan! I can’t believe you! Immoral!”
“—Who’s immoral?”
“—?!”
I lowered my voice, and gazed directly into Midori’s eyes.
“Sumire-sensei and I are seriously thinking about our future. I really don’t like the fact that you’re speaking ill of it, calling it indecent and immoral.”
“That’s…!”
“Is it so wrong to love? Why do I have to be reprimanded by you, when I’m earnestly contemplating our marriage and future? —Look me in the eyes and tell me, Club President Midori.”
“Ooboshi…kun…”
A counterattack. Playing a sincere man, I bring in reasoning she can’t argue against. Maybe it’s thanks to me watching Iroha act all the time, as well as my help in the theatre club, but I feel like I did a good job.
“It’s true that I don’t have the authority to get in between true love…”
“Right? I’d love it if you were to sincerely support our future together.”
“But…but…”
Midori distanced herself from my soft voice and shook her head. And then, she yet again pushed her smartphone towards me.
“Then, how do you explain this?! This—”
I gazed at the screen. Shown there was without a doubt Sumire’s—
“—Lewd?!”
“…………………Eh?”
Sumire was squinting her eyes, red from ear to ear. She had her mouth narrowed, looking desperate as she was sucking on something.
A quick flick of her finger revealed another picture. White liquid leaked out of the corner of Sumire’s mouth as she made a peace sign towards the camera. If that wasn’t enough, another picture followed, this time with a double peace-sign of hers, and finally the selfie with the two of us. The camera was shaking in the decisive moment, the background and other fine details weren’t very visible, and to add on to that, the mosaic filter was on! Anyone would have misinterpreted that.
“N-No-No matter how you look at it, this is one of those lewd pictures, right?!”
“Wait wait wait wait wait hold on! What is this?!”
A complete falsification of the actual happening.
“Just where and how did you even get this? I don’t remember any of thi—” I quickly stopped mid-sentence.
No, wait a second. That’s a lie. I feel like I’ve seen this picture before somewhere.
“Sumire-oneechan was the one who sent this picture! Look!”
[Sumire]: In order to show you how serious our relationship is, I have provided several pictures from my date with him. Inspecting these, you will surely understand that the two of us are as close as can be.
So Sumire is the culprit! The one who leaked those! Right after I took those pictures, I was wondering if I managed to get some good shots, but looking at them again, I can clearly see why people would get the wrong idea about them! I stooped my head, I couldn’t say anything. Midori kept closing in on me.
“There’s got to be limits on how close you can be! You’re still a minor, you can’t be doing this! Criminal!!”
“In this case, shouldn’t you be accusing Sumire-sensei of all that…?”
“No excuses! Die, you fiend!”
“Again, don’t swing that fake knife at me.”
Although I didn’t take any physical damage from being stabbed, I sustained some mental damage. And as if that wasn’t enough, the classmates around us had caught wind of this ruckus, and were all looking. Although the wider mass of people had already embarked on their way home, the gazes of those remaining didn’t hurt any less. Even though they normally don’t even spare me a sideways glance. Well, for better or worse, mostly worse, I’ve been getting more attention lately because of my fake relationship with Mashiro. But that’s only when I’m together with her. I don’t stand out at all if it’s just me.
At this rate, I’m going to be attracting attention, and I might even start standing out. In the worst case, I will be treated as the bastard (or hero, depending on it), who conquered our female homeroom teacher.
“We were just out drinking bubble milk tea, nothing more. And Sumire-sensei ordered a 99% tapioca drink, so she was trying her hardest to drink the milk tea.”
“Don’t take me for an idiot! I know what they call that! It’s a ‘cumshot’, right?!”
“Ms. World-wide?! Throwing such vulgar slang at me, aren’t you the pervert here?!”
“N-No. The boys in my class said ‘You’re pretty clever, right? How about you translate this?’, and they showed me a video with a naked blonde woman doing all sorts of…things, and I saw that tag…!”
“So you learned of the word by accident and went to look it up yourself, right? So now you know. How else would you explain it?!”
“Uuuuuu…!!!”
Midori’s face went more red as I spoke.
“And, there’s gotta be limits as to how much of a siscon you can be. Kageishi-sensei is 25 now. No matter how jealous you might be, there will come a time when she’ll be going out with someone, even if you don’t want her to.”
“T-That’s…”
“Your family was trying to find a marriage partner for her, right? If you try to pull me away from her, she’ll get married off to some random guy, and faster.”
“Grrrr………Wait?”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Even if I imagine Sumire-oneechan getting married to someone my family wants, I don’t feel that irritated.”
“…Just how much do you hate me?”
Is this the thanks I get for helping save the theatre club? As a reminder, Iroha and I helped out as stand-ins, and the theatre club made it past the regionals of the national high school division theatre competition. Now for the prefecturals, the theatre club is planning on putting their own skills to the test. I’m not all too much involved with them anymore due to that, but they’re all thankful to me and the others from the [5th Floor Alliance] for our guidance.
“I-It’s not like I necessarily hate you. Just, when I found out that Ooboshi-kun and Sumire-oneechan were dating, my head just went blank and… H-Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
Midori suddenly held her head, as if she had gotten dizzy.
“Eh? Wait? Who am I jealous towards…?”
“You okay there? Don’t just get all weird after threatening to kill me. Are you that much of an idiot?”
“I-I’m fine. I’m feeling better than ever.”
Nope, something’s definitely wrong. She straight-up ignored my diss, so she definitely wasn’t thinking straight. I started to get worried, and put my palm on her forehead.
“You really are weird. Do you have a fever or something?”
“Hyawa?!”
—Pssssssssht!
“Ahhhhh?! You’re burning hot?! Your brain might actually be evaporating at this rate!”
“O-Ooboshi-kun’s…hand…awawawawa…”
“This is seriously bad. Ozu, help me out here. We have to get her to the nurse’s office.”
“I think we’re good.”
“What are you talking about? Her head’s hotter than the iron plate the middle management has to sit on after losing a gamble! We have to let her rest immediately!”
“Wahyaaaaaaaaaaa?!”
As I supported her with a shoulder, Midori let out a mysterious scream. Shaking off my hands, she separated herself from me with eyes like she was looking at a criminal.
“N-No. As if I would…not towards a lawless, indecent person like him…”
“Stop mumbling to yourself, just let me take you to the nurse’s office—”
“Don’t get any closer! This is wrong, this feeling. There’s no way…”
Continuing to inch backwards, Midori’s back bumped against the door to the classroom. And then, her eyes shot up to glare at me, as she took a deep breath.
“This is definitely impossibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”
Letting out a scream with a volume befitting the president of the theatre club, Midori dashed out of the classroom. As I was alone, I thought for a second that it might have even been some sort of acting practice.
“Is she really going to be okay? She’s not going to collapse, is she?”
“I’m pretty sure that every step away from Aki accounts to her fever dropping by 0.1°C.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m saying that you’re the reason for her fever.”
“She hates me so much that she’s getting a fever…? That hurts pretty badly, you know…”
“Ahhh, that’s 0 points alright. 0 sympathy points.”
For some reason, Ozu looked at me like I made some sort of mistake. Even as I tilted my head in confusion, Ozu just let out a snicker.
“Well, isn’t this perfectly fine? This just increases the romcom level, and I love me some romcom.”
“I don’t get it… Oh right, speaking of romcom. Mashiro, the first term is over, so how about we actually walk home like a couple today?”
The second I finished my sentence to turn around, I found that Mashiro’s figure was long gone.
“Tsukinomori-san went home as soon as homeroom ended. Like a ninja.”
“Seriously? That’s pretty rare alright.”
Normally she’d use her privilege as a girlfriend to call out to me as soon as classes ended. I’ve been pretty busy recently with gathering material and couldn’t join her on the way home, so at least today I wanted to play the role of the fake boyfriend.
“She must be really busy if she’s that sleep-deprived. Go and cheer her up a bit, Boyfriend-kun.”
“Don’t tease me like that…”
But it’s true that Mashiro has been acting off lately. If she’s involved in something weird again, I really would want to help her. As I was contemplating how I should approach the situation, the smartphone inside my pocket vibrated.
“Oh, yet another girl?”
“No, from Otoi-san.”
“Why did you deny that? She is a girl. Otoi-san, I mean.”
“Well, I guess you’re right.”
I never really saw her in that light. To me, she feels more like a business partner, so I was under the impression that seeing her as a member of the opposite sex would be more rude than anything. Either way, I quickly went to open up the LIME message.
[Otoi]: Talk, now. Studio. Two of us
In that short message, I could ascertain her wants, the location, and the condition. Still, pretty rare for her to be the one calling me over. Not to mention that since she’s calling me over, she probably doesn’t need me to bring any snacks, making it fairly easy for me. Or so I thought, but then I got yet another message.
[Otoi]: As supplement, get me some tapioca bubble milk tea~
So you need one? And tapioca, again…
*
“Ohh, this is pretty sweet, and it tastes delicious~ I can’t be bothered to line up and buy them, but getting a free delivery like this, I might try more~”
“Please don’t make me go buy one every single time.”
I showed my resistance, after having been forced to line up at the tapioca store for around twenty minutes beneath the dazzling sun. At this point, I’m basically her slave. It was 2pm when I arrived at Otoi-san’s home, and I immediately made my way to her underground recording studio. The interior was cool and soothing, only filled with the constant typing sounds made by Otoi-san. Equipped with the newest high-tech recording equipment, it’s basically Otoi-san’s very own ‘castle’.
With her parents working as bureaucrats, she’s quite the rich lady, and her allowance vastly surpasses mine. On top of that, she invests it, earning herself even more money, enabling her to buy all the equipment she wants. Since she’d be able to work all on her own without the [5th Floor Alliance], she doesn’t count as an official member, but rather a sort of business partner who helps with our activities. We’ve been acquainted ever since middle school; she even knows about Iroha being the mysterious voice actor brigade X, which even the official [5th Floor Alliance] members don’t know about.
Ozu and the others do know about her helping out with the various recordings, but to minimise risk, I’m the only person meeting her. All to keep Iroha’s secret secure. Before, when Iroha had to jump in as the stand-in during the theatre event, they found out about her acting abilities. Thankfully, they still haven’t caught on to the fact that she’s the mysterious voice actor brigade X voicing ‘The Night the Dark Goat Screamed’. Though I feel like Ozu might be getting suspicious…
Either way, until Iroha decides to reveal her identity to everyone, it will remain strictly between her, Otoi-san, and I.
“…Anyway, what’s up with that?”
“Mmmm?”
Without pausing her tapping on the keyboard, Otoi-san gave a slack response.
“Are you that interested in what I’m working on? Well, you’ll be able to guess soon, so just wait a second~”
“No, I’m rather interested in that over there.”
While emphasizing the ‘that’, I pointed at Otoi-san’s chest. Ah, that might sound a bit weird. I wasn’t exactly pointing at her breasts. Rather, the bubble milk tea she was balancing on them. Both her hands were occupied on the computer. So apparently she decided to use her boobs as a cup holder. By doing so, she could suck on the straw without actually having to pick up the cup.
“I do really think that this way of drinking it is weird.”
“It seems like it’s actually a pretty common way of drinking it. A lot of pictures were going around with girls drinking it like this~”
“I think that that was for a different reason…”
“Well, who cares~ It’s more comfortable, so me likey~ Sip~”
With a long, relaxed voice, Otoi-san took another sip of the bubble milk tea. The milk tea was pushing her breasts down a bit, so I had trouble looking straight at her. Or to be precise, it was poison to the eyes.
“And, what’s the idea with calling me here? You didn’t just call me here to get some free bubble milk tea, right?”
Trying to rid myself of those impure thoughts, I spoke out to Otoi-san, wanting to speed up the conversation. Ever since I came here and handed her the tea, she’s been working at her PC nonstop.
“Ahh, I’m still mid-preparation. Wait a bit longer, okay~ If you’re that bored, go play over there~”
“I’m not some kid forcefully pulled along a family visit. At least give me some sort of an explanation, will you?”
“No~ Explaining it is a pain~”
“Ehhhh…”
“If you take a look outside the shed, there are some other toys, so feel free to use them.”
“Again, I’m not some impatient child.”
“But there are also toys for adults~”
“You’re asking me to do the impossible here…!”
“Well, you’re still an adolescent boy Aki, so I’m sure that you must do that as well~”
“You’re that tolerant of a boy’s physiology?!”
That’s Otoi-san for you. Very tolerant even towards boys doing ‘that’. But I’m not so daft as to use other people’s toys in their house. I quickly rid myself of the horrifying image that floated into my head, and looked around the studio for something to pass the time.
“Hm?”
A low table in the back stood out to me. Maybe it was prepared for a visit from someone like Iroha or me, or even for herself to eat, it had a small bowl full of sweets. Until then, it’s always looked the same. However, a rare item was put down next to said bowl.
“…Otoi-san, are you going on a trip?”
I picked it up with one hand as I asked, and turned towards Otoi-san. It was a guidebook on traveling across the country. As I flipped through the pages, I could see some colored horizontal lines in certain places.
“Ahhh, rather than a trip, I’m escaping the hot summer during break,” commented Otoi-san without stopping her fingers.
“Even the Five Lakes of Mt. Fuji1?”
“Landmine.”
“Ehhh?!”
Another sudden one, what’s up with that?
“You keep stepping on these landmines recently, are you slacking?”
“Even if you say that, I can’t be aware of landmines if I don’t know what causes them… Can’t you at least give me a hint? What was it?”
“Why would I teach you~ Just work hard and dodge them~”
“So unreasonable?!”
Well, all I can do is take a note of the landmine this time, huh. And…’The Five Lakes of Mt. Fuji’, there we go. Anyway, leaving aside the landmine, escaping the summer heat, huh?
“I totally thought you had no interest in travelling. You just flatly declined my invitation to join the [5th Floor Alliance] on a sea trip.”
“I’ll get burned at the beach. Also, studying is way more efficient for me if I’m on my own~”
“Studying?”
“Hmm? I didn’t tell you~?”
Finally stopping her movement on the keyboard, she leaned back in her chair to turn her head towards me.
“I started my songwriting and composing studies.”
“Songwriting and composing…”
“Yeah. I’m good at editing and compiling sound, but bad at coming up with something from scratch~ But I want to be able to do it.”
Otoi-san said before that she had a complex about her own talent. If you don’t have vocal talent like Iroha does, no matter how much of a master pianist or violinist you are, you can’t do much. You need someone to sing your songs. She says that all she possesses is her affection towards sound, knowledge about sound, necessary editing skills, and good intuition. Not a creator, but the one working behind the scenes.
“Before I thought I was fine like this, really~ Maybe I was influenced by you people~ I started thinking that I wanted to do something myself~”
“To think that the Otoi-san, open all year with no customers, resting half the time, the slothful Otoi-san would…”
“You making fun of me? I’ll show you how deadly a sloth can be~”
“S-Sorry. I was just overcome with emotion.”
“Anyway, I can’t properly focus by just staying here, I just get the urge to work on something else if I have my equipment here.”
“Ahhh, so to create a beneficial environment.”
“Exactly. So on top of that, I’m escaping the heat while I’m at it~ There, I’ll be listening to music, and reading books to study.”
“I see…”
I could feel my eyes get hot again. For a while now, she hasn’t been lying, nor has she been joking. Ever since I met her in middle school, she had resigned herself to only the talent she possessed. It wasn’t like she had some talent she was forced to suppress. She just kept telling herself that she was fine with what she had, and avoided trying to grow. And that’s perfectly fine in my books.
People all have things they excel at and things they aren’t cut out for. Rather than putting effort in those things we can’t do, wasting away our precious time, I find it more efficient to give up right then and there, and instead focus on getting better at the things I’m good at. And that’s my own decision to make. I decided to focus all my skills into following up, working to be the perfect back-up. I thought Otoi-san was the same type of person. That’s why I felt like we were a good match. But, inside her, unlike me, there was still the will to face the wall in front of her, to face the things she wasn’t good at. Seeing that, I found myself wanting to cheer for her as best as I can.
“You can do it, Otoi-san. I believe in you.”
“Yeah~ I’ll do my best~ If it doesn’t work out, get me something sweet to cheer me up, and if it does work, get me something sweet as as reward~”
“In both ways, I’ll end up treating you, huh?”
“Well, yeah~ Oh right, my preparations are done~”
Giving an half-baked answer, Otoi-san pushed down the enter button as if to announce a life-changing invention.
“I called you over to show you this, Aki~”
“This is… A video?”
Shown on the screen was Iroha’s face and an old anime character’s face, lined up next to each other. Since there was a big play button in the middle of the screen, I thought that it might have been a recording.
“It’s a noncommittal video I just edited. There was something that piqued my interest, so I wanted you to take a look, Aki.”
“Isn’t that anime from like, twenty years ago? I feel like I’ve seen it before.”
“Well, just listen for now.”
“Alright.”
As I donned the headphones she gave me, she pressed the play button.
‘Yes, I’m ready whenever you want. For Senpai’s sake as well, I’ll give it my best.’
Iroha’s picture lit up at the center of the screen, as her pure and proper voice resounded in my ears. It was something we recorded in this studio. It wasn’t from the character’s script, but rather something she said to motivate herself when entering the booth. But why is she having me listen to this?
—I didn’t have an opportunity to ask, because this time the anime character’s picture lit up.
‘Yes, I’m fine. In order to respond to Senpai’s expectations, I will take the challenge at full force.’
It was a similar voice from before, saying a similar phrase. When did Iroha work on dubbing like this? Then, Iroha’s and the anime character’s voices were played at the same time. A perfect fit. The calm and proper voices overlapped and pleasantly entered my ears. After the recording stopped, Otoi-san separated her mouth from the bubble milk tea straw and looked up at me.
“And?”
“Even if you ask me that… What’s so special about that dubbing?”
“Ehhh, you don’t get it, Producer~?”
“???”
“I didn’t have her do any dubbing in the first place. That was the original recording of the anime.”
“Huh…?!” I couldn’t hold back my surprise.
An anime character from twenty years ago and Iroha had the same voice. So basically, I had no idea that…
“Iroha is already a pro?!”
“Idiot.”
She insulted me right to my face.
“That conclusion doesn’t make any sense. Think about Iroha’s age.”
“Ahhh, now that you say it…this anime is older than she is.”
“Exactly. How could she have voiced an anime character who appeared in some anime twenty years ago?”
“So why are there voices the same, then?”
“Who knows. It’s just that I happened to watch an anime broadcast a while ago~ And then I felt like this character’s voice sounded oddly familiar. And here we are~”
“They matched perfectly, huh?”
“Exactly… Mmm, already gone, huh~”
After trying to take another sip from the bubble milk tea, she realised that it was all depleted, and reluctantly separated her lips from the straw. Pushing the cup back into her chest only to let go a second later, the cup bounced off, falling into the trash can at her feet. Hey, what was that eccentric skill?! What is going on with your chest, Otoi-san? After suppressing the desire to jump into her supple chest, I continued with the conversation.
“If there was a voice actress in the past with skills similar to Iroha’s, it might actually be good reference for her future career.”
“Exactly~ That’s what I was thinking, so I looked it up~”
She yet again started furiously tapping away at her keyboard, we saw the results on the screen. It was a list with the voice actors of the anime. And, after going through the list for a bit, she stopped at a certain name.
“Otoha Machia. Apparently raised as a child actor, she became a voice actress. She found success in every role she did, and no matter how many voices she did, nobody could tell they were the same person. Since she never showed her face, many suspected that there might have been multiple people behind that name~”
“…! That’s just like—”
“Just like with Kohinata. That’s what I thought.”
I was shocked. To think that there was someone in the past who had rivalling Iroha’s current skills. This might actually be a good indicator for Iroha’s future.
“So what’s that person doing now?” I asked in haste.
In response, Otoi-san lowered one end of her eyebrows in a happy manner.
“You really get passionate whenever it’s Kohinata we’re talking about. Well, that’s what I like about you, Aki.”
“O-Okay? I’ll happily accept your feelings of affection.”
“But, well~ I hate to disappoint, but I haven’t been able to find anything else after that.”
“Eh?”
“She retired as a voice actress fairly early on~ Apparently she became an actress in stage and film. After successfully becoming a famous actress, Otoha Machia disappeared into the shadows, never to be seen again. At least, according to some weekly magazine~”
“I see… So she stopped being a voice actress, huh?”
“She did appear in dramas and such when she was a child~ She probably challenged herself as a voice actress, but it most likely wasn’t what she wanted, I guess~”
“To each their own, huh?”
Shame. If she was still active, I would have done whatever possible to learn more about her, to help Iroha in a similar way, seeing how her career could go.
“Right~ But, I have some interesting information.”
“Interesting information?”
“She was called the ‘Prismatic Voice’ or ‘Divine Voice’ by fans and so on~ At the same time, there was also a lot of critique coming from inside the industry, like gossip, you know?”
As she clicked on several links of articles from the past, they reaffirmed what she just said. Stuff like how she didn’t actually have the skill that people thought she did, or that she’s just pushed up in ranking because people didn’t know what true talent was, and whatever.
“Isn’t that just jealousy?”
“Maybe~? I’m just saying that Kohinata might receive similar treatment once she debuts.”
“Well… You’re right. Just, I don’t really care about that.”
They can just keep talking as much as they want. All Iroha has to do is act to her heart’s content. The voice and talent she worked up by doing so will silence their criticisms. And that’s exactly why I—
“I believe in Iroha’s talent, and will keep doing so, no matter what anyone says. That’s what I decided on, after all.” I didn’t have the slightest bit of hesitation.
In response, Otoi-san softly clapped me on the back, still expressionless.
“Alright, you pass~”
“Was this some kind of test?”
“Not really~ Well, if Aki’s that set on supporting her, then Kohinata should be fine.”
Otoi-san seemed to be happy…Ahh, I see. That’s how it is.
Before, Iroha showed the courage to openly reveal display skill in acting. Although she still hasn’t laid bare everything that she’s hiding from her mother Otoha-san or the [5th Floor Alliance], I see that as an important first step. However, the more she steps into the limelight like this, she’ll surely receive more and more critique from the world and the industry. That’s probably the risk that Otoi-san saw, which she wanted to show me.
“Thanks for worrying about her, Otoi-san.”
“Don’t sweat it~ It’s not something you have to thank me for, the two of us are almost like one unit now~”
“So if you’re the mother, then I’m something like that father? Well, I certainly do feel like a father being annoyed by his brat. It might fit her, seeing how annoying she is.”
“Hey, hey. If Kohinata hears this, you’re dead meat, you know~?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll tell her face-to-face just how annoying she is.”
“Not about that~ Me as the mother, and you the father is… Ahh, what a pain. I’d have to explain with more than 40 words, so I’d rather just not.”
“Please don’t give up on such a low word count.”
“Well, all you need to know is that this harem bastard Aki has to be careful, or you’ll be cursed.”
“E-Even Otoi-san is calling me a harem bastard now…”
I thought that you were the only person who understood me!
Thus, the final day of school in the term ended, and summer break finally started. Hot, fun, and also chaotic—That’s how the [5th Floor Alliance]’s summer would be.
*
「I finally resolved this doubt I’ve been having for over a year.」
「What’s wrong, Ozu?」
「I always wondered why Otoi-san doesn’t get fat even though she eats so much sweet stuff.」
「And that is?」
「I think that the calories only go to one part of her body」
「Oh?」
「Thanks to all the sweets making that certain part of hers grow, she can use them as a cup holder, while the calories from the bubble milk tea only help in making them grow even further. Like an infinite loop. A perpetual system revolving around breasts」
「You have a calm face, but say the weirdest stuff at times… Use your IQ for something better, how about it?」
1 Area located at the base of Mt. Fuji
The day of the end-of-term ceremony finally arrived. Since the next day would mark the beginning of summer break, there was a festive mood in the classroom during the morning homeroom class. Wanting to go overseas, wanting to get a boyfriend or girlfriend, wanting to go drink bubble tea, those were all things people were talking about wanting to do in the summer. Meanwhile, I was busy working on a roadmap for the halloween event for [The Night The Black Goat Screamed]. It being the last day of the term doesn’t change a thing for me, and since we have a bit of free time before classes start, I can get some work done.
“You’re aiming for Kageishi-sensei, right? Go invite her out on a date, would you?”
“Sorry, I’m gonna go ham at the gym this vacation.”
“Again?! You sure are working hard. When are you gonna be able to lift a car?”
“Hehe, I’m planning on working out my chest muscles next. Beauties in swimsuits are nice and all, but a muscular macho ain’t bad either, dontcha think?”
“Oh, okay… Well, if you say so.”
Thanks to the info I’d given him earlier, he turned into a total muscle maniac. I felt a bit proud I could have that kind of impact, listening to their conversation. I thought I’d lost my own youth, but at least I helped someone else achieve their own. I’m sure, that rather than trying to live in the moment like most of these idiots, he’s working towards a profitable future. Though I don’t know if he actually wishes for it, if he’s happy now, I’d call it okay.
“The public pool in the town next to ours offers free entrance for students during summer break, I heard.”
“Sounds good! Let’s go there! Who should we invite?”
“Maybe a boy as well? …Like Kohinata-kun!”
“Ehhh?! H-Hey, what are you grinning for—”
“Heeey, Kohinata-kun. We’re thinking of going to the pool during summer break, so how about you join us?”
“Eh, me?”
The three girls talking together with their high-pitched voices suddenly called out to Ozu. Though I don’t know too much about them, I knew two of them were somewhat outgoing and proactive, while the other one was more docile and mature. The docile one lowered her gaze in embarrassment as the other two approached Ozu. Just seeing that, I immediately understood what was going on. That docile girl had feelings for Ozu, while her friends were trying to help bring that love to fruition. A familiar sight in this classroom.
“Wouldn’t I be a bother in a group of girls?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You have a year-round pass to bother us, Kohinata-kun.”
“I’d rather not have the other boys with me~ But you definitely won’t look at us with weird eyes, I’m sure.”
“He’s our class’s prince, after all! Right?”
“Y-Yeah, you’re really cool…and kind…and I’d be happy if we could hang out.”
“Thank you. I’m so glad you see me like that.”
“So then—”
“But I’ll have to decline. My summer break is jam-packed, I’m going on a family trip and also have to go to cram school, so I can’t join you.”
This expression was soft and dignified, not showing any ill-will, and yet he gave them an unbreakable wall of reasons they couldn’t complain about. A textbook example of how one should reject. Polite, and impeccable.
“I see~ What a shame. You better join us next time we invite you!”
“Yeah, will do. See you.”
With the group of girls returning to their seats, Ozu waved as he watched them. Although he did reject them, he did it in such a kind and comprehensible way that their affection for him shouldn’t have dropped.
“Perfect communication, from start to finish. That’s what I love to see from the prince.”
“What are you saying? Those are all techniques that you taught me. If I’m the prince, you’re the prime minister.”
“That’s just stuff I learned by reading through a psychology paper.”
Realizing that Ozu had grown so immensely since grade school, I could feel my eyes get watery. I knew that he would turn up popular if he tried, but to think that it would be at so high a level.
“If you’d just get a girlfriend, all would be fine, but… You don’t seem too keen on doing that, I presume?”
“I don’t have anyone I like right now.”
“Well, then I guess there’s no need to force yourself. Still, you’re liked by so many girls, and you meet them in the most random of places, yet you still haven’t developed feelings for any of them? That’s pretty weird in itself.”
“You should go take a look in the mirror.”
“…Maybe not as much as you, but I guess. I do have a tendency to encounter girls, huh?”
While saying that, I threw a glance over at my seat neighbour—the sleeping Tsukinomori Mashiro. I always thought that these encounters would never lead to anything romantic. However, after that incident, I realized that it was just a weird preconception of mine. And the person who made me realize that is the softly snoozing Mashiro here. She really did give me a wake-up call, that girls who have feelings for me aren’t just mythical, and that they might be out there. Although I did reject her beforehand while prioritizing the [5th Floor Alliance], I really can’t see her in the same way as before.
“That’s quite the passionate gaze. Are you leaning more towards the Tsukinomori-san faction now?”
“…No, that’s not the case.”
“I see, so you’re still in the Iroha faction.”
“That’s not happening. When are you going to stop trying to push the two of us together? I really don’t feel any sort of romantic feelings coming from her.”
“So you like reading psychology papers, but find yourself unable to understand a girl’s heart, huh?”
“From my research, I believe if she really wanted to be liked, then she wouldn’t act like that towards me.”
“Well, that might be the efficiency freak speaking inside of you, but humans don’t always act rationally, okay? …Wait, why am I the one teaching Aki how a human functions?”
It happened as Ozu and I were having our idle talk with each other.
“U-Ugh…” A grunting voice.
Wondering where it came from, I looked over to the seat next to me. The source of the voice turned out to be Mashiro, who was resting her head on the table.
“Y-You okay?”
“……”
“Mashiro…?”
“Uuuu…Uuuuu…”
“Hey, Mashiro, are you not feeling well? Should I take you to the nurse’s off—”
“…Shut up.”
“Ehh?!”
Being warned with a voice that sounded like it came straight out of hell, my back straightened out of shock and fear. As she lifted her head ever so slightly from her arms, I could see her pale expression and bloodshot, tired eyes as she threw me a death glare, still seeming tired.
“Ah… Aki. Sorry… Saying something…cruel…like that…”
“N-No, I don’t mind it that much.”
“Mashiro didn’t sleep all too much. Deadlines…are scary.”
“Deadlines?”
“Ah… No, nothing… Not like a scenario…but a deadline from a novel… Ah, can Mashiro even tell you…? No idea. Either way, Mashiro’s brain is still mush, so don’t talk to her for a while.”
“A-Ahh, okay, will do.”
“Okay… Zzzzz…”
Leaving only these words behind, Mashiro sank down on the desk again, falling asleep shortly after. It’s like Murasaki Shikibu-sensei when I’m hurrying her for new character designs or illustrations near a deadline. Still, ‘deadline from a novel’, huh? Mashiro did say she had a hobby of writing novels in her spare time, so maybe she’s sending in manuscripts for a contest with a deadline coming up soon? Maybe she’ll become Makigai Namako’s kouhai if she takes the grand prize of UZA Publishing’s contest. That’d be pretty interesting to see. Either way, I can only admire her hard work, pushing forward so hard.
—I’m cheering for you, Mashiro.
Watching her rest like an exhausted warrior, I gave her a cheer within my heart.
*
“Zzzz… Zzzz… Munya…”
How did I not manage to anticipate that a situation like this would unfold?
A dull atmosphere filled the gym hall during the end-of-term ceremony. The entire student body was assembled, all sitting on plastic chairs, while the principal and vice principal gave their usual strict and hidebound final speech. I was just waiting for it to end so that I could do something else with my time. Well, normally I would spend this time thinking up new game ideas in my head, though granted they weren’t usually the best.
However, I wasn’t doing my usual work of thinking up new methods to lure users and ways to organize data or whatever, but rather, I was busy reciting the buddhist sutra of hannya shingyô, to rid me of these worldly desires while I was trying to endure this heavenly punishment.
“Zzz… Zz… Zzzz…”
To be precise, Mashiro was resting her head on my shoulders, asleep with a cute expression on her face! Her soft and warm breathing tickled my earlobes, and the pleasant fragrance of her hair reached up to my nostrils. It’s like I was laying on a flower bed. You know the deal, it’s basically the same as a couple riding a train home late, with one of the two resting their head on the other’s shoulders, being flirty as can be. They’d typically earn the ire of those around them and this time, I was in the position of those people I’d call bastards.
“Ooboshi and Tsukinomori-san sure are lovey-dovey.”
“They always look like they’re fighting, but I guess they’re still a couple after all.”
“Yeah, recently, Tsukinomori-san has been pretty clingy towards him.”
I heard faint voices of gossip floating our way. Really, those cursed classmates of mine would do anything to lessen the boredom of this ceremony. I feel like an animal in a zoo, really. I’d love to go around and quash their eyes, since this is really freaking embarrassing, but I’d feel bad for waking her up if I did so…
Mashiro really seemed to be working on a lack of sleep, she kept staggering on the way here and I had to support her. Seeing that she started leaning on me the second she sat down, I decided to give in for a while and be her pillow, if it could make it a bit easier for her.
“………” I gulped heavily.
For some reason, my throat started to get really dry. Seeing Mashiro’s defenseless face up close like this was a first for me. The form of her eyelashes, the gloss of her skin, her soft peach fuzz, everything on her looked hand-crafted to make her as beautiful as possible, and the more I watched her like this, the stronger my desire got to—Wait, what am I being entranced by here?
A feeling of guilt and immorality burst up inside of me as I forced myself to stop staring at her face, and I quickly averted my gaze. Even still, I could still feel the slight heaviness of her head on my shoulder, letting me unable to completely forget about her presence. My heart can’t calm down! I tried something else and looked to my surroundings. A second later, I spotted Ozu sitting on a chair, his back straight, with his usual grin… But completely asleep. Really, he has the guts to doze off with a smile on his face.
A bit further away was Otoi-san. Her hip was lowered as she rested her back against the chair with her head hanging down, making her look like a sleeping sloth. I really doubt she’d wake even if teachers warned her, really. I wouldn’t know since we’re not in the same class, but I figure that she’d probably act the same in class.It’s like she has no hidden side of her, marching at her own pace…quite the relaxing way of living.
‘And now, a word from the student year representatives. From the first year—Kohinata Iroha-san.’
“Ohhh…”
The name brought to my ears by the announcement from the broadcasting club had me unconsciously leak out a voice of admiration. After a short and determined ‘Yes’, Iroha stood up. Her red-brownish hair fluttered after that quick and nimble movement, and she made her way towards the stage. Have her wear a white one-piece and traverse a sunflower field, and it’ll surely end up in the top rankings of any photography contest.
“It’s Kohinata-san.”
“I did hear the rumours, but she really is a beauty~ Like a noble lady?”
“And the color of her hair makes her stand out by itself. Apparently, she’s Kohinata-kun’s little sister.”
“Both brother and sister being so beautiful, I’m jealous~”
“She really is cute! I soo want a proper girlfriend like her!”
“You might as well give up, man. A cute girl like her already has a boyfriend, I bet.”
“Y-You never know! Let a man dream, okay?!”
Another storm of whispers ensued. ‘This year’s student representative is crazy cute, and clever to boot’—this sort of rumour has been going around since the latter half of April. Now that it’s near the end of July, basically everyone at school has heard or talked of Iroha.
Well, if they had any idea about her real personality, their hopes and dreams would all be crushed. She got on the stage, stood before the microphone, and calmly looked around the hall. When she met eyes with me, her movement came to a sudden halt. Like a recording that was paused, she kept her proper smile, as she gave me an intense gaze… Is she planning on doing something? —Or so I had a mysterious feeling in my chest, as I gazed at her, and eventually…
“Grin”
“…?!”
For a second…no, not even a second, I felt like I saw the corners of Iroha’s mouth move up to form a grin. Nobody around me realized, that’s just how short it was. This moment of ill will. As I pondered the reason behind her sudden change in expression, I started to get a creeping, bad premonition.
“A new school building, brand new classrooms. After the entrance ceremony riddled with uncertainties, three months passed in a flash. Things have moved quickly, relationships changed in our classes, we would go make friends—”
Not showing any sign of her annoying personality, she continued on with her orthodox, end-of-term speech.
“—Some would even make lovers, acting all lovey-dovey with them.”
And thus, the orthodox speech ended. During the first year student representative’s speech, with its full distinction and pride, such a dishonorable term was jumbled in. Following that utterance, all the students gathered began to get all noisy, looking at the couples with sparkles in their eyes. Some of these became the target of whispers and giggles, and were also stared at. Mashiro and I were no exception, as bullets of intense gazes rained down on us.
—T-That girl, she saw me and Mashiro in this position, and led the topic of conversation towards us.
(“Hey, don’t joke with me. What are you doing?”)
I sent Iroha a gaze filled with my protest, as the two of us exchanged gazes. She gave me a response at such high speed so that nobody realized.
(“You reap what you sow~”)
(“Youuuuuuu!!!”)
While she was keeping up her honor student act, all I could see behind that iron mask was laughter. If she was right in front of me, I’d make her repent on her bad jokes, but rushing up the stage during the middle of an assembly would make me the suspicious one. I’ll just have to suck it up for now.
(“Hmpf. You’re the one at fault for being so lovey-dovey in public like this. A bastard enjoying his youth like you deserves to be a monument of ridicule before all. You idiot, idiot, idiot!”)
(“Ugh… I can’t deny that.”)
All I’m doing is letting Mashiro rest a bit since she’s tired. But to everyone else, we just look like another lovey-dovey couple, I’m sure.
“All these wonderful events make us happy. Be it something that happens in class, or advice for the future. All these happenings during our student life all help us stride towards a happy future, I’m sure of it. It isn’t admirable to go too far, neither is it admirable to show these things in public. Rather, keep your happiness in moderation. It’s especially, ESPECIALLY, terrible when people involve themselves in boasting about their hopes for a bright and happy future with everyone, while being lovey-dovey with every next cute girl they see.”
“Ugh… Ughhhh…!”
Every word and emphasis she made felt like they pierced deep into my chest. She’s clearly talking about me…Well, I am technically to blame for this.
In the end, around 80% of first year representative’s speech was aimed at me. A blessing in disguise that the other students didn’t do much more than just tilt their heads in confusion at Iroha’s strange wording. They never suspected a thing. Really, I’m glad that all the students of this school are such idiots. I mean, their grades had to be decent to get in this school, but when it comes to connecting two and two together, they don’t have the slightest of common sense. Well, let’s leave that aside for now.
Although it ended up getting quite intense for me, the end-of-term ceremony ended without any mishaps.
*
“There are roughly two types of people when it comes to their ideas about having fun in summer. One of them is clever enough that they don’t need to study all the time in order to keep up their grades, a true winner. The humans who can enjoy their life to the fullest without having to work very hard. And the other group consists—of idiots.”
The end-of-term ceremony ended, marking the start of the final homeroom lecture for the term.
The ice-cold female teacher, the ‘Poisonous Queen’ known as Sumire had complete reign over the classroom. Her words filled us all with tension, even on the day befoer summer break. With her teacher’s cane, Sumire tapped on the blackboard, glaring at the students in session.
“If you think that you belong in the winning group, then go ahead and enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content. But bear in mind that you’ll pay a heavy price if you indulge yourselves, taking your eyes off of doing work. Namely, the entrance exams next year will be coming for you.”
What a wonderful warning! I was almost moved to tears. Oh ,how I wish Murasaki Shikibu-sensei would be able to hear these words.
“I pray that none of you fall into the idiot caste. Anyway, homeroom is over.”
“…! S-Stand! Bow…!”
As Sumire finished her speech, the chime of the bell rang, and the class representative gave quick orders. Watching over the bowing students with a cold gaze, Sumire left the classroom, and the sounds of her heels clacking slowly grew distant. Meanwhile, some of the students who were looking forward to partying their asses off began to worry about their summer plans. Around the class, I could hear things like ‘Uh, maybe we should do some studying, right?’ It seems that her speech had some influence on the students, at least. If only they had any idea about the teacher’s true colors.
[Murasaki Shikibu-sensei]: SUMMER BREAK IS HEREEEEEE!!! THE SEAAAAAAAA!!! LET’S PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
The moment she stepped out, I got a LIME message from Sumire. See, this is what I mean!
“The roleplay this time was as amazing as ever, huh?”
“Well, nobody would have thought her personality could be like this.”
Reading the text in the [5th Floor Alliance] LIME group, both Ozu and I flashed a bitter smile. In truth, Kageishi Sumire is a good-for-nothing woman, always too soft on herself. She loves getting drunk, and is too much of a sloth to clean up her own room. This ‘Poisonous Queen’ side of her is nothing but a front, so that students won’t make fun of her. But you’ve got to praise her, it actually works. At the previous end-of-term exams, our class’s results were on par with the gifted class. During the last mid-term exams, we even managed to pass them in certain subjects. Naturally, though we might not be able to gain ground against the monster known as Kageishi Midori, many of our students have reached a level where they could feasibly make it into a high-level university.
“If you had to choose, then she’s definitely made to be a teacher, even though she doesn’t want to.”
“She’s actually pretty smart, after all. Her little sister is at the top of her year, so it probably runs in their genes.”
“Club president Midori, huh? When I was talking to her, I didn’t feel any of that clever DNA… Ozu, you’re probably way smarter than her.”
“Me? Not at all. I’m only good at things like math, English, and maybe physics,” laughed Ozu.
Coming up with genius inventions that I could only describe as magic, Ozu the super programmer has intellect and understanding that doesn’t compare in the slightest with the people in our year. However, these abilities can only be shown in subjects that rely on physics, and in cultural subjects that aren’t English, he’s only at an average level. Recently, he’s been working to improve his personal relations with others, bettering his communication skills. While he’s been getting better, he’s still unable to grasp the human heart in the most fundamental parts. Well, that’s exactly why he needs me and the [5th Floor Alliance]. If he was as smart in those fields, we’d be unnecessary. He could aim for the Moon, even. If he manages to achieve that, I’d probably be both happy and sad, to be honest.
“But, Kageishi-san is pretty amazing. Both in mid-term exams and finals, she has perfect grades in all subjects. I’m sure that it’s not just her DNA, but also back-breaking effort that she’s putting in.”
“In a certain way, she can be pretty straightforward. Your future isn’t only determined by your performance at school. I work on other things aiming for my own future, so I can’t just study like she does… Still, the way she sticks rigidly to her path gets my respect.”
“Yeah~ Oh right, are you going to invite the members of the theatre club to the sea trip as well?”
“Ahhhh…”
Thanks to the national high school division theatre fiesta a while back, our contact with the theatre club has deepened by quite a bit. Starting with the club president Midori, we’ve been inviting them to [5th Floor Alliance] meetings and events, having gotten fairly well acquainted with them, but…
“I did ask, but I was rejected.”
“Ah, really?”
“They do have prefecturals during summer break, and the nationals if they make it through those. I was told they have to prepare and practice during summer break, so they don’t have much time to play. She even told me that I should study, rather than just play around all day, heh.”
“Haha, that sounds like Kageishi-san. But, it’s weird for Aki to back off from just that.”
“Really? Well, if they’re are forcing themselves to hold off even though they clearly want to, I’d keep pushing, but she really seems like she wants to study. Though I don’t know exactly what she’s aiming for at this point. And also—”
“And also?”
“Murasaki Shikibu-sensei also said that she’d rather not spend too much time with her, or she might run the risk of having her true self exposed.”
“Ahaha…that I can’t disagree with.”
“It doesn’t seem like she was found out at the drinking party. Her personality as Shikibu is so different from her as a teacher even her younger sister didn’t realize.”
However, we won’t necessarily be drinking during the sea trip, and Sumire will be taking us by car. Her own car. The risk of being found out is higher than ever.
“I see~ Well, if it doesn’t bring more love rivals for Iroha, then I’m all up for—”
—Rattle—!!!
Before Ozu could even finish his sentence, a loud bang resounded from the classroom door, like it was just kicked open. The sudden intruder—a female student—had her head hung low, muttering something to herself. Ruffled, rough hair, haggard cheeks, wrinkles in her uniform. An aura of despair enveloped her entire body, and for a second, I thought she looked like the Kageishi Sumire we were just talking about. Well, I’d say that there’s about an 80% chance it was actually Midori.
“That’s…Club President Midori…right?”
“Speak of the devil. But something’s off about her.”
Ozu and I both looked at each other in agreement. It seems like my assumption was correct. But, I couldn’t imagine that the methodical, diligent, and horribly sensitive Midori would end up like this.
“H-Hey, what happ—”
“…You.”
“Eh?”
“Forgive…you…”
Still with her head down low, Midori walked towards us, staggering. Upon closer inspection, she was gripping a knife in her right hand.
“…You… I won’t…forgive…”
Step by step, she gradually approached us. Though I was getting a really bad feeling, I didn’t budge a centimeter from my chair. Second after second, they slowly ticked by.
“H-Hey, what’s wrong? Club president Midori. Hey, say something? Don’t come here, do—-”
“I will never forgive youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!! Die!! You heinous produceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!!!”
“Owaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!”
Midori suddenly lifted up her head, her eyes showing a glint of murder, as she swung down the knife. Just as quickly, I reacted and took out a notebook to intercept the blade above my head. As a result, the knife broke into two.
“…So it was just a stage tool… What got into you?”
“Liar!!!”
“Huh?! What are you on about? Why are you attacking me out of the blue like this?!”
“Because—Even though you told me that there was nothing between you and Sumire-oneechan!”
Her bloodshot eyes opened wide, as she pushed her smartphone screen into my face. It showed a LIME group chat, the [Kageishi Family], and a certain message.
[Sumire]: Currently, I am going out with Ooboshi Akiteru-kun, a student of mine, and we are planning on getting married in the future. Although he might not yet be at a marriageable age, he’ll graduate in about a year and a half, so would you be so kind as to wait until then?
“Shikibuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!” I screamed, holding my head in my hands.
There was nothing wrong with the phrasing, nor the contents of the message. No, it was all fine. The problem was the place it was sent in. The LIME group of the Kageishi Family shows that there are 99+ members, meaning that there are more than 100 people in this very group. It makes sense that Midori would be part of said group. She probably fell into a rage when she saw it.
Not good. Should I try to fix the situation by clearing up her misunderstanding? No, if I were to explain that we’re just faking it, there’s a high chance that I would have to explain that Murasaki Shikibu-sensei and Sumire are the same person. All I can do is keep up this fake engagement act… Sorry about this, Midori…!
“I knew you had some sort of indecent relationship with Sumire-oneechan! I can’t believe you! Immoral!”
“—Who’s immoral?”
“—?!”
I lowered my voice, and gazed directly into Midori’s eyes.
“Sumire-sensei and I are seriously thinking about our future. I really don’t like the fact that you’re speaking ill of it, calling it indecent and immoral.”
“That’s…!”
“Is it so wrong to love? Why do I have to be reprimanded by you, when I’m earnestly contemplating our marriage and future? —Look me in the eyes and tell me, Club President Midori.”
“Ooboshi…kun…”
A counterattack. Playing a sincere man, I bring in reasoning she can’t argue against. Maybe it’s thanks to me watching Iroha act all the time, as well as my help in the theatre club, but I feel like I did a good job.
“It’s true that I don’t have the authority to get in between true love…”
“Right? I’d love it if you were to sincerely support our future together.”
“But…but…”
Midori distanced herself from my soft voice and shook her head. And then, she yet again pushed her smartphone towards me.
“Then, how do you explain this?! This—”
I gazed at the screen. Shown there was without a doubt Sumire’s—
“—Lewd?!”
“…………………Eh?”
Sumire was squinting her eyes, red from ear to ear. She had her mouth narrowed, looking desperate as she was sucking on something.
A quick flick of her finger revealed another picture. White liquid leaked out of the corner of Sumire’s mouth as she made a peace sign towards the camera. If that wasn’t enough, another picture followed, this time with a double peace-sign of hers, and finally the selfie with the two of us. The camera was shaking in the decisive moment, the background and other fine details weren’t very visible, and to add on to that, the mosaic filter was on! Anyone would have misinterpreted that.
“N-No-No matter how you look at it, this is one of those lewd pictures, right?!”
“Wait wait wait wait wait hold on! What is this?!”
A complete falsification of the actual happening.
“Just where and how did you even get this? I don’t remember any of thi—” I quickly stopped mid-sentence.
No, wait a second. That’s a lie. I feel like I’ve seen this picture before somewhere.
“Sumire-oneechan was the one who sent this picture! Look!”
[Sumire]: In order to show you how serious our relationship is, I have provided several pictures from my date with him. Inspecting these, you will surely understand that the two of us are as close as can be.
So Sumire is the culprit! The one who leaked those! Right after I took those pictures, I was wondering if I managed to get some good shots, but looking at them again, I can clearly see why people would get the wrong idea about them! I stooped my head, I couldn’t say anything. Midori kept closing in on me.
“There’s got to be limits on how close you can be! You’re still a minor, you can’t be doing this! Criminal!!”
“In this case, shouldn’t you be accusing Sumire-sensei of all that…?”
“No excuses! Die, you fiend!”
“Again, don’t swing that fake knife at me.”
Although I didn’t take any physical damage from being stabbed, I sustained some mental damage. And as if that wasn’t enough, the classmates around us had caught wind of this ruckus, and were all looking. Although the wider mass of people had already embarked on their way home, the gazes of those remaining didn’t hurt any less. Even though they normally don’t even spare me a sideways glance. Well, for better or worse, mostly worse, I’ve been getting more attention lately because of my fake relationship with Mashiro. But that’s only when I’m together with her. I don’t stand out at all if it’s just me.
At this rate, I’m going to be attracting attention, and I might even start standing out. In the worst case, I will be treated as the bastard (or hero, depending on it), who conquered our female homeroom teacher.
“We were just out drinking bubble milk tea, nothing more. And Sumire-sensei ordered a 99% tapioca drink, so she was trying her hardest to drink the milk tea.”
“Don’t take me for an idiot! I know what they call that! It’s a ‘cumshot’, right?!”
“Ms. World-wide?! Throwing such vulgar slang at me, aren’t you the pervert here?!”
“N-No. The boys in my class said ‘You’re pretty clever, right? How about you translate this?’, and they showed me a video with a naked blonde woman doing all sorts of…things, and I saw that tag…!”
“So you learned of the word by accident and went to look it up yourself, right? So now you know. How else would you explain it?!”
“Uuuuuu…!!!”
Midori’s face went more red as I spoke.
“And, there’s gotta be limits as to how much of a siscon you can be. Kageishi-sensei is 25 now. No matter how jealous you might be, there will come a time when she’ll be going out with someone, even if you don’t want her to.”
“T-That’s…”
“Your family was trying to find a marriage partner for her, right? If you try to pull me away from her, she’ll get married off to some random guy, and faster.”
“Grrrr………Wait?”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Even if I imagine Sumire-oneechan getting married to someone my family wants, I don’t feel that irritated.”
“…Just how much do you hate me?”
Is this the thanks I get for helping save the theatre club? As a reminder, Iroha and I helped out as stand-ins, and the theatre club made it past the regionals of the national high school division theatre competition. Now for the prefecturals, the theatre club is planning on putting their own skills to the test. I’m not all too much involved with them anymore due to that, but they’re all thankful to me and the others from the [5th Floor Alliance] for our guidance.
“I-It’s not like I necessarily hate you. Just, when I found out that Ooboshi-kun and Sumire-oneechan were dating, my head just went blank and… H-Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
Midori suddenly held her head, as if she had gotten dizzy.
“Eh? Wait? Who am I jealous towards…?”
“You okay there? Don’t just get all weird after threatening to kill me. Are you that much of an idiot?”
“I-I’m fine. I’m feeling better than ever.”
Nope, something’s definitely wrong. She straight-up ignored my diss, so she definitely wasn’t thinking straight. I started to get worried, and put my palm on her forehead.
“You really are weird. Do you have a fever or something?”
“Hyawa?!”
—Pssssssssht!
“Ahhhhh?! You’re burning hot?! Your brain might actually be evaporating at this rate!”
“O-Ooboshi-kun’s…hand…awawawawa…”
“This is seriously bad. Ozu, help me out here. We have to get her to the nurse’s office.”
“I think we’re good.”
“What are you talking about? Her head’s hotter than the iron plate the middle management has to sit on after losing a gamble! We have to let her rest immediately!”
“Wahyaaaaaaaaaaa?!”
As I supported her with a shoulder, Midori let out a mysterious scream. Shaking off my hands, she separated herself from me with eyes like she was looking at a criminal.
“N-No. As if I would…not towards a lawless, indecent person like him…”
“Stop mumbling to yourself, just let me take you to the nurse’s office—”
“Don’t get any closer! This is wrong, this feeling. There’s no way…”
Continuing to inch backwards, Midori’s back bumped against the door to the classroom. And then, her eyes shot up to glare at me, as she took a deep breath.
“This is definitely impossibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”
Letting out a scream with a volume befitting the president of the theatre club, Midori dashed out of the classroom. As I was alone, I thought for a second that it might have even been some sort of acting practice.
“Is she really going to be okay? She’s not going to collapse, is she?”
“I’m pretty sure that every step away from Aki accounts to her fever dropping by 0.1°C.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m saying that you’re the reason for her fever.”
“She hates me so much that she’s getting a fever…? That hurts pretty badly, you know…”
“Ahhh, that’s 0 points alright. 0 sympathy points.”
For some reason, Ozu looked at me like I made some sort of mistake. Even as I tilted my head in confusion, Ozu just let out a snicker.
“Well, isn’t this perfectly fine? This just increases the romcom level, and I love me some romcom.”
“I don’t get it… Oh right, speaking of romcom. Mashiro, the first term is over, so how about we actually walk home like a couple today?”
The second I finished my sentence to turn around, I found that Mashiro’s figure was long gone.
“Tsukinomori-san went home as soon as homeroom ended. Like a ninja.”
“Seriously? That’s pretty rare alright.”
Normally she’d use her privilege as a girlfriend to call out to me as soon as classes ended. I’ve been pretty busy recently with gathering material and couldn’t join her on the way home, so at least today I wanted to play the role of the fake boyfriend.
“She must be really busy if she’s that sleep-deprived. Go and cheer her up a bit, Boyfriend-kun.”
“Don’t tease me like that…”
But it’s true that Mashiro has been acting off lately. If she’s involved in something weird again, I really would want to help her. As I was contemplating how I should approach the situation, the smartphone inside my pocket vibrated.
“Oh, yet another girl?”
“No, from Otoi-san.”
“Why did you deny that? She is a girl. Otoi-san, I mean.”
“Well, I guess you’re right.”
I never really saw her in that light. To me, she feels more like a business partner, so I was under the impression that seeing her as a member of the opposite sex would be more rude than anything. Either way, I quickly went to open up the LIME message.
[Otoi]: Talk, now. Studio. Two of us
In that short message, I could ascertain her wants, the location, and the condition. Still, pretty rare for her to be the one calling me over. Not to mention that since she’s calling me over, she probably doesn’t need me to bring any snacks, making it fairly easy for me. Or so I thought, but then I got yet another message.
[Otoi]: As supplement, get me some tapioca bubble milk tea~
So you need one? And tapioca, again…
*
“Ohh, this is pretty sweet, and it tastes delicious~ I can’t be bothered to line up and buy them, but getting a free delivery like this, I might try more~”
“Please don’t make me go buy one every single time.”
I showed my resistance, after having been forced to line up at the tapioca store for around twenty minutes beneath the dazzling sun. At this point, I’m basically her slave. It was 2pm when I arrived at Otoi-san’s home, and I immediately made my way to her underground recording studio. The interior was cool and soothing, only filled with the constant typing sounds made by Otoi-san. Equipped with the newest high-tech recording equipment, it’s basically Otoi-san’s very own ‘castle’.
With her parents working as bureaucrats, she’s quite the rich lady, and her allowance vastly surpasses mine. On top of that, she invests it, earning herself even more money, enabling her to buy all the equipment she wants. Since she’d be able to work all on her own without the [5th Floor Alliance], she doesn’t count as an official member, but rather a sort of business partner who helps with our activities. We’ve been acquainted ever since middle school; she even knows about Iroha being the mysterious voice actor brigade X, which even the official [5th Floor Alliance] members don’t know about.
Ozu and the others do know about her helping out with the various recordings, but to minimise risk, I’m the only person meeting her. All to keep Iroha’s secret secure. Before, when Iroha had to jump in as the stand-in during the theatre event, they found out about her acting abilities. Thankfully, they still haven’t caught on to the fact that she’s the mysterious voice actor brigade X voicing ‘The Night the Dark Goat Screamed’. Though I feel like Ozu might be getting suspicious…
Either way, until Iroha decides to reveal her identity to everyone, it will remain strictly between her, Otoi-san, and I.
“…Anyway, what’s up with that?”
“Mmmm?”
Without pausing her tapping on the keyboard, Otoi-san gave a slack response.
“Are you that interested in what I’m working on? Well, you’ll be able to guess soon, so just wait a second~”
“No, I’m rather interested in that over there.”
While emphasizing the ‘that’, I pointed at Otoi-san’s chest. Ah, that might sound a bit weird. I wasn’t exactly pointing at her breasts. Rather, the bubble milk tea she was balancing on them. Both her hands were occupied on the computer. So apparently she decided to use her boobs as a cup holder. By doing so, she could suck on the straw without actually having to pick up the cup.
“I do really think that this way of drinking it is weird.”
“It seems like it’s actually a pretty common way of drinking it. A lot of pictures were going around with girls drinking it like this~”
“I think that that was for a different reason…”
“Well, who cares~ It’s more comfortable, so me likey~ Sip~”
With a long, relaxed voice, Otoi-san took another sip of the bubble milk tea. The milk tea was pushing her breasts down a bit, so I had trouble looking straight at her. Or to be precise, it was poison to the eyes.
“And, what’s the idea with calling me here? You didn’t just call me here to get some free bubble milk tea, right?”
Trying to rid myself of those impure thoughts, I spoke out to Otoi-san, wanting to speed up the conversation. Ever since I came here and handed her the tea, she’s been working at her PC nonstop.
“Ahh, I’m still mid-preparation. Wait a bit longer, okay~ If you’re that bored, go play over there~”
“I’m not some kid forcefully pulled along a family visit. At least give me some sort of an explanation, will you?”
“No~ Explaining it is a pain~”
“Ehhhh…”
“If you take a look outside the shed, there are some other toys, so feel free to use them.”
“Again, I’m not some impatient child.”
“But there are also toys for adults~”
“You’re asking me to do the impossible here…!”
“Well, you’re still an adolescent boy Aki, so I’m sure that you must do that as well~”
“You’re that tolerant of a boy’s physiology?!”
That’s Otoi-san for you. Very tolerant even towards boys doing ‘that’. But I’m not so daft as to use other people’s toys in their house. I quickly rid myself of the horrifying image that floated into my head, and looked around the studio for something to pass the time.
“Hm?”
A low table in the back stood out to me. Maybe it was prepared for a visit from someone like Iroha or me, or even for herself to eat, it had a small bowl full of sweets. Until then, it’s always looked the same. However, a rare item was put down next to said bowl.
“…Otoi-san, are you going on a trip?”
I picked it up with one hand as I asked, and turned towards Otoi-san. It was a guidebook on traveling across the country. As I flipped through the pages, I could see some colored horizontal lines in certain places.
“Ahhh, rather than a trip, I’m escaping the hot summer during break,” commented Otoi-san without stopping her fingers.
“Even the Five Lakes of Mt. Fuji1?”
“Landmine.”
“Ehhh?!”
Another sudden one, what’s up with that?
“You keep stepping on these landmines recently, are you slacking?”
“Even if you say that, I can’t be aware of landmines if I don’t know what causes them… Can’t you at least give me a hint? What was it?”
“Why would I teach you~ Just work hard and dodge them~”
“So unreasonable?!”
Well, all I can do is take a note of the landmine this time, huh. And…’The Five Lakes of Mt. Fuji’, there we go. Anyway, leaving aside the landmine, escaping the summer heat, huh?
“I totally thought you had no interest in travelling. You just flatly declined my invitation to join the [5th Floor Alliance] on a sea trip.”
“I’ll get burned at the beach. Also, studying is way more efficient for me if I’m on my own~”
“Studying?”
“Hmm? I didn’t tell you~?”
Finally stopping her movement on the keyboard, she leaned back in her chair to turn her head towards me.
“I started my songwriting and composing studies.”
“Songwriting and composing…”
“Yeah. I’m good at editing and compiling sound, but bad at coming up with something from scratch~ But I want to be able to do it.”
Otoi-san said before that she had a complex about her own talent. If you don’t have vocal talent like Iroha does, no matter how much of a master pianist or violinist you are, you can’t do much. You need someone to sing your songs. She says that all she possesses is her affection towards sound, knowledge about sound, necessary editing skills, and good intuition. Not a creator, but the one working behind the scenes.
“Before I thought I was fine like this, really~ Maybe I was influenced by you people~ I started thinking that I wanted to do something myself~”
“To think that the Otoi-san, open all year with no customers, resting half the time, the slothful Otoi-san would…”
“You making fun of me? I’ll show you how deadly a sloth can be~”
“S-Sorry. I was just overcome with emotion.”
“Anyway, I can’t properly focus by just staying here, I just get the urge to work on something else if I have my equipment here.”
“Ahhh, so to create a beneficial environment.”
“Exactly. So on top of that, I’m escaping the heat while I’m at it~ There, I’ll be listening to music, and reading books to study.”
“I see…”
I could feel my eyes get hot again. For a while now, she hasn’t been lying, nor has she been joking. Ever since I met her in middle school, she had resigned herself to only the talent she possessed. It wasn’t like she had some talent she was forced to suppress. She just kept telling herself that she was fine with what she had, and avoided trying to grow. And that’s perfectly fine in my books.
People all have things they excel at and things they aren’t cut out for. Rather than putting effort in those things we can’t do, wasting away our precious time, I find it more efficient to give up right then and there, and instead focus on getting better at the things I’m good at. And that’s my own decision to make. I decided to focus all my skills into following up, working to be the perfect back-up. I thought Otoi-san was the same type of person. That’s why I felt like we were a good match. But, inside her, unlike me, there was still the will to face the wall in front of her, to face the things she wasn’t good at. Seeing that, I found myself wanting to cheer for her as best as I can.
“You can do it, Otoi-san. I believe in you.”
“Yeah~ I’ll do my best~ If it doesn’t work out, get me something sweet to cheer me up, and if it does work, get me something sweet as as reward~”
“In both ways, I’ll end up treating you, huh?”
“Well, yeah~ Oh right, my preparations are done~”
Giving an half-baked answer, Otoi-san pushed down the enter button as if to announce a life-changing invention.
“I called you over to show you this, Aki~”
“This is… A video?”
Shown on the screen was Iroha’s face and an old anime character’s face, lined up next to each other. Since there was a big play button in the middle of the screen, I thought that it might have been a recording.
“It’s a noncommittal video I just edited. There was something that piqued my interest, so I wanted you to take a look, Aki.”
“Isn’t that anime from like, twenty years ago? I feel like I’ve seen it before.”
“Well, just listen for now.”
“Alright.”
As I donned the headphones she gave me, she pressed the play button.
‘Yes, I’m ready whenever you want. For Senpai’s sake as well, I’ll give it my best.’
Iroha’s picture lit up at the center of the screen, as her pure and proper voice resounded in my ears. It was something we recorded in this studio. It wasn’t from the character’s script, but rather something she said to motivate herself when entering the booth. But why is she having me listen to this?
—I didn’t have an opportunity to ask, because this time the anime character’s picture lit up.
‘Yes, I’m fine. In order to respond to Senpai’s expectations, I will take the challenge at full force.’
It was a similar voice from before, saying a similar phrase. When did Iroha work on dubbing like this? Then, Iroha’s and the anime character’s voices were played at the same time. A perfect fit. The calm and proper voices overlapped and pleasantly entered my ears. After the recording stopped, Otoi-san separated her mouth from the bubble milk tea straw and looked up at me.
“And?”
“Even if you ask me that… What’s so special about that dubbing?”
“Ehhh, you don’t get it, Producer~?”
“???”
“I didn’t have her do any dubbing in the first place. That was the original recording of the anime.”
“Huh…?!” I couldn’t hold back my surprise.
An anime character from twenty years ago and Iroha had the same voice. So basically, I had no idea that…
“Iroha is already a pro?!”
“Idiot.”
She insulted me right to my face.
“That conclusion doesn’t make any sense. Think about Iroha’s age.”
“Ahhh, now that you say it…this anime is older than she is.”
“Exactly. How could she have voiced an anime character who appeared in some anime twenty years ago?”
“So why are there voices the same, then?”
“Who knows. It’s just that I happened to watch an anime broadcast a while ago~ And then I felt like this character’s voice sounded oddly familiar. And here we are~”
“They matched perfectly, huh?”
“Exactly… Mmm, already gone, huh~”
After trying to take another sip from the bubble milk tea, she realised that it was all depleted, and reluctantly separated her lips from the straw. Pushing the cup back into her chest only to let go a second later, the cup bounced off, falling into the trash can at her feet. Hey, what was that eccentric skill?! What is going on with your chest, Otoi-san? After suppressing the desire to jump into her supple chest, I continued with the conversation.
“If there was a voice actress in the past with skills similar to Iroha’s, it might actually be good reference for her future career.”
“Exactly~ That’s what I was thinking, so I looked it up~”
She yet again started furiously tapping away at her keyboard, we saw the results on the screen. It was a list with the voice actors of the anime. And, after going through the list for a bit, she stopped at a certain name.
“Otoha Machia. Apparently raised as a child actor, she became a voice actress. She found success in every role she did, and no matter how many voices she did, nobody could tell they were the same person. Since she never showed her face, many suspected that there might have been multiple people behind that name~”
“…! That’s just like—”
“Just like with Kohinata. That’s what I thought.”
I was shocked. To think that there was someone in the past who had rivalling Iroha’s current skills. This might actually be a good indicator for Iroha’s future.
“So what’s that person doing now?” I asked in haste.
In response, Otoi-san lowered one end of her eyebrows in a happy manner.
“You really get passionate whenever it’s Kohinata we’re talking about. Well, that’s what I like about you, Aki.”
“O-Okay? I’ll happily accept your feelings of affection.”
“But, well~ I hate to disappoint, but I haven’t been able to find anything else after that.”
“Eh?”
“She retired as a voice actress fairly early on~ Apparently she became an actress in stage and film. After successfully becoming a famous actress, Otoha Machia disappeared into the shadows, never to be seen again. At least, according to some weekly magazine~”
“I see… So she stopped being a voice actress, huh?”
“She did appear in dramas and such when she was a child~ She probably challenged herself as a voice actress, but it most likely wasn’t what she wanted, I guess~”
“To each their own, huh?”
Shame. If she was still active, I would have done whatever possible to learn more about her, to help Iroha in a similar way, seeing how her career could go.
“Right~ But, I have some interesting information.”
“Interesting information?”
“She was called the ‘Prismatic Voice’ or ‘Divine Voice’ by fans and so on~ At the same time, there was also a lot of critique coming from inside the industry, like gossip, you know?”
As she clicked on several links of articles from the past, they reaffirmed what she just said. Stuff like how she didn’t actually have the skill that people thought she did, or that she’s just pushed up in ranking because people didn’t know what true talent was, and whatever.
“Isn’t that just jealousy?”
“Maybe~? I’m just saying that Kohinata might receive similar treatment once she debuts.”
“Well… You’re right. Just, I don’t really care about that.”
They can just keep talking as much as they want. All Iroha has to do is act to her heart’s content. The voice and talent she worked up by doing so will silence their criticisms. And that’s exactly why I—
“I believe in Iroha’s talent, and will keep doing so, no matter what anyone says. That’s what I decided on, after all.” I didn’t have the slightest bit of hesitation.
In response, Otoi-san softly clapped me on the back, still expressionless.
“Alright, you pass~”
“Was this some kind of test?”
“Not really~ Well, if Aki’s that set on supporting her, then Kohinata should be fine.”
Otoi-san seemed to be happy…Ahh, I see. That’s how it is.
Before, Iroha showed the courage to openly reveal display skill in acting. Although she still hasn’t laid bare everything that she’s hiding from her mother Otoha-san or the [5th Floor Alliance], I see that as an important first step. However, the more she steps into the limelight like this, she’ll surely receive more and more critique from the world and the industry. That’s probably the risk that Otoi-san saw, which she wanted to show me.
“Thanks for worrying about her, Otoi-san.”
“Don’t sweat it~ It’s not something you have to thank me for, the two of us are almost like one unit now~”
“So if you’re the mother, then I’m something like that father? Well, I certainly do feel like a father being annoyed by his brat. It might fit her, seeing how annoying she is.”
“Hey, hey. If Kohinata hears this, you’re dead meat, you know~?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll tell her face-to-face just how annoying she is.”
“Not about that~ Me as the mother, and you the father is… Ahh, what a pain. I’d have to explain with more than 40 words, so I’d rather just not.”
“Please don’t give up on such a low word count.”
“Well, all you need to know is that this harem bastard Aki has to be careful, or you’ll be cursed.”
“E-Even Otoi-san is calling me a harem bastard now…”
I thought that you were the only person who understood me!
Thus, the final day of school in the term ended, and summer break finally started. Hot, fun, and also chaotic—That’s how the [5th Floor Alliance]’s summer would be.
*
「I finally resolved this doubt I’ve been having for over a year.」
「What’s wrong, Ozu?」
「I always wondered why Otoi-san doesn’t get fat even though she eats so much sweet stuff.」
「And that is?」
「I think that the calories only go to one part of her body」
「Oh?」
「Thanks to all the sweets making that certain part of hers grow, she can use them as a cup holder, while the calories from the bubble milk tea only help in making them grow even further. Like an infinite loop. A perpetual system revolving around breasts」
「You have a calm face, but say the weirdest stuff at times… Use your IQ for something better, how about it?」
1 Area located at the base of Mt. Fuji
