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Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai V 3
Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai V 3
Torako
I’m doing my best to make this a wonderful work like the anime, so I’d appreciate it if you
could view it kindheartedly as you read this work.
Translation: Jonhons
Editing: Orcale (Chapters 2-4)
Please hand over your lover!
Let’s have some fun!
8
“Um, Rikka-san? You seem to be in a great mood so it’s hard to ask, but that seems
heavy: let me carry it.”
Takanashi Rikka-san’s – I mean, Rikka’s – happy smile turned into a pout. As usual, her
face changes when I call her that.
September 1st.
Yesterday was the last day of summer vacation – today’s the day of the school’s
opening ceremony.
Since Rikka said she wanted to go to school together today, we’re going to school
together.
Since the day I confessed, excluding the time when we were late, this is first time that
the two of us are going to school together. To get to Rikka’s apartment from my house, I
would have to walk past the school gates.
If I may say so myself, walking past the school so that we could go to school together
is really stupid, but since it was our first time, I ended up agreeing to it.
While having such thoughts, I turned towards Rikka and asked, “Anyway, what’s
that?”
“A present,” she happily replied as she stared at what she was embracing.
I’ve seen something similar to this blue rabbit somewhere before. It looks like Rikka
made it herself.
“… Cute?”
“......”
Then again, it’s true that I usually praise her as the strongest or the coolest.
While I had called her cute once before, back when we were on our first date, since I
didn’t manage to say it properly back then I guess it didn’t count…
Still, to have called the doll cute without having properly told Rikka that she was cute,
just how worthless was I!?
“Err, ah… that, wait. Please wait. Certainly, that doll is cute too. That doll is cute,
though… Rikka’s even cuter!”
“N, nothing! Wasn’t it really strange that I haven’t been calling you cute even though
I’ve called the doll cute!?”
“Well…! It, it’s fine! This doll contains my soul so talking about it the same as talking
about me!”
“I, I see! Then Rikka’s the first I’ve called cute! I’m glad!”
And.
Being unable to endure it, Rikka hid her blushing face behind the huge rabbit doll,
abruptly ending the conversation.
10
If I had gotten any more out-of-control, I’m not sure what other weird stuff I would
have said, so I’m saved! Thank you!
“Eh, Kazari’s.”
“Yeah, it’s a prize for winning a tournament – the Monster Rancher tournament
championship prize.”
But well, both Rikka and Kazari-chan really love games. Particularly retro games. They
are both quite skilled at them too. It’s not Monster Hunter, it's Monster Rancher.
Or perhaps I should say, the Monster Rancher tournament, even though it wasn’t
really a tournament.
How sad…
“But I would have gotten Kazari’s life if I won the tournament… How disappointing.”
“That’s really cool, but isn’t Kazari-chan’s life being treated too lightly!?”
“But Kazari’s the one who proposed it… She was probably confident that she could
beat me.”
“Still, I’m glad I made this. I’ll be happy if Kazari is pleased with this.”
True to her word, Rikka looked really happy when she stared at the doll.
11
The rest of our walk to school was just like that, with Rikka and I having our usual fun
conversations, until we finally, when we just arrived at school – at that exact moment.
Surprised by the sudden shout, Rikka and I turned towards the source of the voice at
the same time.
There was a girl standing imposingly, wearing a very refreshing smile. And, again with
a loud voice –
“……”
Er, who…?
I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before, but it might have been just my imagination.
Maybe I felt that way since part of her outfit consisted of our school’s uniform.
Since the colour of her uniform’s ribbon is different, she must have been an
upperclassman.
Hmmm… Apart from the ribbon, various other parts of the uniform were also
different… In terms of colour alone.
“…Uhhh…?”
I was stumped by a variety of different reasons. Not only did it happened so suddenly,
her uniform was so different as well, and to top it all off being told to “wait a minute” by a
stranger left me completely speechless.
“You’ve come…!”
Wait, what?
Rikka’s so unusually shy of strangers that she won’t respond to anyone she hasn’t met
before; is this one of her acquaintances?
Her social circle seems to have expanded ever since she started playing with Kazari-
chan.
“!? … Why do you hinder us! …By the way, Yuuta, the word for ‘hinder’ is really cool!”
It’s quite hard to handle when you suddenly turn towards me with sparkling eyes.
“Ahaha! Either way, as we expected you’re as talented as the rumours say. Yes, very
good. It seems that you possess a very strong power.”
“Wow, amazing!”
“Right, isn’t it amazing?” the girl in front of me says while nodding her head in
satisfaction.
Shifting my gaze over to Rikka – just like I thought, since she had been told that she
had ‘special powers’, she looked satisifed.
Hmm.
I’m getting the sense that I’m the only one being left out.
However, I wasn’t able to join in with them in their conversation and could only watch
as they continued their back and forth.
“So, as expected… Looks like it can’t be helped. There’s only that method left…”
Since I was lonely by myself, I was playing the straight man in my mind. While I was
thinking that, the girl suddenly turned towards me and asked:
She was glaring at me so intensely that I could almost hear the glare.
Her glare was so intense – it even looked like that there was an aura flowing out of
her. It was so overbearing that it made me groan “ugh” as I was forced to take a step back.
But well, the question of whether I’m her boyfriend had to be answered properly.
“………Huh?”
Since entering high school I’ve already encountered several life crises, but this one is
by far the greatest crisis I’ve ever faced.
I had completely forgot that this exchange was being held right in front of the school
gates. By the time I noticed, I could feel cold stares directed at me from my surroundings.
On top of that, more and more bystanders were beginning to gather.
It felt like with each passing moment, the situation was getting worse and worse.
If I were to briefly explain the current situation, it would that a high-school girl
suddenly kneeled before me in front of the school gates, right before my girlfriend – and
under these simple circumstances, my mind went completely blank.
Although the reason behind it was unclear, it was a simple situation like that.
But, from a bystander’s point of view – a high school girl is being made to prostrate
herself by a scumbag in front of the school gates (and in front of his girlfriend, too). What
are they going conclude!
Even though I didn’t know how things ended up this way, I do know that if this
continued, my school life would be over.
“U-umm… for now could you please lift up your head…? While you’re at it, could you
also please stop kneeling…”
“No can do! Not until you hand over your lover!”
After emphasising her request, she deeply lowered her head once again.
It was like she was trying to get permission to get married from an obstinate father-in-
law, displaying the proper etiquette despite the fact that she could fail, but…
15
“Th-this place is kind of… umm, err, I’ll definitely listen carefully to what you have to
say in a more suitable place.”
“There’s no need to change: it’s fine here! Besides, isn’t it too normal to talk about
this in a place like a café!?”
“No, no, no! Prostrating in a place like this just makes other people think you’re really
strange!”
“How wonderful!”
Compared to before, it seems that there were more strong gazes directed at me and
an increased number of bystanders.
“Hm?”
I careful took Rikka’s – who was blinking in surprise – hand and ran at full speed to flee
into the school.
The grip I had on Rikka’s hand as we fled was so light that you couldn’t feel the power
behind it.
In the background, I could hear voices saying stuff like, “What’s this?”, “What’s
happening”, and “Isn’t that person…”, but I wasn’t concerned by any of that.
After passing the school gates, we kept on running until we reached the back of the
gym, where it was devoid of people.
Since I was part of the going home club, I had never needed to run with all my might
before, and so I was completely out of breath. Rikka, on the other hand, seemed completely
fine.
How.
Next to me, who was catching his breath – Prostrate-senpai only needed one deep
“whew” to catch her breath.
After Prostrate-senpai took her deep breath, she fixed her hair that got dishevelled
from running, then she turned towards me and looked straight at me.
With that, she paused the conversation momentarily, and after a short moment a
daring smile started to slip out.
“Whatever, it’s still fine. Now then, we ask of you once again – please hand over your
lover!”
And then.
As if she was showing her gratitude in a tea ceremony, her balance and posture was
perfect as she prostrated before me.
It seems like the tragic series of events are far from over.
17
Back then, I didn’t recognise who she was since the situation was so abrupt, but now I
finally remembered.
Although I said that I knew her, as it was one sided, it was probably more accurate to
say that “I knew of her”.
She’s so famous that almost nobody in the school didn’t know who she was.
There isn’t anybody who doesn’t know who she was – actually, it might be more
accurate to say that there’s no one who wouldn’t turn their head in her presence.
A distinct existence.
Since her hair and uniform were so striking it was hard to notice, but her face was also
well-balanced.
Her skin looked much lighter than it was because of her bright hair.
Furthermore, her large eyes were oddly beautiful.
Her glistening eyes seems to have the effect of drawing people’s attention in a way
that was different from how Rikka’s Devilish Truth Stare charms people.
It was the first time I’ve looked at her closely, but her face, in my opinion, was first-
class.
On top of that, while she wasn’t that tall, her chest was still large enough to arouse
the lust of a high school boy.
In spite of her slim figure, her looks were still top-tier.
But due to her flashiness and prominence, no one talked to her – there seems to be
no rumours about anyone who got charmed by her.
I wasn’t clear about the details about this though; this information is from my close
friend, Isshiki Makoto.
While it’s a bit off-topic, there’s also a rumour that she never gets called on to answer
questions in class. Apparently, all she does in class is stare at the teacher – she doesn’t even
take any notes. Despite that, she still hasn’t been called upon to answer any questions.
Well, when it’s full of eccentric stories like that, it feels like the rumours have begun
take a life of its own. There were even rumours (according to Isshiki) about her not being
human. As a result, Amaniji-senpai became quite a celebrity within the school.
So why is such a famous person kneeling before me?
Naturally, I didn’t have a relationship with Amaniji-senpai.
I only knew who she was thanks to the rumours and the information from Isshiki. I’m
sure that Amaniji-senpai didn’t even know what my name was.
Since that’s the case, she must be one of Rikka’s acquaintances…
I’m very sorry since you’re in the middle of kneeling, but I really need to talk to Rikka
about this. Whispering, I asked:
“Hey, Rikka. She’s your acquaintance, right? Could you deal with her?”
“Eh…? But I don’t know who this person is…”
“You’re not acquainted!?”
You were having a proper conversation with her in public, so I assumed that you two
were acquainted, but it looks like I was wrong.
Then again, the conservation did feel like it was dialogue from a play.
19
1 A stance by Vearn, the main villain from “Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai”.
20
Just like the rumours said, it seems that she has a strange personality.
“Oh, right – we haven’t introduced ourself, have we? We’ve an upperclassman that’s a
year level above you, Amaniji Hideri. We’ve pleased to make your acquaintance. From now
on, please treat us well!”
“Ha… I sort of already knew who you are, but… Uhh, I’m Togashi Yuuta, and I’ll be in
your care too.”
Since she gave me her self-introduction, it was only fair that I did the same.
After I introduced myself, Rikka –
“I’m Takanashi Rikka.”
– responded normally.
Oh? It’s rare for Rikka to introduce herself normally. It might be since she’s talking to
an upperclassman.
“But my true name is ‘Wielder of the Strongest Devilish Truth Stare, Yuuta’s
Contracted Jet Black Fallen Angel – Takanashi Rikka’. Pleased to meet you.”
However, shortly afterwards, she added that part of her usual self-introduction as
well, and then gave a brief bow.
Damn it, return to me the feeling that it was unusual!
“Okay, Wielder of the Strongest Devilish Truth Stare, Yuuta’s Contracted Jet Black
Fallen Angel – Takanashi Rikka-chan.”
“You’re going to call her that every time!?”
That retort was mine.
Still, it made me think.
My plain full name is quite easy for people to get wrong.
“Hmm, we thought that it’d be alright since your full name’s super cool, but we’re
certain that it’s too normal to call you by your full name. Well then… how about we
abbreviate it to Devilish Truth Rikka-chan, or DevTru Rikka-chan?”
“…Guess it can’t be helped; I don’t mind.”
…It can’t be helped, huh. You don’t mind, huh.
Perhaps it was a little cool though. Rikka looked really satisfied.
“Great! That’s decided then! Oh, about our nickname, feel free to call us Rainbow
Hideri-san!”
“…Urk… Disagreeable…”
“Eh, disagreeable…? Uh…? Ah, what about Arc-san…?”
21
Still, she did it in a way that escaped Amaniji-senpai’s notice – it looks like Rikka’s
guard was still up.
“Do you not like it? Well, how about something like ‘Iapnes-ijinama’?”
“You respond to being called nonsense like that!?”
“Jeez. You’re pretty selfish. We understand, we understand. Since you’re normal, it’s
fine if you call us Amaniji-senpai – it seems that you really are as normal as you appear.”
“Done!”
I’m being treated too crudely.
“Now, ordinary people don’t interest us at all. Hah, guess it can’t be helped. This
upperclassman will make an exception and call you ‘Normal-chan’. Oh, calling you ‘Normal-
chan’ for the first time feels somewhat special. What do you think, DevTru Rikka-chan?”
“…It’s acceptable.”
“……”
Rikka’s choice of words felt a bit thorny…
Perhaps she’s having mixed feelings because of her position in this conversation.
If that’s the case, I’m happy.
“Permission also obtained from DevTru Rikka-chan! Then Normal-chan it is! Oh, as for
our nickname, while it’s not our first preference, we’ve fine with you addressing us as
Amaniji-senpai.”
And, in the end.
Our nicknames for each other was decided against my wishes by Amaniji-senpai, who
was visibly displeased with being named that.
Her facial expression seemed to say, “it’s not a problem if you want to address me
with a strange nickname”.
Well then.
Let’s return to the main subject. If we don’t return to the main subject soon, the
school’s opening ceremony will start before the conversation’s over.
“So, Amaniji-senpai. Are you now happy to talk about what you wanted from us?”
“Err, we’d like to just talk with DevTru Rikka-chan…”
Since it felt like she was pleading with me, I’ll let Amaniji-senpai meet her beloved
Rikka.
…She was to my immediate left just moments ago, but when I took a step back, before
I knew it Rikka was hidden right behind me again.
23
Since she asked me to give her Rikka, I thought it might have been a declaration of war
for Rikka’s heart, but it seems like that’s not the case.
“…Phrasing it like that, what exactly is it that you want Rikka to do?” I asked frankly.
After I asked that, Amaniji-senpai stared at me motionlessly.
After she carefully stared at me for around five seconds, she closed her eyes and
vigorously nodded.
Her exaggerated movements gave away that she was regretful about it from the
bottom of her heart.
“Yes, about that. We actually wanted to talk to DevTru Rikka-chan about this a lot
earlier, but DevTru Rikka-chan’s ability was too high for us to approach her.”
“Err… what does that mean?”
“To tell you the truth, during the summer holidays we had tried to approach her
several times about our request. However, every time we got close to her, she would say
stuff to herself like “Mm… someone from the Organisation!?”, causing us to conceal ourself.
“Ah…”
I can definitely see that happening.
That’s just like Rikka.
“Even if we ambushed her, it was no good. We also didn’t know where she lived, so
we couldn’t contact her directly either… Well, it was sort of like playing detective, so it was
still pretty fun! Today, however, DevTru Rikka-chan seemed kind of careless. Heh heh,
maybe being with your boyfriend made you drop your guard?” Amaniji-senpai answered
with a smile.
I see, what she said makes a lot of sense.
If I remember correctly, Rikka’s perception was so sharp that it did seem like a sixth
sense. I personally call it ‘Rikka Sense’2.
Oh.
But I guess Rikka would say that it was one of the Devilish Truth Stare’s abilities.
As a result of her sharp perception, she may have sensed some danger (Amaniji-senpai
did give off a dangerous aura), so Rikka may have been trying to avoid Amaniji-senpai.
Still, I don’t know why Amaniji-senpai wanted to meet up with Rikka.
2Pun the reading of sixth sense (第六感). Here, sixth sense, which is read as dairokykan (だ
いろくかん) is read here by Yuuta as dairikkan (だいりっかん), making it a pun on Rikka’s
name (六花) since 六 can be read as both roku and ri.
25
“I now understand why you’ve come here to meet up with Rikka, but what exactly is it
that you wanted her do for you?”
“We were wondering if you would let her become our bride? Hm?”
“…No way.”
My disgust was probably showing in my eyes as I replied.
Meanwhile, you could see Amaniji-senpai bursting into laughter.
Incidentally, Rikka, who was behind me, whispered “absolutely no way.” It was super-
cute.
“Like we said, Normal-chan really is too normal. We mean, you were so normal that
we couldn’t help but laugh!”
“No, anyone who suddenly hears stuff like that would have reacted in the same way!”
“If that’s what Normal-chan’s thinks, does that mean you’re the straight man among
your friends? Even if it’s normal to be the straight man, isn’t it pointless?”
“Uggh…!”
No way, I’m out of retorts!
That damaged me quite a bit…!
“Oh my. Saying strange things seems to wear down on my opponent health, meaning
that he’s unable to speak normally for a long time. You should practice giving retorts more.”
“You should seriously be relieved that I seem unwell!”
Looks like my retort gauge has been recovering.
Although it was an ordinary retort, at least the retorts were coming!
But, ha… What happened just now got me worried.
Nevertheless, I can’t get disheartened. If I can’t end this conversation soon, the
opening ceremony will start.
“…So, what exactly is your request?”
Due to our previous back and forth, I let out a small sigh as I asked her that question
again.
Upon hearing my question, Amaniji-senpai’s expression tightened from an happy
expression into a serious one.
It seemed that this time, she will actually tell us what she really wanted.
“Well, what we said previously was the truth, but there’s a slight detail we didn’t tell
you. We’ve part of the ‘Eccentric Drama Club’, and there’s a cultural festival soon, right?”
26
After all, I had a reason to groan, right? Yeah, I definitely had reasons to groan.
Amaniji-senpai’s appearance (including her uniform) belonged to a class of its own,
and you could say the same about her personality as well.
Even so, these reasons weren’t so important that it would cause me to groan.
While I was anguishing over this problem in my head, it seemed like Amaniji-senpai
was continuing with her point.
“Furthermore, DevTru Rikka-chan’s golden eye is soooo attractive. It was love at first
sight! The instant we saw it, we wanted to marry her! And, she also looks extremely lovely
wearing an eyepatch! There’s also a role that’s perfect for her. And that’s why we want to
performance a play together with her.”
“…”
I’m certain of it now. Definitely, this girl definitely has a fetish for mismatched eye
colours…!
But Rikka’s mismatched eyes are due to a coloured contact.
I’m at a loss as to how to break the truth to her.
Well, it doesn’t seem like it was going to be a huge issue, so let’s just ignore it and ask
about the other problem.
“But, isn’t it the cultural festival in a week? Why would you only ask for help now?
Although, even if you did ask for help earlier, I guess it’d still be quite tough…”
“Hmm… We are asking for a lot. Yeah, guess it’s a natural question to have.”
Upon saying that, Amaniji-senpai frowned for the first time. And then, with a gloomy
tone, she continued:
“We didn’t want to tell you this since we didn’t want any pity, but… ha, looks like we
don’t have a choice. To tell you the truth – including us, our club only has two
members. …And, umm, since our club didn’t get any new members this year, we were
thinking about disbanding the club after this year’s cultural festival.”
Amaniji-senpai chose her words carefully as she slowly continued.
“To conclude – although we decided to stick with the club until the very end, the
number of members was still a problem… We believe that was all just before summer
vacation began. Then we discovered Takanashi Rikka-chan. We were running out of time,
and we had to ask you about it, but… “
“… I see,” I gently acknowledged.
That certainly was a bit of a depressing story.
28
“Since it’s going to be our last play, we were willing to do anything to make it happen
– that’s why we asked you abruptly like that without caring for appearances. We’ve really
sorry about that. So, DevTru Rikka-chan, how about it?”
“…?”
When I turned towards Rikka, I saw that she was looking up at me with watery eyes,
unsure of how she should respond.
I mean, it’s not like I didn’t understand that feeling.
“…Well, Rikka’s busy with various stuff like our class performance…What else can I
say…”
When there’s a long period of silence, it seems that Rikka finds it painful to talk, so for
a short while I’ll talk on her behalf.
I mean, it was true that Rikka was in fact busy with the dance.
“Yeah, that’s true. We were well aware that if our request was impossible, we’d have
to give up on it. Since it can’t be helped… Yeah, we’ll figure something out in the time we
have left.”
“Um…”
Rikka opened her mouth.
“What if Yuuta took part…”
“MEEE!?” I yelled in falsetto in response to the sudden mysterious proposal.
That came out of nowhere! Even though I was the facilitator, in the context of this
conversation I should have been an outsider!
“Ah, ack. No no Rikka. Amaniji-senpai is asking for your help, not mine…”
“Yeah… that’s right. We only need DevTru Rikka-chan’s help…Normal-chan’s
normality… It’s a bit…”
Amaniji-senpai also let out her dissatisfaction with the idea.
While I was briefly happy about being called normal, as expected being called normal
in a derogatory manner diminished that feeling. I mean, anyone would be unhappy being
called normal in such a manner.
Oh, but since I’m just an ordinary person, I guess it was inevitable that I was called
that…
As if to encourage me to lament in such sorrows, a gentle tone rang.
The gentle tone, Chime-san – it was so cruel, as it signalled the start of the opening
ceremony.
29
“Oh, it’s that time already? Please excuse us! The opening ceremony, it’s starting!
Well then, see ya.”
“Hu…huh?”
And, as we looked on blankly, Amaniji-senpai turned around and left. However, she
didn’t head towards the entrance of the gymnasium – she went in the opposite direction.
Where’s she going?
Maybe she’s skipping the opening ceremony…
She did say that she detested being “normal”, so maybe that’s why she’s reluctant to
go to the opening ceremony.
That sort of thinking – but since I sort of get it, I’m not going to comment about it.
“Phew.”
When Amaniji-senpai left, for some reason Rikka let out a sigh of relief.
It was Rikka’s first time meeting her, so I guess she must have been nervous.
“Hm? What’s wrong? Were you nervous?”
“Yuuta, didn’t you notice?”
“Notice?”
“Arc-san… she was a terrifying person. Her aura was overwhelming. …I'm not sure if I
can beat her.”
…Seriously? It was overwhelming to the extent that it made Rikka, who boasts herself
to be the strongest, say those words?
Well, to be fair, it certainly did feel like she had a strange aura.
“But it’s fine. Since my Devilish Truth Stare is still developing, I still have a slight edge. I
definitely won’t lose.”
“…You truly are the strongest.”
“Naturally. Its golden shine won’t lose to the colours of the rainbow.”
The colours of the rainbow, huh.
Amaniji-senpai – a distinct existence. Prominence personified.
While I have no idea about who it was that came up with these descriptions, they truly
did hit the bull’s-eye.
Just like Rikka said, she really did feel like a terrifying person.
Her terrifyingness – its more than just her abnormality.
30
“By the way, Yuuta, what are we going to do about opening ceremony? I think it’s
already begun.”
“Ah…”
Damn it, I completely forgot about that.
Even if we went now, we’d still be late.
However, if we didn’t go, it’d seem like the two of us were playing truant, so the two
of us had no choice but to go and be prepared to get scolded…
However.
I still couldn’t think of an excuse as to why we were late, and even contemplated
about skipping the opening ceremony – while I was anguishing over my indecisiveness,
Rikka tapped me on my shoulder.
Her smiling face was the very image of overflowing self-confidence.
“The Devilish Truth Stare has the ability to rewind time, so we’re fine!”
31
It wasn’t fine.
Obviously.
After all –
“Ah, opps! Since I was preparing to battle against Arc-san’s aura, my powers have
been exhausted…! The newly acquired ‘Deadline Present’ cannot be used! It’s a disaster!!”
– Rikka’s new skill exhibition ended like that.
In the end, since two people coming late at the same time was worse than two people
coming late one at a time, we decided to have each of us come in late at different times.
Since the person who came in late first wouldn’t be scolded as harshly, Rikka went to
the opening ceremony first, while I headed for our classroom to put away Rikka’s luggage,
the present, before coming in late second for the opening ceremony.
Naturally, our homeroom teacher, Tsukumo Nanase (nicknamed Nana-chan), was
really angry with me.
My excuses were useless (I had answered honestly that a certain upperclassman had
held us up), with Nana-chan, who truly seemed angry, saying: “Is Yuuta-kun part of the
faction who thinks it’s alright to skip the opening ceremony? Sensei can’t even tell anymore,
which makes her sad…”
It felt like a ‘sob story’.
On the other hand, she didn’t seem to get angry at all with Rikka.
It seemed that Rikka somehow managed to arrive to the opening ceremony on time.
Although I was the only one who got scolded, given that Rikka didn’t end up getting
scolded I won’t complain about being sacrificed.
Afterwards.
After all that, Amaniji-senpai didn’t come to find us again.
Since we didn’t finish our conversation, we were prepared for her to come find us
right away, but we haven’t heard from her since. Because there was no guarantee that
Amaniji-senpai would come find us again, we decided to head home.
That’s why, during the school’s half-holiday (it’s a dead phrase), I escorted Rikka home
first as per usual before going home myself, under the scorching sun.
On our way home, we talked a lot about the cultural festival issue, but since we didn’t
reach a conclusion, the matter was put on hold.
And then, at home.
32
When Amaniji-senpai saw me, she tightened her innocent expression into a daring
smile similar to the one she wore this morning.
She was looking directly at me.
Her gaze seemed to be telling me to let her in.
No, see...
Still, I couldn’t just abandon her, so I had no choice but to open the glass door.
It was still hot outside, so a mild summer breeze blew into my room.
At the same time, Amaniji-senpai took off her shoes and she entered my room.
Then, looking up at me delightfully, with a sweet smile:
“Pardon our intrusion! Hehehe, it’s strange to be meeting in a place like this!”
…It’s strange in every sense of the word!
I was on the verge of voicing my retort like I usually would, but I ended up stopping
myself.
Retorting this upperclassman, evident by what happened this morning, only derails
the conversation. It was not a hobby of mine to prevent myself from talking.
Still, although Amaniji-senpai did say that she was willing to do anything for her
mysterious play, I thought she didn’t want “normal”.
…But she’s now trespassed into my room.
“Umm, why are you here?”
“Eh, because entering through the front door’s normal.”
“That wasn’t what I was asking about!”
In the end, I still retorted.
A salute to my straight man spirit! No, what did I just do!
I mean, I can’t believe that I’m retorting even in my own house!
“Ah. Our house is on the third floor, but since we’ve been reported to the police many
times now, we have had to restrain ourself. Sorry, and we don’t mind if you also speak ill of
how miserable it is to yield to the power of the state!”
“Please don’t answer as if you’ve seen through me! …So, how did you make it up
here...?
“With effort? There were quite a few footholds, so we managed.”
“………”
I went to the veranda to check her claim.
36
Hmm.
Certainly, if she used her feet to hang onto the piping, it’s possible.
But it wasn’t a method that you would normally think of.
How do I put it – it made me worried for the security side of things.
A normal girl like this could – wait, a girl who climbs up the piping of a house wouldn’t
be normal.
Hmm?
Right, you wouldn’t normally be climbing up the piping…
Especially in broad daylight. This abnormal person is making me lose my sense of
normality.
Her trespassing was so abnormal that it became too bothersome to tell her off about
it. I was troubled for a moment about how I should report this to the power of the state –
err, I mean, the police –, but I’ll just let this incident go.
I guess you could say that an incident like this was so shocking to the point that it was
impossible to describe.
However, this person… Why did it feel like she had been looking at me with a smile
this entire time… I’m scared…
“More importantly, how did you know where my house was?”
“We found it on Facebook!”
“I haven’t posted my address on there; you’re really scaring me!”
I’ll never place my personal information on the net that easily!
“Ahaha, looks like you couldn’t tell that it was a joke!”
“No… I knew that you were joking…”
“Besides, we dislike using stuff like Facebook since everyone uses it. We mean, we still
look for penpals in the reader’s corner of magazines.”
“How are people like you still around!”
“Well, spoiler – if you try your hardest to find out such things at school you’ll
eventually find it. Even without using something like Facebook, it’s easy to get personal
information!”
“And that’s extremely scary… But if that’s the case, wouldn’t have it been better if you
checked where Rikka’s house was…?”
“Of course, that was the first thing we searched for. However, her current address
seems to be different from the address we found at school.”
37
“Well then… umm, I’ll be doing the neglect play, so please wait a bit for me.”
“Please do not worry. We’ll be diligently waiting in the centre!”
“Haa… thanks for your patience,” I said as I left the room.
Hmm, I’m pretty sure that she wasn’t going to go vandalise my room, so it should be
fine to head out to the living room for some tea.
I went to the kitchen and took two cups out of the cupboard.
I also took out some rice crackers from the cupboard and barley tea from the fridge,
before heading straight back to my room.
The instant when I got back in my room –
“…What the heck is it that you came here to doooo!?”
– I raised my voice.
Just like she said, Amaniji-senpai was quietly waiting for me in the centre of my room
in a seiza.
She was diligently waiting for me, but her clothes – she somehow managed to change
from her uniform.
It looked like she was wearing a Gachapin4 onesie.
“Heh heh heh, we’ve come to win you over, as a monster!!!”
“……………”
I’m just going to completely ignore Amaniji-senpai’s extremely satisfied smile.
Sitting face-to-face, I gently placed the tea and rice crackers that I had prepared right
in front of her.
“Umm… it’s tea. Here you go.”
“Oof, so the two of us going to keep continuing the neglect play. You’re expecting us
to play along now, right?”
Amaniji-senpai’s cheeks were a little red, and her hands were in front of her chest
squirming.
It made me happy since it felt like a small victory.
“Even though we only changed our clothes in a hurry for this… Maybe it would be
better to take this off. Hmm…”
“Wa-wait a minute… Underneath, your uniform’s underneath, right?”
Still, this situation, it’s strange. It wasn’t like the words of Amaniji-senpai weren’t
strange, but isn’t the troupe normally the other way around? Well, it’s not like the reverse
was normal either.
But, it seems, today isn’t going to be “normal” at all.
And, while cursing that fact in my heart, I threw away my reluctance and got changed
quickly.
Into the magical girl outfit that I had gotten used to by now.
“…Um, it’s okay to turn around now.”
“Yeah, the sound of your clothes rustling was great!”
Turning around, Amaniji-senpai looked in my direction. A boy cosplaying as a magical
girl was face to face with a girl in a monster onesie – it was an extremely surreal sight.
“Ahaha! It’s great, it’s great! Abnormality suits the two of us!”
“You’re not going to say that normal suits me!?”
“Well, see, we only meant it as a joke, but you really went and did it! Just admit it –
Normal-chan isn’t normal! Our impression of you is rapidly improving!”
“It was a joke!?”
Furthermore, her impression of me was rapidly improving.
I’m not very happy about that…
“Hmm. We've the ones at fault here since we found and opened it without
permission. Still, us acting freely made things proceed in an interesting direction, so we're
completely satisfied! Come now, let’s talk about this morning’s tale, Yuu-chan!”
“You’re getting too overfamiliar!”
“Hehe, Yuu-chan. How nice, calling you Yuu-chan feels even more special than calling
you Normal-chan. Since that’s the case, we’ll call you Yuu-chan from now on!”
“…………”
Looks like my nickname’s ranked up.
Together with my current appearance, and with a name like that, I didn’t know if I had
sublimated to this situation and was feeling happy or if this situation was making me sad.
I mean, to be honest, being called Yuu-chan unexpectedly moved me since I’ve never
had such a cute nickname before.
My usual nicknames were names like ‘Hero’5 or ‘Geruzoni’…
5 In case it wasn’t clear, Hero, or Yuusha (勇者) is a pun on Yuuta’s (勇太) name.
43
All of my usual nicknames were strange… Let’s not tell Amaniji-senpai about them.
“Now then.”
Amaniji-senpai carried on with a smile.
“About this morning’s tale – well? What’s DevTru Rikka-chan saying about it?
“No – especially since we stopped in the middle of the tale.”
“Really.”
Amaniji-senpai didn’t look anxious at all.
I was a little confused, since she seemed completely different from this morning,
where she was extremely passionate about her request. This upperclassman had given up
on her request – such an unlikely scenario was probably not the case, but even so I was
doubtful that there was another explanation.
Even though I had only gotten acquainted with Amaniji-senpai today, but from what I
had seen so far, I couldn’t help but think that she really wasn’t an ordinary person.
“Guess there’s no choice: we’ll go prostrate ourself to Yuu-chan again tomorrow.”
“Don’t!”
As expected, Amaniji-senpai tilted her head in response to my reply.
Seeing her tilt her composed face curiously made me feel relieved.
Although I haven’t known her for very long, it was strange that improbable responses
like that felt Amaniji-senpai-like…
“Really? But we were resolving to prostrate ourself to you every day.”
“A resolution like that should make you waver!”
It’s a terrible resolution.
It’s too M.
“Understood; if that’s what Yuu-chan says, then it can’t be helped. We’ll say that
prostrating was too normal and no longer interesting and stop doing it.”
“You thought it was interesting…”
It’s only interesting if you say it’s interesting… A person like that isn’t normal.
“Well then, tell us what it is that you wanted of us to do for you! We’ll do anything!”
“Your intentions haven’t changed….?”
“That’s not it! Since we’ve renting Yuu-chan’s beloved girlfriend, we have to do what
we can to make it up to you!”
“…Oh, then, could you please be normal for the time being?”
44
chan was more eccentric than we imagined! As expected of DevTru Rikka-chan’s boyfriend!
You look great in female clothing!”
“Ugh…!”
I couldn’t say anything in response to that.
My face turned completely red; I was at a complete loss at what to do.
“Ahaha, looks like praising you so much like that made you embarrassed about being
embarrassed!”
“Wrong! Also, it didn’t feel like you were praising me at all!?”
“You’re embarrassed again! Yeah, without a doubt, we definitely want Yuu-chan to
take part too.”
“…Um, although I’m a bit late in saying this, but wouldn’t it be better to ask people
like your friends instead of Rikka and I –”
“Nope, that’s impossible.”
Amaniji-senpai spoke over me, with “impossible” being said in a flat tone.
I didn’t mean to say “it would be better to ask your friends” in such a non-hestiant
manner.
I was feeling remorseful for saying something unpleasant like that, but Amaniji-senpai
didn’t look unhappy at all. Her facial expression was the same as before – no, her facial
expression was much brighter than before.
“See, it’s because of our selfishness. Since we’re part of the ‘Eccentric Drama Club’. If
we had to do something with others, we’d prefer to do it with other eccentric people. That’s
why it has to be DevTru Rikka-chan and Yuu-chan!”
And just like that, smiling as she talked, she changed the subject to something lighter.
I felt a little relieved about the situation. However –
“Ha… but seriously, why Rikka? It doesn’t seem like the two of you have talked with
each other before, and to say that she’s strange based on looks alone is…”
I’ve been curious about this for a long time now.
I think I’ve been curious ever since Amaniji-senpai said “It has to be Rikka.” Even
though she did say, during this morning’s incident, that she decided on Rikka based on her
unique appearance, nevertheless that still didn’t feel like a reason to stick with Rikka.
“…Yuu-chan, DevTru Rikka-chan – what do you think of Rikka-chan?
“Eh?”
“And, not from the viewpoint of a boyfriend – we’re asking how Yuu-chan sees DevTru
Rikka-chan.”
46
I didn’t have a reason to refuse. However, I didn’t have an obligation to help either.
Regardless, at any rate, right before my eyes was a troubled person, and if I can help –
and I think my poor abilities were sufficient enough to help – then I should help.
However, if I go help Amaniji-senpai, then Rikka would likely come help with the play
too.
After all, Rikka did say something along those lines this morning.
Since that was the case, then there still was the issue of Rikka’s Cultural Festival
workload to consider.
It felt too early for me to give an answer right now.
“Um, I don’t have a problem in helping – Rikka might though, do you mind if I double-
check with her about this?”
“Really? You’re helping!?”
“Well, I still haven’t decided yet… I should be able to give you an answer tomorrow,
but…”
“Yeah! That’s fine, thanks! Yuu-chan, you’re a lifesaver! Then tomorrow, come to the
club room!”
Extremely moved, Amaniji-senpai used both hands to take my right hand, grasping my
hand tightly.
I could tell that she definitely wasn’t feeling a “normal” type of joy, but since she was
so happy it seems that some of that happiness passed onto me.
My face broke into a smile by itself.
“It’s still a bit early to say, but for time the being it looks like the play is going to
happen. To be completely honest, we really wanted another person for the play, but oh
well. Guess it can’t be helped.”
“One more?”
“Yeah, since it’s meant to be a play staring five people. However, although it’s difficult,
it’s possible to perform the play with three people. That’s why, at the very least, we needed
to have three actors.”
Another person – huh?
Another interesting person – another eccentric person.
Although Amaniji-senpai thinks that there isn’t anyone else who would qualify as
interesting, there was one person that came to mind that she’ll certainly be satisfied with.
It felt like I could even hear her voice going “nyahahahaha”.
Anyway, it seemed that Amaniji-senpai hasn’t noticed her yet.
48
Afterwards.
Or more precisely, after Amaniji-senpai made fun of me yesterday. Satisfied with that,
Amaniji-senpai said “We’ve stayed for way too long, sorry! Well then, see you later!” in a
hurry and went home.
Since I asked her to, she left through the front door.
And now, back to the present – lunch time.
It was right in the middle of lunch time, and it was just the two of us on the school’s
rooftop.
Incidentally, about this rooftop – while there was the possibility of someone else
intruding, since it was hot on the rooftop it seemed that only people with strange tastes (I
guess we were the sort of weird people who would come up here) would come up here; so
far, we still haven’t met anyone else on this rooftop. As a result, I guess you could call it
something like a private space for the two of us.
The azure sky – since the seasons had changed, maybe I should be calling it the
autumnal sky instead.
Nevertheless, although it was September, the blazing sun was still scorching down on
us.
In order to avoid such a hell, we were hiding in the shade, and while we were sitting
on the ground eating our bentos, having our usual fun whimsical conversations, there was
suddenly some sad news from Rikka.
I think there were some tears in my eyes.
“You’re completely wrong.”
Rikka-san had a sullen face. She was really angry.
50
Although she won’t tell me why, recently she’s been wearing the eyepatch a lot again.
As a result, I could only check with one of her eyes, but that left eye of hers was staring at
me with a cold gaze.
So I was wrong… I’m glad, really glad…
“I’m sorry… I jumped to conclusions. …So, what’s become formulaic?”
7 Megami Magazine
8 NyanTYPE.
9 Originally from the Grand Grimoire, also known as The Red Dragon. Made popular in Japan
“Oof. Alright then, in that case – Yuuta, you must immediately do the alien-
summoning dance.”
“…Wait, don’t you know? I can’t dance at all…”
“Is that so… Yuuta can’t even do the first part of radio calisthenics… Even though
you’re the Demon King, how regrettable…”
…Don’t speak with such a dejected tone, it’s making me feel down.
Or rather, that’s calisthenics, not dancing.
Moreover, I’m able to do radio calisthenics up to the second part!
“Wait, if it’s a dance, wouldn’t it be better if you did it since you’re skilled at dancing?
Ah, rather, I want to see you perform the dance for the cultural festival!”
When I said that, Rikka’s body twitched before turning to look towards me with her
usual triumphant look, full of confidence.
Looking as if she was ready to show off what she could do, Rikka put her half-eaten
bento down, quickly stood up and took an imposing stance right in front of me.
“Guess it can’t be helped. This is special, for Yuuta only.”
Saying that, she took half a step back and did a spin. Naturally, it was a horizontal spin.
At that instant, her skirt gently floated in the air– but I couldn’t see that forbidden secret
part of hers. Regardless, I was excited.
And then, even though there was no music, she captivated me with – I mean,
performed for me – that cute dance of hers.
Rikka had the stage to herself – both figuratively and literally.
Even though I knew that, I was still impressed by her movements.
In fact, it felt that she was even on the same level as the dance club. Well, that might
just be due to my bias though.
As she finished a portion of the dance without breaking a sweat, Rikka had a huge
smile on her face. I gave a round of applause to Rikka as well.
“How was it? My wild war dance?”
“Eh… I liked it…?”
I’m not certain about why she’s happy – was it because she was able to perform the
dance for me, or was it because she was able to use a cool phrase like that…
Clearing my throat, I gave my revised opinion.
“I mean, yeah, it was the strongest! Have you really mastered the dance already?”
52
“Naturally! It’s already perfect. I’m able to master anything instantly by using the
power of the Devilish Truth Stare. In addition, the Devilish Truth Stare also has the ability to
make an exact copy of anything. It can even freely steal the abilities of my enemies. Haaaaa,
Dark Phoenix Blazing Wave!”
“Shichimiya’s technique has already been stolen!?”
“I can also use this. Flames of love!”
“Ple-please don’t use that readily…”
It wasn’t something that can be used freely.
It’s an ability that potentially exceeds the power of the Devilish Truth Stare…
Then again, Devilish Truth Stare: it can manipulate the five elements, manipulate
gravity, use telekinesis, and could seemingly manipulate fate. And now that I think about it,
yesterday she told me that it could also manipulate time. On top of that, she seemed to
have something like a nullify ability nullification ability (despite bringing it up, I’m not quite
sure what that ability is either) – its setting as the strongest wasn’t just for show.
Anyway, the class performance – looks like it was already perfect on the dance front.
If Rikka was going to be burdened by the request, while I would feel bad for Amaniji-
senpai, I was intending to refuse, but looks like there may be no need to worry about that.
Well, until I have asked her properly I have no idea if she’d help or not, so I still had to
ask Rikka about it.
For now, I’ll start by gently bringing up the subject.
“Say, about what we talked about yesterday –”
“What we talked about yesterday? You mean about how Yuuta cried after reading
Gon, the Little Fox11?”
“Let’s not talk about thaaat!”
Even though I did cry after reading it – even though it happened!
I mean, why did you suddenly bring that up!?
“I also cried yesterday. I had a terrible dream where Mori-sama was using my Devilish
Truth Stare.”
“…That certainly is a terrible dream to have!”
“Yeah, and when I thought that it really happened… I was scared and wondered if I
should call Yuuta, but then I thought that it would be hard for you to come to my house at 2
o’clock in the middle of the night… so I endured it.”
11 A Japanese children’s story about the life of a little fox called Gon.
53
12Batoen (バトエン) is short for Battle Pencil, a sort of trading card game but with pencils.
The abbreviation of Batoen is used by the Square Enix version of the game.
54
In some respects, it was like you were showing off how unique you were compared to
everyone else –
“By the way, Yuuta – are you going to help out as well?”
Rikka asked me a question, interrupting my thoughts.
Since my thoughts were interrupted so abruptly, I was a little shocked, leading me to
be a little jittery in my reply.
“Eh, ah, yeah. But I’m only helping out if Rikka’s helping out as well.”
“I see. Yeah, that is a very Yuuta-like thing to do. The King’s willing to do anything to
gain a servant. Looks like Yuuta’s reverting back to being the type of Demon King that is kind
to his subjects.”
“I-I’m regressing!?”
“To be honest, I too am reverting back to being the wielder of the Devilish Truth
Stare.”
It’s another new setting! I mean, didn’t you inherit it from your father!?
Looks like I won’t be able to grasp the setting anytime soon.
“Haa. Don’t misunderstand. Even though it is a regression, the inheritance of the
Devilish Truth Stare is hereditary.”
“……”
“… I just wanted to try using that explanation for a bit…”
It was being tsunshun in a different way13. Try being tsun-like, and you’ll understand
that feeling depressed makes it a different personality! YES, MANIAC!14
“We-well, but remember that I’m only helping if Rikka’s helping too.”
“I’ll do it too! Since Yuuta’s said he’ll help, I’ll do it too! It’s only natural since you’re
my contractee.”
“O-oh.”
It was quite rare for Rikka to press me like that with such a menacing attitude.
Then again, maybe she was burning with jealously since I already planned on helping.
Jealously – while I was happy that she felt that way, since we had already gotten in a
quarrel due to it before, I had to properly explain the situation to her so that she doesn’t
misunderstand me.
Yeah, I absolutely have to make sure that I explain it well.
Explaining the situation – but I can’t really do that without first telling Rikka about
Shichimiya’s and her role in the play.
Ever since that incident, Rikka hasn’t shown anything like jealously at all – rather, the
two of them are on very good terms with each other.
Due to that, I wasn’t not particularly anxious about it, but it was probably still better
to tell her now rather than later.
“Oh, so we’re both helping then. Ah, I’m not certain, but Shichimiya might be helping
out as well.”
“Sofia as well?”
“Yeah, since Amaniji-senpai said that in addition to both you and me, she wanted to
have one more person. And because Shichimiya’s the only who could meet Amaniji-senpai’s
demands, I was planning on asking her afterwards to help out.”
“I see. Sofia and the play – yeah, seems like it’s going to be fun!” replied Rikka, who
was in high spirits.
Seems like I was worried about nothing. I mean, Rikka saying “seems like it’s going to
be fun” shows just how close the two of them have gotten, which made me happy.
“Well then, for now, how about we go visit Amaniji-senpai after school today?”
“Understood.”
And with a nod, Rikka finally returned back to her spot right next to me.
After that, she finished off her bento’s side dish in one mouthful before immediately
turning straight towards me, staring into my eyes with a serious expression.
“By the way Yuuta. I believe it’s necessary for you to explain what happened yesterday
in a little more detail. First of all, why Yuuta’s place? I’m sure that there were other methods
though? She’s the enemy after all?”
…Even though I’ve already said this before, but it seems like Rikka’s feeling quite
jealous – on one hand, it makes me feel happy; on the other, it’s making me swear once
again to try to not give off the wrong impression.
Although Rikka said, “I’ll go with you,” I had Rikka stay at the classroom since
whenever the two of them meet, it creates a mysterious space where a battle unfolds,
derailing the conversation.
Class 1-3.
I didn’t have a friend who I could ask about Shichimiya’s whereabouts since I don’t
know anyone else in that class (well, I wasn’t friends with anyone in the other classes either,
so it’s not just limited to class 1-3…), so I was checking whether Shichimiya was here or not
from outside the classroom.
In the classroom, there were a few girls who stayed behind, but no Shichimiya.
Looks like class 1-3 wasn’t one of the classes who had lots of people stay behind after
school to help with the cultural festival preparations.
Since that’s the case, I’m guessing that Shichimiya had already gone home as well.
I actually wanted to talk to her in person about it, but it looked like that was
impossible.
I pulled out my cellphone from my pocket and called Shichimiya.
Speaking of Shichimiya’s cellphone – and don’t criticise me for calling it that, I’m well
aware that it’s more accurate to call it a smartphone – this would be the first time that I’ve
called her number since she had givenit to me.
As this was my first time calling her, I was a bit nervous.
“Even though smartphones were spreading at an abnormal rate, I’ll remain a believer
of gara-keis15 until the very end!” was the type of worthless chuuni thoughts I was having as
I made the call. It only rang once.
It seems that I was connected instantly.
“Ah, hey –”
“Nyahahahaha, O.K.☆.”
…The call ended.
Wait, wait, even if you were mimicking someone, to suddenly cut the call off like
that… D-does, does she hate me?
That’d make me really sad…
I thought about emailing her about the matter, but I decided, as I prepared myself to
be sad again, to give her another call instead – at that moment.
“My dark scarf is charged with magic power – it’s glistering with the destructive
energy of the Demon Duchess! As you wished, the Magical Demon Duchess, Sofia-chan, is
here!”
Standing behind me with her arms crossed in a daunting pose, all the while laughing
“nyahahahaha”, Shichimiya made her speech. When did she…
More importantly, I was a bit concerned about how others would see this.
Even though it was true that it was noisier than how it usually is after school since
most classes were busy preparing for the cultural festival, saying something like that in such
a loud voice would still garner the attention of everyone around us.
Well, whatever… I was already used to things like that by now.
“Since when did you get there…?”
“What a foolish question, Hero. I’m always by your side.”
“What a cool line… Wait, no, that’s not it. Why did you hang up on me? It gave me
quite the shock.”
“Hero, it’s not like that at all. Simply knowing that you’re calling for me is enough. In
fact, you don’t even have to use your phone – even just wishing “help!” in your heart is
enough to make me come right away.”
“Doesn’t that make you the hero then!?”
Sigh.
Shichimiya Satone – she was still as cool as ever.
And as usual, her condition as a chuuninyou patient was in no way inferior to Rikka’s
…I honestly believe that Shichimiya’s the ultimate type of chuunibyou patient.
Being self-aware of having chuunibyou, and yet persisting with it.
That’s why I’m convinced that she could change even the impossible.
While the basis of my confidence happened to be really evil-eye chuunibyou-like, but
if she was going to change something, you would probably be able to feel the enormous
power that she would be pouring into the change.
Undoubtedly, she is the sort of person who would leave her name behind in the world
when she passes away.
Even though Shichimiya had only transferred in recently, she seems to already be
fitting in with the rest of the class.
In the olden days, she was fine with being a loner, but it seems that was no longer the
case anymore.
59
Since I was only familiar with how she was like in her first year of middle school, I’m
not sure what caused her to change, but I think that it was good that she did.
Maybe meeting Nibutani and me had something to do with it. If that’s the case, then
I’m glad we had met.
‘My school life’s a lot of fun’ was the sort of feeling I got from Shichimiya now.
Speaking of change, Shichimiya’s uniform, like Rikka’s, was remodelled.
I’m surrounded by people with remodelled uniforms. It’s to the point where I’m
worried about how a particular disciplinary member would see this.
In addition, although it’s still hot, she was wearing a black scarf.
Needless to say, it was because she thinks it’s cool.
Well, she was probably fine with wearing it in this type of weather. One time, when I
asked her if she felt hot wearing that, she replied: “Hot? Nyahaha~, what a foolish question,
it’s actually rather refreshing to wear. My heart which loves the world is a million degrees
after all~☆.”
Seriously, she’s more of a hero than I am.
“Anyways, Hero. What exactly is it that you wanted me to help you with? Well, then
again, even without knowing what it’s about I’m already more or less willing to help Hero
out.”
“I’m really grateful about the fact that you’re already willing to help me out, but I… I’m
pretty sure that I haven’t asked for you to help me out yet.”
“Hm? But it could only be a call for help if Hero was trying to contact me so urgently.”
What a cool line.
However, if that’s the case, then it means I can’t call Shichimiya casually at all…
“That’s not true, but, well, you’re right about me needing help. If it’s okay with you, I’d
like for you to help me out for a bit. By the way Shichimiya, what’s your class doing for the
cultural festival? It doesn’t seem like there’s any sort of preparation going on for it.
“What’s my class doing? My class is the only one in our year level that’s doing a food
stall. Preparations for it will probably start right before the cultural festival begins.”
“Eh, so that’s what your class is doing. What are you going to sell at your food stall?”
“We’ll be making parfaits, sundaes, Manga Time Ki*ra, stuff like that16. Hm? Is there
something wrong with that?”
16A pun about similarly named manga/magazines: Parfait Tic (shoujo manga), Weekly
Shounen Sunday, and Manga Time Kirara.
60
“If there’s nothing wrong, doesn’t that mean that you’re just selling regular
magazines!?”
“Nyahaha, thanks for the retort. It was a slip of the tongue, I meant to say crepe☆.”
“It was a slip of the tongue… Umm, so you’ll only be busy on the day of the cultural
festival, right?”
“Yep, that’s right! By the way, since I’ll only be transformed as the Magical Demon
Duchess to serve parfaits for only a short while, please come visit me then!”
“Oh, of course I’ll come over! I want to eat the parfait!”
“Nyahaha, looks like Hero’s still got a sweet tooth. Yep, Hero’s sweet!”
“Wait, isn’t the meaning completely different if you phrase it like that…?”
It didn’t seem like there was much of a correlation between liking sweet things and
being a sweet person…
Me… I wonder if I’m sweet.
“Anyway, you probably want to hear a bit more about the request – ah, but if you
want to refuse, please feel free to do so, it’s not a –”
That’s why I wasn’t sure about how I should be acting around her.
I mean, I might be overthinking things.
Still, I definitely didn’t want to trample over Shichimiya’s feelings for a second time.
Because of all that – I contacted Shichimiya normally.
I contacted Shichimiya, who couldn’t help but smile despite feeling troubled, normally.
I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do. It may have just been my ego.
I mean, I didn’t even know how Shichimiya thinks of me now.
Still, for Shichimiya and I – I want us to always be happy when we are together.
“Well, in that case, let’s talk about how we can save the world, since I have no interest
in conquering it.”
“Nyahaha~, I’m always available for a consultation! …Yeah, in that case, I too will also
get into chat-time mode! Come now, it’s time to chat!”
“……”
Looks like she really wanted to just have a chat…
No no, that can’t be right. It was definitely Shichimiya attempt of trying to deal with
this awkward mood, or something like that.
“Oh, right, on the topic of protecting the world, that reminds me: I’m pretty certain
that Jeanne d’Arc had a severe case of chuunibyou!”
“Hey, apologize to Jeanne d’Arc-san!”
What are you saying all of a sudden!? That’s how you start a conversation!?
Still, the topic was a bit interesting…
“No, you got it wrong, I really admire Jeanne d’Arc! Didn’t you know, Hero? That
Jeanne d’Arc was a saint? A messiah? That her stylish alias was ‘The Maid of Orléans’?”
“That certainly does sound a great deal like the vocabulary of a chuunibyou patient!
But Jeanne-san never referred to herself like that, right!?”
“Quite the contrary! And she could even listen to the archangel’s voice! She’s cool!”
“Urgh… that really is chuuni-ish!”
“And she’s a Valkyrie! She’s super cool!”
“Eh…? Now that you mention it… it seems like that’s true… I’ve only know about it
from social studies classes, so I’m not too familiar with the fine detail, but to disguise herself
as a man in order to save Orléans – she really does seem like an amazing person…!”
63
“And in her last moments she was seen as a witch – well, she probably wasn’t very
delighted about it, but it once again makes me think that she’s cool! A hero who’s seen as a
witch: that’s just like a Magical Demon Duchess!”
“No, I don’t think she used magic…”
I couldn’t stop myself from groaning that small retort.
No, there’s still the matter of treating a hero of the past as a chuunibyou patient, but I
guess someone with chuunibyou would definitely interpret it as a luscious setting.
“However, it is sad that she was treated like a heretic.”
“Yeah, it definitely was.”
A heretic – a distinct existence, right?
For some reason, when I heard the word heretic, I thought of Amaniji-senpai.
But, for her, it felt like she wanted to be known as a heretic. I wonder why?
“By the way, Hero: this isn’t related to our chat just now, but who exactly is this
upperclassman? What’s the story behind her suddenly appearing and asking you for help?”
“Oh, I haven’t told you about her yet. I actually don’t know her all that well. Still, since
you’ve just transferred, I wonder if you’ve seen her yet? The upperclassman who’s a year
level above us who’s known as Rainbow-senpai –”
“Ah, I’ve seen her. Her aura was terrifying. Since I didn’t know what would happen if I
saw such an aura up-close, I’ve been cautious of her and have only seen her from afar.”
“Is her aura really that terrifying…?”
Ability users being able to detect auras feels fictitious.
However, Rikka did say something along those lines as well. Seems like it was
something that only another ability user would understand.
“Well, since you’ve already seen her before, it makes explaining things easier. That
person – she’s Amaniji-senpai. At first, she only planned on asking Rikka for help, and I get
the impression that she went from place to place until she finally ended up at my house. As
a result, Rikka ended up agreeing to help, but since there still wasn’t enough people for the
play I’ve come to you to ask for your help.”
As I said that, Shichimiya crossed her arms once again, visibly nodding her head and
murmuring ‘hmmm’ to show that she understood.
“Hmm, I see. Naturally, Hero’s also helping this Amaniji-senpai out, right?”
“Ah, yeah, but, well, it’s not like I’m helping out that much.”
The moment those words left my mouth, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
No, it wasn’t just déjà vu – didn’t I say something similar to that pretty recently?
64
“Nyahahahaha, it looks like Hero really does think like a hero! That sort of thing is
what I really love about you☆.”
Because of its various implications, I was startled by the words that Shichimiya said
with a smile. My slightly distraught face seemed to have transmitted my shock to
Shichimiya.
Realising what her words could have meant, Shichimiya’s face froze in the exact same
way as mine for an instant. Her cheeks were a bit red as she tried to smooth things over:
“Nyahaha, that didn’t come out right. …Sorry. No, well, but I really do love Hero’s
heroic way of thinking! I really admire you – you’re my rival after all, since I’m a demon!”
To restore the cheerful mood that we had before, I too replied with a smile on my
face.
“Yeah, thanks. I’m not sure what to think after being told that I think heroically, but if
it was a compliment then I guess I’ll happily accept it.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s a compliment! Well then, it’s probably good that we hurry, and even
if it’s bad we should still hurry to that Amaniji-senpai’s place!”
In order to gloss over what just happened, Shichimiya strengthened her tone.
…Well, it was Shichimiya’s fault that we started chatting – of course I didn’t say that.
After returning to the classroom that Rikka was waiting in with Shichimiya, we met up
with Rikka (sure enough, the moment they met a battle started to unfold, but I’ll omit that
part) and the three of us headed to the clubroom of the ‘Eccentric Drama Club’.
◆
“Well, I guess we’ll find out how once we get there, so let’s go.”
“Nyahahahaha, that’s right! Still, since the principal gives off the impression of being
the boss of the school, I’m a bit excited! It feels like that the three of us are the party
members of the elite few who are taking the last boss. Ah, since that’s the feeling I’m
getting, let’s do our best, ‘kay! Hero! Rikka-chan!”
“I see, understood,” said Rikka formally as she nodded in consent.
…For some reason, the two of them were getting ready to enter in a showdown
against the principal.
Although that wasn’t our actual goal, when it comes to facing that principal as an
opponent, it’s strange how you could, just like Shichimiya said, describe such an encounter
as fighting the last boss.
Our principal definitely does appear to be very strong.
Whether it’s the school’s entrance ceremony, the announcement for an excursion, or
even the opening ceremony just a few days ago, our principal was certainly a bit over-the-
top… If we end up having to greet our principal… I could feel the weight behind my steps.
Alright, guess I’ll also add some pep talk of my own then –
“Well then, let’s go. To fight the last boss.”
As I said that to the two of them, I took a single step forward.
To be honest, I was getting swept up by the mood.
Somehow, I ended up saying such a thing.
“Yuuta, you shouldn’t be the first one to go. Let me demonstrate that I, wielder of the
Devilish Truth Stare, am the strongest. The likes of the principal will be buried in an instant.
I’ll rend apart the darkness of our school. The world will be return to peace once again.”
As I turned my head around to look at Rikka as she started talking, her composed face
had been, like I expected, transformed into her usual look of confidence.
Seriously, that’s quite a happy face you’ve got there, Rikka-san.
It surpassed the happy atmosphere that we just had.
Still, don’t say something like our school’s darkness! It sounds like our school’s
corrupt!
“No no Rikka-san, please leave it to me, the Magical Demon Duchess. I suffered a
defeat in our last bout, so let me take this one. This is my revenge match. It’d be enough for
Rikka-chan and Hero to simply cheer for me from behind!”
…She was even more swept up by the mood than me–!
Reflecting upon my words, I shrugged my shoulders as I wearily advanced.
66
When the two of them are together, the mood soon becomes like this, which is quite
hard to deal with… I regretted saying such a thing so lightly…
“Guess it can’t be helped – I’ll concede this time, Sofia. Do your best!”
“Now then, I’ll repeat myself one more time. Our goal isn’t to defeat the principal. It’s
to meet Amaniji-senpai. Okay?”
“Roger.”
“Nyahaha, okay☆.”
With Rikka’s acknowledgement and Shichimiya making a mysterious okay sign next to
her cheeks, it seemed that there was no need for any further preparations, and so I knocked
on the door of the principal’s office – I uttered “excuse me” before entering quietly.
Neither the principal nor Amaniji-senpai, who was our goal, was present.
Before my eyes – a scene that definitely wasn’t befitting of the principal’s office was
unfolding.
◆
Up until now, I’ve never entered the principal’s office, but it was exactly as I imagined
it to be – there was a bookshelf embellished in trophies and a wall ornamented with framed
certificates.
However, there was a scene before my eyes which, while frequently seen in a normal
classroom, felt quite out-of-place in the principal’s office.
In front of the principal’s desk.
Sitting on the sofa which seemed to be for guests, with her arms on the table to use as
a pillow, was a sleeping girl with drool spilling out of her mouth.
It was really strange.
Why are you sleeping in the principal’s office?
I was visibly dumbfounded by this and couldn’t say anything to Rikka and Shichimiya,
who came in after me.
They were also speechless and had confused expressions on their faces.
I turned my attention towards the face of the sleeping girl, who was drooling.
Where have I seen her before – ah, that time in the nurse’s office.
I remember her clearly, as she had something scribbled on her forehead at that time.
If I’m not mistaken, it was the word “demon”.
There wasn’t anything on her forehead this time, so it doesn’t look like that was a
special quirk of hers. Rather, it seemed like it was just a prank.
Nevertheless, she seemed like that type of person who would sleep anywhere…
Naturally, I was curious as to how she could sleep in the principal’s office to the point where
drool started to come out, but I also wanted to ask her about Amaniji-senpai’s whereabouts.
68
Since she’s sleeping here, she was probably a member of the club too.
Alright, let’s discuss this with the others.
“Well, it’d bad if we left her with her drool hanging, so it’s probably for the best to
wake her up. Additionally, she might know something about Amaniji-senpai’s whereabouts.”
Since she was still sleeping, I was, for the time being, speaking to the others in a soft
voice.
“Yuuta, you first. She might be an enemy.”
From her downcast face, Rikka was indicating ‘not me’.
She was invoking her ‘shyness’ skill.
…This was in spite the fact that just a few moments ago, she said, among other things,
that I shouldn’t be the first to go.
“Yeah, yeah, this is a task for Hero. I don’t know any spells that can awaken a sleeping
person. I’m an offensive specialist, so I’m no good at support magic.”
Shichimiya skilfully avoided the responsibility of waking her up.
Or rather, she was saying that I was a support-type hero who only knew spells with
effects such as waking a sleeping person up…
A hero like that’s sort of pathetic…
Still, I guess it would be weird if a useful spell like that didn’t exist.
“Well, I thought that the female division would be better suited for such a task, but… I
mean, it’s not like I mind, but…”
In any case, it was a pity that the principal didn’t suddenly return and exclaim, “Hey
hey! It’s no good to drool in the sacred principal’s office! No good at all!” or something like
that. Looks like it’s up to me to wake her up.
I moved closer to her.
I felt really deplorable since my girlfriend was right next to me, but after looking at her
face closely, her drool seemed to, as expected, make her look – no, maybe the drool only
seemed cute since she was cute. Either way, drool or no drool – I thought that she was cute.
I considered shaking her awake, but I decided against it, as she may have been
aversive to having another guy touch her without any warning. Instead, I decided to wake
her up by whispering to her.
“Umm, excuse me. Drool’s hanging from your mouth.”
“……”
There was no response. It seemed like she was sleeping deeply.
69
“Me, I’m a second year, Tsuyuri Kumin. And I’m a member of the drama club – ah, no,
that’s not quite right. I’m a member of the Eccentric Drama Club, so please treat me well!”
Tsuyuri Kumin-senpai spoke with a relaxed tone.
You could feel that her tempo was oozing out of her from various places. In addition,
like I expected, it seems that she was a club member.
Nevertheless, her name’s Tsuyuri? As a surname, Tsuyuri definitely makes the list of
rare names.
Is our school a treasury of rare names or something?
Or, was our principal admitting people into the school based on names taken from the
entrance exams and interviews… It’s troubling how plain my name was around here.
“Eh? No response? That’s going to make me cry…”
With her head tilted in puzzlement, which definitely wasn’t giving off the impression
of being on the verge of tears at all, was Tsuyuri Kumin-senpai.
Turning my gaze towards Shichimiya, it seemed that she was feeling sad from being
cut off before, as her face was downcast and was teary-eyed. Poor Shichimiya…
Rikka was invoking her ‘shyness’ skill once again, releasing her aura from behind me
with no consideration of me at all.
It appears that I was the only one who could reply.
“Ah, err, same here, please treat us well too. Um, we were told to come here by
Amaniji-senpai. Do you know where she is?”
“Since it’s Hideri-chan, she should be arriving shortly? Yeah, that’s right, Hideri-chan
did tell me about you guys! She was talking about how great things were since an amazing
person was joining us. Right, right, just like the rumours say, to me Satone-chan definitely
does seem amazing!”
“Eh, me!? Nyahaha, I mean, I’m the Magical Demon Duchess after all!”
Although she was astonished by the sudden turn of events, Shichimiya had a look of
relief on her face, as she was finally able to give her usual speech about her character’s
setting.
In addition, as a result of being praised so suddenly, she was laughing to hide her
embarrassment.
It seemed that she had bounced back from being depressed and was, above all, happy.
“Eh, that’s amazing! Since you’re a demon duchess, does that mean you live in a place
like a castle?”
“No no, to be a demon duchess, I cannot live in luxury, so I had the castle sold.
Presently, I reside in an apartment.”
72
19Kumin’s surname, 五月七日, can be read either as Tsuyuri (つゆり) or (and much more
commonly) 7th of May (ごがつなのか).
73
Amaniji-senpai was in high spirits after seeing Rikka, but she didn’t prostrate this time
to greet us.
Although Rikka was hiding behind my back, she couldn’t hide herself from Amaniji-
senpai as she came from behind me. Still, since it was a normal greeting, it was baffling as to
how energetic her greeting was.
“And – are you perhaps the one Yuu-chan talked about, the person who might help?”
said Amaniji-senpai, placing her finger on her chin as she stared at Shichimiya closely.
Her stare (or her aura) overwhelmed Shichimiya, causing her to become frozen.
“…No way! There was still someone this outstanding at our school!? Where have you
been hiding until now!?”
Shichimiya got praised again.
I’m not sure why, but she was popular.
Well, then again, I brought her along with me since I thought that she was someone
who Amaniji-senpai would definitely be pleased with.
Apparently, it seemed that I had brought along the right person. And, as if she was
waiting for Amaniji-senpai to say those words, Shichimiya flashed a posed look.
“That’s, that’s right!” said Shichimiya with a raised voice.
“My dark scarf is charged with magic power – it’s glistering with the destructive
energy of the Demon Duchess! As you wished, the Magical Demon Duchess, Sofia-chan, is
here!”
This was the second time that I’d heard that speech today.
Naturally, her arms were crossed in a daunting pose. She didn’t forget to smile and
laugh “nyahahahaha” either.
“Yeah, you’re definitely great! Thanks for that unique greeting! On top of that, your
name’s cool as well. Well, in that case, we’ll call you Sofia-chan, and you can call us Rainbow
Hideri-san!”
I was tempted to console her over the nickname, since I’ve also had a similar
experience (this too was part of my dark history, so I’m not going to talk about it. Even now,
I could still recall how my mother looked at me at that time), but the name was way too
eccentric for me to follow-up on.
Plus, I also refuse to call her that.
“Now, now, Hideri-chan, it really is quite a mouthful to say. That’s why it’s my privilege
to call you Rainbow Hideri.”
“But if that’s the case, then how come we feel like that you’ve never called us by that
name before!?”
“Eh? Ah, it’s because the name’s really long. That’s why I call you Hideri-chan.”
“……”
Could it be that Kumin-senpai was actually even more eccentric than Amaniji-
senpai…?
“Ha, I guess you can compromise on the nickname like Kumin. However, Sofia-chan, if
it’s possible, please call us by something that feels daring.”
Recovering, Amaniji-senpai had a smile on her face as she said those words
flamboyantly.
It made her seem really cute.
“Understood. Let’s see… then, how about Hid Eri-san20 –”
“It’s daring – or more accurately, you just wanted to cut her name in in name, didn’t
you!?21”
Since the name was so excessively daring, my bad habit accidentally resurfaced again.
Guess there’s no longer any doubt as to me being the prince of retorts.
As expected from Yuu-chan!
Then again, if I look at this from another perspective, it could be said that everyone
else was playing the funny man… that would be really astonishing!
20A pun lost in translation. Shichimiya breaks the kanji for Hideri (旱) into Hiboshi (日干).
21Another pun lost in translation. The phrase 思い切った, what I’ve loosely translated as
daring, can be split as 思い[通り] (doings things as one wants) and 切った (to cut).
75
22A third pun lost in translation. This time, Shichimiya adds the first kanji of her surname
(天) into the mix, turning the nickname into, as a literal translation, Sun Dried (天日干し).
Yuuta then retorts by saying how Shichimiya left out the second part of her surname (虹)
which translates as rainbow, which is a word which is almost synonymous with Amaniji (or
at least her physical appearance).
76
Various things have happened since starting school, and she had gained multitude of
new experiences, so I’m sure that she has changed quite a bit – naturally, since I’m the one
saying it, I think that she has definitely been changing for the better.
In the beginning, she really hated studying for Maths, but now she has improved so
much at it that she’s now able to avoid a failing grade. On top of that, she used to be the
type of person who wouldn’t talk to anyone in the class at all, but now she’s an active
member of the class performance.
Well, she only talks to Kazari-chan, but still.
Even if it’s just to Kazari-chan, when you think about it, it still was a really good
change.
Rikka’s definitely maturing.
Although she was a chuunibyou patient, she was moulding us into her world –
“Yuuta? Wait, sorry, my bad. Yuu-chan, what’s wrong?”
“Are you angry!?”
“No, not at all, it was just a joke. I wouldn’t get angry over a name like that. It was just
that I had felt a really strong gaze from Yuuta.”
“You stressed it as if it was some kind of new phrase… never mind. You’re a bit
excited.”
“Yeah, I want to play the leading part!”
…She was way more enthusiastic about this than I imagined.
A short distance to my left, Shichimiya appeared to also suddenly be in high spirits, as
she stood imposingly with her arms crossed. Although she was giving off the aura of
someone who was playing a leading role, it was pointless since it didn’t seem like she was
going to be given such a role. After all, she was only here as a helper.
I casually shifted my gaze towards Kumin-senpai’s direction – and she was sleeping.
Her sleeping – it felt like that was the thing characterising Kumin-senpai.
As expected of Kumin-senpai. She was really nonsensical.
What kind of play can you perform with a member like that – I’d like to say that I’m
excited for the play, but I couldn’t help but be anxious.
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Chapter 5: Princess☆Ashes
The first thing we did after all the members of the club have gathered was to
introduce ourselves once again.
Currently, we were all gathered around the reception table. Four of us were seated on
the sofa – Rikka, who was to my left; Shichimiya, who was in front of Rikka; Kumin-senpai
(she woke up quickly), who was in front of me; and me.
And, standing in front of the principal’s desk, giving off the impression that she was
both the president of the club and the chairperson of the meeting, was Amaniji-senpai.
“First things first. Yuu-chan, DevTru Rikka-chan, Sofia-chan – we really appreciate it,
for agreeing to helping out with the play. Seriously, thanks so much,” said Amaniji-senpai
gently as she bowed her head deeply.
Her body was completely perpendicular. From that posture, you could tell that she
was being really sincere.
I’ve already seen it many times before, but it truly was an elegant prayer.
It gave off the impression that she wasn’t allowed to raise her head. However,
Amaniji-senpai did eventually return her posture back to normal.
Her returning her posture back to normal also felt like a very refined action.
Then, she flashed a smile in our direction.
“And, although it shames us, we don’t have anything prepared for the two of you as
compensation for helping out. As a result, what we’ll do instead for thanks, DevTru Rikka-
chan and Sofia-chan, is to do any one thing that you would like for us to do for you. Is that
okay?”
“Nyahaha, there’s no need for you to thank me at all.”
Embarrassed, Shichimiya was waving her hands back and forth to decline Amaniji-
senpai’s offer.
“Anything?”
In contrast, Rikka replied energetically, sounding out the offer.
As expected, there was no hesitation at all from Rikka when it comes to imposing
sudden contracts.
Well, there shouldn’t be a problem, since Amaniji-senpai was the one offering.
“Yeah, anything you want! Oh, but the request can’t be for anything normal! Let’s see,
for example… you could ask to become a pâtissier, or something like that!”
…Rather than a request, that’s just a dream for the future…
78
If you were able to make wishes like that come true. then I’d like to become a
samurai, or something like that.
Yeah, my way of thinking was a bit chuuni-ish, if I may say so myself.
“Understood – cannot be normal. Thinking.”
“Yeah, think about it! Oh, right, if Sofia-chan refrains from requesting anything, then
you’ll be able to request for three things! For the time being, consider us as the genie of
your magic lamp!”
“A lamp’s…!? Can you read my mind!?”
“Hehe, yep, we can read it~. You’re thinking about… Togashi Yumeha!”
“Don’t suddenly pretend to be Akinator23!”
Moreover, how did you know what my sister’s full name was!? There definitely wasn’t
a reason for Amaniji-senpai to know her full name…
Is she the real Akinator!?
“Well, for whatever it is that the three of you have decided on, leave it to us! Now that
that’s settled, it’s time for us to hand over the script for the play!”
It seemed that Amaniji-senpai had prepared the scripts well in advance, as the three
of us each had a script to ourselves.
Kumin-senpai also seemed to have her own script as well, as she pulled a copy of it out
from her bag.
Moving my gaze towards the title of the script that was given to me, I saw the words
‘Princess☆Ashes’ printed in a sans-serif typeface.
When I turned the cover page over, the role list for this play was printed.
The number of roles – there were exactly 5.
In the space next to leading role, ‘Cinderella’, to show who was casted – it was blank.
Blank – or to be more precise, it was erased.
It seemed like a correction pen was used to erase what used to be there.
The next entries on the list were ‘Prince’, ‘Lord of Witches’, ‘Emperor’, and ‘Queen’.
Like with the main role, there were traces of correction fluid in the space where the
cast member’s name was supposed to be.
…This script, weren’t there way too many things for me to retort about?
Princess Ashes – I assumed that we were doing Cinderella, since Cinderella translated
into Japanese was ‘Ash Covered Princess’, but aside from the leading role the play was
nothing like Cinderella at all.
More precisely, the only common elements were the royals!
Briefly skimming over the script, it seemed that there were seven lithographs to
collect, and that instead of a ball, there was a martial arts tournament to attend… Crap, the
script’s so weird that I’ve started sweating.
“Hmm, the leading role is super cool!”
“Nyahaha, the ‘Lord of Witches’ role seems to suit me well!”
“Rikka-chan and Satone-chan seem to be fine playing any role, so there might not be a
need for me to have any screen time~.”
Unlike me, Rikka and Shichimiya seemed to enjoy how nonsensical the script was. In
addition, for some reason, Kumin-senpai also joined in on their conversation. It seems that
the three of them were getting along well…
After seeing our reactions, Amaniji-senpai told us the name of the story that the script
was based on.
“Right, so; but we’re sure you have already figured it out after looking at the script.
That’s right, it’s Cinderella.”
“No no, what part of this is Cinderella-like!?”
“We’ll be charging you for that ordinary response. Charging. Cash.”
“You’re pressing me for money!?”
“Still, Yuu-chan’s right. We’ve added quite a bit to the original story, since doing a
‘standard’ version of Cinderella would be way too boring!”
“……” “……” “……”
Nobody retorted – normally I’d be raising one, but it seems that I’ve been prohibited
from voicing any.
In addition, there’s also a fee to retort now.
“We-well then! First of all, let’s start with the casting; if no one has any particular role
in mind, then are you guys fine with letting us decide?”
Shifting her gaze away from us, Amaniji-senpai asked for our approval.
There didn’t seem to be any objections from Rikka and Shichimiya – rather, they
seemed to be nodding along in agreement.
I mean, it’s not like I had any objections to Amaniji-senpai deciding on the cast either,
so I also nodded along in agreement.
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Well, then again, this was the outcome that both Amaniji-senpai and Rikka wanted, so
there isn’t anything more for me to say…
More importantly.
Why are situations like these the only time where Rikka’s ‘shyness’ attribute doesn’t
get invoked – I’m curious.
“Now then, onto the next role! The Lord of Witches! Please play this role, Sofia-chan!
Although it’s regrettably normal to casting you as the Lord of Witches, you simply fit the
image of the role all too perfectly.”
“Nyahaha, entrust this to me! I’m the Magical Demon Duchess, or the Demonic
Sorceress24 for short! As someone who has surpassed being a mere witch, this role is perfect
for me!”
“……”
Although Shichimiya stated, with a self-satisfied smile, that it was a great thing for her
to be cast in such a role, with her appearing more lively than usual, it honestly didn’t really
feel like something all that impressive…
Then again, I wasn’t like I had any particular objections here either.
There was nothing for me to criticise, as I too also thought that Shichimiya was perfect
for the role.
As for the rest of the roles –
“Then, in that case, we will be playing Emperor and Kumin will be playing the Queen.”
“Kaaay. Since my role didn’t change, I’m fine with it~.”
“Yep, the roles for us two are the same as before! Finally, since Yuu-chan’s the only
person remaining, he’ll be playing as the Prince!”
I had the feeling something like this was going to happen…
Even though I had thought that I was going to be cast as some minor role like the
background tree, or something like that.
Although I didn’t plan on raising any objections, this was something that I had to
contest.
“Um, I’m not sure if I’m suitable for such a prominent role like that… shouldn’t you or
Kumin-senpai should take this role instead so you can have a more active part in the
play…!?”
24Originally this pun was an abbreviation of Magical Demon Duchess (魔法魔王少女) into
魔々女 (read as 魔魔女), which then plays off the word for witch (魔女). Since there isn’t a
good direct translation of this pun, I’ve taken a bit of creative liberty instead.
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“No no, Yuu-chan. Rest assured, the Prince role is actually the smallest role in the
play.”
“Ah… is that so?”
It seemed that I was the only one who made the mistake of thinking that it was a
prominent role.
How embarrassing… My face was bright red!
And then.
“Arc-san! Since the role of ‘Prince’ is normal, I request that we add an additional
setting to it called ‘Dark Flame Master’!”
Without warning, Rikka raised her hand up and voiced a completely unrelated
proposal.
Although she usually doesn’t do that sort of thing… why now!?
Moverover, even if my role was said to be a minor one, it wasn’t something that
should make you so dissatisfied to the point where your checks were swollen… Besides, it
would be extremely embarrassing for me if we added that novel setting to my role, as it
would essentially expose my past to the entire school…!
All of my nerves were getting frayed…
“Eh!? Nor-normal…? And, well, the, err, Dark Flame Master…? Hmm… well, true, we
too did think that the ‘Prince’ role, which was mundanely neither good nor bad, was a bit
lacking in terms of character traits, but even so we thought that a prince that was generic,
commonplace, and ordinary would be…”
“Isn’t a prince that’s completely generic and ordinary be a bit too unappealing!? Is
that even a prince anymore!?”
It seemed that everything normal was crammed into this prince.
“Togashi-kun’s doesn’t have much of a presence, does he?” was what someone had
said of the elementary school me!
Those words really depressed me… If I never had heard those shocking words, then
perhaps I may have never been inflected with chuunibyou…
“We see, we see… it’s true that there isn’t really a need for the prince to be normal. A
prince that appears to be number one in normalness is no good at all! As such, let’s adopt
DevTru Rikka-chan’s, the leading actress’, idea!”
“It’s already been decided on!?”
“Yep, it’s been decided. A vote for amusingness! Besides, it’s only the prince role, so
whatever,” said Amaniji-senapi as she loosened her expression.
83
However, it seemed that she wasn’t pleased about the change as her tone was a bit
sharp – her words made me feel a bit guilty.
“A reluctance to make modifications to the script” was the impression I was getting
from her.
“Since there was no time, it was only natural to not want any changes to the final
manuscript.” With the exception of that, the rest of my feelings of guilt were probably just
from me reading into things too much.
That was the sort of half-hearted reply she gave.
“I did it, Yuuta! The Dark Flame Master shall finally descend into the world!”
“…Ah, yes, right.”
Next to the delighted Rikka, I was unsure over whether the change was okay.
Since Amaniji-senpai was the one asking us for help, it was possible that she was
finding it hard to voice her objections. What should I do?
While I was worrying over what to do alone, Amaniji-senpai began talking once again.
This time, her words were so clear that it seemed her sharp tone from before were a lie.
“Right, so now the cast is settled! Now then –”
“Hideri-chan, are you not going to talk about that~?”
The person who reacted to Amaniji-senpai’s words was Kumin-senpai.
“Ah, right! Thanks, Kumin!”
As she said that, Amaniji-senpai made a daring smile, and then continued:
“This play, it’s going to be performed as a guerrilla play!”
It felt like she was giving off a manga-like “D~ON!!!” expression as she said that.
Her hands were on her hip too.
It was as if she had just announced something important.
“Nononononononononono”
I said “no” so many times that I didn’t even know how many times I had said “no”.
It was such a bombshell of an announcement that it made me spring up from my seat.
“Isn’t something like that prohibited by the school!?”
“Naturally, the student council didn’t approve this!”
“Why are you proud about that!?”
“Don’t you think that it’d be too boring the play was scheduled in the program as per
normal? …But, well, that’s just this upperclassman’s opinion.”
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“Not at all, and I’m sure that the student council will be mad at us about this once
they find out…”
“They can be mad then. It’s not like the rules are being ignored. The five of us will just
think about how to act in accordance with the rules next time. But, then again, there is no
next time.”
“……”
“‘Within the rules but outside of the norm’, that’s the tagline! What does everyone
think?”
In response to Amaniji-senpai’s query, Shichimiya replied with, “The Cultural Festival is
a war! Surprise tactics are valid!” Rikka then added, “We need to think of a title for this
operation!” Kumin-senpai also chimed in, saying with a gentle smile, “This seems
interesting~.”
Aside from me, everyone else was in high spirits.
…Huh, am I the weird one…?
Everyone being unified created such a misapprehension for me.
Without a doubt, surely, probably, I’m the normal one, but…
However, as a result of the flow of events, I had no choice but to be silent.
“In other words, it’s been agreed to! Now, regarding practice, it’ll commence
tomorrow. The meeting place will be here in the principal’s office, after school tomorrow,
okay? Right, so the first club meeting of the ‘Eccentric Drama Club’ has now come to a close.
Good work today! Look over the script when you get home, alright?”
As she announced the end of the meeting, Amaniji-senpai slapped her hands together
to signal our dissolution.
◆
We parted ways with our upperclassmen at the principal’s office, and we returned to
the fourth floor, where the first-year classrooms are – we were in front of the homeroom
for class 1-2.
Since I only planned on telling Amaniji-senpai that we could help out, I left my bag in
the classroom, and so we had to return so I could pick it up.
Since our meeting finished so soon, we had quite a bit of time before school closed for
the today.
It seemed that all the classes were preparing for the cultural festival, as all the first-
year classrooms looked quite busy.
The voices of people practicing either a song or a play.
The light-hearted chat between people preparing for their class’ program.
85
“Oh. In that case, let me know when you two are done. We’ll go home together.”
Then –
After parting ways with Rikka and Shichimiya, I was back in the principal’s office.
Not even 10 minutes had passed since I was last here, as we had only recently parted
ways from here. Even so, there was still the chance that Amaniji-senpai had already left for
home.
And, as I started thinking about heading back to the classroom to lend a hand in
preparing the stage for the dance, I once again knocked on the door of the principal’s office
and entered quietly.
“Huh, Yuu-chan, what’s the matter? Forgot something?”
“Wait, why are you sitting over there as if it was the natural thing to do…!?”
Sitting imposingly in the chair that seemed to be for the principal’s exclusive use was
Amanij-senpai, who, upon seeing my face when I entered the room, looked a bit surprised.
I’m the one who should be surprised here.
“…Ah, umm, rather than something I’ve forget, it’s more like there’s something I’m a
bit concerned about. Err… where’s Kumin-senpai?”
“Something you’re concerned about? As for Kumin, she’s already gone home to sleep.
Did you need her for something?”
“No, that’s not the case. You’re the one that I have some business with. Is now fine?”
“With us? Yeah, now’s fine. We were only just adjusting the script a bit. Take a seat,
Yuu-chan.”
Getting up from the chair, Amaniji-senpai moved to the sofa near the reception table.
As she moved, she pulled out two cups and a teapot from somewhere out that
appeared to be the principal’s desk and carried them over.
…The principal’s desk contained another dimension.
Furthermore, it seemed that said dimension was cold.
Although I was curious about the desk’s structure, I too took a sit on the sofa, sitting in
such a way that I was face-to-face with Amaniji-senpai.
“Once more, we’d like to say our thanks to you, Yuu-chan. Okay?” said Amaniji-senpai
delightfully as she poured tea into the cups for the two of us.
“DevTru Rikka-chan and Sofia-chan – for bringing those two wonderful girls here,
seriously, thanks so much. Of course, we’re also thankful to you for agreeing to help out as
well.”
87
As she said that with a friendly smile, she placed one of the cups of tea in front of me.
“Rather than thanking me, please go and thank the people themselves. As for me, I’m
more like a freebie thrown in with Rikka.”
“Yeah, we were thinking of giving our thanks to those two once again. Nevertheless,
the fact that everyone was willing to help someone as eccentric as us makes us really
happy.”
“Even you think of yourself as eccentric…”
Well, rather than eccentric, I get the impression that it’d be more accurate to call you
a reckless person.
“Ahahaha, but, well, it’s not like this eccentricity is just for show,” stressed Amaniji-
senpai, earnestly.
For me, those words felt very worrying – it may have been due to the fact that
everything that isn’t “normal” appealed to Amaniji-senpai, but even so, her words felt
rather dark.
Rather than dark, perhaps I should be saying that there was something hidden within
her words.
That her words hid another meaning.
As such – I was worried.
“……”
I hesitated for a moment over whether it was appropriate for me to continue on with
the conversation.
However, that hesitation was overwhelmed by my strong feeling of anxiety.
I’ll keep listening – if it were the case that it was something she didn’t want to talk
about, it would be fine for us to just leave things at that. As such, I decided to continue on
with the conversation for just a bit longer.
“…Amaniji-senpai, have you always been like this?”
“Hm? Always?”
“Umm, like from when you were small… I get the impression that you’ve always been
an eccentric person.”
“Yep! That’s right!”
She answered me extremely casually.
Maybe that feeling from before was just my imagination…
“Well, various things did happen though,” said Amaniji-senpai as she lowered her
gaze. She kept her eyes averted for a while.
88
This time, those words – it wasn’t just my imagination, there definitely was something
hidden within those words.
“Was it not the same for you, Yuu-chan?”
Amaniji-senpai turned to me with a face that was that was completely lacking in
vigour.
Her words sounded frail.
“What do you mean by that?”
“The desire to be more special than anyone else.”
“The desire to be special…”
“Ah, was this the thing that Yuu-chan was talking about, the thing that you’re worrying
about?”
“Er, well…”
Uhh… I was at a loss as to what to say.
I didn’t know where to place my gaze, as I wasn’t sure how I should reply, and so I
defaulted to hanging my head.
To be honest, I was planning on talking about something else. Then again, I was very
curious about Amaniji-senpai’s personality. Rather, perhaps it’d be more accurate to say
that it had been on my mind for a while now.
The uniquely distinctive rainbow upperclassman – how she became like this, her
circumstances.
On the topic of her personality, it also seemed to remind me of that.
I wonder if Amaniji-senpai was also ill with it as well – or something similar.
Still, as expected, “Amaniji-senpai seems a bit chuunibyou-ish!” was not something
that I could say to her.
“Ahaha, but it’s not a very pleasant story though. See, it’s not a story we’re sure you’d
be interested in, since it’s the sort that people don’t know how to react to.”
“Wow… I wasn’t expecting that the reason behind that desire was due to that sort of
thing, but…”
“Hehe, aren’t you kind, Yuu-chan? Still, if Yuu-chan’s curious, we’ll talk about it. Since
Yuu-chan will most likely be listening seriously to my story.”
“……”
“We’re sure that you’ll believe our story. Despite the fact that the two of us have only
been acquainted for a short period of time. You’re the strange boy who didn’t mind our
trespassing of your room after all.”
89
“No, that’s…”
“To be honest, we’ve been pleased with you ever since that time, Yuu-chan. Ordinary
people won’t even hear us out. Moreover, you’re listening to our weird story even now.”
“…When you put things like that, on the contrary it makes it harder for me to ask you
about it.”
“Really? In that case, we’ll willingly tell you about it!”
“You’re weird enough to be an Amanojaku25, seriously!”
Honestly, I’m not sure if she was hard or easy to deal with.
On one hand, she had declared that she couldn’t do anything normally. On the other,
it was admirable how frank she was in carrying out her words.
Still, in that sense – she was exactly as expected.
“Nevertheless, it’s a bit hard to talk about that here… it seems that the principal is
about to return as well, so how about the two of us change locations?”
◆
25An Amanojaku (天邪鬼, ‘heavenly evil spirit’) is a youkai who is able to provoke a person’s
darkest desires and tempt them do act on their wicked impulses.
90
There were flowers (I have no idea what type of flowers they were) in a vase on top of
the shoe shelf in the entryway, and the hallway was clean to the point where it seemed that
someone had just swept it.
It was strange as to why the living room gave off the impression of a mother saying
“welcome home” as it was just the two of us in the condo. It seemed that everyone else
who livie here was presently out working.
Following Amaniji-senpai’s lead, I entered her room.
It wasn’t like I had a hobby of evaluating other people’s rooms, but if I had to give my
opinion of her room – bland.
It was a clean and tidy room.
Since it was this strange upperclassman, I was under the impression that her room
would be some strange jack-in-the-box, so I was disappointed by, what I guess you could
call, her unexpected room.
However, there were a lot of rainbowed-coloured trinkets in her traditional Japanese
tatami mat room, which did feel strange.
On the topic of strange things that I’ve noticed, how many pictures of rainbows did
she have decorating her room? Also catching my eye was the book with the rainbow-
coloured book cover on her bookshelf.
I mean, what can I say, I really love rainbows – that was what her room was telling me.
“What are your thoughts on the room?”
“Eh?”
Since it was such an abrupt question by Amaniji-senpai, I was rather discourteous and
had her ask the question again. However, it seemed that Amaniji-senpai didn’t particularly
mind as she asked the question again.
“Our room, what’s Yuu-chan’s impression of it?”
“Err… Let’s see, it’s unexpectedly normal?”
Even though I was the one who said it, but unexpectedly normal? Why did I say that?
Unexpectedly normal – that phrase contained a word that didn’t apply to Amaniji-
senpai, a word that the differently didn’t fit.
Although the word ‘unexpectedly’ is a compliment for Amaniji-senpai, its connotation
probably changed since it was attached to “normal”.
“Yeah, it’s surprisingly normal, right?”
Amanji-senpai appeared satisfied with my reply.
“We’re just, unfortunately, an unexpectedly normal person.”
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“That’s not true, I’ve seen just how eccentric you are. It’s a bit unreasonable and
unjustified to conclude that you’re not just based your room…”
“Ahaha, that certainly may be true. However, in our opinion, a person’s room is
reflective of who they are, and taking a peek into another person’s room is the single best
way of understanding their true personality. Their bookshelf, their clothes, their accessories:
wouldn’t you say that they give a good outline of what the person likes? It’s both beautiful
and dirty. You can also generally tell when a room’s hiding a secret as well.”
“I see…”
“We were going to keep silent, but to be frank, when we were in observing your room
Yuu-chan, we were also trying to find the true self that you’ve hidden – not!”
“Now, now, for the time being, take a seat, kay?” said Amaniji-senpai as she took a
cushion out for herself to sit on. I too also borrowed a cushion and sat down.
“Moving to a simple place like this: well, this was the reason why.”
“You mean you wanted for me to see this room?”
“That’s right. It was easier if you saw it. Our – or as you would say, the “true nature of
this unexpectedly normal person”. And, emphasis on the word ‘normal’.”
The word that Amaniji-senpai made sure to emphasise shocked me.
Somehow, my impression of her was of a person who would never say words like that
in earnest.
It was surprising, among other things, that she’d call herself normal; it was so strange
to the point that it felt abnormal. It was a word that differently didn’t fit Amaniji-senpai.
The shock to me was so big that I couldn’t even respond. A short period of silence
followed.
But then, as if to break that silence,
“We want to ask you a little something… Yuu-chan, you said that you’re “normal”,
right?” said Amaniji senpai.
◆
“It’s better if you didn’t say those words. To not say things like, “you’re normal”. In our
opinion, see, it’s not a word that’s very positive.
“That’s right, words like ‘normal’, generally, aren’t compliments at all. Even so, it
seemed that we were normal. Normal: to phrase it in another way, ‘not special’.
“Viewing us from afar, we were someone who wasn’t special at all, someone who had
no personality whatsoever: we were simply Girl A.
“Aha, that’s a fierce retort from you, Yuu-chan. However, Yuu-chan, haven’t you also
thought of yourself like that before?
92
“That you were someone who was ‘more special than anyone else’.
“Was it the same for Yuu-chan as well? We see. You understand what we’re talking
about.
“Still, it was different for us. Although we did think all that of myself – we didn’t have
anything that we could call special, and from a distance we could only be seen as someone
who was personality-less. We were the very essence of ‘normal’.
“That’s not the case? Ahaha, thanks. That may be the case now. Yeah – only now.
“In the beginning, we wanted to be “a special person” in a much simpler way. We just
wanted to be thought of as special.
“By our parents.
“Don’t make such a gloomy face. It’s not that big of a story. It’s pretty common. It’s
just the story of our father’s affair.
“Eh? It’s not a common story?
“We-well, that’s just how it was to us. At the time, we thought it was pretty common.
Our father left us, so we thought that us and our mother weren’t someone special to our
father.
“Now that we think about it – this story of ours. You could say that it’s the cause of
making us the person we are today.
“We were wrong as a kid, thinking that we didn’t have anything special. We may have
thought like that at that time due to viewing ourself as someone who wasn’t special.
“Then again, even if someone like that didn’t happen, we’re certain that we would
have eventually ended up being the same eccentric person that we are today.
“Wouldn’t you agree? We mean, it’s us after all, right?
“Ahaha. Anyway, so – from that day onwards, we tried to become someone special.
“After deciding that, we thought to ourself: what did it mean to be someone special?
The result – we had to be someone who was absolutely different from every other person.
“To live as a special and unique person.
“However, we were told something. Right after our parents divorced. Back when we
were in the first year of middle school. By my teacher. On that day – during the parent-
teacher interview for course guidance.
“Amaniji-san’s ‘normal’.
“Those words by my teacher were probably meant as a compliment. That we were a
normal and good child. It was probably supposed to meant something like that.
“What do you think, Yuu-chan?
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“Is that so? Japanese is quite hard, isn’t it? Or are we just weird?
“Hehe, right? Yay!
“We weren’t happy to be praised like that. Yeah, even if it was meant to be a
compliment. At that time, our mother didn’t say anything. Maybe our mother knew how we
saw those words. Maybe she didn’t. We don’t know.
“Either way, we didn’t think of it was a compliment. We thought that it was normal to
not be told stuff like “she is normal”. And, back then, we were wondering why we was told
something like that.
“At first, we didn’t understand it’s significance. But then, immediately understood.
That I was a worthless human being with no personality. That I was a normal child who
wasn’t special. That it was something bad.
“Your words are so kind, Yuu-chan.
“However, back then, there wasn’t anybody who tell us the things you’ve saying now,
Yuu-chan.
“Mother didn’t say anything either – that was the major turning point for us.
“As such, from that point onwards we came to think, “normal is no good”. Being part
of the masses means not being special. And so – we became a special person.
“Well, that’s just how it is. And now, like how Yuu-chan puts it, our identity has now
become like this.
“Yeah, that’s why we made our personality like this. There’s no one else like us.
“But, there’s no one else that thinks like us, right? There’s no one else who wants to
be special like this.
“Ahaha, right. That’s true. Everyone’s like this at least once. Thank goodness.
“But you know, we may have made a mistake back then. Or rather, we made a
misinterpretation.
“Yep, that’s right. To put it simply, the antonym of ‘special’ isn’t ‘normal’.
“The antonym of ‘normal’ is ‘abnormal’.
“For the young us, by the time we realised our mistake, we found ourself already in
solitude.
“‘That child’s weird’ was what others would say of us.
“Or in other words, abnormal… Yep, we became a ‘heretic’.
“That’s right, we were already past the stage of “normal is no good”.
“Hehe, but then in that sense we were already kind of unique, weren’t we?
94
“And so, from that point onwards, we’ve been the way we are this whole time. Even
so, we had tried to push ourself even further. Because we were special.
“Yeah, but from our point of view, we weren’t afraid of being misunderstood as a
‘heretic’. The past us would have been pleased with the current us.
“Even if everyone around us was judging us, we wanted to be ‘special’.
“For example, we did things like this.
“Ahaha, isn’t it amazing? Nobody else is ever going to do things like getting seventy-
seven points on every test! Even now, we’re a bit prideful of this! By the way, it’s still a
work-in-progress.
“Subjects like Japanese are quite difficult, right? When it’s an essay, there’s no chance
at winning. We score 0 points on those.
“Grrr! We’re not an idiot!
“Ah… Yeah, in our case, we were treated as if we were some sort of tumour. It was like
they too would get infected if they got too close. Aside from that, it was great for us back
then.
“Back then, we experienced what it was like to be a special person – since we were
always alone.
“Eh, no way!?
“We-well, let us finish this funny old tale of ours. Even though it’s probably not that
particularly funny. No, although it was probably a tale of mistakes, we have no regrets about
it. Even now, we didn’t think that our past was bad.
“And then, when we entered high school, we had an encounter. That’s how we
became the final form of us, the present us.
“Yep, that’s right. It was the Eccentric Drama Club.”
◆
I – even though it was Amaniji-senpai’s story, for some reason I felt that I could relate.
How do I put it; it was similar my past.
It wasn’t to the same degree, but I too had thought that I was an amazingly special
person. I was certain of it.
And so, I was ill.
Ill with chuunibyou.
After listening to Amaniji-senpai’s story, it seemed that she too was also a sufferer or
sympathiser.
95
Still, given how far she took it, I’m doubtful as to whether she could be categorised as
having chuunibyou. Then again, only someone with chuunibyou could take it as far as she
does.
She was as devoted to it as Rikka, and as ultimate of a patient as Shichimiya.
To be frank, I think that she’s amazing.
Normally, you wouldn’t be able to take it this far.
The reason I know all this is because I too once shared the same view as Amaniji-
senpai. However, in the end, I concluded: “Oh. I’m not special.”
Thinking back to it, I despaired a bit as I realised it.
Even though I believed that I was completely different from everyone else, I was
thinking of and doing the same things as everyone else. And thus, upon realising this, I
graduated from chuunibyou.
Unlike me though – Amaniji-senpai persisted.
Even now, she continues to persist.
It isn’t easy to be special.
It isn’t easy to keep being special.
And so, to be frank –
“You’re amazing.”
Such were the words that came out.
“Huh? Amazing?”
“Well, as expected, Amaniji-senpai’s not normal at all.”
Given the situation, those words (which were intended to be a compliment) could
have been interpreted differently. However, it seemed that Amaniji-senpai understood my
intentions, as she let out a “hehe” with a smile.
“Is that so? How joyous. Even if it’s just a little, it’s great how you sympathise with us.
Normally, no one sympathises with us. Maybe you understand us, Yuu-chan, since you’re
looking at things in third person – or something like that.”
“…Personally, I don’t think that’s the case. Surely, anyone –”
“Hehe, Yuu-chan really is kind. However, reality’s a little harsher than that. A heretic’s
a villain simply because they are a heretic. Even if they didn’t do anything wrong. Ah, but it
was bad of us to trespass.”
“…Right. In that the case, I’ll do what’s normal to do and report that intrusion of
yours.”
96
“But! There was a legitimate reason for doing so! To meet with Yuu-chan! Meeting
Yuu-chan can’t be done via normal means!”
“If such a method of entering was acceptable, there would be thieves in my room all
the time!”
“Ooh, we see! Next time, we’ll make an appointment to enter from there!”
“That still against the law!”
“Is that so… Even so, we won’t give up. Something like giving up’s too normal.”
“Are you just trying to sound cool with that pointless remark!?”
“No – we sincerely are sorry about what happened back then. Next time, we’ll do our
best to avoid violating the increasingly aggressive law!”
“Ah… normally you apologise…”
“Hehe, normally!? Oh, oh, so we’ve prostrating!”
“In this situation, prostrating does feel like the normal thing to do…”
“Eh!? Un, understood! Prostrating it is!”
“Did prostrating’s normalness pass away26!?”
It’d be troubling if it became a star.
Furthermore, it’d be a terrible constellation.
I have absolutely no idea how I ended up on this line of thought.
Let’s see… That’s right, there was something I wanted to ask about.
“By the way, there’s something that I’m a little curious about – why do you refer to
yourself with the royal ‘we’? Why do you keep using such a unique way of addressing
yourself? Is the reason why related to the story from before as well?”
For now, before moving to the main issue at hand, I asked about this as a preface.
I had been a little curious about it ever since we first met.
Was it because of something that happened back then, or was it because of it being
novel? Why did she decide to refer to herself like in third person?
“Ah, correct! Hehe, it’s cool, isn’t it, right? Since it’s normal to refer to yourself in first
person, we thought that it was necessary to do something more original!”
26A pun on the Japanese euphemism to die. The original Japanese text, なくなった
(nakunatta), usually means “to lose/disappear/be consumed”, but can also mean “to die”.
This is then linked to the idea of becoming a star, the Japanese euphemism of dying.
97
With her chest puffed out, Amaniji-senpai had a beautiful smile on her face as she
replied to me.
Well, I understand why she’s so pleased, as I too also thought that it was Amaniji-
senpai-like.
“Haha, that’s very Amaniji-senpai-like. Still, to be frank, it doesn’t seem like a thing
that you should be fussed over.”
“It is worth fussing over. We must always be unique! At first, we contemplated using
“nou”, but we stopped since no one else understood what we meant.”
nou
“‘ のう’…”
nou
“Yeah, 儂 27.”
27The kanji (儂; the personal pronoun used generally by the elderly) is usually pronounced
as わし(washi), but can also be pronounced as のう(nou).
98
And that’s why we’re in the principal’s office! And that’s why we’re in the principal’s
office!
I was so surprised that I retorted twice in my mind. Seriously, anything could happen
at this school.
“Really? If you say so. Still, it makes us pleased. It’s complicated, but long story short,
the principal is looking after us now.”
An embarrassed “Ahaha” leaked out from of Amaniji-senpai’s dry smile.
“The principal made various arrangements for us to attend. Seriously, it was great that
the principal was so rich in personality. You know, if it wasn’t for the principal, we definitely
wouldn’t have chosen to enrol at this school. Even the fact the school was right next to this
place wouldn’t have swayed us!”
“……”
On the contrary, I’ve heard that some people, after having met the principal, decided
against enrolling here.
But, well, I could sort of get where Amaniji-senpai was coming from, since I too was
swayed by school’s ethos of freedom (or excessive freedom).
Now, however – it was time to raise that.
For some reason there always seemed to be some sort of complicated question on my
mind. I must have some sort of anxiety disorder, for me to be this prone to worrying… To be
honest, that might actually be the case, but even so I’m still concerned about it.
Concerned about the main issue, the thing I really need to ask about – the thing I’ve
yet to ask about properly.
“Um, to be honest, there’s one more thing that I’d like to ask about. Is that okay?”
“Ah, is that so? It’s not like we particularly mind how many questions there are: go
ahead.”
Since I didn’t want the mood too heavy, I chose my words as carefully as possible.
“It’s about the script; I’m a bit concerned about it. Although Rikka had said to change
the script with a bang, it’d be perfectly fine if you disregarded her. After all, you seem to
have your circumstances. To tell you the truth, telling you this was the reason why I
returned.”
“……”
Silence.
I had tried to avoid setting a heavy mood, but it seems that things didn’t go over
smoothly…
After about five seconds of silence, Amaniji-senpai made a wry smile.
99
“Ahaha, so that’s what was on your mind? Sorry, that’s not we meant at all, see… No,
yeah, that was a lie. It was true that we were unsure of what to do about it. But it’s fine
now. We’re incorporating DevTru Rikka-chan’s idea! We have to stake everything on the
more interesting option!”
“U-umm, if you really do have circumstances, there’s no need for you to overdo
things: it’s fine. After all, we shouldn’t be inconveniencing you with this… Besides, Rikka will
understand if we tell her that the setting can’t be changed.”
“It’s not troublesome at all, something like this. Rather, we’ve the one who should be
sorry for burdening everyone… Hmm, it’s troubling, since our facial expressions can’t
capture just how sorry we are. Right then, how would you like for us to commit seppuku28!”
“What kind of idiosyncrasy is that!? Don’t kill yourself off all of a sudden please!
Rather, don’t stab your stomach with a mechanical pencil please!”
The heavy mood! In one go, it’s been reset! You’re seriously disgustingly ill!
To suggest seppuku… Ah, persuasion…?
I mistook persuasion for seppuku – how embarrassing.
Even the heavy mood from before was more preferable than this.
But, then again, me making that mistake may have been a good thing, since the
mood’s changed for the better.
“But yeah, you’re right. Let us properly explain what the circumstances are
surrounding the play. We at least owe you that much, Yuu-chan, given how indebted we are
you for helping us out.”
“If it’s something that’s hard for you to talk about, there’s no need for you to…”
“Ahaha, there’s no need to worry. It’s not something that’s hard for us to talk about.
Let’s see, where should we start?”
To show that she was thinking, Amaniji-senpai crossed her arms.
“Right – first things first, we should probably start by talking about the script. In regard
to changing the script, it’s true that we were a little hesitant… But Yuu-chan, there’s no need
for you to worry about that anymore, okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
Hearing my response, Amaniji-senpai smiled. She then resumed talking again.
“This script – to tell you the truth, we weren’t the sole authors.”
“…Is that so?”
28This following exchanged is based on a pun between 切腹 (a Japanese suicide ritual to die
with honour) and 説伏 (persuasion), as they are both pronounced seppuku (せっぷく).
100
“Yes, and so for us to just arbitrarily change the script – that was what crossed our
minds. It was a collaborative effort to come up with the scenes of the script. And so, the
scenes – wouldn’t the scenes be special to its other author?”
“…Yeah, I guess.”
“We want to cherish special things. And hence we were a little hesitant. Ahh, what
would be the right thing to do?”
“……”
“Still, we, without a doubt, want for things to go in an interesting direction. That
feeling was, and still is, true. So that’s why, without deleting or altering the existing scenes –
we will add. Since it’s special to that person, it’s impossible for us to do something like
deleting a scene, and so the only way to make things more interesting is to add new scenes.
That’s why, Yuu-chan – it’s all fine, there’s no need to worry.”
“Umm… about the script, who was its other author?”
“My upperclassman. Who has already graduated –”
Once again, Amaniji-senpai swallowed her words.
As if to signify her indecision, her eyes were closed.
However, she then opened her eyes slowly, and –
“But now… Senpai’s no longer here anymore.”
– were the words she said as she bit her lip.
The significance of those words –
Although her words were ambiguous, it was still possible tell that something had
happened.
…Whatever it was that had happened in the past – it was probably something sad…
It was probably the reason why she had been this desperate to perform the play… It
also explained both her fervour to perform the play when we first met, and her feelings of
unease she constantly had in regard to the script. It was why she was abrupt, and, above all,
in a hurry.
I couldn’t find them – the right words to respond to her.
Unintentionally, however, my face told a different story.
It clearly leaked how I felt.
“Ahaha, it’s pointless to worry about it, Yuu-chan. …It’s something inevitable after all.”
“…I’m sorry. But, even so –”
101
Although I managed to choke out a reply, I wasn’t able to stop my voice from
quivering.
Concerned by my response, Amaniji-senpai made an effort to be cheerful.
“It’s fine it’s fine! Senpai – Catgirl-senpai, as you could probably tell from her
nickname, was a very strange person. She was the personification of interestingness.”
Choosing her words carefully, Amaniji-senpai continued.
“She truly was a great upperclassman. It’s no exaggeration to say that the reason why
we haven’t changed much at all during high school was because of our meeting with Catgirl-
senpai.”
“……”
“We liked her so much that we proposed to her.”
“You’re exaggerating, right!?’
“That’s right! The problem past.”
…That response had a troubling twist.
It’s double meaning. Did she mean a problem from the past, or that the past itself was
the problem?
“Well, although I’ve been joking about it – she really did save us back then. To
someone like us, she was kind. In fact, she drowned us joy. It was the first time someone
treated us like that. And that’s why we proposed to her.”
“…What was the joke from before then…?”
“Haha, we were joking about the marriage. It was a trial from onee-san here to help
you, Yuu-chan, master how to make amazing retorts faster.”
“……”
Until now, it was hard to find the chance to make such a retort against her... How
extraordinary.
“Anyway, such was our benefactor and master, Catgirl-senpai. Even when there was a
script, she was always happy to ad-lib, transforming the play into something more fun every
single time. As long as the core parts of the play weren’t incorrect, it was fine. Frankly
speaking, DevTru Rikka-chan’s idea to take things in a more interesting direction would be
something that Senpai would have approved of with pleasure.”
She was extraordinary, but. She was merely joking, but.
Amaniji-senpai – she was a kind upperclassman.
I thoughtlessly overstepped my bounds and asked about something sensitive – it was
truly inexcusable, for me to abuse the mood like that.
102
“Now then, if Yuu-chan’s free, let’s think about the ‘Dark Flame Master’ setting
together! Together – let’s properly think about it and make it interesting!”
“…Yes!”
“By the way, Yuu-chan, what’s the Dark Flame Master?”
…That? That was my creation.
That’s right, that was my creation, and so we had to think about it properly together.
“…My, it’s my sealed power that I’ve since lost.”
Despite it making me feel a little nihilistic in a chuuni-like way, I rambled on about my
embarrassing creation to Amaniji-senpai at length.
The greatest redeeming factor was that Amaniji-senpai was, without laughing at
anything in particular, listening to my story seriously.
Rather, she seemed to long for something similar, saying: “What a strange power!
We wish that we had a strange power like that.” Guess Amaniji-senpai was interested in
having something like that as well.
We must have mixed in some similar silly conversations as we added to the script, as
quite some time had passed.
When I turned to look at the clock, it was almost time for me to go.
Since I made a promise to go home with the others, I had to head back to school
again.
Then again, since the two of us had worked on the script right up to the point when
school closes, we just managed to finish the revised script.
“Phew, it’s finally finished, isn’t it?” I said as I took a breather.
As if to thank me, Amaniji-senpai, with a tender voice, responded:
“Thanks for your hard work. Surely, the script has improved manyfold! Anyone who
doesn’t think this script is interesting – said patron must have plain tastes!”
In that case, what we had then was a terrible story.
104
“You see… even if I utilised the power of the Devilish Truth Stare, the pollution of the
Earth wouldn’t immediately cease. It’s not going to be good if this continues…! Ugh… Yuuta,
you head there first…!”
September 3rd. Today, school only lasted until noon – right now, classes were finished
for the day.
There were 6 days till the cultural festival.
There was barely any time left to practice for the play at all.
Because of how little time we had left, I wanted to head to practice as soon as
possible. However, when I asked Rikka to come along, she rejected me with that amusing
line.
Incidentally, the way she was holding the cleaning broom with both hands made her
look like a hero who was about to depart. It was very cool.
“Ah, right. You were on cleaning duty today. Got it, I’ll head there first. I’ll go tell our
upperclassmen that you’ll be a bit late due to cleaning duty.”
“Roger, operation ‘Earth’s Normalisation’ start! Incidentally, Yuuta. The Earth isn’t
currently under attack right now!?”
“Where did that come from!? No, it not! In fact, it has never been attacked! Not even
once! Why would you even think that it is!?”
Then again, to be fair, there were lots of movies and anime where the Earth got
attacked!
If the Earth didn’t get attacked, the story in those works would never begin!
“I see. However, I often hear stories about the Earth being attacked. Does that mean
that there’s lots of people with the desire to attack the Earth?”
“Don’t put things like that! There’s nobody with such a desire!”
“In that case, does that mean Earth-san has a strong desire to be attacked? I see, so
those desires are played out for Earth-san in stuff like movies. Roger, it has been
understood!”
“You think Earth-san’s a M…?”
And, like that, we got swept up by the mood and started chatting.
“HEY! START CLEANING ALREADY!”
Rumour has it that she was the dance club’s future president.
105
She was also the popularly-supported committee chairman in charge of our class’
program for this cultural festival.
She was the girl who boasts an overwhelming popularity with the boys of our class.
Within our class, she was the class king – with a demon-like expression, Nibutani
Shinka came by to reproach us.
Or to assault us.
We-we’re going to get killed…!
I was trembling with fear to the point where I couldn’t even let out my voice. Rikka,
however, was undaunted, delivering a firm reply to Nibutani.
“Mori-sama, we were in the middle of a very important discussion. The discussion of
Earth’s future. Also, the discussion of our future together.”
“You still weren’t finished with that!?”
I was so surprised that my voice came out.
Or rather, what are you declaring so jovially, Rikka-san!
No, wait, eh!? Hearing all that does makes me happy though!
“Pardon? Earth? There’s no point worrying about something like that! When it’ll
explode it’ll explode, and there’s nothing that can be done about it! Now get to cleaning!”
“Grrr. Looks like it can’t be helped, Yuuta. See you soon.”
“Oh, okay. See you.”
Parting with those words, Rikka trotted out of the classroom to go clean diligently.
I was left behind. I could more or less foresee how things will develop from here on
out, and it was scary…
Nibutani’s facial expression towards me reminded me of a Hannya mask29. How did
she become even scarier than before…?
“But aren’t the two of you flirting a bit too much? Are you a, what’s it called, an
oranyan30 when people are around?”
“What part of that conversation just then was us flirting!?”
It was only about the Earth! Moreover, that only flowed on from Rikka’s outlandish
conversation starter!
29 A mask in Noh theatre (which is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama) that
represents a jealous female demon.
30 An oranyan (オラニャン) is a male who’s cold to almost everyone but sweet to the girl he
loves.
106
Also, what did you just say? That in public I was an oranyan? Looks like Nibutani’s
vocabulary was still as ancient as ever…
“Anyone who saw that conversation of yours would have thought that the two of you
were flirting.”
Supporting her arms with a broom, Nibutani stared at me with a normie-despising
cold gaze, before letting out a deep “haaa”.
Were things really to the point where you felt the need to sigh so exaggeratedly…?
It was merely a discussion about Earth.
“By the way, there’s something I wanted to ask – it’s about what Takanashi-san’s up
to. She’s come up to me and said “I am still trying to master the dance, but for the time
being I will practice at home, as I cannot make the dance rehearsals. Is permission granted?”
What is that all about?”
“Why do you keep slipping impersonations in every now and then…”
Furthermore, her impersonations do seem to subtly resemble the real deal…
Then again, it may have just been the case that Rikka was easy to imitate.
“She was lending a bit of a hand to help out an upperclassman with her play. As a
result, she ended up being the leading actress of the play. As expected, it’s a problem, isn’t
it?”
“Mmm, not really. Takanashi-san: she’s quite skilled. Even I was surprised by how
good she was. It’s not really a problem if she skips out on practice, since all she’ll be doing is
perfecting the dance even more. Still, why is she helping out with the play on such short
notice?”
“Well, it’s a long story.”
“Hmm, is that so… Takanashi-san, she’s changed a little,” murmured Nibutani.
It seemed that those were her true thoughts.
It was rather surprising to be hearing those words from her.
“When I first met with her – I guess you could say that I had a few concerns about her,
but it seems that she’ll be fine now. Even without me rehabilitating her.”
“You were still intending on rehabilitating her, huh…”
“Wasn’t that obvious? However, if things turn sour – if she becomes Dark Takanashi-
san – then her rehabilitation will commence straightaway.”
“…’Dark Takanashi-san’, huh. Right, guess from your perspective she’s changing in a
good way.”
107
“Hmm? Yeah, I guess. It’s only natural that I want to rehabilitate her, since it’s
irritating how she and Kazari keep pestering me with ‘Mori-sama Mori-sama’.”
…Wow, really?
Does that really happen? I’ve never seen it happen before, but it’s Rikka after all.
She’s incredible.
“Still, it’s just by a bit, but my way of thinking has changed.”
“Way of thinking?”
“– I, if back then, if I too had someone like you, someone who would stay with me –
maybe things like my dark history would have never occurred.”
“…That’s –”
“Just kidding! For the sake of maintaining White Takanashi-san, you need to keep
being her wonderful boyfriend, Geruzoni.”
“Eh?”
I was surprised by how normal that was.
It wasn’t her words that surprised me, however – it was her smile. Nibutani… When
did she become such a nice person? Maybe it was during summer vacation.
But when we met during the summer vacation, it didn’t seem like she had changed.
“Hey, what’s with the surprised face! It’s making me mad. I’m geki oko-stic finaleality
punpun dream31 mad.”
“…That choice of words is quite chuunibyou-ish.”
It was like saying ‘Eternal Force Blizzard’.
“Eh, really!? Ah… AH, I’m geki oko punpun maru mad!”
“It’s too late to rephrase things in a cuter way.”
“Drop dead!”
As she said that, Nibutani looked down at me in her usual sadistic attitude.
I personally hated the masochistic feeling I got from our exchanges, but, yeah, as
expected, our exchange just doesn’t feel right without it.
“Enough! You’re a hinderance to cleaning, shoo!”
31This string of nonsensical words, along with the following “geki oko punpun maru” is
meant to be gyaru talk for being mad. Out of the 6 stages, ‘geki oko-stic finaleality punpun
dream’ is the most mad, while ‘geki oko punpun maru’ (which also sounds less ridiculous) is
only the fourth-most mad.
108
“Ahh, right. Sorry for interrupting. Oh, right, there’s something that came to mind
when you were extremely angry, and it’s about the play – if you’d like, Nibutani, you should
come and see the play. I’m also appearing it in.”
“Geruzoni’s taking part? Ahahahahahahahaha!”
Nibutani was bursting with laughter, with her hands on her belly.
For her to laugh so much… It seemed that for her, me acting was something
laughable…
“I can see it already! You doing something like forgetting your lines halfway in and
adding to your dark history! I’m looking forward to–!”
“Something like that won’t happen! I’m quite confident in my acting skills: I play house
everyday–”
And, as the words left my mouth, I realised what I accidently let slip out.
As per usual, I make mistakes when I talk with Nibutani.
Moreover, it wasn’t just a careless mistake, it one of my biggest mistakes of my life. If
a mistake like this happened in the workplace, I would be fired.
Naturally, when Nibutani heard my mistake, she didn’t miss the chance to let loose
her sadistic smile.
“Ohh? So you play house. Hmhm, what, are you pretending to be a newlywed?”
“You-you’re wrong!”
“What is it then? Playing out a second marriage?”
“There’s no such scenario in playing house like that!”
You know, when you put things like that, you’re making it seem as if society views
make-believe as a joke. I will definitely never forgive you for that. You need to be more
romantic.
“Well, even if it was about you re-marrying, or about you pretending to be Saigou-
san32, or about whatever–”
“What the hell’s “pretending to be Saigou-san”!?”
“You’re being so picky with every single thing! It’s a big mistake if you think that it’s a
good idea to retort to everything!”
In response to my light retort, Nibutani blew up.
32
Potentially referring to Tanomo Saigou, a famous Japanese samurai. Yuuta did mention he
wanted to be a samurai.
109
With a backhanded blow – it was my friend, the retort. It seems the chain of set-ups
has been broken.
“AN.Y.WAY! Go away, shoo. Go loaf somewhere else.”
You were the one who called out to me first… But if I actually said that, she’ll unleash
her sadistic side again, and so I decided to leave things at that.
“…Okay, sure. Well then, do your best with cleaning.”
“Geruzoni too, with, well, the play. In hang there?”
After saying that, Nibutani turned her back towards me and started to clean.
With what seemed to be words of encouragement from Nibutani, I left the classroom
happy, thanking her for support in my heart.
◆
As soon as I left the classroom, for some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about how
enjoyable that brief after-school exchange was.
Once I was able to leave both my regrets and the classroom behind, I contemplated
about dropping by class 1-3 to invite Shichimiya to head to the club together with me.
Unfortunately, however, Shichimiya was also on cleaning duty today.
Since the two of them were both busy, I had no choice but to traverse through the
school building, which was becoming increasingly lively due to the after-school preparations
for the cultural festival, by myself. I lightly jogged my way to the principal’s office.
Given that I was alone today, unlike yesterday I arrived the principal’s office right
away.
I was now before the principal’s office – like yesterday, it was dead silent here.
Since it was quite possible that the principal was here this time around, I took a few
deep breaths.
– I’m ready.
I thought I was ready, but as it turns out, taking deep breaths did not help ease me at
all. I was still rigid with nervousness when I knocked on the principal’s door twice.
Due to my extreme nervousness, I made very loud knocks.
More importantly, however: what would be an appropriate first thing to say to the
principal?
As I deliberated in my head as to whether the principal would understand if I
introduced myself as a helper to the Eccentric Drama Club, a few seconds had passed. There
was no response from the room.
I opened the door and looked inside.
110
It seemed that all my worries were all for nothing, as the principal was absent from
the office today as well.
And – just like yesterday, I was greeted by the same surreal sight.
In the principal’s office by herself, Kumin-senpai was sleeping, with drool hanging from
her mouth.
Every time I first catch sight of her, this person’s been asleep…
There was a point of difference from yesterday though, in terms of the pillow… Is that
her personal pillow?
Either way, given how defenceless she was, I was a little worried that someone would
come while she’s asleep and attack her.
I contemplated about leaving her asleep, but it would be a problem for my sanity (not
because I was on the verge of attacking her, but because I was worried about the drool) if
she kept sleeping. I guess I should wake her up after all…
“Since you’re asleep, sorry,” I mentally apologised as I approached the defenceless
Kumin-senpai.
Wow, she’s completely full of openings… S-she might as well be naked.
With thoughts like that entering my head, my mind was thrown into complete
disarray.
Deep breaths… Regaining my calmness, I adjusted my voice to match the same
volume I had the last time I woke her up.
“Umm, there’s drool hanging out.”
…She didn’t wake up.
It appears that she was in a much deeper sleep than last time.
Hmm, why was that the case?
Still, regardless of why, I couldn’t leave her like this, and so I grabbed onto her
shoulders lightly and shook her.
“Excuse me, pleeease wake up, you have drool hanging out from your mouth.”
Seemingly in response to my shaking, Kumin-senpai woke up, slowly raising her body
as she let out “Kayy” in a half-awake voice.
As soon as she moved – I released my grip. This was a delicate situation, after all.
At the same time, Kumin-senpai – who had prepared a handkerchief in her hand in
advance – wiped off the drool from her face, before turning her face nimbly in my direction.
She then blinked twice, as if to confirm the current situation.
Then, while staring at me with eyes still half-shut, she opened her mouth.
111
33 I didn’t have a good way of translating this pun. One way of interpreting the original
sentence, ネタ振り――間違えた、寝たふりだから, is that Kumin was making setting up
for a joke (ネタ振り) and so she pretended to fall asleep (寝たふりだから) after making a
mistake (間違えた). The pun here is that the two phrases ネタ振り and 寝たふり are read
in the same way (netafuri). However, ふり is 振り in hiragana, which, in this case, means
either to pretend or to lead in (a joke), meaning that another way of interpreting this
sentence is: “I pretended to joke – whoops, I mean, I pretended to be asleep.”
112
It may have been the case that she actually was embarrassed since she got a little red
in the face. Still, as she wasn’t panicking or anything, it was a little hard to tell.
She appeared a bit too relaxed.
“Hideri-chan tells me that my looks aren’t very amusing; when she can she’ll doodle
on my face when I’m asleep. Me, am I really that dull? What do you think, Yuu-chan?”
…What a difficult question to answer.
If she was going to be pleased it, I’d be happy to tell her that her looks were amusing.
Still, when you think about it, people aren’t normally pleased to hear that they look
amusing….
Then again, judging from her words just now, it seems that she’s worried about not
being amusing. Perhaps telling her that she’s amusing is the right thing to do.
“Er, well, I guess it’s a little amusing…”
“Eh? Yuu-chan, that’s horrible, Yuu-chan: I’m on the verge of tears here.”
It was a trap.
I was called horrible…! However, I had countermeasures planned out for something
like this!
“No, what I meant by that was that it you shouldn’t worry, since it’s only a little
amusing.”
“Eh!? That’s horrible! Me, I am amusing!”
It was a double-layered trap.
How formidable…! Still, I was only limiting it to her looks when I called her amusing –
rather than about her looks, it seems her intention was to create the setup for the joke; to
come and deliver that punchline… As expected, she really was a strange person.
Guess in that sense, it was no wonder that she got along with Amaniji-senpai so well.
“By the way, Kumin-senpai, I’m a bit curious – why are you in this club?”
“Heh heh, it’s because I’m Hideri-chan’s best friend!”
Kumin-senpai answered with her chest full of pride.
To Kumin-senpai, this was apparently something to be proud of.
“Hideri-chan doesn’t have any other friends. That’s why I’m her best friend!”
“Don’t say something so cruel so nonchalantly!”
“Huh? But I don’t think that’s a terrible thing, having only a few friends. I too don’t
have many either.”
Kumin-senpai gave me a gentle smile.
114
In addition, I wasn’t sure why, but I was both curious and anxious about Amaniji-
senpai’s circumstances.
Perhaps – her circumstances had resonated within me somewhere.
“I see, it’s because Yuu-chan is very kind~. Surely you’re Mr. Popular~. Hehehe, alright,
now let’s talk about love34 for a bit.”
“Koi?”
I tilted my head upon hearing that unexpected mysterious word.
Did she want to talk about carp?
“While it’s true that I do love to sleep with a Slyly35 plush body pillow, and that I did
want to talk about carp – I wanted to talk not about koi, but love!”
Kumin-senpai was mad. She leaned forward in anger.
Wh-what a strange, entrancing sensation.
The gentle Kumin-senpai getting mad – what a feeling of ecstasy!
…Well, see, even though I couldn’t help but have thoughts like that, it didn’t mean
that I suddenly mutated into a pervert. I was just so surprised to the extent that it made me
think things like that.
Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not like that at all.
“Well, I guess boys do play dumb when it comes to the word called love~.”
“No, that’s not the case at all. Even men love talking about love. In fact, men are
nothing but enthusiastic when it comes to talking about love.”
“Excellent. Girls too also nothing but enthusiastic when it comes to talking about love.
Especially when it’s about someone else.”
“I see. Everyone wants to be in love! Hmm? I seem to have heard something strange
added there at the end…”
Yeah, it appears I’m getting a little caught up by the mood. I feel willing to talk about
anything right now!
Hrm, it seems that her being mad just now triggered Ecstasy Mode in me.
Henceforth, a new setting for me, Yuuta (Ecstasy Mode), which triggers when Kumin-
senpai gets mad, has been established! The use of this mode from now onwards, however,
is forbidden.
34 Love (こい, koi) shares the same pronunciation as koi, a type of carp.
35 One of the two mascots for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team.
116
Kumin-senpai also noticed that I had entered this state. She made a serious-looking
face and stared right into my eyes.
“Well then, let us begin our talk about love.”
“Go ahead.”
“Rikka-chan, Satone-chan, Hideri-chan, and me: who do you like out of us four, Yuu-
chan?”
“Rikka!” I declared definitively.
There was no hesitation behind my response. This is the power of Ecstasy Mode!
…This person, what is she making me say all of a sudden!?
“Reject, I got rejected…”
“Ah, no, that’s… Err, well, see, me, I’m currently going out with Rikka, and so that’s
why… umm… so it’s not that I hate you, Kumin-senpai, and of course not Shichimiya nor
Amaniji-senpai either…”
“What!?”
“You didn’t know!?”
“It’s the first I’ve heard of this. Is that so, I didn’t know.”
It seemed that this was a revelation for her. Since Amaniji-senpai knew, I thought for
sure that Kumin-senpai also knew, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Normally, you wouldn’t know about the relationship status of your underclassmen…
Only now did that thought cross my mind.
Then again, it wasn’t like it was going to troublesome if she knew, so as long as she
was fine with learning about my relationship with Rikka only now, there shouldn’t be any
problems.
“I see~. Now then, have you kissed?”
“……”
Kumin-senpai had a huge grin as she asked me that strange question.
She was like an annoying uncle…
Unfortunately, it seems that my time in Ecstasy Mode has come into an end. It seems
that I can only remain transformed for three minutes. From now onwards, I’m my normal
self.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Yuu-chan. Isn’t it something that everyone can
do~?”
117
“While it is something everyone can do, your question is unfortunately one I cannot
answer.”
I’m invoking my right to remain silent. Even if what she was telling me was true, there
was no need for her to know.
“I haven’t done it~.”
“Were you expecting me to speak up about my own experience since you were frank
about yours!?”
“Hideri-chan hasn’t either~.”
“Even if you’re frank about someone else experience, the answer’s still no!”
It was revealed without permission too.
Poor Amaniji-senpai.
“Hmm, to not playing along and lay bare your heart: you’re heartless, Yuu-chan36.”
“Even a nonchalantly delivered bad pun won’t help. I have no desire to be sympathetic
to such an appeal.”
“Well, whatever. There’s a scene in the play where Cinderella and the Prince kisses, so
I can see for myself whether you have kissed before then~.”
“There’s a scene like that!?
But yesterday, I checked over the script, and there wasn’t such a scene present!?
As I was quickly working myself up into a panic, Kumin-senpai – who had a large grin
on her face – placed the script on the table. The script was flipped open to the page with the
scene in question.
“Here, at the very end. There’s a heart, right? That’s the scene.”
“W-wh-why is the only scene that borrows from the setting of the original Cinderella
the ending!? N-no, no way! Besides, what’s to say that the heart signifies a k-kiss…!”
I was in such a state of turmoil that I started quivering. I was fumbling my words too.
Eh!? Wait, you were being serious!?
“It’s a kiss~.”
“……!”
36Literally translated, the sentence is: “Hmm, to not playing along and confess: you’re
heartless, Yuu-chan.” The original pun here was between the words 白状し (meaning to
confess) and 薄情 (meaning heartless), as they are both pronounced はくじょう (hakujō).
118
37
An untranslatable pun. Here, Yuuta makes the connection between the word remark (一
言) and the phrase someone else’s affairs (他人事), as they are both share similar
pronunciations (ひとこと [hitokoto] and ひとごと[hitogoto]).
119
However, like before, the kindness of these upperclassmen – it really saved me.
“Still, for Yuu-chan to speak of Catgirl-senpai, Hideri-chan must have said something.”
“That’s right, but I was the one who asked her about it.”
“I see~. Since she can’t meet with senpai anymore, Hideri-chan – she hasn’t talked
about senpai in forever.”
“Ah –”
I didn’t know what it was that I originally wanted to say, but I wasn’t able to say
anything else.
Noticing my predicament, Kumin-senpai gave a gentle smile.
“There’s no need to worry. Even if they are unable to meet, senpai will live on in
Hideri-chan’s heart for all of eternity. Hehe, in fact I think that good thing that Hideri-chan
has told you about her. I’m sure that Hideri-chan’s told you about senpai since she’s really
fond of you, Yuu-chan.”
“That’s… that’s wrong, I forced –”
“You really are Mr. Worry, Yuu-chan. Normally – even when forcing her – if she didn’t
want to talk about it, then she wouldn’t have said anything about it at all. Not to say that
Hideri-chan is normal, but – to Hideri-chan, Catgirl-senpai is ‘special’.”
“…Special.”
“She’s such a child, that Hideri-chan.”
As she said that, Kumin-senpai nodded her head as if to agree with herself.
Special to Amaniji-senpai, huh?
It sounded like she was a very special person.
I was extremely curious as to the type of person that Catgirl-senpai was. However, it
didn’t seem right for me to enquire and hear about her any further. Just when I was about
to change the subject –
“Do you want to hear an amusing story about Hideri-chan and Catgirl-senpai?”
Kumin-senpai said that. Moreover, she continued:
“Are you interested?”
“You’ve raised quite the high bar…”
“Ahaha, it’s because you’ve told me that you know about Catgirl-senpai. I was
wondered if you wanted to hear a bit more about her~.”
“…Err, in that case, please go ahead.”
120
“Yay! You see, Hideri-chan, she seriously admires Catgirl-senpai – she admires her so
much that one time, she came to school wearing a cat costume, and said things like “We’ve
become Catgirl-senpai”. The teachers got so mad at her, they made her write an apology
letter! Well? Amusing, wasn’t it~?”
“……”
As a result of the bar being set so high, it was questionable as to whether I could say
that story was amusing: rather, it just seemed like a very Amaniji-senpai-like thing for her to
do.
She’s someone who goes out of their way to be extraordinary.
At any rate, Amaniji-senpai… Is it that you’re fond of mascot costumes?
Rather, for that to be deemed against the rules even at our school… looks like I was
mistaken in my belief that at our school, anything goes.
“Huh, was that not amusing to you? Ri-right, this next one will definitely be amusing!”
“No, it’s not that it wasn’t amusing, but rather… the bar you’ve set –”
“Wait, let me tell one more! If this one isn’t amusing, I’ll give you my pillow!”
“You’re setting the bar even higher!?”
Kumin-senpai’s honestly incredible.
Normally, you’d be begging for the bar to not be set any higher.
I wonder if this too was due to her airheadedness… looks like every member of the
Eccentric Drama Club was extraordinary!
“Umm, let’s see, Catgirl-senpai really was a bit strange. Speaking of her being strange,
she was a strange person in that she was always wearing cat ears –”
Kumin-senpai began to reminisce about Catgirl-senpai slowly.
You could tell that she missed Catgirl-senpai.
Since there’s this nostalgic mood, I’m deeply sorry for this, but I couldn’t resist. My
bad habit – the need to retort to everything – showed itself.
“Eh!? At this school, wearing cat ears is fine!?”
“Ahaha, but you see, Catgirl-senpai only wore them during club activities. She really
was a peculiar upperclassman. She would say stuff like, ‘It’s my identity! Heh heh heh, since
this is the Eccentric Drama Club, I must show off my individuality!’”
“Ah, so it was only during club activities… Sorry, I just…”
“However, it was probably also fine if she wore them all the time too. There was even
a period of time where the principal mimicked her~.”
121
“……”
Really, that principal. Nothing was out of bounds for that person.
Hearing this made me really want to know the reason why mascot costumes were
deemed as against the school rules.
“Yeah, so that was the sort of person she was. A person who cherished having great
individuality. And a person who’s always doing strange things. Like adding strange menu
options to the school’s cafeteria and asking the cafeteria staff to make it, or like conducting
after-school lessons despite not being a teacher. She was a third-year student, yet she gave
off the impression that she was set for the university entrance exams.”
“…She sounds like a really amazing upperclassman.”
“Yep, that’s right. She was an amazing upperclassman. And a funny upperclassman. A
wonderfully kind upperclassman too. Hideri-chan and I were the only other club members
back then – first years who still didn’t know their left from their right. Even so, she still
taught us all sorts of different things. In fact, the current play is also related to Catgirl-senpai
–”
“I’ve already heard about all this from Amaniji-senpai. It’s why – why she wanted to
perform the play no matter what, right?”
“Oh, you’ve already heard all this before? It’s rather unusual though, for Hideri-chan
to be talking about this. That’s right – it was actually the script for the play we were meant
to perform at last year’s cultural festival, but Catgirl-senpai hurt herself. As a result, this play
was meant to be shelved, but Hideri-chan – see, she wanted to make this make sure that
this was the club’s last play at all costs.”
“…Is that so?”
“Hideri-chan – even now, she has almost no interest in anything but “strange people”,
right? That’s why, I’m of the belief that she earnestly reveres the things that Catgirl-senpai
had left behind. This play too is no exception –this script, I wonder if senpai wanted for it to
be performed as a guerrilla play?”
For no more than a brief moment, Kumin-senpai looked towards the skies as she
spoke. Her eyes appeared to be looking at the distant past.
It seemed that a great deal of Amaniji-senpai’s feelings were also contained in Kumin-
senpai’s words just now.
These earnest feelings– they’ve reached me now.
That’s why.
In response to these thoughts – I couldn’t reject them out of hand. It was impossible. I
couldn’t ignore them.
122
The feelings of Kumin-senpai, and the person called Catgirl-senpai – I didn’t want for
their wishes to not be met.
However, it might just be my own selfishness that’s making me feel this way.
Unconsciously, I –
“The guerrilla aspect about this play too – you want that be a success, right?”
– let that slip out.
It really was done unconsciously.
I was still hesitant about its guerrilla nature, which might have been an annoyance for
her – if she got mad, I’ll apologise to her by prostrating myself.
“That’s right, and so everyone will need to work hard~! Ahaha, sorry, I was supposed
to be telling you an amusing story, but instead I told a memorable one. Guess I’ll have to
give Yuu-chan my pillow…”
“It’s fine, there’s no need for that. It was an amusing story. So that was the sort of
person your upperclassman. Still, wasn’t the script that she had had in mind really
unreasonable? The club only had three members, and yet the script had five main roles.”
“Right? However, it’s persuasive when she says stuff like: “Aren’t things more
interesting when you’re given lots of roles? It’s impossible for the leading actress to have
another role though, since she’s on the stage the entire time.” Incidentally, I originally also
had the ‘Lord of Witches’ role~. Although it was sad to have been dropped from the role,
I’m still full of spirit! “
“That’s not the sort of line the Witch of Cinderella would say.”
It was as out of place as if a witch gotten on a deck brush.
Still, if she really did say such strange and compelling words, I could see how they
would be convinced.
I could sort of understand why Amanij-senpai admired her.
“But, I do think that it’s more interesting to be able to work together with Yuu-chan
and friends~. With more people, there’ll be a lot more individuality. That’s why I’m so glad
that you guys are helping out~!”
“Hearing something like that, it makes me –”
Right when I started to say something –
BAM! It was the sound of the door opening.
Turning my eyes towards the door, there happened to be three people there – Rikka,
Shichimiya, and Amaniji-senpai entered the principal’s office together, stating in unison
“delayed due to cleaning duty!”
123
The three of them were getting along quite well. Incidentally, only Rikka was ‘delayed
due to cleaning duty’.
With their arrival, all the members of the Eccentric Drama Club have now gathered.
…Now what do I say?
It’s rather uplifting to have everyone present.
I’m probably feeling this way largely as a result of having just spoken with Kumin-
senpai about the circumstances surrounding the play.
At first only wanted to help her out little by little, but now it’s different.
Now – I too want for this play to be a complete success.
That’s what I’ll say.
And so I said it. Earnestly. Sincerely.
“Amaniji-senpai! Me, I’ll give it my absolute all with the play! Even the guerrilla aspect
of it, let’s do it and shock everybody with it!”
Amaniji-senpai was completely dumbfounded, with eyes turning into dots from
surprise as I added at the end, “Let’s give it our all with practice!” She then grinned, and –
“It’s so like you, Yuu-chan, for you to surprise us! However, it’s normal to practice
normally! As such, we’ll never do something like the usual full run-through to practice! The
play will be more interesting if it’s performed with no rehearsals! Ah, but please do properly
memorise all the dialogue and the flow of events! That’s all for today! Now then, let’s all
have lunch together!”
– announced all that.
This time, it was my turn for my eyes to become dots.
“Give my determination back to meeeeeeee!!!”
I couldn’t help but scream.
124
In the end, not even once did we practice normally – it was now September 8th.
In other words, it was now the day before the cultural festival.
It had only been a week since summer vacation ended, and yet it felt as if a lot longer
had passed.
Although the large event known as the cultural festival was just around the corner, it
had been overshadowed by the fact that I had been preoccupied by an event for every day
of this week.
The event that had consumed my week – the Eccentric Drama Club’s final activity.
Even though we didn’t practice normally at the meetings, we still gathered as a club
together daily.
And now, it was after the end of today’s activities – I was currently in the middle of
walking home from school with Rikka.
“It was a fierce battle today as well. Arc-san and Siesta-san are strong!”
Rikka appeared cheerful as she spoke.
To be able to see a scene like this – it truly was a sight for sore eyes.
I was seeing the thing that made me the happiest: Rikka’s smiling face.
It made me really grateful that we were able to participate in the activities of the
Eccentric Drama Club together.
Thinking back on it – through the course of our activities at the Eccentric Drama Club,
not even once did we practice for the play normally.
The day after the announcement that there was to be no normal forms of practice –
Sunday, September 4th.
We were unable to meet as a club at school given that it was a day off, so instead we
gathered at a karaoke.
We gathered for a karaoke competition between all the members.
Per Amaniji-senpai: “Firstly, we start with vocal training. Since normal vocal drills are
very boring, we’ll be practicing via karaoke instead. Moreover, there’s no better place to
express one’s peculiar idiosyncrasies38 than karaoke!”
Wow.
38Same kanji (特殊性癖) for what I’ve translated earlier as “special fetish”, giving Yuuta’s
following line its double meaning.
125
Still, and just like what senpai was expecting, everyone laid bare their peculiar
idiosyncrasies(?).
Naturally, Rikka gave a solo performance, and poured her heart and soul into her
songs (she had consented to having the Eccentric Drama Club watch her performance).
Amaniji-senpai too gave it her all and showcased her kink by banging her head to every
song.
Given that the performances of Shichimiya and I were overshadowed by those two
and that the performances themselves were embarrassing, I’ll omit the details about us
singing.
As for Kumin-senpai, she had fallen asleep midway through the session. After she had
sung a few songs, it was nap time for her.
For her to be able to sleep in such an environment: it wasn’t normal.
In a sense, she had taken a form that best expressed her most peculiar idiosyncrasy.
Then, on the following days – from September 5th to September 7th – we spent our
time after school in the principal’s office, making costumes.
Per Amaniji-senpai: “Since it’s one role per person, we’ll be making unique costumes
for the play! The person who makes the costume that most lives up to the idiosyncratic
nature of the Eccentric Drama Club wins!”
In a way, that viewpoint of hers was quite reasonable.
As the script originally had for two roles per person (as well as its guerrilla nature), it
was originally for the best that our costumes were just our school uniform adorned with
small trinkets.
However, since it was now one person per role, it was good for each role’s costume to
be as flashy as possible, as that way it became easier to differentiate who was who.
And so, everyone started to make their own costumes.
Over the course of those three days, I had a lot of fun. Making the costumes whilst
having pleasant chats with the other club members was great.
Especially since sewing wasn’t my strong point, I was helped by the others in making
my costume. In addition to Rikka, who burns with an unusual zeal when it comes to making
costumes, I was also aided by Shichimiya, a prodigy whose enthusiasm seemed to rival
Rikka’s, and Amaniji-senpai, who had (in a bit of a bad way) an overwhelming sense of
colour. Thanks to their help, I believe that I was able to make something good.
As for Kumin-senpai – during the club activities she didn’t nap at all, and instead
worked in earnest on making her costume. She was also surprisingly good at it too. When I
asked her about how she was so skilled, she puffed her chest out and answered: “I can sew
because I sometimes make my own pillowcases~.”
126
“Anxious?”
“Yeah, but only just a little. Since it’s my first time doing something like this.”
“…I too am quite anxious about my part; surely, everyone else is too. Even so, I’m sure
things will turn out fine. So just do your best, Rikka.”
“…Right. Yeah, if Yuuta says so, then it’s alright.”
After saying that, she nodded her head again. This time, however, it was done
bashfully.
For even Rikka to also be feeling anxious about this situation: it made me want to do
something to wipe away her unease. What would be a good way of doing that?
……
…Nothing came to mind.
Guess I’ll just keep pondering about it until tomorrow.
“But as for the play, I’m not worried about it at all. Since Yuuta is together with me.”
“Well… I’m worried about it though… I mean, in the end, we didn’t even practice
normally once, did we?”
“I have been practicing by myself, so I’m fine. Right now, together – do you want to
practice?”
“It’s fine, I too have been practicing by myself – or rather, been practicing with
Yumeha. Even so, anxiety’s still anxiety. I’m not good at performing like you or Shichimiya.”
“That’s not true. Yuuta just needs act naturally as the Dark Flame Master: it’s super
simple!”
“…Indeed.”
Though personally, I found that the hardest part.
However, given that I could dramatically increase my own acting abilities by calling on
the me of the past for help, there… shouldn’t be a problem on that front.
It would depend on the situation at the time as to whether it could be used though.
I guess I’ve got to get Kumin-senpai angry then.
“Yuuta, your face is a bit weird.”
“Eh, ah, oh, it’s nothing!”
And with a vague statement like that, I tried to brush things off.
As usual, my acting in times of emergencies was awful.
128
“Really? If that’s the case, then there’s no problem. Since Yuuta had the face of
someone who wanted someone else to be angry at him.”
“Isn’t that too definitive for a mere face!?”
“It’s the ability of the Devilish Truth Stare. To know everything about Yuuta.”
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
She affirmed it immediately.
I’m not sure if I should be happy or scared about it.
After that exchange, Rikka, with a carefree smile, talked at length about tomorrow,
the dance, the costumes, and the play.
Like how fun things were going to be.
And how pleasant things were going to be.
And how great things were going to be.
She spoke about it all.
Suddenly – I thought back to how things were several months ago.
Before the two of us started going out, Rikka was always alone. She was
expressionless as she attended school; a girl whose head was always tilted when it was time
for math.
The days of her being like that seemed so distant that it almost felt nostalgic.
Nowadays, Rikka’s no longer like that at all.
Now – there’s only the Rikka who was happy, who was delighted, who had fun, and
was all smiles every day.
That alone was enough to make me feel blessed.
It’s why I too will need to keep doing my best as well.
That’s why I told her this.
“The cultural festival, let’s go enjoy it together.”
“Yeah!” replied Rikka with her best smile.
Because my conversation with Rikka was so enjoyable, I was a bit late in returning
home.
It was now almost night-time.
129
The blood red sky was slowly giving way to an indigo blue.
Having parted ways with Rikka, I was now on my way home.
Currently in my line of sight was the back of a girl walking just a few steps ahead of
me.
As she walked by herself, she shook her long twin-tails around, causing her long
shadow to move as well.
Twin-tails – it wasn’t quite accurate to call her hair that, given that her hairstyle was a
bit different from actual twin-tails, but if I was forced to briefly describe her, I would
describe her as a twin-tailed girl.
On the ends of her twin-tails, however, was something dangerous attached – if you
only looked at the shadow cast by the setting sun, you would think that there was a hammer
was affixed to the ends of her hair.
In addition, the colour of her hair was similar to the colour of milk tea, a beautiful light
brown.
Just from that, I could figure out who she was. There was only one person in the entire
world who would fit that description.
Dekomori Sanae.
A girl who Rikka newly contracted as her servant during summer vacation; a girl in her
third year of middle school.
As she wasn’t her school uniform, I’m guessing that she was on her way back after
having made an outing somewhere.
In any case, she was wearing amazing Lolita-styled clothes. It felt as if I was looking at
Rikka.
Hmm.
I mean, although she was merely an acquaintance, given that she was walking right
before my eyes (and alone too), that she was a middle school student, and that it was
almost night-time, it was probably necessary for me to watch over her so that she doesn’t
get caught up with any weird people.
There were enough reasons for me to feel a need to escort her.
…Yeah, that’s right.
Given that I’ve already given thought to escorting her, I would feel very bad should
something happen to Dekomori on her way home. As such, I’ll escort her home. We’re more
or less acquainted after all.
On that note, it was quite possible that Dekomori might view me as said weird person,
but let’s just turn a blind eye to that possibility.
130
There’s only one person in the entire world who would want for themselves to be
treated as a weird person, and that person’s most likely that upperclassman.
With that in mind, I increased my pace and called out to her from behind.
“Oi, Dekomori–!”
It seems that she recognised my voice, as she stopped and looked back.
However, “an acquaintance” seemed to also be the degree in which she knew me.
It appeared that she couldn’t tell who I was, as she glared at me for a bit with eyes as
if I was someone suspicious – “Huh? Who’s this? Is this someone one of my friends knows?”
was what her eyes seemed to say.
What an oddly specific glare.
“Ah, it’s DFM-death.”
“Hey! Don’t say it abbreviated!”
I have no idea who this ‘DFM’ is.
…But, what I do know for sure is that it’s ‘Dark Flame Master’ in full!
“Aren’t you the selfish person-death. Let’s see now, Dekomori’s pretty sure it was…
D F M
Door Floor Masker-san-death39…?”
“The hell!? You don’t even know what it’s short for!?”
“Pfft, Dekomori is part of the faction who do not use strategy guides-death!”
“Is my full name only listed in a strategy guide or something!?”
Rather, why did that girl randomly say bring strategy guides up!?
What a fascinating leap of logic.
“What-death? Why do you look so surprised? What is it-death? Ah, is it that you found
what Dekomori had said so fascinating that you wished for Dekomori to repeat herself-
death? Looks like it can’t be helped-death. Why, see, what Dekomori said was that unlike
your lowly self, Dekomori is the type of existence that detests the use of strategy guides-
death!”
“Your words have no modestly at all! More importantly, isn’t it strange to be using
something like this as a pretext to establish that excessively chuunibyou setting!?”
D F M
39 In the original Japanese text, Dekomori remembers DFM as 団地ふすまもしもし (danchi
fusuma moshimoshi; literally Apartment Complex Fusuma [type of Japanese sliding panel]
Hello) instead of ダークフレイムマスター (dauku fureimu mastutau). To retain the joke, it
is translated here as a bunch of nonsense that rhymes with Dark Flame Master.
131
“Chuunibyou? What is the Dark Flame Master on about-death? It seems that you’ve
either gone crazy or insane-death. Dekomori’s words were not a pretext for something-
death: there weren’t even any parentheses attached-death!”
“……”
“To begin with, Dekomori is not infected by a funny disease like that-death. Did you
forget-death? Dekomori’s ability is the power to move between the 2D and 3D realm-
death!”
“What? That’s dangerous! Bring me along to the 2D realm too!”
As usual, I was feeling envious.
Well, but I mean, anyone would be envious of such an ability.
More importantly though, she remembered that it was the Dark Flame Master.
“By the way, what are you doing in a place like this-death? Ah, is it because of Master?
If it were like usual, you were probably flirting with Master while the two of you were
together, saying “Rikka Rikka Rikka Rikka Rikka”, weren’t you-death? To be honest,
Dekomori envies you-death.”
“Oi, don’t make me such a lovey-dovey type of person. I have never done such a thing.
…Though I did part with Rikka here just now.”
“Have never done…? Ah, so it’s like that-death. So you’re that sort of person, the type
who excessively flirts only at parting, aren’t you? Dekomori frequently comes across people
like you in front of the ticket gates at the train station-death. Dekomori calls people like you
S t a t i o n P e t
a ‘Station Carressing Lover’-death!”
“Don’t call me something that detestable! But, well… I too see people like that quite
often!”
What was up with those type of people anyway?
Why do they do stuff like clinging to each other in public, and getting teary when they
part?
“It was meant to be a joke-death. As expected, someone like you was too stupid to
figure that out-death. Your brain must be made out of candy-death. Then again, it’s not like
that part of you bothers Dekomori and Master-death… Ge-heh-heh-heh…!”
“You know, Dekomori… you are a girl: you should laugh in a cuter manner…”
“Hmph. It seems like you don’t comprehend just how elegant this laugh is-death,
kepupupu.”
“That’s not cute at all!”
“Ah! Damn-death! It was a trap-death! You coward-death!”
132
And, with an expression that signalled that she felt really hurt, Dekomori turned on
her heel and walked away.
I had trouble telling if she was walking away due to shock or walking away since she
didn’t have any urgent business here. Either way, since her pace was slow, I ended up
walking right next to her, and was heading home together with her.
…Was she seriously feeling down? Even though she’s a deko40.
I highly doubt that that was the case here.
Still, it would be bad if I did end up hurting a middle school girl, and so it was best that
I said something positive to her next.
“Um, listen, Rikka’s also likes the way things currently are between you and her. It’s
just, well, as you might expect, it’s hard for me to overlook you saying that I act like a
S t a t i o n P e t
Station Carressing Lover.”
“Oh? Suddenly the Door Floor Masker is looking down on Dekomori-death! It can’t be,
you’re acting as if you’re her boyfriend?”
“I am her boyfriend! More importantly, don’t try to make that name work!”
What a fast flip-flop that was! Just a moment ago, I was being treated as an overly
lovey-dovey boyfriend. Moreover, she wasn’t feeling down at all.
Since her reversal came so fast, I ended up wasting my breath yelling at her.
Why was it a waste of breath? It was because my angry voice didn’t even make
Dekomori flinch: rather, she continued on with the conversation.
“? But Master has never said that you were her boyfriend-death?”
“No, but she had said that I’m her contractee, right?”
“If that’s the case, then Dekomori is also Master’s boyfriend, since Dekomori is also
contracted to Master as a servant-death!”
“……”
You’re okay with being her boyfriend…?
Moreover, she said it whilst wearing a weirdly triumphant expression.
40A pun lost in translation. Feeling down, or 凹んでる, can also mean ‘cave in’. This (in
particular 凹, which by itself can be interpreted as concave) then plays on the next line, 凸
なのに, as 凸 can be read as the opposite of 凹 (convex), and the fact that 凸 is part of
Dekomori’s name (凸守). The joke here is that Dekomori, much like her name, should be the
opposite of 凹, or in this case feeling down. Interestingly, 凸 by itself, at least when read as
でこ (deko), also means forehead.
133
41 This was an awkward line to translate. In the original line, the phrase “一人バカップル”
was used, which when translated literally means “one person idiot couple”. The term バカ
ップル itself is a portmanteau of the words バカ(idiot) and カップル (couple), and refers
to a couple that’s either too stupid when it comes to romance or too romantic for their own
good. I couldn’t figure out a good way of phrasing the notion of a ‘bacouple’ in this and the
following lines, so I left it as-is.
42 Russian for a female friend.
134
I’m not sure if I should call that part of her earnest, or thoughtful.
“Oh! It seems that the curse is still effective-death…! As expected, you really are
Dekomori’s rival-death! Dekomori will guard Master-death! And then for Dekomori, Master
will… Ge-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!”
“Wait, what’s with the yuri43-like statements every now and then!?”
“Huh? It’s not like that-death! Dekomori just really respects and admires Master-
death! The Dark Flame Master might not understand-death, but to Dekomori Master is a
being that Dekomori wants to call onee-sama-death!”
Dekomori’s face was full of resentment as she spoke fervently. And thus, a new fact
was discovered.
Dekomori was really, really fond Rikka.
“Onee-sama, let’s use that! On that note, ‘yes, well thought!’ Say that as a reply!
Dekomori has always wanted to try something like this at least once!
“Yes, well thought.”
And in the very instant I said that line as a joke – Dekomori’s weapon, what she coins
the Mjölnir Hammer, made a crushing blow on my stomach. “Uwaaaaaaa!” is what I would
scream if I had to scream what was currently going through my mind.
The blow was so strong that I stopped breathing for a moment.
“SUPER INAZUMA ATTACK-DEAAATH!44”
“Indeed, that attack’s offensive ability was…”
After hitting me, Dekomori then perfectly replicated the trademarked pose.
She was quite the able girl.
“Returning back to the previous topic, about calling Master Onee-sama – ‘That is not
my name,’ is what Master said, and so Dekomori calls Master Master-death.”
“O-oh… is that so?”
…Since Rikka was quite popular among girls, I get somewhat suspicious when I hear
statements like that.
Even the reserved Kazari-chan seemed to fancy Rikka a lot.
Now that I think about it – I don’t have any male rivals, do I?
“Well, when Dekomori inevitably marries marry Master, Dekomori will be sure to
invite you too-death. So just give up-death.”
“‘Just give up’ huh… However, I’d never hand Rikka over!”
“It’s futile-death. According to Dekomori’s sources, first loves are doomed to fail-
death!”
“That’s not something that a middle school girl should say! And something like that’s
not the case at all!”
“Hah, there are no falsehoods written in the Mabinogion-death!”
“Ma-mabinogion?”
This girl, what on earth was she talking about?
As expected of someone currently suffering from chuunibyou, from time to time she
begins to start talking nonsense.
Up till just then, we were having, at least in my opinion, a more or less normal
conversation. Now, however, I was failing to keep pace with her train of thought.
“DEATH!45”
“Not to say that I understood the meaning behind your words, but what’s the
reasoning behind your conduct just now!?”
Please don’t suddenly jump and scream out loud again.
It generally startles the other person. To do it so abruptly makes it seem as if you had
picked a fight with them.
“Dekomori was just that surprised-death. That the Dark Flame Master was still
incapable of comprehending what both Dekomori’s and his own settings were-death.”
“Don’t say something that harsh so modestly. But, well, somehow, I do get what
you’re trying to say. When you say setting, it’s like your position, right? When I was entering
high school, I too wondered what my position in the class should be.”
Although, in the end – I ended up being a low-profile sort of character.
Right now, my position is ‘Rikka’s boyfriend’. My presence was so weak that a term
like ‘Rikka-chan’s boyfriend’ epitomised the entirety of who I was.
“Kepupu! The ‘Dark’ in Dark Flame Master seems to mean having a faint presence-
death! Perhaps you should change your name to ‘Faint Flame Master’-death!”
“Hey, my presence is actually… a little stronger than that…”
I mean, you’re laughing way too much about it. And you still haven’t fixed the way you
laugh.
Is laughing like that part of your setting or something? Laugh properly.
“Ge-heh-heh-heh-heh, it seems that the faint shadow poison is still works-death…! As
expected, its effect of reducing you to nothing but a faint shadow lasts for a long time-
death!”
“My name’s gradually becoming worse and worse! Listen, my –”
“Reality, be rent! Synapse, break!”
“Listen to me about my name! …And as for what you said just now, that was
something that Rikka had also been saying lately.”
“Death! It’s Dekomori’s secret technique-death! Its effect is –”
“…Eh? Effect?”
“By the way, for some reason Master says that there is an aspect of the Dark Flame
Master that lives up to the name of Demon King-death – whereabouts is that evil persona-
death? As far as Dekomori can tell, you’re someone feeble-death.”
“Oi, tell me about its effect. And, well… about me being the Demon King, don’t worry
about it. I no longer have that kind of power anymore.”
“What, so in the end you really were just a small fry compared to Dekomori-death!
Geheheh, dea~th!”
“Ha! It was an afterimage!”
Evading the sudden attack from the Mjölnir Hammer (for some reason, my wonderful
intuition was telling me I was about to be hit), I struck Dekomori on her small head lightly.
As a result of having avoided both her attack and her stupidity, Dekomori groaned in
frustration.
“You, you harmed Dekomori-death. Could it be that you actually were still the Demon
King-death? No, must be it-death. Master must have had talked about you being the Demon
King because Dekomori had been deceived by you-death! Well, Dekomori has her goddamn
eye on you now! As long as Dekomori is Master’s servant, Dekomori will turn Dark Flame
Master’s life into finely minced spring onions over the course of three days!”
“What the hell it is that you are trying to say!?”
“Well.”
And with that, Dekomori stopped talking.
It was likely that she got so worked up that it was just her enthusiasm talking, and so
she had no idea what it was that she was trying to say.
137
“The play, so that at best, you’re not doing something like getting in Master’s way – do
your best-death.”
“Don’t try to forcibly bring an end the previous conversation! And, huh? How do you
know about the play?”
“Death, it’s because Dekomori had communicated via telepathy with Master just the
other day-death.”
“……”
To not just say something like you called her over the phone: as expected of a patient.
“Oh, thanks, I’ll be sure to keep doing my best. Oh, right, the play will be on next
Saturday, and so if you’re interested Dekomori, please come and watch. If you do come,
well in that case I’ll be sure to treat you to something.”
“There was no need for Dark Flame Master to ask Dekomori to come – of course
Dekomori planned on coming-death. Ah, are you still going to properly treat Dekomori out
to something-death?”
Dekomori looked up at me with only her eyes, which emphasised the fact that her
eyes were getting teary.
Seeing this part of her reminded me that in the end, she really was just someone a
year level below me; a middle school student who stretched her back and stood on her
tiptoes to make herself look taller.
I do seem to recall hearing that her family was ridiculously wealthy though…
Still, this felt sort of nostalgic.
It kind of reminds me of the time when I first met Rikka.
An underclassman to me both in terms of being a chuunibyou patient, and in terms of
actual age.
To be honest, she kind of feels like another younger sister to me.
“I got it, I got it. I’ll still treat you out to something proper.”
“Ge-heh-heh, it appears even the Dark Flame Master can occasionally be nice-death.
However, don’t forget-death. Dekomori and Dark Flame Master are beings that can never
co-exist together-death! Nothing but death to those who love Master!”
“…Yeah, yeah.”
What a thing to say with a triumphant expression.
I mean, didn’t you also love Rikka? Well, it wasn’t like I could say anything in response
about it, since I too could understand that sort of feeling.
138
“The contract has been established too – well then, since Dekomori must return soon
to the battlefield as she is a warrior, here is where we part ways-death.”
“That setting… I like it. Oh, see you.”
After sticking her tongue out at me, Dekomori turned her back towards me and
started to make her way back.
Not to the battlefield, but to her own house.
As I looked at her small back, I thought to myself that even she too could get
embarrassed, and that I should too should keep doing my best.
Tomorrow’s the cultural festival.
139
9 AM.
With the principal broadcasting “Hooray! Cultural festival! It begins~!” in his usual
light-hearted tone, the curtains on the cultural festival were raised.
As the cultural festival started, festivities occurred in the most literal sense.
Outside our classroom, you could hear the boisterous voices of the people from the
other classes. It seems that they were fully enjoying the start of the cultural festival.
Although we would have liked to also take part in and enjoy the festivities, the reality
was that right now, our class couldn’t afford to do so.
The timing was perfect for us: the cultural festival had just started, and things were
about to get much livelier.
At such a time, it was going to be our class’ big moment – our class program, our class
dance, was scheduled to occur.
Our class was busy making our final preparations.
The voice, which announced, “please get ready to begin making your preparations,”
was from a student who was a member of the cultural festival committee.
As a result of that announcement, the atmosphere grew even tenser.
“Alright, let’s huddle!”
The one who gave that a command was Nibutani.
With Nibutani at the centre, the girls formed a circle around her. The boys then
formed a circle around the girls.
“There’s no need to be worried – we’ve all practiced quite a lot for this! We’ll
entertain the people who have come to watch us, and we’ll enjoy ourselves while we’re at
it. Let’s make it so that everyone has a good time!”
After Nibutani spoke those words of encouragement, it appeared that everyone’s
nervousness dissipated. Everyone looked rather relieved.
As expected of our class’ leader, the Class King.
She was able to say something so positive so frankly.
As a result of Nibutani’s words, the hearts of everyone in the class was moved:
everybody nodded their heads in agreement and began encouraging each other with a soft
“let’s do our best”.
“Boys, we’re also counting on you too! Without you guys, there’s no way that this
show could be a success!”
Nibutani didn’t forget to show concern for the boys as well. It was a level of
attentiveness fitting of the title Class King.
In response, a loud and deep “YEAH!” came from the boys. I too also gave out a nod
and let out a small “yeah”. After everyone got fired up, Nibutani’s voice could be heard once
more – directing everyone to move to their respective posts. I too would need to start
moving to the station for lighting.
But, before that –
“Rikka.”
In response to my voice, Rikka, who was right in front of me, turned around. By the
way, when Nibutani told everyone to gather around, I had been able to successfully position
myself behind Rikka.
I smiled gently at Rikka, who was visibly startled.
“Yuuta, since when?”
“Huh? I’ve been behind you for a quite a while now… Did you not notice?”
141
“Ah… For I to have… I guess might be a little nervous… I couldn’t read Yuuta’s
presence… I’m unqualified to be your contractor…”
“Ahaha, that’s not true. You were simply focused on what’s coming up ahead, so it
makes sense that you didn’t notice me, right?”
The very instant I said that –
“Yes, yes, yes, Rikka-chan! Right now, the dance is something that’s even more
important than Yuuta-kun!”
From the side, Kannagi Kazari – also known as the idol of our class, Kazari-chan –
hugged Rikka as she chimed in.
“I see – Yes, my lady.”
“Lady!?”
I was astonished by how unexpected that phrase was.
That, that Rikka is being subservient to someone else!?
Although recently she had been getting closer and closer with Kazari-chan as they
have been playing together a lot, since when did their relationship with each other get this
intimate(?) …?
Previously, Kazari-chan stated that her declaration of being into yuri was a joke – I was
now beginning to think that she was actually being serious, which really worries me.
“Hehehe, right now, Rikka and I are in the middle of using that kind of setting when
we play together. Sorry, Yuuta-kun!”
“Oh, no, it’s fine, it’s just…”
“Ahaha, is it alright with you that we’re played together with settings like that
before?”
“Eh? …Playing around like that is normal for you two…?”
What on earth are you two playing…
However, as expected of Kazari-chan – she got Rikka to address her as “lady”.
Not that I had anything perverted in mind, but I’d like to ask her a bit about the trick
that she used for future reference.
“Now then, I guess I’ll go and head to the stage first. Don’t be late, Rikka-chan~.”
After turning towards me and giving me a smirk, Kazari-chan separated herself from
Rikka’s body and headed towards the hall by herself first.
I guess that she was being considerate in her own way.
It seems that there was nothing but extremely attentive people in my class.
142
I’m almost certain that somewhere in that crowd was Shichimiya, Amaniji-senpai, and
Kumin-senpai.
Everyone was probably waiting in anticipation for our performance to start.
Still, although this venue didn’t originally have a large seating capacity to begin with, it
seemed that there were far too many people who come to watch our performance.
I suspect that the turnout for our show was equal to the turnout of a performance
being held in the gymnasium, which had a large seating capacity. I felt a sense of victory
from our turnout.
Since it was dark in the hall, I couldn’t see the clock that was located near the stage
very well. As such, I took my phone out from my pocket to check the time.
Only 10 minutes left before the performance.
It seemed that I too was getting quite nervous.
I could feel a type of sweat different from the kind that occurred as a result of feeling
hot.
And then, right as I thought that –
“It’s hot here, isn’t it? Ehehe, we’ve come! Is next to you fine?”
I couldn’t see very well due to it being so dark, but even without looking I knew who it
was from that ‘distinctiveness’.
It was obvious – it was Amaniji-senpai.
As Amaniji-senpai complained “hot hot hot”, she rolled up the hem of her shirt a little
irritatedly.
After that, and although I didn’t expressively give her permission to do so, she sat
down right next to me.”
“Why, it’s a nice seat, isn’t it? A special seat.”
“Umm, Amaniji-senpai, why are you here? Or more importantly: you’re not involved
with the performance, so how did you get up here…?”
“Heh heh, we said, “With lighting~!” and they let us in no issues. We too wanted to
watch DevTru Rikka-chan’s cute dance from a box seat. Furthermore, Yuu-chan’s here too!”
“H-ha…”
Well, and similar to what Amaniji-senpai said, since this place was the highest place
that you could see the stage from, it was, in a sense, a box seat.
Expect for the heat, of course.
“As expected, you think we’ll that be a nuisance, don’t you? We won’t disturb you, so
please let us stay!”
144
“Err… normally the line’s “How about if I get in the way I’ll leave?” or something like
that though…”
“Ahaha, you’ve made a big mistake if you think that we’d say such an ordinary line!”
“…Yeah, I’m already well aware. It’s fine if you stay, it’s not like you’re hindering me or
anything. Although I will be bothered if you start being a nuisance during the show.”
“That is something we absolutely won’t do. Even if – even if it is the normal thing to
do,” declared Amaniji-senpai firmly.
I’m guessing that she felt that way since she also was in a similar situation.
Her performance – she wanted to make the play a success. The same as us.
The side profile of her gazing intensely in the direction of the stage revealed just how
strongly she felt about it.
“…Yuu-chan, we –”
Suddenly, Amaniji-senpai called out to with a somewhat fragile voice.
Before I could respond, Amaniji-senpai continued on.
“DevTru Rikka-chan and Sofia-chan – we’re quite thankful that we were able to
perform our play together with them.”
“What are you saying all of a sudden? We haven’t even performed yet, much less had
things come to a close.”
“Ahaha, that is the case, isn’t it? This performance too: good luck.”
With her face directed towards me, Amaniji-senpai looked embarrassed as she
muttered out those words.
After she muttered those words out, Amaniji-senpai started to say something else, but
her weak-sounding voice cut off the very instant it came out. It was like she was hesitating
over what to say next.
Then, as if she had finished choosing her words, Amaniji-senpai spoke slowly.
“…We’d like for Yuu-chan to hear us out for a bit.”
“We’d like to talk a bit more about ourself. …But it’s likely that we won’t be limiting
ourself to just that. Idle gossip – we hope you’ll think of what we’re about to say next as just
that.
“Yeah, idle gossip. Ah, but if you didn’t particularly want to hear us out, please feel
free to just go ahead and say so.
“Yeah? We’re glad, thank you.
145
“You know –
“About DevTru Rikka-chan and Sofia-chan, they are those so called chuunibyous,
aren’t they?
“Ahaha, what? Yuu-chan already thinks that too?
“Heh heh, that’s right. But, as expected, they really are chuunibyous, aren’t they?
“Hmm. Umm, just the other day – we guess you could say that it was just good timing
– we heard that word by chance and wondered what that word meant, and so we looked
the word up. When we looked up the word, for some reason the two of them came to mind,
and so we wanted to ask you if they were that.
“It was said on TV. A singer said it.
“DevTru Rikka-chan and Sofia-chan: they’re classified as having the so-called evil eye
type of chuunibyou right? We remember thinking ‘we see, we see’. Chuunibyou – the
person who came up with the term is amazing. The term was so precise and accurate that it
shocked us.
“Do we think they’ve contracted it – yeah yeah, we got the impression that they were
had contracted it.
“Ah, but it’s not like we thought that the people like DevTru Rikka were weird or
anything like that. Rather, we thought that it was good that they were like that.
“Ahaha, because it’s cool, isn’t it? Do we have that sort of unusual ability? We’ve
never thought about creating a setting like that and the like, although we do think that
something like that would be nice.
“Well, we guess everything that the current us has come up with is kind of like our
setting.
“That’s right, if we think about it carefully, the way we refer to ourself in the first
person is also something you could say is our setting.
“So does that mean we too also have chuunibyou?
“Ahaha, is that so? Yay~!
“Yeah? We guess we’re feeling a little happy. We feel special.
“Hmm, were we not meant to have such symptoms? We’ve only heard of the word for
the first time recently after all.
“We wonder if we are the so-called subculture type?
“For ourself to be different from others – we wonder if that was exactly how we were
feeling. We would do stuff like to produce abnormal, try show off our uniqueness, try to
become special, pretend to be an outlaw, and misunderstand what was fashionable.
“Oh, you’re asking about that? Asking about our casual clothes?
146
“No, we’ll speak freely! Our casual clothes are… ‘Hideri-chan’s casual clothes are no
good at all,’ is what Kumin, with a smile on her face, said about them!
“By now words like that make us very happy! Still, since she said, “I won’t play with
the causally clothed Hideri-chan,” our casual clothes have been sealed away. And so that’s
why we’re always in uniform. But well, look: don’t you feel that the uniform is special?
“It’s special if you think of it as clothes that can only be worn for three years.
“Right? But well, right now it’s normal to be wearing it, so we were still troubled by it.
Although that’s why we remodelled it. Our uniform’s different from everyone else’s – good
idea, right?
“It’s fine that DevTru Rikka-chan and Sofia-chan did it too. We like it. Although we
didn’t want to feel a sense of camaraderie over it or anything, to be frank we were happy
that they had a similar idea.
“Although the only reason why we personally think that it’s a wonderful thing is
because we think they’re cool.
“Though in our case, it was to “produce abnormal”.
“Because – we wanted to be different from everyone else.
“Heh heh, that’s right, that’s right. We are persisting on and doing our best at an
extremely strange thing.
“We don’t think that it was a mistake, for us to have put in the effort to try be a
special existence. Although people have recently been saying that everybody begins special,
we don’t think that’s the case.
“Because it is impossible to begin as the “only one”.
“Since everyone from the beginning – from when they are born, they are not special.
“It would be similar to saying that each and every person is individualistic – we don’t
think that that’s the case at all. That is to say, it is a matter of course that everyone is not
synonymous with individuality.
“You’re only individualistic only when you display your individuality, right?
“If you don’t use it, it’s the same as not having it.
“That’s why, for us to be such individualistic person – we wished to be a person
different from everyone else.
“Ah, Yuu-chan! Since our blouse is see-though, just now you were staring at our
rainbow bra, weren’t you!
“Sorry, sorry, it was just a joke, a joke.
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“Let’s return back to the main subject now, okay? We might derail from the
conversation like that from time to time, so we’d be happy if you’d tolerate us when we do
that.
“That’s how our conversations usually are? Ahaha, that’s true!
“Now, to return back to the conversation, what we’re about to say next is what we
wanted Yuu-chan to hear – we’ll be telling you about us. A first-person narrative – you’re
the first person to hear it, aren’t you?46 Since something might come up to interrupt us,
we’ll refrain from telling you something so surprising like this.
“…That didn’t come out very well. We take back what we said just now.
“Err, how far did we get up to?
“Right, right, that’s what we wanted you to hear about.
“Last time, we told you the story about us wanting to be different from the people
around us, didn’t we?
“Yeah, that’s right. The ‘normal is no good’ story.
“The story about us being treated as a “heretic” by the people around us.
“Last time, we left a little something out – it wasn’t that we had anyone in particular
against collectivism.
“Well, but if we were pressed to say whether we were collectivistic, we guess would
would say that we weren’t.
“To begin with, from back when we were in middle school we were alone by ourself
the entire time!
“No no, we’ll say it emphatically! We weren’t collectivistic at all!
“Hmm, as an elementary school student we were also largely by ourself quite often.
Our family – it was a little tough.
“It’s already happened, so don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it. It’s something
that happens quite frequently, probably.
sky of a dry day to have a rainbow hanging across the sky, doesn’t it?47 We had compatible
names! And like how our names were compatible, so was the way she begins a conversation
with me, and so we got long quite well.
“Not only were our names compatible, but our compatibility in another aspect also
matched.
“Kumin’s also a rather eccentric child, right? From our perspective, she wasn’t just not
normal, she was amazing. Whereas our eccentricness was cultivated, hers was completely
natural.
“Also – you know, we were also simply happy that someone greeted us.
“Eh? Ah, the way we call her? We call her ‘Kumin’ since Kumin’s a great name, isn’t it?
From the beginning, we thought that her name was great and not normal.
“Well, something like that happened, and so us and Kumin became friends. If we were
to say it like DevTru Rikka-chan would, would it be “Discerning Eye of Distinctiveness
activate! Compatibility is perfect!” or something like that?
“Ah, we see, resonance! What a great phrase, it’s perfect!
“That too is chuunibyou? Hmm, there are all sorts of ways of expressing chuunibyou,
isn’t there?
“And so, well, that was how we had been living out our life, although at times we also
did think about our situation.
“For instance, when the time comes for us to enter society – ‘how will we be treated?’
were the sort of thoughts that come to mind.
“Although society demands individuality, for people to not just follow the crowd – it
seems to reject those who have too much individuality as well. If we had to say which side
we fell under, we would likely be on the side that gets rejected.
“It’s a harsh place, isn’t it? The “present” us had too much individuality.
“However, we didn’t think that that was bad: we even legitimately like that things
were like that. We always wanted to be more “special” than everyone else.
“Ahaha, we mean we are unmistakably us, aren’t we! To hear you say something like
that makes us happy.
“However, as for whether we had ever felt uneasy about it – yeah, we had.
47 A pun involving both their names, 天虹旱 (Amaniji Hideri) and つゆり(Tsuyuri). As for
Amaniji’s name, she breaks it into 天 (sky) 虹 (rainbow) and 旱 (dry weather). As for Kumin’s
name, she reads the first two syallables of Tsuyuri as 梅雨, meaning rainy season. Amaniji
then links the rainy season with ‘praying for rain’, leading to her conclusion of hot day + rain
= rainbow.
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“We thought to ourself, ‘Is this really okay?’ and ‘Is it really fine for us to stay like
this?’ After all, we were in fact – a “heretic”.
Like Jeanne d’Arc? Ahaha, maybe. We are a virgin after all.
“Oi, Yuu-chan, what are you making us say!
“Well, we were the one who said it out loud. Oops.
“But isn’t it Yuu-chan’s fault that we said something weird? And for blowing away our
anxiety, too.
“No, seriously, it’s true.
“Our anxiety’s vanished.
“Although it was a short period of time, our week of activities together – during that
time, we watched DevTru Rikka-chan and Sofia-chan.
“Those two – we’ve said it before previously, but those two were a bit unusual. They
were able to do things that were not normal as if it were normal. They lived as they pleased,
and yet they managed to properly maintain their own belief in who they were, all the while
also having fun with everything.
“DevTru Rikka-chan, the first time we met, when we approached her so abruptly, she
followed our lead and adlibbed along with us. Despite being shy, she went along with us –
she demonstrated for us a lot of her skills. In karaoke, making clothes, and gaming. In
addition, she made a display of her flirting.
“Ahaha, it’s true that that detail was irrelevant!
“We’ve been able to receive so much energy from Sofia-chan. That girl’s amazing, isn’t
she: she’s always spirited. In addition, that scarf. To be frank, we don’t think that we could
win against that scarf. After all, it’s been so hot!
“Honestly, they are amazing. Maybe they think that we’re normal… We experienced a
bit of a crisis thinking that they potentially think of us as normal.
“Something like that isn’t true? Ahaha, it’s quite heartening to have Yuu-chan tell me
that. Yuu-chan knows the two of them quite well after all.
“Well, and so that’s why–
“That trying to be unique, trying to be different from everone else is not a mistake –
that chuunibyou is not a bad thing – is what we think when we see two.
“And so that’s why we feel grateful.
“Not only to those two, but also immensely towards Yuu-chan as well. Seriously, thank
you.
“Ahaha, we’re also grateful to them, and so naturally we’ll be properly saying our
thanks to those two as well!
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“Well then, let's continue the conversation as if we never had given such strange
advice!
“Err, since it wasn’t like you wanted normal advice, right?
“Eh!? N-n-normal!?
“U-understood, there will be an adhérence to normal!
“No, it’s something that we eventually will have to do after all… Just kidding!
“Well, but, since Yuu-chan truly is a kind person, we think that being a counsellor will
suit you! Especially since you’re also good at listening to stories too!
“The work of a counsellor does appear to be quite tough though.
“Eh, you’re interested in our love life?
“We love girls!
“We are not just saying that to play up being abnormal!
“Well, but, if we were to fall in love with a boy – we would be “normal”. That’s what
we think. And that’s – that’s a little scary.
“And so that’s why we, without a doubt, will never fall in love with a boy.
“In that sense, we think that DevTru Rikka-chan’s truly amazing.
“In the end – guess that even with chuunibyou, she wanted to be in love?
“Eh, we’re getting complimented? Yay~!
“Ahaha, Yuu-chan too: you’re truly weird, aren’t you? You’re quite the peculiar
person. However, you conceal that weird and distinct part of you, don’t you? There’s no
need for you to hide that part of you though.
“It’s a compliment. A wonderful compliment. To have been able to speak with Yuu-
chan –we’re glad that we met you, really. That’s what we honestly think.
“Yep, that’s why.
“Thank you.
“Ah, it appears that the dance is about to start!”
And with that, Amaniji-senpai’s story – her first-person narrative came to a close48.
Since it was so abrupt, I was a little bewildered when it ended – however, that I was
able to hear from Amaniji-senpai once again about the reasons as to why she continues to
be eccentric made me quite happy.
To continue being eccentric, to keep remaining special – or to borrow a little from the
way Amaniji-senpai puts it, to continue having chuunibyou.
Chuunibyou is not something bad – was what she essentially was saying.
That view on chuunibyou, which recently had become my stance on the matter, was
something that I had learnt from Rikka too, and as such I could relate quite well to the
things that Amaniji-senpai was saying.
It made me think all over again that chuunibyou wasn’t a bad thing to have.
While it was a little surprising to hear Amaniji-senpai declare that she had the
subculture type of chuunibyou – it wasn’t like that was an issue or anything.
After all, Amaniji-senpai will surely continue to act in a way that is expected of her by
everyone.
A thing that, without a doubt, was a terribly difficult thing to do.
I wanted to keep thinking about Amaniji-senpai’s story for a little while longer, but I
also needed to concentrate at my task at hand.
After saying “Oh, there!”, Amaniji-senpai, who was next to me, seemed to have
hopped up from her seat. As if it were responding to her movements, the level of
enthausism in the venue also instantly heated up: cheers reverberated through the venue.
I too also got up and directed my gaze to the still dark stage. From the silhouettes, I
could tell that the starting group of dancers were already on stage.
Shortly, an announcement announcing the start of the dance was played.
“Thank you for your patience. Now then, this is class 1-2’s dance show. Everyone,
please give them a warm welcome.”
The applause given was so big that I thought it was never going to end.
I wonder if we were expecting that much of an applause – was what I happily thought.
I too began to make my preparations regarding the lighting at my own pace.
The key thing is to light the centre spot. Confirming the cue to start. Then, during the
show, my job is to turn the light on and off. To move the light appropriately, create the
atmosphere, and so on.
…Yep, all good.
I’ve reviewed what I had to do: all that’s left is to wait for the music to start.
Suddenly –
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“The cultural festival has already started, and by tomorrow it will have come to a
close,” was what the person standing next to me, Amaniji-senpai, muttered.
As soon as she finished saying those words, a short “boom” intro music, which was the
cue to start, was played. Before long, an up-tempo track started to play.
The first and most important task, to turn on the light when the cue to start came,
ended with no issues.
The light’s destination was the starting group of dancers: centred around Nibutani and
the dance club members, the group’s eight members performed an original dance.
Not only was the dance a skilful, stylish, and enchanting dance-club-like dance, the
outfits were also cool and uniform.
A black vest over a monochrome checkered shirt.
Paired with fashionable shorts, soft hats, and fastened neckties. What they wore was
so stylish that you were also able to also enjoy this as a fashion show.
Well, the fact that the outfit was stylish was just my opinion though.
However, in regard to the dance, it wasn’t just me – every member of the audience,
regardless of gender, appeared mesmerised by the impeccable dance. Even the teachers
appeared capitivated by it.
And in the centre position, dancing like mad with very flashy turns and jumps, was the
person who will be the dance club’s next president and was seemingly the club’s ace,
Nibutani.
It was a perfect start. Completely flawless.
I’m certain that Nibutani, who was also the show’s organiser, was extremely delighted
by this.
And once the music ends, the dancers of the first group will then need to exit the
stage via the wings.
It was here that the lights are darkened once again. My second task.
Since up next are the members of the erotic group, the ambience is very important.
The music too had just changed to a seductive (?) melody.
With the lead of the group and our idol, Kazari-chan, positioned in the centre, the
group gave an inviting glance to the audience as they started to dance.
The dance itself too was also loaded with sex appeal: it was a coquettish dance.
Naturally, the costumes too, of course, were quite revealing! There was nothing
covering the legs at all! Their navels were on full display!
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I’m almost certain that the men watching were like the then me and were completely
full of vigour.
After all, the very instant that the erotic group appeared on stage, I was able to hear
many deep masculine voices cry out. It was so loud that you could tell that the boys were
extremely delighted.
And the girls were happy that the dancers were enjoying themselves and having fun!
…Was what I thought to myself as I watched the dance from the second floor.
Again, the level of excitement in the venue became even higher as the second group’s
dance came to a close.
And then, with the stage being completely illuminated once again – it was what I’ve
been waiting for, the third group!
The group that Rikka was a part of – the idol dance group.
So that anyone could enjoy it, a j-pop song that everyone knew played as the group
started to dance.
Garnished with Rikka in the centre, the cute dance got the crowd going wild.
Naturally, the outfits were cute too. Contrary to what Rikka usually wears, they were
bright, fancy outfits with no hint of blackness at all. If I had to compare the outfits with
something, it would be the image of an angel.
Dressed in a Sweet Lolita-ish outfit that was an angel-like white adorned with light
pink frills, the group fluttered across the stage lightly.
My spotlight was shining on Rikka quite brightly. The light from my spotlight was
concentrated on that single point.
“Wow! DevTru Rikka-chan’s super cute~”
It seemed that Amaniji-senpai was watching Rikka as well. She was escatic.
…Naturally, I was too.
It was like I was seeing my own daughter raise her hand during class obersvation day.
“Do your best, do your best!” was what I cheered in my heart.
Once the music ended, everybody came back onstage again. The final dance was a
dance that involved everyone.
That dance, the one that everyone practiced so hard for – their performance gave off
the impression that they’ve practiced more than enough for it.
It was truly beautiful – everyone was completely in sync with each other as they
danced.
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The dance was drawing everyone present in. It was impossible to look away –
everyone was bewitched.
And now with the music all finished, class 1-2’s program has safely come to a close.
– It was a great success.
It wasn’t arrogant for me to say something like that, given how large the applause we
received was.
Upon receiving that applause, the student council member in charge of the area
walked towards Nibutani, who was standing at the centre of the stage, from the wings and
handed over a mic so that Nibutani could give the audience one final message.
“Everyone, thank you so much for watching!”
Nibutani’s face was full of sweat, yet she continued without wiping her sweat off.
“We too also had a lot of fun, being able to dance for you all!”
Seeking agreement, Nibutani turned to the rest of the girls of our class.
However, even before she could fully turn her head around – one after the other, the
girls voiced their agreement with Nibutani.
Seeing that response, even though she had not yet heard everyone’s response, the
fact that everyone was in agreement caused Nibutani to turn back around once again. She
had a very satisified smile on her face.
“The cultural festival has only just begun! Everyone, make sure to enjoy the rest of the
festival as well! That’s all from us!”
Her final remarks served as a cue for everyone onstage to bow.
The venue was once again filled by a big applause.
Near the lights, there was a cord that acted as a railing. I wondered if Amaniji-senpai
was okay, and so I my turned my head around and looked back. Amaniji-senpai’s steps
looked rather unsteady.
That was pretty worrying… If she fell from here, it would be quite the serious injury –
call it me being meddlesome, but as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help
but offer her my hand.
“Amaniji-senpai, is your footing alright? Please be careful, alright? From here it’s the
stairs. Your hand – I’ll hold it on our way down…”
“Hm? Ah, it’s fine. We can see properly. There’s no need for you to worry so much.
Still, how gentlemanly of you, Yuu-chan.”
“It would be quite the serious injury if you fell, right? And so, your hand…”
“……”
“Err…?”
“…Sorry, we refuse to hold hands here since that’s the normal to do, Yuu-chan! We’ve
good. Thanks for the offer though.”
…Hmm, it was probably since I worry about her all the time that I got worried, but I
guess this time was just me being a little too worried.
Without taking my hand, Amaniji-senpai, after carefully checking each step, made her
way down the stairs.
There wasn’t anybody from my class present as I exited the multi-purpose hall. I’m
guessing that the girls had already made their way to the changing room.
Instead, what I found in front of the multi-purpose hall was a sea of people discussing
their thoughts on our class’ dance.
It was mainly their opinions on Kazari-chan’s group that people were talking about.
The first group was quite good too – said a female voice.
Although I didn’t hear much about Rikka’s group, since I was hearing nothing but good
reviews, it made me, even though I didn’t dance, quite happy.
Then, as if to replace the previous crowd, the people who have come to watch the
next program poured into the venue in droves.
“Well, that was fun!” said Amaniji-senpai, who was late in exiting the venue, as she
stretched.
…To hear such unreserved praise from my upperclassman also made me happy, but in
a different way from before.
Although the praise wasn’t directed at me, hearing it still made me feel a little
embarrassed.
158
“Now then – now that we’ve had our fun with that, where to next?”
“Huh? You’re leaving already?”
“Yep. We’re off to search for something else that’s interesting.”
“…By yourself?”
“Well, yeah. Since apparently, Kumin has some stuff to do for her class. To start off
with, we’ll be alone by ourself for now.”
…Alone, huh.
Hmm… Is there even anything I can do?
Still, as expected I couldn’t help but say something.
“Um, if you’d like, we could go around the festival together? We’ll be joined by Rikka,
of course.”
“Ahaha, no no, it’s fine. Wouldn’t it be better if it were just you and DevTru Rikka-chan
going around the festival together? We’d just be getting in the way of you two.”
“Something like that wouldn’t be the case at all though…”
“No no, and besides, we do feel like wandering around by ourself for a bit. After all.
there are numerous other plays also being performed at the festival, and our play is in
competition with them all! It sort of feels like we’re scouting out the enemy. Well then, if
you do see us around, make sure to say hi, okay?”
As she said that, and without waiting for my response, Amaniji-senpai waved both of
her hands at me as she walked into the crowd.
Somehow, I made her worry about me again.
Naturally, I was feeling quite bad about it.
Since I assumed that Rikka probably wouldn’t have minded, I didn’t think that Amaniji-
senpai joining us would be an issue at all. Then again, it was also quite possible that Amaniji-
senpai joining us wouldn’t have gone over well with Rikka. If I were in Amaniji-senpai’s
position, I too would have definitely refused.
– …Or more precisely.
Perhaps this was that part of me that was “lacking in awareness”.
“That being too kind can also be poisonous – was it?”
As I muttered that to myself, I took out my cellphone and opened the messaging
screen.
I scrolled down to the ‘other’ line of my address book.
Then again, it wasn’t like I had made a promise with Rikka to go around together…
I was under the impression that we did have a promise given that the two of us were
in resonance, or rather able to understand each other without words, but it seemed that
was truly just wishful thinking on my part.
Knowing that it would have all gone as planned if I had made the promise with Rikka
to go around with her made me a tad regretful.
“Yuuta, let’s go around the cultural festival together tomorrow.”
“Ahh, I’m being consoled by Rikka…”
In order to console me, Rikka stood on her toes in order to stroke my head.
Was I really feeling that miserable just now…?
It was quite the shock.
“Still, recently I’ve been worried that Kazari-chan is a lesbian, and is seriously aiming
for Rikka…”
“Oh oh oh? Yuuta-kun, there are many grounds49 to that false accusation!”
“It’s because of lines like that that I think there’s truth behind that sentiment!”
The phrase is no grounds!
“Well, well, well, please rest assured! Not worry do, not worry do, not worry do50.
After all, it’ll just be two girls playing around having a good time!”
“It seems that messing up all those “do not worry” wasn’t just a big mistake on your
part…”
“Yuuta, relax. My lady and I are simply tied together by an eternal connection.”
Kazari-chan grinned as she heard Rikka say those words.
It seems that she found it very funny. It was as if she was saying ‘hilarious!’ or
something in her heart.
Still, for it to be spreading… I wonder if Nibutani will lose her mind again if she learns
of this…
49 In the original line, Kazari is mixing the phrase 事実無根, which means
groundless/unfounded, and 事実無限, which literally translated roughly means ‘infinite
truths’.
50 Once again, Kazari is mixing up the phrase. Instead of saying 大丈夫 (which means don’t
worry), Kazari is saying 大夫丈 (which does not mean anything) three times in a row
instead.
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“Right right right, it’s since the two of us have an eternal connection with each other!
Then, Yuuta-kun, I’ll be borrowing Rikka-chan now, okay? See you around!”
“Yuuta, later!”
And with that, the two of them left the classroom while holding each others’ hands
intimately.
I was left in the classroom by myself, all alone.
Although the classrooms not being used for the cultural festival and were, for the time
being, being treated as rest areas, since the cultural festival had only just begun, as well as
the fact that it was still wasn’t noon yet, there was no sign of anyone returning to the
classroom.
Currently, the classroom was just a desolated place for people to leave their bags.
The fact that I was alone by myself during the cultural festival made me truly51 sad.
Ah.
That’s right, there’s him52. To distract me from this inexpressible sense of emotional
turmoil, I pulled out my cellphone from my pocket and called my close friend, Isshiki.
Two seconds later.
“Oh, Togashi. What is it, I’m busy right now.”
“With what?”
“Naturally, I’m keeping tabs on the various costumes that the girls have changed into.”
…As expected of him. Or rather, how unwavering of him.
It was great that that aspect of him was so serious, but, well…
“I was wondering if you’d like to go around the cultural festival with me.”
“Hmm? You’re not going around with Takanashi-san?”
“She was stolen by Kazari-chan.”
“Hmm. I see, that’s disappointing to hear. “Sure!” is what I’d like to say, but… sorry.
The truth is, I’m occupied right now."
Isshiki lowered his voice. It seems that he was being occupied by something
meaningful.
51 A pun lost in translation. The kanji for truly, 真に, is pronounced as makotoni, which plays
on Isshiki Makoto’s name.
52 Another pun lost in translation, playing as the same concepts as the previous pun. まこ
と, an archaic term for “that’s right (in the sense of recalling forgotten information)”, is also
pronounced as makoto.
162
“Just now, I was undercover by myself at a place that could be called the staple of the
cultural festival, a maid café, to investigate the costumes, but a m-maid started talking to
me. A, a girl’s talking to me!”
Since Isshiki suddenly lowered his voice, I thought that something had happened and
was worried for him…
Well, but since this was Isshiki, something major may have happened. I could picture
him acting all suspicious.
“I see, right. Got it, good luck with chatting with the maids!”
“I’m glad to hear that from you, Togashi! Thanks for supporting me! Anyway, if I do
manage to get a polaroid with a maid, I’ll make sure to show it to you!”
“Wow~, I’m looking forward to it~.”
You’re probably not going to be able to get one though.
“Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a call again when I’m free.”
“Sure, got it.”
With my call in vain, I returned my cellphone back to my pocket.
Well, since my close friend was levelling up, it was my duty as a friend to support
Isshiki and to give up on having him accompany me.
Now then, what now?
The cultural festival – to be alone during it was lonelier than I imagined. Or rather than
lonelier, perhaps it would be better to say that it was harsher than I imagined.
A person that was fine with being by themselves – did not exist.
Back when I was in middle school, although I said stuff like “Hmph, the festival miasma
has hit the humans” while having a defiant attitude when the cultural festival hit, and would
go off and play by myself… Despite appearances, the me back then was still lonely…
Ah, if only someone could save me from my loneliness – the very instant I thought
that, the cellphone that I had just placed in my pocket began to vibrate.
I once again took the cellphone from my pocket – it was a phone call.
…It was the real deal! A hero who would come to save you if you prayed for help in
your heart!
“Oh, Hero? Right now, it’s my shift, and so if you’re free –”
“Coming coming! I’m on my way!”
Just as Shichimiya was saying the “fr” part of “free”, I already answered back with,
“Coming coming!”
163
Then, and without listening to the rest of what Shichimiya had to say, I told her, “I’m
on my way!” and hung up. I then immediately started to dash. To hell with it, if it meant
being able to run a little on this day, I was even willing to disobey the instructions of the
members of the disciplinary council.
The time it took for me to start dashing – was about 3 seconds.
Before I was even able to think about it, I began moving on reflex.
“Just how lonely was I feeling…” was what I thought as I ran, which made me a little
sad, but I was okay with it.
I was fine with geting teary over ordinary happiness.
Scrambling through the crowd of people inside the school building, I made my way
towards where Shichimiya’s parfait stall was at a fast pace.
I’m glad that I checked where it was in advance. I arrived at the first floor in no time at
all.
On the first floor, near the home economics room – located in the building next to the
regular school building, where all the special classrooms were – there were many food-
related programs set up next to each other in a line. And in this section was class 1-3’s
program – a parfait shop.
Their program was even branded ‘Parfait Shop’ – the signboard had the words ‘Parfait
Shop’ written on it.
It seemed that you could eat in the tent where the food was made. I could see several
people here and there inside the tent who looked like customers.
Although I didn’t get the impression that business was booming, thanks to the people
inside the tent who looked extremely satifisied eating their parfait, many of the people
passing by stopped by the shop to buy a parfait before they moved on, eating their parfait
as they walked.
And just like Shichimiya said, she was working there as a shop assistant.
There stood my hero, Shichimiya – to my surprise, her hair was not in her usual Twin
Ring Style. Instead, her hair was in a ponytail.
I didn’t have a fascination with ponytails or anything (of the two, I prefer twintails
more), but I was mesmerised by how fresh that hairstyle looked on Shichimiya.
To borrow from the way Shichimiya phrases things as of late: her hair was “looking
good, OK~☆”.
Likewise, her outfit was not her usual Demon Duchess-like attire. It may have been
since she was feeling hot, but she was wearing a casual t-shirt with a skirt. Combined with
an apron, this costume of hers also felt fresh.
As my mind was occupied with thoughts like that, Shichimiya came up to me.
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“No, no, it’s fine. I’ve made you come all this way, so it’s only fair, right☆?”
Saying that, Shichimiya forcefully pushed my back and directed me towards an empty
seat.
I mean, if you’re going to put it like that, then I guess I’ll take advantage of your kind
offer then.
“Excuse me, two chocolate banana parfaits please!”
After telling that to the people in the kitchen making the parfaits, Shichimiya then sat
down in the seat in front of me.
Wait, what? The seat in front of me?
“Is this okay? Don’t you have your work as a shop assistant?
“Yeah, I’ve already informed the rest of the class that I’ll be taking a break once Hero
arrived.”
Oh…?
H-how moving. I’m touched. I’m so happy that she had arranged all this for me!
She’s now a kindred spirit of mine! Who is this Isshiki person? My best friend’s
Shichimiya!
…Well, us being the best of friends was a long time ago. Even so, I haven’t really been
treating Shichimiya in a way that close friend should be treated.
“Shichimiya! If there’s anything I’m able to do for you, just say it! No matter what the
request is, I’ll do it!”
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“Umm.”
After saying that, Shichimiya paused for a brief moment, before continuing,
“During summer vacation – you went to the beach, didn’t you? Why did you not invite
me?”
As she said that, it may have just been my imagination, but Shichimiya’s face – no, it
wasn’t just my imagination. With each breath, Shichimiya’s cheeks got more and more
puffed up until eventually, she had a completely sullen look on her face.
Her cheeks had swelled up like an angered pufferfish.
It was an expression that was rare for Shichimiya.
“...No, that… Wait, huh? How did you know about that?”
“Eh? Didn’t you go with Mori-sama and her friends? Mori-sama carelessly let that fact
slip from her mouth. And then after that, she kept avoiding the topic!”
“A-ah…”
By the way, about what Shichimiya was talking about.
No, we didn’t actually go together to the beach as a group.
Rather, when Rikka and I went to the sea for a date during summer vacation, we
happened to run into Nibutani and her group of friends.
Guess you could say that I was out of luck running across Nibutani and her friends, as,
sure enough, I was toyed with by Nibutani. Although I intended for it to just be the two of us
having fun on the beach, for some reason it ended up being a group session with Nibutani’s
group (Shinka, Chinatsu, and Natsuno were known collectively together as the Summer
Trio), meaning that our outing was no longer a date.
Well, but since I still had a good time, it was still a good memory for me.
I wonder if Shichimiya had misunderstood what happened… That she thought she was
the only one that wasn’t invited.
Hmm… I was having trouble figuring out how to reply to her, since something like that
wasn’t the case at all. After a short while, and as I was still at a loss as to how I should be
replying to her, Shichimiya, who was still pouting, opened her mouth,
“I-if everyone is going out to have fun, I would like to be invited to come along as
well.”
“Ah, yeah. Of course! Ah, and it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. We only
met up with Nibutani by chance – Rikka and I didn’t plan to go to the beach together with
her.”
“Eh? Ah, is that so? So that’s what it was… What a relief.”
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“Exactly, and you’re definitely invited if we’re going out to play with everyone.”
“No, I was glad that you came! Thanks for coming~☆. Now then, it’s time for me to
carry out the duties of the Magical Demon Duchness.”
“Oh, good luck! If you become free again, please contact me. I’ll come over to hang
out.”
“Nyahaha, roger☆.”
As Shichimiya said that, she had a very happy cherubic smile on her face.
From that smile alone – that feeling of loneliness of knowing that I’ll be by myself after
this was blown away.
After having waved goodbye to Shichimiya, who was returning back to work, I too also
left the place that we were sitting at.
Now then, where should I head to alone next?
And with thoughts like that in my mind, I continued on. For the time being, I headed to
the closest place for me to warm myself up – a classroom which had “Baseball” cutely
written on the sign.
For some reason, the interior of the classroom was decorated very prettily. However,
as I expected, the program here was Struck Out53.
Struck Out – a game where there were targets with the numbers 1 to 9 written on
them, and where the goal is to hit each of the targets in succession with a ball.
Naturally, I would not have come here if I did not have any confidence in myself.
Heh heh heh, why back when I was alone in middle school, I devoted myself to
creating a miracle pitch54!
…Not that I was a baseball boy or anything.
As I was moved to the Struck Out line that was the least crowded of the three – a
voice called out to me.
“Ah! Yuu-chan! Did you come to visit me?”
Looking over to the source of the voice – it was Kumin-senpai, who was dressed in a
bright red uniform.
In addition, her headgear and her megaphone were also red – she had the complete
set.
Since this was the first time that I’ve come across her without for initially being asleep,
I was a little astonished.
“H-Hello. No, it’s just a coincidence that I’m here – I just came here to enjoy myself for
a bit…”
“Is that so? I see, but even so I’m still happy. It sort of feels like fate, doesn’t it?”
………
To have words like that said to them whilst being gazed at intensely would make any
guy feel completely bewildered…
What destructive power this upperclassman of mine has…!
“Ah – err, it seems that senpai, uh, really like baseball, right?”
53 A game in Japanese where targets are arranged on a board from 1-9, and a ball is thrown
(or kicked) to kick the targets.
54 An idiom related to baseball that is rather Japan-specific. This term generally refers to a
pitch that is literally impossible to do, such as a ball changing trajectories at sharp angles in
the middle of being thrown, or a ball disappearing after being thrown. This term is also used
as a metaphor for pitches that are near-impossible to return.
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“Yeah, I love it! It’s my dream to be displayed on the back screen of Mazda Stadium!”
“That sounds just like you but how would you even achieve something like that!?”
Ignoring my retort, Kumin-senpai happily swung around the megaphone she had in
her hand.
That non-athletic swing of hers was also quite cute.
“‘That’s amazing, Kumin – how did you do that?’ If I was asked that, I would reply by
saying it was just a swing that any regular fan would be able to do.”
“If it was a swing that any regular fan could do, would it really get projected onto the
back screen…?”
“Well, more importantly, I’d like to see Yuu-chan’s pitch as soon as possible. Here, this
is the ball. Since the ball is soft, it’s okay to throw it with all your might.”
As Kumin-senpai said that, she deftly handed a ball over to me. It seemed that Kumin-
senpai was quite agile.
Hmm… Okay.
Since Kumin-senpai was watching as well, I’ll need to display a good performance.
In my mind, it was a live broadcast. My life… I’ll burn it all55!
Togashi Yuuta – His first pitch, he’s winding up – and it’s thrown!
The ball flew straight – and as luck would have it, it hit the target marked ‘5’ (dead in
the centre), which was approximately five metres away.
In my mind, I fist pumped!
“Ooh. Yuu-chan did it.”
“No, that… I just got lucky, it wasn’t intentional.”
“You were lucky: I see, it was just the ball56. Alright, next ball~.”
…I wonder if it had become popular to say the word “just” with a smug face.
Before I could make a relevant retort again, a ball was once again handed over to me
deftly.
Unfortunately, however, it seemed that my good luck was limited to only my first
pitch.
Aside from my first pitch, the rest of my pitches pretty much all wildly missed the
target. In my mind, I teared up! Where did all my self-confidence from before we go!
“Ah, that’s too bad. With pitches like that, it looks like the Yuu-chan won't be
experiencing the pro baseball chapter of his life.”
“But never in my life have I considered something like going pro in baseball!?”
To begin with, I hadn’t even imagined myself as a high school baseball player.
Just what sort of person did you think I am, Kumin-senpai…
“But, you do still get a consolation prize. Here's your 'blowy thing’.”
“Blowy thing!?”
“Huh? Did you want something else instead? There's also the slappy thing? And,
there’s also the bangy thing too.”
“...The blowy thing is fine...”
Or rather, the way you described those prizes was way too literal.
I had no idea of what any of the prizes were at all.
Ah, but except for that, I guess… It’s an aside, but the official name for the blowy thing
is party horn.
“With this, Yuu-chan’s cultural festival will feel even more festive, yay!"
“Well, I guess this thing could be considered a festival-like prize. This blowy thing.”
“Ahaha, it suits you quite well, Yuu-chan. By the way, it’s been bothering me – are you
by yourself, Yuu-chan?”
“Yeah, it seems that everyone else is a little busy with other things right now.”
“I see; for the time being, I too am busy with being the person on duty here today. If I
were free, I would have liked to go around the cultural festival with Hideri-chan and Yuu-
chan.”
“Ahaha, it makes me really glad that you feel that way.”
“I’m sorry that I can’t do anything more for you. Still, thanks for coming. Since nobody
I knew had come, I was feeling a little lonely.”
“In that case, I’ll make sure to direct Amaniji-senpai and Rikka here if I come across
them again.”
“Really? Gee, thanks~. Well then, I’ll be waiting then~.”
As she said that, Kumin-senpai had a smile that was even more cheerful than her usual
bright smile.
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From that smile alone – that feeling of loneliness of knowing that I’ll be by myself after
this was once again blown away.
After being sent off by Kumin-senpai, I left the place.
Now, where to next?
◆
“If I walked around properly for a bit, I would be able to join up with someone else
before long.” With that thought in mind, and with the tapioca juice that I brought from the
Cooking Club’s stall, I watched many plays and visited various food stalls to pass the time.
No matter what play I watched, I found myself having a good time. All the plays I
watched, in my eyes, were full of passion and were very interesting.
In particular, I couldn’t stop thinking about “Katsudon Girl”. It was a masterpiece that
moved my heart with things like the thoughts of the lead katsudon.
I hope tomorrow, our play could be just as moving.
The food at the stalls were nothing but delicious. Not only were there the parfaits
from Shichimiya’s place, but there was also the superb brownie from the Cooking Club that I
brought just a while back, as well as the delicious takoyaki that I brought from one of the
stalls. When I join up with Rikka, I’d like to come back to the stalls once again and try
everything.
Which brings us to the present. I was currently at the very back of a crowd, listening to
a band’s live outdoor performance. It was very good.
Even thought I was by myself, my excitement was rising.
However.
I still had yet to see someone I knew. What’s this? Perhaps I’m one of those
“impossible sights57”.
Since there were so many people, it may have been the case that we just passed by
and missed each other. If that really was the case, it’d be better to just use my cellphone to
get in touch with someone – at that moment, when my unease started to overflow.
“Ah~, it’s Rikka-chan’s boyfriend~.”
“It’s true, it is Rikka-chan’s boyfriend. And he’s by himself.”
“Wow, he really is by himself.”
57The preceding sentence, as well as this sentence, forms part of an untranslatable pun. The
original lines, 「何コレ。もしかして俺が珍百景なのだろうか。」, is meant to
reference the TV show『ナニコレ珍百景』: a show which that shows unusual/rare scenes
such as an uncrossable bridge (何 in katakana is ナニ).
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I didn’t know if it was since I was their acquaintance, or if it was since they were the
sort of people who abused those enjoying the cultural festival by themselves, but over flew
their voices from behind.
Although there was no need to turn around, as it was quite obvious as to whom those
voices belonged to, I still turned towards the direction of the voices.
The Summer Trio was standing behind me whilst eating delicious-looking crepes.
As the three of them looked at me: one had eyes full of disinterest, one had eyes full
of bemusement, and one had eyes full of pity. All three of them looked at me differently –
none of their gazes were particularly kind.
“Wh-what about it? I’m not particularly l-lonely or anything.”
“Heh heh.”
In response to my bluff, Miyoshi smiled as if she saw through it. It was a somewhat
wicked smile.
“It’s fine. You can tell the truth. After all, we played together during summer vacation,
right? If you’re lonely, you could join us?”
“Hey hey, don’t tempt another person’s boyfriend. More importantly, you’re trying to
get him to treat you to something just like he did the other day, aren’t you? I think it’s time
you quit.”
“Noo, it’s not like thaaat.”
“Darn it~, I wanted to get treated to something today as well~. Like the time we went
to the sea, that was great~.”
……
…Miyoshi-san’s scary!
More important, back then, did this person think that I was just some thing for her to
use to eat delicious things!? How scary – or rather, how unbelievable.
Although it seemed that I avoided her trap this time, nevertheless I understood that
she was a dangerous woman. From now on, I’ll have to be careful. And I’ll need to inform
Isshiki of this too. Perhaps he’s already been ensnared.
“I mean, Rikka-chan’s boyfriend belongs to Rikka-chan, right?”
“No, well, I mean, that’s right, but…”
“See. And so that’s why, treat us?”
“How did you end up with that conclusion!?”
Where’s the connection between the two!?
Her way with words was scary. As well as her devilish smile.
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“Hmm~, I’m going to go get something to drink for a bit. See you around~, Rikka-
chan’s boyfriend~,” said Sasa in one feel swoop to finish the conversation, before
disappearing into the middle of the bustling crowd.
Before chasing after Sasa, Miyoshi, for a moment, turned towards me,
“Hehe, well see you around, Rikka-chan’s boyfriend. From here on out, please take
good care of Shinka,”
and said all that before trotting away to follow Sasa.
Leaving Nibutani – the laggard Nibutani-san, behind.
“Hah… Hey Geruzoni, you didn’t take what happened just now seriously, did you?”
“Not at all… Rather, are you fine with not following them?”
“It’s already settled that I’ll be following them, no? But, well – if you truly were lonely
by yourself, we could go around the cultural festival together?”
Said Nibutani with a haughty attitude.
And as always, Nibutani had her usual – no, she was wearing a smile that was even
more sadistic than usual.
From that smile alone – it made me feel that I could handle even being alone by
myself from here on out.
Seeing her off, we waved, “see you later”, to each other. Nibutani then disappeared
into the crowd.
Right.
As expected, I immediately became lonely, and so I sent Rikka the text “I’m lonely so
let me join you!” and joined up with Rikka and Kazari-chan (thank goodness). After that, we
then joined up with Shichimiya, before joining up with Kumin-senpai and Amaniji-senpai a
little while later. Together, we enjoyed the first day of the cultural festival to its fullest.
As for the performance tomorrow –
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“As you might expect of someone doing something like this for the first time, I, the
Magical Demon Duchess, am nervous! Hero, I think that you should deliver a one-liner to
make this place feel more relaxing, but what do you think?”
“Me too… I’m also nervous, so something like that’s a bit…”
“Yuuta, the power of the Devilish Truth Stare is invoked – as your contractor, I order
you, the Black Prince, to bring about the blessing of smiles to this place!”
“That’s too unreasonable of a request!”
It was already the second day of the cultural festival.
And, it was now ten minutes before the planned start time our guerrilla play.
Completely impromptu. Today was the only shot we had at it.
It was now 12:20.
Lunchtime – the only time where there was no other play being performed either in
the multi-purpose hall or gymnasium.
The place that we planned to perform our guerrilla play at was the open space in front
of the school building. The place with the most foot traffic.
There was a lot of people gathered near the sports ground right now, as there was
currently an outdoor concert going on. It was very convenient for us.
Since the play ends the instant someone stops us.
I have no idea as to whether we’ll be able to perform to the very end.
To be honest, it would be quite unrealistic for us to be able to do so, but since we’ve
decided to perform the play, I wanted to see it through to the end.
And so, right now – we were currently on standby in the storeroom of the gymnasium,
which was located to the side of the sports ground.
Since the costumes were nothing but flashy, we were currently staying hidden there
so that we weren’t caught.
In the midst of such a dark and cramped space – seeing us whisper our little skit to
each other, our two upperclassmen smiled and giggled.
“Ahaha, naturally we too are also nervous as it’s both completely impromptu and our
only shot at it, so it’s great that you three reduced our level of nervousness by making us
laugh.”
“Mm-hmm, that’s right. It really did help me out a lot. Me too, I’m suuuuper nervous,
look.”
177
As if to say “Listen to the beat of my heart!”, Kumin-senpai arched the upper half of
her body. It emphasised her chest quite a bit… Of course, I didn’t go and put my ear to her
chest, as I didn’t think that it was appropriate for me to do. Rikka, however, took the
inititive to move in and listen.
How envious – thoughts like that did not pop into my mind.
“Oooh! The sound of your heart, wow.”
“See, I’m just as nervous as Rikka-chan. But, everyone will be fine. Somehow or other,
we’ll manage.”
To calm our growing sense of nervousness, Kumin-senpai encouraged us in a gentle
tone.
“Although Kumin had stolen what we wanted to say, just now we too were also
planning on saying something normal like that. Yeah, it really helped us out a lot.”
“Yeah yeah.”
“Oh right, is everyone’s costume fine? Since we’ll all be moving around a lot during the
performance, it would be good to scrupulously check that our costumes can handle that sort
of movement.”
As directed to by Amaniji-senpai, I checked my own costume very carefully.
Unlike the so-called standard prince clothes – I was wearing my usual finger gloves on
both hands, as my character had been bestowed the enigmatic Dark Flame Master setting.
With a black mantle (borrowed from Shichimiya; one that she used to use), a
mysterious silver chain, and a sword on my back, the look of prince that was in the midst of
suffering from chuunibyou, if I may say so myself, had been completed.
His catchphrase was, “you burned?58”.
Yep, as for me, it didn’t seem like there were any issues.
“No problems with me either.”
It seemed like pre-transformation Rikka also didn’t have any major problems with her
costume.
Although Rikka’s Eyepatch Cinderella was quite the novel addition to the setting, her
maid uniform, which looked like it had been treated like a ragged dust cloth, screamed with
fighting spirit.
It was a filthy-looking plain maid uniform that had tears every here and there. The
magical transformation of this Cinderella’s appearance is likely to be this production’s high
58A reference to The King of Fighters character Kusanagi Kyou. The joke is that Yuuta right
now is dressed similarly to him, leading to Yuuta ‘borrowing’ one of his catchphrase.
178
point. When I think about it in those terms, I can’t help but feel that only Rikka could pull off
this Cinderella.
It seems that Amaniji-senpai’s casting was spot on.
“This scarf, it isn’t weird, right?” said Shichimiya in her quite Shichimiya-like Witch
Queen costume – or more precisely, she didn’t look like a witch at all.
There wasn’t even a trace of the stereotypical robed-witch that you usually see.
Instead, she had a perfect magical girl costume on – it was her previous school’s uniform
that had been remodelled with double layered frills to look even more magical girl-like.
Along with a black scarf, she also had a mysterious stick (marvellous!59) that she had
purchased from somewhere.
For better or for worse, as it was impossible to definitely see her as an evil witch, her
costume stood out so much to the point where in terms of costumes alone it overshadowed
the lead role.
In fact, the costume was rather protagonist-like. It was quite the Shichimiya-like
costume.
“Yeah, it’s fine~. Is my costume okay?”
It appeared that Kumin-senpai too had been checking her own costume, as she was
moving and jumping about.
Her costume didn’t seem to be lacking in that regard, but… While her simple light blue
designer one-piece dress did look quite clean, her costume didn’t match the image of a
queen that I had in my mind.
In addition, as expected, Kumin-senpai’s childlike physical features also seemed to add
to the “what the heck is this role meant to be” feeling.
Well, I’m sure that her acting will be able to offset that uncanny feeling.
“Alright, it looks like everyone’s good.”
The Emperor – Amaniji-senpai was overwhelmingly vivid in colour.
If I had to describe how she looked in words, I would say that she was dazzling – as if
she wasn’t vivid enough already, her brightly coloured costume further enveloped Amaniji-
senpai with a last boss-grade presence. Not that she was an enemy or anything.
As per the stage directions, her hair too was tied together in an emperor-like way.
…Not that I had any idea what an emperor-like hairstyle was.
59Untranslatable pun. The original, ステッキ(素敵!), plays on the fact that stick (ステッキ,
sutekki) is pronounced the same way as marvellous, or 素敵.
179
After everyone had finished checking their costumes, we then checked that we had
our small trinkets, which made a lot of noise.
Nothing had been overlooked. Nor was there anything wrong.
We were all set.
Now that everyone had finished checking their costumes, Amaniji-senpai called out to
Kumin-senpai in a soft whisper.
“Kumin, this is our final one – we look forward to working with you.”
…Huh? R-right! Everyone, this will be the first and last guerrilla play! Let’s all do our
best!”
Immediately after everyone nodded in agreement to Kumin-senpai’s rallying cry,
Amaniji-senpai suddenly stretched out her left hand.
Although no words were exchanged – we all tacitly understood it meant “We’re
counting on you” and placed our hands on the back of Amaniji-senpai’s outstretched hand
one by one.
It was clear from our overlapped hands that everyone was nervous.
However, this warmth from our overlapped hands was pleasant.
Having yet to stop smiling since some time ago – Kumin-senpai.
Although not the leading actress, having a level of enthusiasm seeping from her face
as if she were the lead – Shichimiya.
Having previously said that she was looking forward to today – Rikka was giving off a
remarkable lustre.
And – the one with the stiffest expression out of all of us here, Amaniji-senpai.
Everyone’s eyes met with each other’s.
“Let’s have some fun!”
The one who announced that last bit in stiff voice was Amaniji-senpai.
In response, everyone vigorously raised their hand whilst shouting “Yeah!”.
Nibutani and Kazari-chan.
Isshiki, and the rest of our classmates as well. They probably all come over to watch
our play.
Moreover, since today’s Saturday, I’m expecting that my sisters will be coming over to
watch as well.
Although I’ve yet to catch sight of her, I’m sure that Dekomori will come too.
And – ...Catgirl-senpai will surely be watching us as well.
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60The same 儂/washi from in chapter 5: a pronoun used by the elderly. Since there isn’t an
English equivalent, I’ve changed the dialogue a bit so that it’s in 3rd person to reflect the
fact that it isn’t ‘typical’ speech.
181
The play was immediately incomprehensible. Even Queen Kumin appeared surprised
by the ad-lib.
“Yes. Father, what is it?”
Princess Rikka, who had been standing right next to me, trotted onto the stage.
Cinderella – since her costume looked like a ragged dust cloth, it was likely easy for
the audience to decipher who Rikka was meant to be.
In response to Princess Rikka appearing onstage, Emperor Amaniji stood up in an over-
the-top way.
“Ah, there you are. Listen carefully, Cinderella. The neighnbouring kingdom’s prince is
looking for a bride-to-be.”
“Dear, I don’t think they call it a bride-to-be nowadays. I believe it’s now fiancée.”
…Queen Kumin was able to ad-lib to that!?
Lines like that weren’t in the script at all. And, there was no need to add those lines.
“Ah, is that so? Well, okay. It seems that said prince is holding a martial arts
tournament to decide who his fiancée should be. The prize for winning – a lithograph like
this.”
Emperor Amniji took out a cracked lithograph from somewhere and raised it above
her head.
“That would be the final lithograph, right? And if you collect all seven, your wish will
come true, right?”
“That’s right, we Royalty will have three of our wishes come true.”
“As for me, well, let’s see – I think I’ll wish for eternal beauty. “
“Even your mother says so, Cinderella. Also, if you win the tournament, it’d be good
for you to take this chance and get married. Will you go?”
As she was suddenly told to get married with no regard to her feelings at all, Princess
Rikka initially had a troubled look on her face. However, after realising that she had no real
say in the matter, she then nodded to signal her agreement.
“Right, we’re counting on you-mchocho!61”
And after haven given lines that should not have come out of an emperor’s mouth,
Emperor Amaniji and Queen Kumin left the stage. By the way, that part of the play was
scripted.
Reference to the character Kotobuki Renji from Uta no Prince-sama series. よろしくまっ
61
ちょっちょ is his way of saying, よろしく, which means nice to meat you/please treat me
well/please take care of it (depending on context).
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“Tanta-tara-ta-rara-tara-rata-rarara-ra-ra♪”
Witch Shichimiya hummed out loud transformation BGM(?).
As Witch Shichimiya did that, Rikka underwent a transformation – she changed her
clothes onstage, live.
Although the transformation was just her taking off her ragged maid costume to show
the clothes she was wearing underneath, it was still quite the surreal sight.
But, I didn’t want any other guys to see this sight!
Yet before I knew it, as I could hear a deep “ooh!” coming from the audience, the
number of male audience members had increased. It was painful!
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Then again, generally speaking, it was tasteless to say something in the middle of a
transformation, and so it was impossible for me to voice my criticisms about that
stereotypical reaction.
After several seconds, her so-called transformation, which was really just her changing
her clothes live, ended. Princess Rikka had been reborn.
Clad in a black attire, it was the birth of Black Cinderella.
“This is… my new power!”
“That’s right! Now, go forth! Show everyone your power! However, that power cannot
be used after midnight!”
Roger, Princess Rikka nodded.
As Witch Shichimiya heartedly waved her scarf as she exited the stage, Princess Rikka
also moved a short distance to a new position.
The next scene.
After all this time, it was finally my turn to appear on stage. And to make my entrance
cool – I waved the black mantle that I had on.
“Mwhahahaha! Welcome to my castle! The Dark Matrial Arts Tournmanet – it seems
this lowlife is the next challenger!”
“Are you the Prince?”
“That’s right! The woman who hopes to be my fiancée! I only like strong women! All
the previous women that had challenged me have been buried by my flames of darkness!
Can you overcome me?”
As I shouted out terrible lines that not even the me in my heyday of suffering from
chuunibyou would say – Princess Rikka drew closer to me.
To confront her, I unsheathed the sword on my back.
“I will defeat you. Marry me please!”
As she said a line that was completely incongruent with the current situation at hand,
Princess Rikka pulled a dirk from her waist and readied herself for a fight.
Heh… To do battle against her in this form – Rikkaa!
The Dark Flame Master or the Devillish Truth Stare – let us make it clear which of the
two is stronger!
…Were not the sort of thoughts that came to my mind. I did feel like it became easier
for me to get into the role better, however.
Guess I have no choice but to go beyond this current level of immersion! Since I’d be
embarrassed if I were to return to my real self!
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“Hyaaaaaa!”
“Haaaaaaa!”
Our swords crossed against one another. Clash, clash – was the sound made not by
the sparks flying off our blades as we clashed, but by a section of our audience who were
happily banging their hands together.
However, as she was competing against the physical strength of a male, Princess
Rikka’s slender body was getting driven back.
“Y-you’re good…!”
“Heh, you burned?”
“Tch! But what about speed!”
Princess Rikka momentarily made a stance with her dirk – she then started to assault
me as if she were a raging hurricane.
Moreover, as if spurred on by her assault, cheering could be heard.
I didn’t have the leeway to think thoughts like, “If it were the case that they were,
thanks her quick and nimble movements, cheering at the swaying of Rikka’s skirt, I would
turn around and call the flames of darkness on them,” as I was on the defensive, with the tip
of her blade grazing me many times. Personally, I thought that it was likely that the people
watching were bewitched by how beautiful Princess Rikka’s movements were. Even though I
was the one facing off against her, my heart was also stolen away by her rapid jet-black –
no, light-speed sword dance.
Naturally, the goddess of victory was smiled on the other side.
“Haaaa – Mad Weapon Dance <<Alma Raffica>>!”
“– What!?”
My astonishment came out of my mouth late – the sound of my sword dropping onto
the ground happened first.
Although this showdown of ours was completely ad-libbed, it appeared that it was a
success, as the audience had gotten extremely lively. The cheering was a fair bit louder than
it was moments ago.
“Haa, haa, haa.”
“…I surrender. You are my fiancée.”
Our marriage had been formed.
It was a turbulent development.
“Haha, you truly are the daughter of the Emperor, Cinderella. Congratulations! You
are married!”
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“Look, your sensei thinks that if you are to do that sort of thing properly, you would,
as you might have expected, need to obtain permission first. It was to be a surprise, you
say… eh? The principal? The principal had given you proper permission – more or less given
you proper permission and so you performed? Well, since it’s not like you had
inconvenienced anyone in particular this time, sensei doesn’t want to say too much more
about this, but… Still, don’t you think that it’d be dangerous if some other group took this
opportunity to also do the same thing? In this world, there’s this word called “escalation”.
People who are too different will be resented by others, so please reflect on today
properly.”
From opening her mouth until now.
Nana-chan’s stern words spewed forth line after line.
Inside the staff room – looking up at us from the chair she was sitting on as she
scolded us, the face that Nana-chan had was one that was more of a serious educator as
opposed to one that was red from anger.
I forgot to mention this, but Nana-chan – since she had received complaints from
students that her that the way that she spoke was difficult to listen to, she was in the midst
of making the way that she spoke more forceful. However, there was still aspects of her old
way of speaking that had yet to be discarded.
And so, towards the stern Nana-chan, the six of us – me, Rikka, Shichimiya, Amaniji-
senpai, Kumin-senpai, and the person who took part in the spur of the moment – bowed our
heads down and apologised, “We’re really sorry…”
Afterwards.
After I yelled, a voice suddenly rang out in the air.
“Oi! A teacher is heading this way! Run away!” someone instructed.
However – it was too late. By the time that our surroundings had made a stir, Nana-
chan had already ferociously dashed from the school building to us. And then, when she
arrived at what I thought was the centre of our stage – a high-pitched sound rang out from
the whistle that had been hanging around her neck, and,
“With this! The curtain has fallen! The continuation – is up to your imagination!”
And with that, our play had come to its forced end.
It seemed that the audience was also unable to comprehend the situation at hand, as I
could hear voices saying things like “Eh? It’s over?”, “Is this also part of the play?”, and “Ah,
that teacher looks really mad” here and there.
187
62An untranslatable pun. Kusanagi’s catchphrase, 燃えたろ, is pronounced the same way
(moetaro) as 萌えたろ, which means “to be infatuated with”.
189
Distancing herself away from me, she drew close to Rikka, who was right next to me.
“Ah… thank you…”
“That time when you changed our clothes live, that was erotic~. My heart also skipped
a beat!”
“A… ahh…”
It seemed that Rikka was embarrassed, as it appeared that she had looked down to
conceal her pink face.
Or rather: as expected, it was erotic after all, the changing of her clothes! Shit, I should
have interrupted!
“And you as well! It was an excellent ad-lib! Thanks to it, I was able to make my
entrance as the Great Devil King! You have my gratitude! Let’s shake hands!”
The bunny-eared lady abruptly requested to shake hands with Shichimiya.
Kumin-senpai talked normally to her. Normally – as in she was talking to her as if she
was more than just an acquaintance, that sort of normal.
“Right~? Hideri too – Hideri? What’s wrong? Why are you hanging your head down
like that?”
“……”
Amaniji-senpai looked strange.
Her head was hanging down as if she was intentionally not raising her face so that
their eyes couldn’t meet. And although this usually would be the time for her to start saying
something weird, her mouth remained unopen.
After looking at that scene for some time, Kumin-senpai her voice loose.
“Come on, Hideri-chan. The person that you love the most has come, so raise your
face properly.”
And with that rebuke, Amaniji-senpai raised her face at last.
Then, her mouth started to slowly open.
“Ah, um… C-cat…gi…rl…se…n…pai…”
Amaniji-senpai murmured her words out like that, bit by bit.
Although, as to whether the voice was an embarrassed or happy one, I could not tell –
it was a voice that didn’t sound much like a voice.
That was how I heard her.
“Hey, wait a minute, I’m no longer that person more. That person no longer exists. I’m
Bunnygirl-senpai now, so call me that! You’re already called me that before, right? Did you
forget that already?”
As she said that, the bunny-eared lady stood right in front of Amaniji-senpai.
After that bunny-eared lady entered her field of view, I could see a faint glitter start to
accumulate in Amaniji-senpai’s eyes. I did not know why Amaniji-senpai ended up like that –
but as for that glimmer in her eye, I could tell that it was not as a result of sorrow.
I could at least tell that much.
That glimmer – it was a beautiful glimmer, a glimmer that was the exact opposite of a
sorrowful glimmer.
“Heh heh heh, I’m a university student now, right? Unlike in the past, I’m more adulty
now – you can only wear cat ears up until senior high, right?”
“…Ahaha, that’s right, that is how it is, sorry… “Bunnygirl-senpai”. …Or rather, let’s talk
about you coming here! Even though we had tried contacting you, you didn’t respond at all,
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and although you said things like that you would come over to play post-graduation why
have you not come over even once!”
Amaniji-senpai spoke with a rather restless voice.
It looked like the two of them were very close.
Like they were old friends.
Then, a thought that I had previously abandoned flashed back into my mind.
…Huh?
…Perhaps, could this person be her?
“Hey, um, Amaniji-senpai…?”
“Hm? What is it?”
Concerned about the thing that had accumulated in her eyes, Amaniji-senpai wiped
her eyes with her hand before turning towards me.
“Um… Is this person her?”
“Right, this is Catgirl-senpai – no, Bunnygirl-senpai. Kumin and our upperclassman.”
“Err… Then, about that no longer here thing from before…?”
“Right, Catgirl-senpai is no longer here anymore. She’s Bunnygirl-senpai now.”
Amaniji-senpai grinned as she spoke in a tone that implied that what she had just said
was extremely obvious.
Next to her, said Bunnygirl-senpai nodded along with Amaniji-senpai’s remarks as she
added, “That’s right, since I’ve become more adulty, right?”
For an instant, my brain stopped working.
???
??????
Huh…?
“Err, then Catgirl-senpai is not deceased, or anything like that…?”
As my brain started to work again, I asked that question.
In response to that query of mine, Amaniji-senpai started at me blankly,
“Correct. She is alive and well. Well, but she’s Bunnygirl-senpai now. So what’s this
about her being dead?”
and said that as she tilted her head.
The bunny-eared lady looked at me curiously too.
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“Hm? Me, I’ve never been dead, have I? Well, then again, if you count the cat ears,
then I guess in a sense I’ve died. The child who would wear things like cat ears whilst living
out their school life no longer exists. Well, since I’m everyone senior, feel free to call me
Bunnygirl-senpai!”
“……”
…
……
………… My brain has now made a complete recovery.
I see, so that’s how it was!
“It was all just a misunderstanding AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
In a voice that seemed loud enough to shake the world.
Without any attention paid to the gaze of others.
I.
In the middle of the school building, by myself – had yelled.
Rikka and Shichimiya, who were right next to me, stared at my face, startled by my
actions.
Then, it appeared that the people around us also started to wonder about what had
happened, as people started to repeatedly glance in our direction as they passed by. It was
at this point where my embarrassment gauge finally started to work normally: I made a
large waving gesture that implied that everything was fine to disperse the attention of the
people around us.
Amaniji-senpai, Kumin-senpai, and Bunnygirl-senpai all looked at me with a face that
seemed to say, “What’s wrong?” as they motionlessly stared at me.
Woah, how embarrassing…
“W-what’s the matter, Yuu-chan? Did something happen? …Oh, right! Still, we were
surprised by how abruptly you went and ran with that sort of eecentricity: looks like Yuu-
chan pretty good too!”
“It doesn’t make me happy to be praised like that… No, about what just happened,
don’t worry about it…”
There was no way I could say it.
That I had selfishly misunderstood the situation and thought that the person before
my eyes, the bunny-eared lady – er, Bunnygirl-senpai – had died: even if you were to
threaten my life, there was no way that I could ever tell them that…
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And, that in my mind I had sworn to do my utmost for the sake of said Bunnygirl-
senpai whom I had killed off without permission: there was no way I could tell them that
either.
But, then again – it wasn’t like that was the only reason why I swore to myself to do
my utmost in my mind.
Nevertheless, as expected, it wasn’t like I could say that out loud.
Still, for things to be like this – to be honest, it was quite the pleasing fact.
Of course, it was only pleasing because I had made a selfish misunderstanding. But
even so, the fact that she is alive and, above all, had praised us earlier, made me very happy.
She said that she found the play that we performed interesting.
That she was pleased with the play that was performed – that fact, it made me
extremely happy.
Well, her over-the-top praise for the script was just her tooting her own horn, but I’ll
just turn a blind eye to that.
“Ahaha, as expected of the children who enter this club: you’re all nothing but
interesting kids. Whether it’s Hideri or Kumin, you’re both exceptionally excellent. And the
underclassmen are, without exception, interesting kids, right?”
Bunnygirl-senpai looked in my direction as she smiled.
Apparently, it appears that I’ve been accepted by her as a strange underclassman.
Yeah… As expected, it was super embarrassing…
“U-um… Bunnygirl-senpai… see, Yuu-chan, DevTru Rikka-chan, and Sofia-chan, they
have not joined the club –”
Before Amaniji-senpai could finish, Bunnygirl-senpai cut Amaniji-senpai off by talking
over Amaniji-senpai’s words with her own words.
As if there was no need for Amaniji-senpai to say any more on that matter.
Bunnygirl-senpai spoke over Amaniji-senpai gently.
“Yeah, I know. Everything about the story behind this play – I know.”
“…Is that so?”
Amaniji-senpai responded softly, as if she were a little depressed.
“Don’t be so down. Rather, sorry for being unable to control myself and for entering
onstage with the behind-the-scenes character of the Great Demon King! But it was fun,
teehee.”
“Huh, that wasn’t an ad-lib but a proper part of the play’s setting!?”
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Seeing Bunnygirl-senpai stick her tongue out in a timid manner made me retort
unconsciously.
What an astonishing fact – Shichimiya’s ad-lib turned out to be real.
“Wow, Sofia’s amazing!”
“Nyahahaha, I too am surprised.”
Even the person herself was surprised. Of course.
“I mean, it was my script after all! Still, honestly, I’m glad that the play had been
performed like this. To be able to see everyone’s performance – as well as being able to
take this opportunity to perform as well – made me happy.”
“So that’s how you felt about it, thank goodness…”
Although her expression was a somewhat lonely and shadowy, relief leaded out of
Amaniji-senpai.
Still, I too was also relieved to hear those words.
It wasn’t the same level of relief, however.
For me – I was just the helper.
The promise was just for me to ensure that the guerrilla play was, one way or another,
was carried out – and it was kept.
As for Amaniji-senpai and Kumin-senpai, surely things weren’t that simple for them.
To them, the play wasn’t something that could be reduced to something so simple.
It was the very last one – that’s why.
Things that they regretted – surely, they had something like that.
“That’s right, so there’s no need to get so down, Hideri. Hideri did nothing wrong, and
of course, Kumin did nothing wrong. You performed the play well.”
Bunnygirl-senpai spoke as if she saw through what Amaniji-senpai was feeling.
That’s why, there’s no need to worry about it – once more, Bunnygirl-senpai told
Amaniji-senpai that gently.
“Right, ‘the final play’ – that was what this was to you, wasn’t it? It was very good.
Thank you so very much for performing it with my script.”
It was fantastic.
Wrapping things up with those words, Bunnygirl-senpai patted Amaniji-senpai on her
head.
“To tell the truth, I originally made this club for the sake of creating something fun for
me to do at this school. To have people gather together for me like this and to have been
195
given the chance to enjoy myself one last time: don’t you think that this is the most
wonderful way for things to end?”
That’s why.
It was not something that you had no choice but to do.
There is nothing for you to regret.
So please don’t feel remorseful.
Cheers for your hard work – and thank you.
To ensure that her message was clearly understood, Bunnygirl-senpai spoke those
lines one after the other.
Taken aback by those words, Amaniji-senpai became bashful.
“Bunnygirl-senpai –”
As she murmured that, Amaniji-senpai’s face – it appeared that it was packed full with
all the emotions she currently was feeling.
Feelings of happiness, feelings of relief, feelings of thankfulness, feelings of sorrow,
feelings of loneliness, feelings of teariness – there were all there.
Even so, she was smiling.
A smile that expressed all those feelings at once; a very wonderful smile.
Ah.
I – from the bottom of my heart, I was glad that I helped out with this play.
Regardless of my selfish misunderstanding.
The fact that I wanted to help her out did not change.
“Yeah, and with this, our club activities have come to a satisfactory close!”
After the Mysterious Rainbow Incident (self-titled) chain of strange occurrences, I got
laughed at by Nibutani.
It was the Sunday after the end of the cultural festival.
The principal had organised for a cultural festival afterparty (although it seemed that it
was intended to be the usual surprise by our principal given that it was not on the
programme, as it had already become common knowledge it was not particularly
surprising), and so after having tidied up the school during the day the entire student body
had come to the school’s sports ground afterwards to celebrate the end with a bonfire.
On the account that the event was being held on Sunday, participation for this event
was optional. However, it seemed that most of the student body was participating, as the
sports ground was overflowing with people.
Although this was only the first cultural festival I’ve had since entering high school – I
enjoyed myself quite a bit.
The first years who were strongly moved as it was their first time experiencing
something like this, the second years who surely had not yet had their fill of their second
cultural festival, the third years who were regretting that this was their last cultural festival;
everyone enjoyed the afterparty.
A musical medley that made people want to dance played throughout the sports
ground.
And in the centre of the sports ground, a tall flame soared high into the sky.
In that blazing hot atmosphere, there were people around the fire dancing whilst
wearing costumes that were used during the cultural festival, and people who chatted while
looking at that scene from a little distance away.
Aside from the areas around the swaying flame, there were also worn-out people
looking down at that scene from inside the school building.
Even the people who had been busy with the management of the afterparty.
And on the newly set-up main stage trying to perform something, the principal (!?).
Various people enjoyed the end of the school’s biggest event in their own way.
Naturally, I was one of those people too.
Although I had been chatting away with Isshiki a short distance away from the fire just
moments ago – no, it would be more accurate to say that I was accompanying Isshiki with
his hobby of “observing girls dancing around the fire’ (not my hobby!) – it appeared that he
had work to do as a member of the disciplinary committee –
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“Now then, it’s about time for me to take off and check if there are any scoundrels
that have cut themselves too loose. However, to be able to see the entire student cohort,
no, the entire female population of students gathered here together is enough for me to
have my fill of the afterparty. Togashi, I leave the rest to you. Well then, later.”
With those words, Isshiki headed off to work (as well as his hobby).
And so, I was currently by myself.
I enjoyed myself by watching Rikka, who was wearing her costume from yesterday’s
play, and Kazari-chan, who was wearing Rikka’s worn-out costume from the play, looking
close to each other and dancing together in the distance.
…I wasn’t feeling particularly lonely or anything.
It was at such a time.
“The moment I thought that you stopped doing things like that in public, you’re alone
by yourself ogling her to get sexually aroused, you creep!”
Along with those words, striking me from behind with a punch on the shoulder,
delightfully – in an extremely good mood that I’ve never seen her in before, I got entangled
with Nibutani.
Her face was so visibly flushed that it made me think that she was drunk, but it
appeared that the red glow was simply from the glare from the fire and not as a result of
alcohol.
I was suspicious as to whether she was drunk for an instant as she was in too much of
a good mood.
Then again, it was the end of the festival, so I guess anyone would be in a good mood.
However, I have to wonder, why was she all alone?
If it were like usual, Nibutani would be together with the two other dance club
members. Furthermore, if it’s the popular Nibutani, in a festive environment like this she
would be in great demand by many people.
“I do not do stuff like that, I am a very wholesome person.”
There were many things that I was curious about, but for the time being I denied that
I was undergoing some kind of sexual play.
Denied both that I was currently doing, and that I was the sort of person to do, stuff
like that.
“Hmm, but you were grinning. With a face that seemed to say, ‘I wonder if this means
Kazari-chan is also my girlfriend?’.”
“Oi, stop it! Don’t joke about my earnestness! Never once had something like that
ever crossed my mind!”
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Unlike before, when she was laughing hard, there was no malice – Nibutani’s words
were accompanied by a child-like smile.
This too was also an expression that I’ve never seen Nibutani have before.
“Yeah, you too, thanks for your hard work. …Well, but as for us boys, we merely
watched the performance, or at best only played a small supportive role, so I’m not sure
we’re deserving of thanks…”
“That’s not true at all. After all, it’s only because everyone helped everyone enjoy the
show that our performance was a success.”
“…Yeah, if Nibutani says so, then I guess it’s true. I had a good time, and it appeared
that everyone did too.”
“That’s right, that’s right, soy sauce63.”
“That pun is still popular!?”
“Hm? Would it be better if I said, ‘That’s right, that’s right, it’s sauce!’64?”
“Why would you bring up something as old as that!?”
On a related note, Rikka too had said something like that just the other day. Was this a
thing that had become a fad among the girls!?
Nevertheless, to hear something like that from Nibutani… It was the sort of gag that
made me doubt my ears, but it may have been the place known as the cultural festival
afterparty influenced her to do so.
…Let’s say that it was due to something like that.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to grasp the character of the current Nibutani.
“Or rather, Nibutani: are you, by any chance, going around and telling everyone those
words?”
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re the last one, Geruzoni. I wanted to thank everyone for their
hard work. Although I guess it is a bit of a strange thing for me to say, given the success of
the play was the result of everyone’s hard work.”
The flame was still burning strong.
63 Untranslatable pun and cultural referrence. Here, the phrase そういうこと (sou iu koto),
which in this case roughly translates to ‘exactly’, sounds like 醤油こと(shouyuukoto), which
means soy sauce. This is a gag by the actor and entertainer Murakami Shoji.
64 Another untranslatable pun/cultural reference. Here, it’s playing on the fact that そうだ
よ (souda yo), which roughly translates to ‘that’s right’, sounds like ソースだよ (sousuda
yo), which roughly translates to “it’s sauce”. This pun was used in an ad for Yakisoba in
1984.
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That’s why, Nibutani’s face still looked as if it had been dyed bright red. However, her
expression after saying that line just now was different from how it was from before: it was
an embarrassed expression.
Surely, our entire class had saw her with this expression. And surely, everyone else felt
the same way as that I did.
That out of our entire class, Nibutani was the one who had worked the hardest.
That’s why, I too voiced my thoughts out to Nibutani.
“I see. But, Nibutani was the one who had worked the hardest, so we should be the
ones who are thanking you.”
As if catching her by surprise, Nibutani’s eyes widened in response to my words. She
then tried to hide her embarrassment by twirling her long hair around her finger.
“Ahaha, if you say so. I’m happy to hear that you feel that way. Thank you.”
While still fumbling her hair with her finger, Nibutani smiled happily.
As she smiled, her cheeks were dyed not by a red caused by the illumination of the
fire, but by a pastel red.
Afterwards, she closed her eyes, and went “right, right” with a nod – although I wasn’t
sure what it was that she was convinced of, Nibutani met my line of sight,
“Well, there willll be a class closing party for the play after this finishes, so please
come and join us.”
and said that.
Then, without waiting to hear my reply, she once again turned around and walked
away whilst waving to me with the back of her hand.
‘I don’t need to hear your reply’ – was it?
Well, I mean, it goes without saying, but if there is to be a closing party, then naturally
my reply would be that I’m going.
For her to know that – it was like the two of us could understand each other a little
even without words, which made me feel a little happy.
After following Nibutani’s retreating figure with my eyes until it was gone, I returned
my attention back towards where Rikka was. When I did so, however, a close-up of
someone’s face entered into my field of vision, appearing right before my eyes.
“Yuu-chan, you’re quite popular with the ladies, aren’t you? Since we didn’t have any
other choice, we thought that we would go with DevTru Rikka-chan, but it seems that
DevTru Rikka-chan was also quite popular, and so we didn’t know who would be good to go
out with.”
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Full of flair, and with the distinctiveness of the colours of the rainbow – it was Amaniji-
senpai.
Although her face was covered by a pitch-black shadow given that her back was facing
the fire, as she was way too close to me I could clearly see every nook and cranny of her
well-featured face.
I was helpless against the gaze of her large pupils, which rooted me in place. Although
I couldn’t get myself to move despite physically being able to do so, I somehow managed to
take a single step back.
“Huh? …No, um… what about Kumin-senpai?”
“Kumin said, ‘Eh, Hideri-chan’s definitely the type of person who is too bothersome to
be in a romantic relationship with, so nah~,’ and turned me down.”
Ha, laughed Amaniji-senpai as tears accumulated in her eye.
She was on the verge of tears.
The things that Kumin-senpai said – while I also thought that what she had said was
undeniably accurate and correct, all the same I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Amaniji-
senpai.
Then again, it was likely because that they were friends that Kumin-senpai was able to
say what she really thought.
Or rather: did she really ask her out, this upperclassman? …As expected, the
strangeness of her actions really does surpass even my wildest dreams.
“Moreover, we also got told, ‘Besides, I only see Hideri-chan as just a friend.’”
“Those words, that’s the most common way of being rejected!”
“‘I love Hideri-chan, but…’ followed after as well.”
“I just want to say, if you love her don’t reject her!”
“As well as, ‘Since Hideri-chan is kind…’”
“‘Because you’re kind, what!?’ is how I feel about that!”
“In addition, all this was via text.”
“Even though it wasn’t face-to-face, being being told this all via back-to-back short
texts is still depressing!”
Before I knew it, it became the standard rejection story.
It was a mystery as to how much of that exchange was true.
On top of that, I had no idea what the point of that story was… She as quite the
schemer, after all. Then again, perhaps it was all just a joke.
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“…Rikka, huh?”
“That’s why, we were thinking about how we could deal with that request. And so, we
came up with this: to participate in the sports festival’s inter-club relay. And everyone can
dress eccentrically. Although we have not thought of any particular club activities for us to
do yet, for the time being we’ve applied for setting up a club as the principal wanted to be
photographed for the yearbook; when we asked the principal about it, the principal replied
with, ‘Yes! I too want to be photographed! Of course I’ll be the adviser!’ and agreed to be
our adviser.”
“Wow… That’s the principal for you…”
“Just now, we asked Kumin and Sofia-chan regarding this and got their agreement
instantly, and so we were told ‘approved’ as we had just the right number of people for
forming a club! All that’s left is Yuu-chan and DevTru Rikka-chan! Yay yay! Now now, Yuu-
chan, what’s your reply?”
“I –”
I already had my answer.
It was why I had hoped that things could continue on for just a little longer.
Still, I felt that it would be embarrassing to reply right away.
It was like she had, somehow or other, seen right through my feelings.
No, it was more like that she had already seen though how I truly felt about it.
“I-it’s not like I have any particular interest in the inter-club relay or anything, but well,
if Rikka’s joining.”
…With my face concealed and mumbling, I gave those tsundere65-like lines.
It was the only thing that came to my mind when I was thinking of ways to distract
from my embarrassment. If I may say so myself, it was quite the sorry display.
“But, are you fine with this? Especially with the state of the Eccentric Drama Club. But,
if you’re fine with it, then, well…”
“Yeah, we’re fine with it. Besides, Bunnygirl-senpai too: regarding club activities, she
had said to put an end to them. That’s why, we had to give the club a proper and neat end.
That’s why it’s fine, and why there’s no need for worry!”
“…I see.”
“Heh heh, although we try our best to not let things end, it’s fine if it ends neatly,
right?”
65A Japanese term for a character archetype whose normally cold at first to others before
showing a kinder side.
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– That’s why.
Afterword
It’s been a despair-inducing long time. This is the non-existent author, Torako. A very
great thing that has happened is that someone like me is on Wikipedia and is listed on the
Wikipedia page for novelists with pen names! A masked writer! Cool!
Since it was a certain Spiritual Wave Fist Master-like66, I think I’ll introduce myself
from now on as the masked writer like Wikipedia.
Putting that all aside, to everyone who currently has the third volume of Chuunibyou
Demo Koi ga Shitai! in their hands: seriously, thank you so much. Even though the anime
was lovely, for you to then go and pick up a copy of the novel too… You are all nothing but
kind-hearted people. It is thanks to the support of kind-hearted people that volume three
was able to come out. Thanks to everyone who did their utmost to make the anime
amazing. The voice actors were all wonderful. ZAQ-san’s song was lovely. Thanks to Ousaka-
san for drawing cute illustrations as always. Thanks to the editorial staff who guided the
dejected me.
It was thanks to having received a large deal of help in from these people that there is
a volume three.
I had previously without hesitation said “anime~” before, but for it to be made into an
animated work! And for it to be made into a movie! And for a second season to have also
started! All this too was entirely due to the large efforts of people who weren’t me.
How do I put it: it’s fine to feel that it was out of the ordinary even though this report
was completely ex post facto, right? Hooray!
It was forcibly linked to the story of third volume, but I hope you enjoyed the same
“chuunibyou is the best!” as with the previous volumes.
This time the chuunibyou patients again made their appearance a little differently, as
both that the number of characters had doubled from the previous two volumes, and that
the main focus of this volume was to be comedy. In anime terms, this volume was sort of
like a season 2. The direction the anime went with naming it Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga
Shitai! Ren was super cool, so I’ve decided to name mine Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
~Love Bomber~. …It’s tacky.
Back to the story, while in the previous volumes the ratio was 80% love 20% comedy,
this time it was 80% comedy 20% love. Since I don’t want to raise the bar too high for myself
(I wish I could learn from Kumin-senpai!), it’d make me pleased if this volume made you
laugh even just a little bit more than usual. If it were the case that you didn’t enjoy this
66This, along with the previous lines, references Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho: specifically,
the fact that in one of the later arcs, she had fought in a tournament under the guise of the
‘Masked Fighter’. I kept it a little awkward in English so that this reference could be
maintained.
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volume that much, please try and enjoy this volume by converting things like Rikka’s
cuteness into animated form in in the best animation style you can think of in your head!
On a related note, in the third volume the wildly popular Deko-chan and Kumin-senpai
from the anime appear!
Quite often, I get told the words, “Neither Deko-chan nor senpai were in the original
work.” It was thoughts like “the original work’s ●●●” that drove the creation of these
new words. It wasn’t as a result of thinking something like “I wouldn’t have to hear those
painful words as much”, honest! No, since I personally loved them too, I was glad that I was
able to have a chat with the both of them. Deko-chan’s appearance was quite forced
though… Although I wanted to also write the story about the encounter with Deko-chan, I’m
not sure if that dream of mine will ever come true! Nevertheless, now I’ve got a new dream!
Well, while lots of characters appear in the third volume, since at the centre of it all is
the abnormal upperclassman known as Amaniji-senpai and the resultant misunderstanding
of the highest order that arose from the tale of her continuing to be abnormal, correction –
I’d hope that you enjoy the tale called Cinderella (?), a story of a girl in love.
At the same time, I’ll be very glad if you could enjoy the anime as well. No, that’s
misleading, isn’t it? The anime is a blast, so please don’t miss it! I’m certain that it’ll be
lovey-dovey. I too am looking forward to how the anime will turn out.
Blurb
Please hand over your lover! – kneeling in broad daylight, Amaniji Hideri.
She was a member of the Eccentric Drama Club.
Her wish is to have the Eccentric Drama Club perform a play at the school festival, but
the club only had two members.
And so she asked Rikka and others for help.
The director’s strange, the members are strange, the club name’s strange, the
contents of the play are strange, the rehearsals are strange – it’s nothing but strange, will
the play even happen!?