VOLUME 4

Chapter 1: Part 5

Because of that, we ended up making random pencil sketches, but…

I couldn’t think of anything to draw. Monsters, huh… monsters, monsters,hmmmmmm… like, a kappa? (1)

“Alright, first one up…”

Sera flipped her sketchbook around and showed it to us. She was done already…?

Eh, Sera’s drawing… t-this was… a Maitreya?!

It was the same thing Anderson-kun had done! Why did they draw the same thing?!

Also, this drawing seriously sucked… was she an elementary schooler or something? Except I couldn’t say that out loud.

“It’s a kappa.”

It was a kappa?! She really had an insanely weird sense of aesthetics! That applied to her cooking too.

“I’m also done! Tadaa~~!”

Tadaa. Haruna also held up her sketchbook. On hers was a drawing of the husband-wife comedy duo Os.h.i.+dori. What the h.e.l.l?! Who was that supposed to be?!

“I t.i.tle this drawing ‘the shoji screen has eyes’!” (2)

The wall has ears and the shoji screen has eyes! Those weren’t monsters, those were just normal people!

“What kind of monster is that supposed to be?!”

“A monster that calms you down when you write the kanji for ‘person’ in your palm three times!” (3)

“What a good person! What a nice Mr. actor to help you out when you’re nervous!”

Next, Yuu raised her hand.

Were we on a game show or something? Did we have to show our drawings when we were done with them?

As I thought about that, I took a look at Yuu’s drawing.

A-Amazing… it was a completely lifelike portrait. I had no idea who she had drawn but… probably some Hollywood actor?

It was a drawing of a muscular guy with a feathered bandana. He looked like the kind of dandy that would have existed in the seventies.

“Ahh, it’s Thunder Hawk in the middle of his Mexican Typhoon…” (4)

What the h.e.l.l was that?! Haruna looked pretty nostalgic as she looked at the drawing…

“So, what about Ayumu?”

I showed them the kappa I was in the middle of drawing.

“That sucks.”

I don’t want to hear that from you! Actually, I’m almost happy Sera said that, since it meant my artistic sense was different than hers!

“Yeah, that sucks.”

When Haruna said that to me, I just felt a sense of resignation.

Bad. = ”Try just a bit harder, oniichan!”

When Yuu said that to me, I felt motivated to try a bit harder.

“Alright, let’s all draw another one!”

Haruna raised her hand, so Yuu and Sera both followed and raised their hands. Feeling like I had no other choice, I also raised my hand.

“I wish tomorrow would come faster!”

Haruna’s ahoge bounced up and down as she drew.

The school festival… she was really looking forward to it, wasn’t she?

Actually, I had heard that Haruna was always alone when she was at Matelis Magical Academy.

So could it be that just like me, she had never gone to a school event like a school festival or a culture festival?

… Well, I guess I have no choice. Tomorrow… just tomorrow… I wouldn’t scold her even if she went a bit overboard.

It was a festival, after all.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

(1) Famous j.a.panese monster that lives in rivers and loves cuc.u.mbers.

(2) There’s a bit of a pun here. Shouji here is written as a name, and “has eyes” is “meari = mary.” So you could read the t.i.tle as “Shouji and Mary.”

(3) This is apparently a way to calm down in j.a.pan. Compare to closing your eyes and counting to ten in the West.

(4) Street Fighter reference.