The Fourth Question

Yoshii Akihisa and Sakamoto Yuuji’s real horror story introduction.

“That’s how it is. I, Yoshii Akihisa, and…”

“I, Sakamoto Yuuji…”

“Will introduce to everyone ‘horror experiences’ our readers have pa.s.sionately sent in.”

“Isn’t this plan too weird?”

“Even if you say so, it’s proper manners not to say it out and keep it in your heart, Yuuji.”

“You already revealed your true thoughts when you say things like that. Never mind, Akihisa. Start introducing the first mail.”

“Understood. Today’s first mail is from a person with the handle name ‘I’m the strongest A-boy in Shibuya’.”

“There’s a lot of things I want to say here. He can call himself B-boy anyway, or put the name as Akihabara.”

“Let’s see…the paragraph in the mail looks like it’s written in a Hip-Hop tune, so I think it’s better to read it in a Hip-Hop manner, I suppose?”

“Hip-Hop? I don’t understand what that means, but if you can do so, try reading it in a suitable manner.”

“Got it. Here I go— ‘Yeah, I’m the strongest A-boy in Shibuya yo! Always working hard to glory! But I don’t do for supplementary lessons!’”

“If you want to head to glory, don’t skip supplementary lessons.”

“‘Listen to my this, turn around and look!’”

“See, it’s because you skipped supplementary lessons that you mixed up ‘this’ and ‘disc’.”

“‘I don’t listen to anyone! I have countless women crying because of me!’”

“That crying woman should be your mother, right?”

“My rap is energetic and loud! All the j.a.ps nearby are crying for their mommas!’”

“Hm…? Rap…? Ahh, I see…oi Akihisa, you don’t have to continue reading.”

“‘The scary guy is really’—eh? I don’t have to continue? The scary part hasn’t appeared yet.”

“Don’t mind.”

“But…”

“But you can send a mail back to him that he mixed up Rap with supernatural sounds.”[1]

“Heh?”

“…Don’t make me explain it.”

“…Ah…I see…”

“…That’s how it is.”

“…I shouldn’t have opened that mail in the first place…”

“…I feel so too…for some reason, I feel like apologizing even though it’s not my fault…”

(A test of courage tournament…this is kind of bad. This kind of thing is what I’m weakest at.)

(Ane-ue, you stepped on it. You stepped on the karakasa-obake!)[2]

(Ah sorry. I didn’t spoil it, right?)

I see. Those two are really amazing. I can’t see them losing their composure or panicking or even geting baited by the honey trap. It’s like there are flowers saddled around them when I look at them. However, it’ll be nice if they can get along well.

“If it’s the two of them, we should be able to progress safely.”

“Yeah. The Kinos.h.i.tas probably won’t fall into any honey traps.”

Nothing actually happens on the way, and Hideyoshi’s group finally appears at where that beauty sempai is.

(Oh my? You two…I see, since you’re both girls, I can’t stop you two. Please proceed on your own.)

(That’s what she said, Hideyoshi. We’ll listen to sempai and proceed on.)

(Muu…even though we’re allowed to pa.s.s through, how should I explain the bitterness in my heart…)

The senior in the kimono backs aside, not intending to get in their way.

“That sempai simply opened a way for them.”

“Yeah. Either way, this lack of resistance from her is way too weird.”

My stare again returns back to the monitor. As Hideyoshi and his sister moves from the senior in kimono, the other one of the Toko-Natsu pair—the Mohawk head (Tsunemura) sempai is standing there.

“What in the world? Is this what they’re using to deal with Hideyoshi? But he doesn’t look as weird as that baldy-senpai. I don’t see anything that’s going to make anyone scream.”

Either way, I can’t see anything weird. That Mohawk-sempai is just standing there. Is he going to call out a powerful summoned beast? Like something that will cause Hideyoshi to scream once he sees something horrible…no, it doesn’t look like he’ll be calling out his summoned beast.

(You finally came, Kinos.h.i.ta. I’ve been waiting for you.)

(What is it? Were thou waiting for me? What is tis you want?)

(I don’t know what’s going on, but if you have something on, just hurry up and settle it, Hideyoshi. We still have to go on.)

(You’re right. I don’t know what you want, but please keep it short.)

(Un, it’s fine. I won’t take too long…Kinos.h.i.ta Hideyoshi, please listen.)

(What is it?)

On the screen, the Mohawk-sempai looks serious as he walks towards Hideyoshi.

Then, he says to Hideyoshi with a clear, unmistakeable tone,

(—I've always loved you.)

For the first time in my life—I heard Hideyoshi scream for real.

“I, I’m really sorry, Yuuji, Akihisa…I actually made such an embarra.s.sing scream…”

“You don’t have to worry, Hideyoshi. It’s understandable that you were confessed to by a gay—and a disgusting guy like that.”

“Yeah, Hideyoshi. Your sister was going ‘why am I left aside, why am I…!’ while carrying out wrestling moves on you. It’s impressive that you only screamed out.”

“Ane-ue’s wrestling moves were really bad…but I’d had the worst when he started reading that love poem that he wrote when thinking about me…”

That was really an incomparable torture to the body and soul. I stopped trying to maintain consciousness the moment I heard the line ‘You’re the sun shining on me’. Of course, the fear Hideyoshi felt, who listened until the very end, couldn’t be measured.

“If possible, I wanted to use ane-ue’s power to break through C cla.s.sroom…and even if we couldn’t, I hoped to at least wear them out.”

The situation now is bad. There’s not a lot of people who can break through that kimono-sempai (is she called Kogure-sempai or something?). Maybe Yuuji and Kirishima-san can get through safely, but they will have to bear the heavy mission of breaking through A cla.s.s’ checkpoints. We can’t let them proceed without knowing the traps within A cla.s.sroom.

“You don’t have to worry, Hideyoshi. They have roughly gotten information on our side, but we do have a secret weapon here. If it’s these two, they won’t be fooled by appearances, and should probably clear this successfully.”

“Eh? Do we have such people?”

The people from F cla.s.s are being disqualified one after another, and the other ordinary boys from the other cla.s.ses probably won’t be able to get through Kogure-sempai’s temptation, right?

“The girls will likely be afraid of the crewcut-sempai (Natsukawa) in girls cosplay and the Mohawk-sempai (Tsunemura) and won’t proceed on…”

“No, the Toko-Natsu pair won’t be able to scare us anymore. The golita got sent off like that, so it probably won’t appear again. Also, the Mohawk-sempai’s confession seems to be a tactic targeted at Hideyoshi.”

That’s true. Tsunemura-sempai’s confession just now wasn’t an act as it was able to scare Hideyoshi like that. Hideyoshi will probably be able to see through it if it were an act. Speaking of which, that confession just now…is probably from deep within his heart.

“Is that so…that moment was a serious move targeted at Hideyoshi…?”

Seriously. Hideyoshi’s body visibly trembles once he hears that line. It seems that the confession just now left quite an emotional scar in him.

“That’s how it is. That kind of dangerous attack won’t happen again.”

From the his tone, it seems that he’s deliberately trying to explain it to me. Why is he explaining it over and over again to me?

“So you can go on ahead safely, Akihisa and Shimada.”

“Eh? What? Are you saying the secret weapon is Minami and me?”

“Do, don’t joke around! You’re sending us to our deaths even after we saw such things?”

Minami hugs herself as she shows a scared look, maybe because she saw the opponent’s psychological attacks one after another. Looking at her right now, we might be disqualified before we even reach the checkpoint…

“Yuuji, this is really too hard. Minami’s really scared now, and even if we can really last until the checkpoint, Minami and my points won’t be able to beat the 3-A students.”

It’s not like Yuuji to not even consider this.

“You don’t have to think so much. Just enjoy the test of courage trip with Shimada. Shimada…listen to me, you just need to close your eyes and grab Akihisa’s hand.”

“Uu…I, I’m not scared…”

“Ahh, I know, I know. What I mean is, since Akihisa will be scared, I hope you’ll accompany him, Shimada. Akihisa has his own pride as a man, so he wants you to close your eyes and grab his arm.”

“Is, is that so? Since you say so, Sakamoto, it’s not like I can’t close my eyes and grab Aki. But it’s not because I’m scared, and I’m not grabbing Aki because I want to be close to him!”

“Well…Shimada’s not straightforward…”

“Did you say something, Kinos.h.i.ta!?”

“No, I said nothing.”

Minami’s stubbornness is really troublesome.”

“Never mind. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but since Yuuji says so, I’ll go in then. Let’s go, Minami.”

“Uu…r, right.”

“We, well, Minami-chan! If you don’t want to go in, I can…”

“Uun! It’s not like I don’t want to go in! I’ve always been looking forward to it, really, really looking forward to it! Also, Aki and I were already a.s.signed to go in! Hey, let’s go, Aki!”

“AGAAH! Mi, Minami? You just need to grab the arm. You don’t have to use wrestling moves, right…”

“Ahh, Akihisa, hold on a moment.”

As Minami is dragging me and ready to leave the cla.s.s, Yuuji suddenly calls us.

“Is, is there anything, Yuuji?”

We stop, and Yuuji walks over to us to whisper to me.

(I’m going to give you some instructions. Once you get to that kimono girl, I want you two to hide and check whether there are any other people around and secretly come back. Understand?)

(Eh? What does that mean? Won’t I be disqualified if I come back like that?)

Like Yuuji, I keep my voice down.

(Don’t worry. You won’t be considered disqualified unless you let out a scream higher than the limit, or if your summoned beasts lose in battle. The rules never stated that you can’t come back, so there’s no problem.)

(It’s fine if there’re no problems, but is there any particular reason as to why we’re to do this?)

(Alright, just hurry up and get in!)

Yuuji pats my back and looks like he wants to hurry me out of the cla.s.sroom.

It’s simple for me to follow his instructions, but I have no idea why Yuuji wants me to do this. We’re going so far away, and he wants me to secretly come back…what is Yuuji planning to do?

“Uu, never mind. Let’s do our best, Minami.”

“Uuu…!”

My arm that’s being grabbed onto by Minami is starting to feel numb due to lack of blood circulation, and I’m seriously worried about my arm.

“…Let’s go, Shimizu-san. Our battle begins.”

“…You’re right.”

As we walk into the corridor, I seem to hear some whispering.

Pa. It seems that something floats by.

“Woah!”

“—!!”

That surprised me. Is that a cotton cloth floating by? It looks like a ghost in a cloth made from an old curtain, and it does look rather scary with the dim expression.

“UBOAHHH…”

“—!”

This time, it’s a figure of an arm that’s dyed red turning towards an inexplicable direction. That should be someone’s summoned beast, I guess? The main person lets out a horrifying scream from the front, and the summoned beast closes in from the back…this is quite an effective move, but the sight of Kirishima-san punishing Yuuji looks a lot more disgusting than this.

“It’s a little disgusting, but you can still take this, right, Minami?”

“(Shakes head frantically)!”

This isn’t okay at all! Minami shakes her head to refute what I said. Uu…Minami’s creating damage on my body that’s much more shocking to me here, so why is she still so scared here?

We continue to head to the exit through the maze that’s made of panels and black cloth. d.a.m.n it, I can’t see the path below us clearly. We might get lost.

“Speaking of which…Minami, it’s hard for me to walk when you cling onto me like this…”

One of my hands is holding onto the camera, while the other one is being held on tightly by her. At this rate, even if I reach the door, I won’t be able to open it. No, the arm held so tightly by Minami, but I hope that the area below the elbow can move freely.

“—(Shakes head frantically)”

Not good. Minami’s clinging onto my arm tightly and unwilling to let go. Also, I think my wrist joint is going to get dislocated by her.

It seems like whatever I say won’t reach her ears, so I can only move forward. Well, about that…I have to say I’ll be lying if I say that I’m not happy, but it’s kind of pitiful seeing her being so terrified. Is there anything that can divert Minami’s attention?

“Ah, Minami, there’s a window over there. If you just look over outside the window, maybe you can—”

The cellophane paper that’s stuck on the window limits the amount of light shining into the haunted house, but we can still see the scenery outside the cla.s.sroom. I suppose Minami should be able to regain some life after seeing something familiar, right?

(Kihihihihihi…! I hate…)

The head of a long-necked woman floats by outside the window, and it looks real. Whose summoned beast is that? I can even see the details of the forehead floating by takes to the light. I was careless because I thought we can see the scenery outside, but such a shocking image will definitely cause a stronger fear in her.

“…Sorry for that. I didn’t actually expect this.”

“Uu…I don’t want this…I shouldn’t have come…let’s hurry up and go back, Aki…”

Minami lifts her teary wide eyes and earnestly begs me. Uwa, isn’t that just too cute!? Not good, this isn’t the Minami I know…

SHAKA!

“Heh?”

Suddenly, a mechanical pencil comes flying from behind, grazing my face and stabbing into the wall.

Tsul…a bright red liquid slowly drops down my face.

“Ah, ahaha…what kind of trap is this? It’s really direct…”

This mechanical pencil that’s stabbed into the wall is made of metal, and it not only destroys the wall, it even pierced through it. This mechanism is really too scary! The rules should specify that direct attacks are forbidden, right? No matter what, that kind of dangerous thing shouldn’t be aimed at the body, right?

“…I won’t miss next time, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d swine…”

d.a.m.n it! I feel an ever-serious killing intent coming from behind me. This isn’t just the mood of a mere test of courage tournament, but a real terror attacking me.

“Mi, Minami, let’s just do our best for a little longer. We can go back to the cla.s.sroom later.”

“…Si, since you say so, Aki, I’ll do my best…”

The weak and helpless Minami nods as well. d.a.m.n it! This really won’t be good. I really want to turn our F cla.s.sroom into a haunted house to let Minami be in such a pitiful state all year around.

“Shimizu-san, calm down first. It’s still too early to make your move here.”

“Yo, you’re right. We should head to a more scary place and pull onee-sama away from that swine.”

“It’s a good thing the rules never specified that we can’t switch partners midway. Sakamoto-kun’s setting of the rules is really impressive.”

Anyway, I better follow Yuuji’s instructions and try to get to that Kimono-sempai first. Yuuji wants me to reach there and then secretly head back. In that case, I can also fulfill Minami’s earnest wish of leaving this place and hurrying back.

I continue to head to the target based on the vague memory I had of the monitor. Whenever there’s a point where it is scary, Minami will tense up really badly and grab my even tighter, but the killing intent behind me isn’t that obvious. I have no idea what kind of thing is behind us, but if it’s some distance away, that thing probably won’t be able to see our movements.

“Speaking of which, I didn’t expect you to be so scared of haunted houses, Minami.”

If I don’t say anything, Minami will probably be more terrified, so I decide to talk to her randomly.

“Tha, that’s because…it can’t be helped. It’s okay if it’s German ghosts, but I don’t know anything about j.a.panese youkais…like how a lantern will stick out a mouth and limbs, or an ordinary girl suddenly stretching her neck really long, I don’t know anything about them at all…”

Ahh, I see. Minami doesn’t know anything about how some of the youkais look like, so that’s why she’s really scared right? People will be terrified of ‘things they don’t really know about’, so it can’t be helped for Minami to be scared when she isn’t familiar with j.a.panese youkais.

“But you should hurry up and familiarize yourself with j.a.pan.”

“It doesn’t matter…if I have to get used to that kind of thing, I might as well return back to Germany.”

Minami puffs her cheeks unhappily as she says this. Does she really hate youkais…?

“But Minami, it’ll be so lonely if you head back to Germany on your own…”

“Of course not. I won’t feel lonely at all. I do have my friends there, so even if I go there, I won’t be alone!”

Minami argues back against in a stubborn tone. Eh? Is she misunderstanding me?

“Ahh, no, that’s not what I mean,”

“Then what do you mean?”

“The ones feeling lonely will be this bunch of friends here.”

“…Eh…?”

Minami can’t hide her face full of surprise after hearing me say this as she turns to look at me. Is it weird that I feel lonely?

“Aki…why do you feel so lonely?”

“Ah? You’re asking this? I will feel lonely.”

“I’m saying, why will you feel lonely?”

Minami continues to ask insistently.

What? The terrified expression on her face just a moment ago has disappeared. Minami now looks ever-serious…is the answer to this question so important?”

“…”

Minami continues to stare right at my eyes.

Since Minami is being so serious, I have to answer her question seriously.

Uu…the reason why I feel lonely when a certain person is not around…I don’t know if this can be considered an answer, but I guess—

“Because I’ll feel lonely when one of the friends who hangs out with me suddenly leaves.”

“Normally hang ou…”

“Un.”

I probably won’t feel extremely lonely if someone who I don’t usually hang out with leaves. If I feel lonely when someone is leaving, it means that the person is very close to me. I guess it’s because we’re together so often…though my sister and mom are exceptions here.

“You’re saying…that you hope that I remain with you…right?”

“Hm? Sorta…I guess.”

For some reason, I feel that the meaning’s kind of different, but I guess this is roughly what I want to convey.

“The, then…”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Then…if I say that I’m willing to be with you forever…will you accept it, Aki?”

She wants to sit beside me? Minami still wants to sit next to me, when I have the worst position, in such a bad studying environment? Even if Minami has confidence in her physical health, I don’t want her doing something stupid.

“My seat and the ones around me are all very hot. Also, cold air will blow in from the gaps during winter. It’s freezing, so I better advise you not to.”

“Aki, you better not answer me with such stupid words.”

“Eh? Ah…yes, sorry!”

What? Why is Minami throwing a tantrum at me? I feel that our conversation don’t seem to match.

“That’s not what I want to hear. I want to know…”

Just when Minami feels like she wants to say something—

“I feel that onee-sama is being fooled…I hate you…I want to curse you…I want to kill you!”

Crck crck crck crck I feel that there’s a curse that’s being uttered really fast and getting closer to me. Thi, this is too scary!

“Ky—umu!”

I hurriedly cover Minami’s mouth just when she’s about to cry out. Now’s not the time to talk about sitting beside me or anything. We’ll definitely be disqualified at this rate!

“Minami, I know it’s a little rough of me, but sorry.”

“—Buha! There, there’s something closing in! Aki, we have to hurry up and get away from here…”

Minami timidly looks over at the pitch-black darkness. To a certain extent, it’s really scary to be unable to see anything at all!

“No, Minami, it’ll be scarier if we continue running away. Don’t worry, they probably won’t hurt us, so let’s calm down.”

SHAKAKAKA!! (Mechanical pencils x 3)

“Let’s go then. How about we run away, Minami?”

“Un…”

I continue to dodge the stationery flying over as Minami and I hasten our pace.

What’s chasing us is definitely not a summoned beast. No, I don’t think this is the doing of the 3rd years either…

“I won’t let you get away! I’ll continue pursuing you until I get onee-sama back, even if I have to run to the ends of the world!”

“Shimizu-san, you’re looking much more savage than any of the youkais around here.”

The horror that’s pursuing us—the real ident.i.ty of the horror may be right beside us.

“—!!”

Minami closes her eyes as she grabs onto my hand and runs, but in this posture, there’s a limit to how fast she can try to run faster. At this rate, we’ll probably be caught up soon.

“In that case…I can only do this!”

C cla.s.sroom isn’t that big, so there’s practically no chance of escaping or running away from the pursuers behind us. In that case, we can only use this move to hide.

“Minami, you hear me? Once I give the signal, keep your voice down and summon.”

“Eh? I, I got it…I can call out my summoned beast if you want…”

At this moment, we’re reaching a fork in the middle of this small maze. I deliberately bring Minami to the side blocked by a panel, hide behind it, and give the signal to her.

(Now, Minami.)

(Uuu…sa, summon)

Minami’s summoned beast appears. Un. As expected, it’s a complete flat piece of wall.

(Aki, I suddenly have an urge to really beat you up.)

Minami’s instincts are so sharp it’s shocking.

(You’re thinking too much here, Minami. Let’s not talk about this. Let your summoned beast stand in front of us…yes yes, just like that. Now, we need to keep quiet, so don’t let out any noises.)

(It doesn’t really matter…)

The chibi-sized summoned beasts before would probably be unable to block anything, so luckily, this summoned beast is about the same size as us. In that case, we probably won’t be discovered if we’re hidden behind the concrete wall.

“Onee-sama, onee-sama…I definitely won’t let you run away…kekekekekekeke~”

“Shimizu-san, you’re really so evil that the surrounding air is distorted.”

Minami and I hold our breaths as we wait for the evil G.o.ds to pa.s.s by.

The demon with 2 drill braids that is dominated by her emotions doesn’t seem to notice the weirdness of the surroundings as it hurriedly pa.s.ses by the path we were hiding on.

To play it safe, we continue to remain where we are for a while and peer around for movements…hm, looks like it should be fine.

“It’s fine now, Minami. That inexplicable youkai living in modern times seems to have gone far away.”

“Re, really?”

The timid Minami opens her eyes slightly.

It seems that this nurikabe is blocking a small room from the wall, and there’s only Minami and me here. There’s nothing to be scared of. This is likely designed to be some sort of rubbish dump or something as there are all sorts of broken stuff here. It looks to be a messy and dirty place.

“See, there isn’t anyone else here, right?”

“Ye, yeah, that’s great…”

Minami finally heaves a sigh of relief. It’s really great that she can regain her composure.

Alright, what should we do next? Right now, we’ve already hidden ourselves just like what Yuuji instructed us, and it’s about time to head back. Also, it’ll be pitiful for Minami if she’s to see more scary things.

“Let’s go back, Minami.”

Minami’s summoned beast isn’t a real object, so I step outside by pa.s.sing through the nurikabe. But at this moment—

“Aki, hold on a moment.”

For some reason, Minami’s pulling my arm. What is it? Is there still a reason for us to hide here?

“What’s the matter, Minami? What happened?”

“…Let’s continue.”

A soft mutter reaches my ears.

“Continue…the topic just now. I want to be certain of things here.”

Eh? She wants me to continue…what we’re talking about just now? I remember…

“You’ll feel lonely because you view me as a friend, Aki? Or—”

“Eh? Mi, Minami, aren’t you getting too excited? Calm down first.”

“You always get the wrong ideas, Aki. I don’t like orangutans or chimpanzees or even sloths! You’ve always been mistaken. Actually, I really like—”

“You, you really like?”

“—Mo, mon…st! Hafuu!”

At that moment, Minami’s body lost all her strength as she collapsed onto the floor weakly. Maybe it’s because of the fear she experienced up till now that she can’t help but faint once she's relaxed.

“Really…she wouldn’t admit that she’s scared even though she’s terrified to such an extent.”

She already fainted, and yet she forces herself to say something like, ‘I like youkais’. Minami’s stubbornness is like a metal joint that won’t budge. If I have to say it, it’s really like Minami to protect her pride.

“Since Minami fainted, I better take her back first.”

I carry Minami’s lifeless body and turn back to where I came from.

“BAAK!!”

At this moment, some old props with faces and limbs are all moving on their own.

I get it. This place I thought was the dumps is actually a place full of demons. I actually brought Minami to hide here and sealed off the place with the nurikabe. I really made Minami suffer here.

“I’m back.”

I take note not to drop the unconscious Minami as I open the door to F cla.s.sroom.

“Ohh, you’re finally back, Akihisa. Nicely done. This operation is very successful.”

Yuuji, who lifts his head from the tracking monitor, gives me a smirk. Operation successful? What does that mean?

“Eh? Why? Minami fainted out of fear. We came back without doing anything.”

“No, I’d dare say that you two did good.”

“…(Nods nods)”

“???”

Even Hideyoshi and Muttsurini are praising our performances, but I really have no idea what the situation is exactly about now. Anyway, I better let Minami lie on the tatami mat first.

“…”

As I put Minami down, Himeji-san gives me an ever serious stare.

“Hm? Himeji-san, is there something wrong?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing at all.”

Himeji-san frantically waves her hands at me as she mutters ‘I should…summon up, some courage…’. Perhaps she finally decided to take part in the test of courage tournament.

“Akihisa, that act just now had some effects. See for yourself.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Since Yuuji says so, I hurriedly bring my face over to the monitor to look.

What appears on the screen is Kubo-kun and Shimizu-san, who somehow entered C cla.s.sroom, and right now, they’re facing 2 3rd year-sempais.

(Hii…fuu…ONEE-SAMA I…WILL OFFER…SACRIFICES TO…ONEE-SAMA!!)

(…Hey, hey, is this, your summoned beast? It’s giving off a dangerous presence here…)

(No, that thing’s about the same as a human.)

That sempai’s right. Shimizu-san right now looks like an evil summoned beast that belonged to Kubo-kun and fell into a dark abyss as she has lost all signs of what a human should look like. If the opponent’s summoned beasts are as scary as her, all of us now will probably be screaming in fear and getting disqualified. Kids will definitely be getting nightmares for the entire summer vacation if they see Shimizu-san’s horrifying image.

(But that’s really unexpected. To think that there’s a boy who can break through Aoi’s point.)

(Aoi…? Ah, you’re talking about that sempai in kimono?)

(Un. You’re not fettered by Aoi’s charms…are you, someone who likes ugly people?)

(No, I don’t like ugly ones, and I do understand that sempai charms.)

(Really?)

(Really, I used to like girls before.)

But I’m more concerned about Kubo-kun now.

(…Kill…you all…ugh…uu…onee-sama…)

(Sempai, we better hurry up and end this before Shimizu-san stops talking in human language—summon!)

(I feel that girl has lost a lot of things as a human…summon.)

(It, it seems that we’ll get cursed if we don’t end this…summon)

(…Summon…)

A cla.s.s, Kotobuki Minato, Modern Language 289 points

And

A cla.s.s, Nakasone Misao, Modern Language 227 points.

Are the end-of-terms questions hard? Or is the top cla.s.s not exactly how it looks? I see two 3rd years with scores less than 300 points, and their summoned beasts are a yuki-onna and a harpy, normal monsters at that.

A cla.s.s, Kubo Toshimitsu, Modern Language 388 points

And

D cla.s.s, what was originally Shimizu Miharu, Modern Language 135 points.

On the second years side, there’s a weird pairing; someone who lost his way in life, and someone who’s just bothering me. Shimizu-san’s eyes look like they’re becoming like a youkai itself…speaking of which, Shimizu-san herself looks more like a youkai than anyone else.

“Can Kubo-kun’s group win?”

“Well…this might be a tough battle, they should be able to do so.”

Amongst the second years, Kubo-kun’s grades are enough to make him top 3. It’s too bad that he doesn’t have a unique ability to let him pa.s.s the 400 point mark , but I think he’ll definitely work hard to achieve this victory.

“Speaking of which, will the opposing yuki-onna do a snowstorm attack or something?”

Maybe this might become a battle of unique supernatural abilities like how Muttsurini’s summoned beast can transform.

“No, I guess not. Only a few summoned beasts from before have this kind of ability.”

“Some…”

“Only those monsters with more than 400 points.”

“More than 400 points, huh…”

Muttsurini and Kudou-san’s health education are more than 400 points, so they would have this kind of ability…however, can Kudou-san’s be counted as a unique ability? This can really be debated.

“Speaking of this, this battle…”

“Will come down to beating each other blow for blow.”

I’ll say that the school better hurry up and fix the summoning system. Asking the A cla.s.s students to fight like that…is not going to get them motivated, let alone make them lose motivation.

(Minato! I’ll deal with this boy. I’ll leave that girl (?) to you!)

(You can’t, Misao. That boy has higher scores! I should attack him since I have higher scores!)

(I, I don’t want to! Tha, that girl doesn’t look normal! Her eyes look like they’ll eat someone!)

(I don’t want to fight her too!)

“Our total points may not match the opponent, but looking at things now, I’ll say that we’re winning…”

“Yeah.”

“I thought I saw Kubo-kun turn into a messenger of death that could control 3 demons at the same time…”

“…That’s a real supernatural phenomenon.”

“A, Akihisa-kun…something filthy is in this school! I think Shimizu-san is inflicted by it too!”

(Onee-sama, one-sama…Miharu’s, beloved, onee-sama…why wouldn’t…you even…look back…at me…)

Looking at Shimizu-san on the monitor now, I really worry how she’s going to take the weird stares from her cla.s.smates in the future.