The Fourth Question

Question: Please fill in a suitable English word in the blank.

Bread is made from ____.

Kirishima Shouko's answer:

'Flour'.

Teacher's Comment

Correct answer. The meaning is 'Bread is made from ___'. 'Be made from' would be a pa.s.sive way of saying 'make A from B', which means that 'A is made from this thing B'. Thus, if you answer 'toaster' it would be an equipment instead of ingredient, which wouldn't be correct. Please take note of this.

Yoshii Akihisa's answer

'Happy White Powder'

Teacher's comment

Happy White Powder. This won't do, not at all.

Himeji Mizuki's answer

'Pota.s.sium Carbonate'

Teacher's comment

To think that Himeji-san would know of such a difficult term called pota.s.sium carbonate. But this is a raw material for making gla.s.s, not for making bread. Did you mistake bread for bead? Though they are similar looking white powder, it'll be a huge disaster to use pota.s.sium carbonate to make bread.

But n.o.body will use such a thing to make bread anyway (laughs)

“I suppose everyone should understand this well, but from today onwards, you can start your summoning battles. This is a good chance to test out your progress in the first term, and I hope every student will take part enthusiastically.

Grrrrrrrrrr...

“Also, there will be pipe lying in between the first and second level in the old campus, so—”

Guuuuuu...

“And I'll have to talk to you about the student exchange module—”

“““Yoshii, Sakamoto...we'll kill you!”””

Nee-san's punishment yesterday (in the end, broken fingers weren't enough to appease her anger) made me lose consciousness in pain, and I finally managed to reach the cla.s.sroom before I was late, during the homeroom period. While Ironman stood on the podium and reported a few things as usual, Yuuji and I were exposed under the killing intent and curses of our cla.s.smates.

It wasn't just Yuuji and me as everyone in cla.s.s were in position, ready to rush out from their seats. As to why it is so, it's obviously so that we can all take action the moment Ironman leaves. At this moment, it's because of this powerful force Ironman controlling things that everyone could at least remain calm. If not, this cla.s.sroom would become a dangerous and terrifying execution ground like yesterday. Is this the so-called imminent situation? To Yuuji and me, if everyone goes crazy while Ironman's around, Ironman can step in to exterminate a few enemies...

“That's all I have to report today. I hope that everyone can study hard and improve themselves.”

He used the same words to end again. Once Ironman leaves, our escape game will begin, and the b.l.o.o.d.y death match will start--

DOK DOK DOK.

“Sorry, please excuse me.”

At this moment, someone knocked on the cla.s.sroom door and slowly walked in. Eh...

“Koyama from C cla.s.s. What is it?”

“Sorry, Nishimura-sensei, I have some things I want to say to the students of F cla.s.s.”

After saying that to Ironman, Koyama-san turned around to face every one of us in F cla.s.s.

She took a little breath.

“We, C cla.s.s, will start a summoning battle against F cla.s.s.”

““WHAT!?””

We couldn't help but call out in shock. What? How did this happen?

“Koyama, is this really good? You won't get any benefit from declaring war on a weaker cla.s.s.”

“No, Nishimura-sensei, that's not the case. Of course we do benefit! Like irreplaceable experience and...”

Koyama-san answered Ironman's doubts honestly.

“And—three months worth of peace.”

One of the rules of the summoning war is that 'the defeated cla.s.s can't take the initiative and declare war for the next three months. In other words, C cla.s.s' aim is to take away our right to declare war. Since they had the experience of defeat in the previous summoning battle, C cla.s.s wouldn't let go of the opportunity when we're fighting amongst ourselves. Perhaps they might be thinking of getting rid of any worries.

“You're rather good, Koyama, reading the meaning in my words like that...”

Yuuji muttered in a bothered manner. Reading his words...what did that mean?

“What's going on, Yuuji?”

“It's simple. Once we sorted out the situation of the cla.s.ses, our F cla.s.s today was supposed to declare war on C cla.s.s. But it's because of this thing that they were able to make the first move.”

Yuuji said.

If our cla.s.s was completely prepared, we would surely ask for the enemy to declare war on us first. But in the current state, our cla.s.s is really in a bad shape and can't even fight against other cla.s.ses anyway!

The reason why we ended up in such a disadvantageous situation isn't a coincidence no matter how we think.

“Using the tactic of heteros.e.xual relationship...and declaring war on us once you understood our current situation...I never thought that Koyama would be such a manipulative person...someone helped to plan that out, right?”

Yuuji grumbled and muttered to himself.

Perhaps Koyama-san heard what Yuuji muttered as she looked at him and responded with a mocking smile,

“Oh my, don't you know? Don't look at me like this—I'm from the Tea Ceremony Club.”

The moment she mentioned the tea ceremony club, my mind immediately remembered a certain sempai.

“Tea Ceremony Club—that 3rd year s.e.xy looking sempai guided you.”

The 3rd year sempai from the tea ceremony club who looked really s.e.xy...isn't that Kogure Aoi-sempai who wore the kimono and the leotard during the test of courage tournament? That person did look like she had lots of plans, and she belonged to A cla.s.s, so she should be rather smart. The impression she gave was that she really knew how to use relationship between different genders in her strategies.

“That's all I have to say, please excuse me.”

After bowing lightly, Koyama-san turned around and walked to F cla.s.s' door.

Just when she was about to leave,

“Sakamoto-kun, what I told you wasn't a lie.”

Finally, she left these words behind. What she said before...what was it?

“Oi, did you hear what she said?”

“She should be talking about that rumor yesterday, right? So that's true...”

“Unforgivable...we're about to start the summoning battle. I thought that we just needed to catch that d.a.m.ned Yoshii we're so jealous of and execute him...”

“““LOOKS LIKE THERE'S NO ROOM FOR COMPa.s.sION!”””

The killing intent in the cla.s.s just got stronger. I just felt that I missed something...but even in such a critical situation, I still can't escape my fate?

“Isn’t this good? You can take part in the summoning battle immediately. Get ready to battle then.”

Ironman followed behind Koyama-san and left the cla.s.sroom.

The moment Ironman's front foot stepped out, angry growls that would make hairs stand rang throughout the cla.s.sroom.

“““THE INQUISITION ON THE HERETICS SHALL NOW BEGIN!!!”””

““YAAAAAA!!!””

Those are primitive roars full of hatred, not for the summoning battle—but at Yuuji and me!

C cla.s.s declared war on F cla.s.s!

But we're ignoring the important event we just established.

“GO TO h.e.l.lL! YOSHII!!”

“FALL! SAKAMOTO!”

Our cla.s.smates who were supposed to be fighting with us had intense hate for us as they viciously attacked us.

“CALM DOWN, ALL OF YOU! C CLa.s.s WILL BE ATTACKING!”

Sprinting down the hall, Yuuji roared at our pursuers behind us.

“WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SAYING!? WHO CARES ABOUT SUMMONING BATTLES IN THIS SITUATION?!”

“I'LL BE FULL OF HATE IF I LET YOU REMAIN ALIVE IN THIS WORLD! IT'S NOT ABOUT SUMMONING BATTLES NOW!”

But Yuuji's growls couldn't enter their hearts as our pursuers behind us showed no sign of stopping.

“d.a.m.n it, those idiots! Akihisa, let's hide first and talk!”

“Understood!”

Yuuji and I nodded our heads at each other and jumped 3 steps down the stairs at a time as we hurriedly moved downstairs. The pursuers from F cla.s.s were chasing with tremendous momentum behind us, but our escape was a lot easier than yesterday as they lack a commander like Yuuji.

“Alright, let's kill some time here first.”

We hid in the boys changing room beside the swimming pool, held our breaths and whispered to each other. n.o.body's using this changing room now, and we can remain undetected here for quite some time.

“Though we're killing time, we can only hide for about 10 minutes.”

Yuuji grimaced.

“Only ten minutes? Why? It's not like someone will come over to the change and swim.”

“It's not like that. It's to follow the rules of the summoning battle.”

“Eh? What's that?”

“During a summoning battle, each cla.s.s rep has a duty to reveal his/her location. Besides, if the cla.s.s rep hides in a place too secretive, it's likely that the entire battle outcome will become unpredictable.”

A cla.s.s rep has to bear such responsibility, and this seems to be one of the rules of the summoning battle. Like what Yuuji said, if we don't know the position of the cla.s.s rep, we can't have a decisive battle. During this time, everyone else could take retests, and the outcome of the battle would be in doubt. Thus it's an important rule to declare the location of the cla.s.s rep.

Even so,

“In this current situation, this rule's really a ha.s.sle.”

“Yeah. To think that they declared war in such a bad situation...”

Yuuji and I sighed inside the guys' changing room. This is really bad...

“Oh yeah, Yuuji. What was Koyama-san referring to when she said 'what I told you wasn't a lie'?”

“About that...”

If that guy really got confessed to, it'll be a serious betrayal! Maybe I'll execute this guy here first and drag him back to the FFF for a reduction in penalty.

“What she said should be that 'our aim is to beat B cla.s.s' two days ago.”

“Aim...ah yes, you two did mention this.”

I remember it was an exchange of information or something. At that time, we did declare our targets.

“Koyama-san said that they're aiming for B cla.s.s, and to think she lied to us...”

“No, she wasn't lying.”

Eh?

But didn't C cla.s.s really take action on F cla.s.s?

“Basically, their ultimate goal is to beat B cla.s.s—basically, that's how it is. Thus, even if they're to face against us F cla.s.s in the process, she wasn't lying at all.

“But Yuuji...”

“And I said it to her in the exact same manner.”

Now that he mentioned it, Yuuji did mention just now that he intended to attack C cla.s.s. In other words, Yuuji's final aim is to beat A cla.s.s, but he intended to take down C cla.s.s too.

“That's why you said that you wanted to attack A cla.s.s 1, 2 weeks after the ban's lifted...”

“That's right. I think these words made Koyama—no, that Kogure-sempai at least see through the intention I didn't say out.”

“But that alone can't mean that we'll definitely attack C cla.s.s, right?”

Even before declaring war on A cla.s.s, we would attack other cla.s.ses, but that didn't necessarily mean that we have to attack C cla.s.s.

“There's no need to confirm. Since it's an enemy that may attack anytime, and that they already had plans to deal with us, and that C cla.s.s wanted some battle experience before facing B cla.s.s, these many reasons would be enough for them to declare war without hesitation. Besides that, Koyama has the strategist from the 3rd years who hated us. Thus, these things are to be expected.”

Yuuji explained to me. Having heard him say so much, I thought about it, and it was really likely...

“It's troubling, but they did take the step on us. In fact, to a certain level, even if the enemy came up with a plan, we should still be able to win this battle. However...we were too frivolous.”

Yuuji muttered.

For someone like Yuuji, even if our enemy's C cla.s.s and we're in a disadvantage, he should have the confidence to win. Besides, the enemy's a higher-ranked cla.s.s, and we're the lowest ranked cla.s.s. In this battle, both of us already had such a huge difference, but unexpectedly, the enemy would go to this extent.

“To think that she would use that tactic to split our cla.s.s up.”

In fact, there's a strategist guiding Koyama-san who caused us to be in a far more unimaginable situation. In this case, Yuuji's being toyed with by the opponent.

Even so, this really isn't like Yuuji. If it's a strategy, how could that unmatchable Yuuji allow such a thing to happen?

“I say, Yuuji, are you actually...”

“What?”

“Are you bad against traps set by the other gender?”

“Ha? You're saying something really stupid...”

“But think about it. Aren't you always being overwhelmed by Kirishima-san? And you can't fight your mother, right?

“Uu...”

Yuuji opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. It's a little weird calling a mother someone of the opposite gender, but I'll leave it as that for now. Either way, the gender's different, and Yuuji's mother is still young and beautiful-looking.

“Anyway, stop yapping about and adjust your breathing. Soon, we won't be able to hide. We'll have to start running for our lives soon.”

“Haiz, this is bad...it's really irritating that a cla.s.s rep has to reveal his location. Why do I, who's not a cla.s.s rep, end up like this—hm?”

At this moment, I suddenly noticed something. That's strange? Don't tell me...

“Yuuji, you're the only one who has to reveal your location. This has nothing to do with me, right?”

It's true that a cla.s.s rep can't hide, but I'm not bound by such a rule. In fact, if everyone's going after Yuuji, it'll be much easier for me.

Just as I was thinking about this.

“Oi, Akihisa!”

“Hm? What is it, Yuuji?”

“Don't you think we should stop betraying each other from now on?”

“Eh? What are you saying? Who are you? Get away from me. You should get ready to escape now—”

Clak!

“Eh?”

A mysterious sound came from my hand...what's going on? That metallic sound just now is—OI! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! WHY IS THERE A STRANGE METAL RING ON MY WRIST!?

“Alright Akihisa! Now we'll live and die together and have the same fate! There won't be any problems even if we're cuffed to each other! Let's do our best and break through this trouble~☆”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST DO TO ME!? LET ME GO! RELEASE THIS HANDCUFF THAT'S CHAINING YOU AND ME TOGETHHHEEERRR!!!”

It seemed that the metal handcuffs chained together by the rather long and st.u.r.dy chain are holding Yuuji and me together. That d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d...he dragged me down so that he wouldn't be the only one being hunted! d.a.m.ned devil! Garbage! Sc.u.m! F cla.s.s!

“Where's the key!? I won't get mad. Take it out before the summoning battle starts, you d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

“Key? What's that? Can it be eaten?”

“d.a.m.n it...in that case, you should think of a way to break this chain!”

“Oi oi oi, Akihisa, think about it. You should know that Shouko wouldn't use those handcuffs that would easily break on me, right?”

“Are these Kirishima-san's handcuffs?”

“I saw that she was acting strangely before and checked her belongings. To think that she would have such things hidden with her...”

d.a.m.n it! If this is something Kirishima-san prepared, pliers won't be enough to break through. It seems that we have to plead Kirishima-san and get the key from her...

Just when I was really angry and wanted to beat Yuuji up,

“Oi! I just heard something from the changing room!”

“It must be those two! Hiding in such a place!”

The familiar voices of those guys from our cla.s.s reached us. Cheh! They found us?

“Oi, Akihisa! We got to run with all we got! You'll die badly if you don't work with me!”

“You d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You're going to die if we can get through this safely! Remember that!”

We'll talk about the handcuffs later. I'm really unwilling, but I have to work with this sc.u.mbag now. It's really disgusting...I'm not a man if I don't take revenge!

Before Yuuji and I were thoroughly surrounded, we dashed out of the changing room. As we arrived on the corridor, we found the hooded gang with whips in their hands. Very good. Anyway, let's,

“Let's go Yuuji!”

“Jump out from the window, Akihisa!”

SWOOSH!

““WAAAAAAHHHH!!””

Yuuji and I ran in completely different directions, and we were pulled back by that metal chain. Ugh! Without that thing, we would be more mobile...

“Idiot Akihisa! People will normally run outside where there're more escape routes!”

“Moron Yuuji! People will normally head to the cla.s.sroom where there're lots of hiding spots!”

Unexpectedly, we didn't agree with each other so quickly. The handcuff that's chaining us together is altogether detrimental to us!

“Found them! It's those two!”

““Ugh...!””

Just when we were messing around, our enemies started to close in on us.

“Let's counter, Akihisa!”

“Let's run away, Yuuji!”

SWOOSH!

““GET A GRIP, YOU BIG IDIOT!””

The chain that linked us was obstructing our movements like just now. Ahh, this thing's really troublesome!

“Yoshii, you dare to break my desire of living a happy life with the Kinos.h.i.ta sisters...compensate for your sin with your life!”

“Sakamoto! I won't hand Kirishima and Koyama! Kuuderes are the treasures of this world!”

“That's right! They're really correct! Hold on a minute, I'm going to get this guy to bear responsibility and pay for this with seppuku!”

“What dumb words are you saying? If we have to trace all this, aren't you the one behind all this mess!? Hold it, you guys! I'm going to make this guy bear responsibility and apologize to everyone with his death!”

Yuuji and I continued to beat each other and tried to hold each other down. I have to find a way to trample this b.a.s.t.a.r.d's life and end this!

“Relax, you two can still be good friends once you reach that world.”

“Isn't it good that you're handcuffed together? You two can live on each other and die together, you stupid couple!”

““WAAHH!!””

The bats that had nails on them swung over hard from the top, and I hurriedly curled back and dodged aside to avoid a b.l.o.o.d.y disaster. Then, a real katana was swung over from the side, and I managed to jump back to dodge it. The chain's really annoying, but I was able to dodge the attacks at the last moment.

“Ahh, d.a.m.n it! Yuuji, at least follow my movements!”

“Couldn't you have done so!?”

We continued to grab each other on the collars as we blasted at each other right in front of the enemy. Seeing this, our cla.s.smates stared at us and said something ridiculous.

“Humph, you two look more like suitable men than cute girls.”

“That's how it is. You two can just remain together.”

More suited to be men...us together...

These, these b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!

““STOP SAYING SUCH SCARY NONSENSE!!!””

The moment we heard the ridiculous words those guys spouted, Yuuji and I pulled the metal chain that dodge the metal bat that was swinging at us before sending a punch at the two people who were standing there blankly.

“STOP JOKING AROUND! WHAT DISGUSTING THING DID THOSE TWO GUYS SAY!?”

“YEAH! WHO WANTS TO BE A COUPLE WITH YUUJI!? IF IT REALLY BECOMES LIKE THAT, I'LL DEFINITELY CHOOSE TO BE WITH HIDEYOSHI!!!”

Even if it's a taunt, there are things to be said and things that should not be said.

Just when I was infuriated by those two idiots dumb words, someone asked,

“Oh...so amongst the rumored targets, Aki likes Kinos.h.i.ta most?”

“Akihisa-kun, was what you said just now true?”

Since they asked, let me think through this first.

Uu...who do I like amongst those rumored? Let me see. If I have to choose between Hideyoshi, Yuuji and Tamano-san, I'll definitely like—

“I guess...Hideyoshi? He merely had a mistaken gender in his personal particulars. He himself is a really cute girl, and I understand him more—WAHHH!!!”

“Aki...can you please explain more about this?”

“I want to know more about this too, Akihisa-kun!”

ROOOOOMMMMMM!!! It seemed that Minami had this sound effect behind her as she and Himeji-san widened their eyes and looked at me. d.a.m.n it. Are those two's names amongst the list? In that case, what I said just now must have hurt their pride. I don't think a broken bone or two will be able to cool them off!

“Okay, Yuuji! Go distract Minami and Himeji-san! I'll find an escape route—HOLD ON A MINUTE! WHY ARE YOU UNDOING THE HANDCUFFS!? YOU'RE GOING TO BETRAY ME AND RUN AWAY ONCE YOU KNOW THAT I'M BEING TARGETED!? YOU Sc.u.m!”

Once he knew that the duo were aiming at me, Yuuji lowered his head and tried his best to undo the lock. It's useless though! Actual results showed that this handcuff can't be undone easily!

“Aki, you've become more and more popular now recently and got things over your head. In this situation, it looks like I have a need to educate you again.”

“Nononononono, calm down first, Minami. Both of you—UOOOHHHH!!”

I dodged with the difference of millimeters as Minami silently attacked with her fist. And wasn't there a burnt smell or something? Did sparks fly when the fist flew by the air?

“MI, MIIIINAMI! DON'T JUST ATTACK ME SUDDENLY!”

“I'm going to use my fist to beat your nose, swing my elbow to knock into your collarbone and kick your kneecap to bits.”

“That shouldn't be it, right? Those words aren't just to tell me what you're going to do next and make me grit my teeth before I die, right!?”

Speaking of which, what's with girls in their youth saying their actual plans before they kill someone...

“Akihisa-kun, please explain what do you like about guys? What's so bad about girls? Are you and Sakamoto-kun chained together to show everyone your determination?”

On the other side, Himeji-san demanded for my explanation as she made her own conclusion. Is it a given fact that I have no interest in girls?

“Got it! It's the key! Wait first, Akihisa! I'm going to undo the handcuffs now!”

“Forget about it, Yuuji! It's not too late to undo the handcuffs once we safely get past this!”

“I don't want to! You can just die alone!”

“Ahhh, forget about it! Stop yapping and hand me the key!”

“Don't get near me! A dying person's presence is infectious, don't you know that!?”

As Minami and Himeji-san continued to approach us, Yuuji and I were fighting for the key. If this guy betrays me again, my chances of escaping will decrease by a lot. So, no matter what, I have to s.n.a.t.c.h the key away from him!

“Ugh...just...a little more...”

“Who would...hand it to you!?”

Is this an abnormal amount of concentration that's exerted in a fire? It's unbelievable that I can win Yuuji in terms of strength at this moment.

But just when I'm about to get the key in Yuuji's hand,

“...Yuuji, over here.”

“Alright! Shouko! Nice timing. I'll leave it to you!”

Once Kirishima-san asked Yuuji for the key, Yuuji threw it to her hands without hesitation. Oh no! I was just about to get the key!

“d.a.m.n it...we're done!”

“It's too late no matter how anxious you are! Shouko, you can hand the key over to me!”

Having been released from this burden, Yuuji jumped away from me and got to a safe distance before asking Kirishima-san to return the key back to him.

“...Return to you? What?”

Seeing her show an emotionless face, we just realized the reality we accidentally forgot.

“...Yuuji, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d...what did you just do...”

“...Sorry, I accidentally....”

It's already tough having to deal with Minami, and the key to the handcuffs that's chaining us together is in Kirishima-san's hands. In that case...aren't we at a dead end?

“Akihisa! We'll talk about the key later! Let's work together and escape first!”

“I think it's because of you that things became worse! But I can only agree with you for now. It's more important to protect our own lives than to get the key back!”

Yuuji and I looked at where Kirishima-san, Himeji-san and Minami were at as we bent down and got ready to take action.

“Do you think you can run away, Aki?”

“I won't let you leave before you explain clearly, Akihisa-kun.”

“...Yuuji, you're not getting...never!”

The trio continued to approach us easily. If they get us in such a close distance, Yuuji and I will definitely be unable to live. In that case...we can only do this!

I took a deep breath and aimed for the perfect moment. Very good...now!

“Kirishima-san!”

“Himeji, Shimada!”

““WATCH THIS!””

The next moment, we undid each other's pants...hm? Each other?

“d.a.m.n it, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Betraying me even at this moment!? What did you do now, you sc.u.m?

“What nonsense, you sc.u.m!? I'll return these words right back at you!”

The moment we undid the belts, our pants buckle were undone, and our pants slid down onto the floor. Of course, right now, everyone's seeing Yuuji and me in boxers.

“Wa, wait a second! What's with that, Aki?”

“A, Akihisa-kun? We, well...you, your boxers are rather cute!”

Minami frantically looked away from me, and Himeji-san started to mumble some strange words as she started mumbling. d.a.m.n it...I'm angry, but I have to say that Yuuji's plan worked rather well. Because of that, we successfully diverted their attention (but Himeji-san still seemed as if she's looking at me).

“...Wah.”

Kirishima-san responded at a much slower rate and (sort of) screamed.

Kirishima-san shouted but didn't look away from Yuuji who's in his boxers. In other words, she's already used to seeing Yuuji in boxers...I won't forgive you, Sakamoto Yuuji!

“d.a.m.n it...in that case, I'll just take off Yuuji's boxers too!”

“Stop it! If that happens, even the cops will come after me!”

Since Yuuji already is chased by those guys in cla.s.s and Kirishima-san, I don't think there will be a lot of difference if we add the cops in.

And just when we were arguing,

“...Hold on a moment. I'll need to borrow a camera.”

Kirishima-san said that and left...that's weird?

“Eh, about that...”

“Oi, Akihisa! What are you s.p.a.cing out for? Hurry up and get away!”

“Oh, un...”

How should I put it? Kirishima-san's smart, but sometimes, she will really show her weirdness...like Himeji-san.

Pulling up our pants that were pulled down and holding the buckles with our hands, Yuuji and I turned around to run.

“Ahh...da, d.a.m.n it! Wait, Aki! I'm not done with punishing you yet!”

“Pl, please wait, Akihisa-kun! I haven't heard the explanation from you yet!”

Himeji-san and Minami called out from afar as they tried to stop us, but having run so far away, the two girls couldn't catch up to us. It seems that we finally managed to get away from that shocking situation. That was close...

“The summoning battle's about to start...this is really bad...”

“If my location wasn't revealed, it'd be easier to escape...”

We ran back into a certain empty cla.s.sroom and took time to catch our breath. Really, whether it's yesterday or today, why are you always involved in all sorts of trouble...

Anyway, the fact that Tamano-san confessed (to my cross-dressed attire) seemed to have spread wide, but things didn't end there. Looking at the situation just now, it seemed that Himeji-san and Minami were involved somehow. It's like the rumors were spreading in ways I didn't know of. Looks like I have to check my situation out.

“Oi, Yuuji. Do you know what the situation we’re in now is?”

“Welll...I haven't heard of all the rumors, but from what I know—from the moment you rejected Tamano, Hideyoshi, Kudou Aikou, Kinos.h.i.ta Yuuko, Shimizu Miharu, Shimada, Himeji, Toshimitsu Kubo, Muttsurini and even B cla.s.s rep Nemoto like you.”

“I, I'm really that popular...”

“Yeah, and half of them were real, so the reliability increased a lot.”

“Haha, you're rather relaxed to be able to joke at such a moment.”

“...Oh well. Let's leave that aside for now.”

Those guys never even consider the gender! After hearing such baseless stuff, everyone should know that it's just some empty news...

“And about my rumors, it seems that I was living with Shouko, ditched C cla.s.s rep Koyama and accepted your confession...”

“Now that's a really huge misunderstanding...”

Just when the misunderstanding's brewing wildly outside, Yuuji and I were handcuffed to each other, so it's nothing strange even if someone believes the rumors as fact.

“Got to shake off this misunderstanding first.”

“I don't really want to admit it, but that will be hard...if so many people believe in this, the lies will become reality. That's the so called group mentality.”

After explaining, Yuuji said,

“Besides, the more important thing is that—”

“Hm?”

“These guys aren't listening.”

“Yeah, that's the biggest problem...”

What's most troubling is that we're surrounded by guys who just won't listen, or rather, they'll believe in rumors too easily and would make their own conclusions. In that case, it's meaningless for us to do anything.

“Yuuji, do you have any plan?”

At this moment, we're being hunted, and the summoning battle with our cla.s.s equipment on the line will soon start. Is there any plan to improve this backstabbing situation?

“It's useless at this point no matter what we do. We can only drag on and wait for those guys to calm down before explaining things to them.”

“So it's not that good. There are no good ideas we can think of in this situation...”

To be precise, the battle this time should be 'C cla.s.s and F cla.s.s alliance' vs 'Yuuji and me'. This amount of difference in battle ability can only be described with the word 'despair'. Forget about winning or losing, it's almost impossible to drag the time on. The summoning battle ban has been lifted, so why are we in such a disadvantageous situation?

“Without that rule limiting us, there are many ways to save our lives, whether it's hiding or running away from school...”

“But the cla.s.s rep can't hide once the summoning battle starts.”

Really, things aren't really good for us...

“Haa...if possible, I really wanted to leave you alone and hide somewhere, Yuuji.”

“I won't allow you to do so! Don't think of surviving alone! Stop dreaming!”

CLANK! The sound of metal could be heard as our handcuffs rang.

That's right, Yuuji and I are chained together by these handcuffs, and the key to these handcuffs are in Kirishima-san's hand. If we're unable to get rid of this, Yuuji and I will have to share the same fate of living and dying together.

“If you really insist, we can hide to protect our own lives. In other words, we'll give up on the summoning battle.”

Eh? Give up on the summoning battle? Yuuji?

“What are you saying? You don't have any intention of that, right?”

“Aren't you the same too?”

Kukuku. Yuuji laughed from deep within his throat. That's obvious. It's our greatest wish to win this summoning battle, but it's a joke to admit defeat on seeing such a disadvantageous situation.

“Ugh. In that case, it can't be helped...Yuuji, I'll try my best to help you out.”

“Don't be stupid. It's your job as soldiers to serve the king.”

DANG DANG DANG DANG...

At this moment, the bell that was like the signal to the start of the battle rang throughout the school campus. The summoning battle started at this moment.

“Let's go, Akihisa! Do your best if you don't want to be defeated!”

“Humph, you don't have to say it! I'll definitely do my best to get past this, and I'll get my revenge on you, just remember that!”

Yuuji and I ran out of the cla.s.sroom we were hiding. What disadvantageous situation? It's just normal to us. What's the point of complaining? Better fight with all we’ve got!