V3C4 Part 1

Chapter 4 – Rabbit Uproar

Volume 3

---

The end-of-semester test and the last subject exam have been completed–.

[Ichiya~!]

[Don’t suddenly start crying at someone’s desk without giving a reason. It’s depressing.]

As soon as the test was over, I turned around and plopped down on Ichiya’s desk, and cried.

Then, there it was.

His voice was full of disgust.

[Listen to me, Ichiya.]

[…what?]

Ichiya replied, sounding annoyed.

[About the last question’s answer, I had a flash of inspiration just before the bell rang. I thought it was a revelation, so I hurriedly rewrote it…]

[You’re going to say it was a mistake, aren’t you?]

[That’s exactly it. It seems that the first answer I wrote was the correct one. What should I do, Ichiya…?]

Ah, now that I’ve said it, I’m getting depressed again.

As I plopped down on the desk again, I could hear the faint murmur of Ichiya over my head, [You’re irritating me]. Don’t you have any kindness to comfort your depressed best friend, you cold-blooded man?

And then…

[Chiaki~!]

I heard a girl’s voice calling my name.

I looked up and saw Akira Miyazato (a.k.a. Sato-chan) coming towards me. And she was running towards me with tears streaming down her face.

[Uwaa…]

It was so depressing.

[I’m sorry, Ichiya. I was like that, right?]

[Great, If you realized it]

Akira Miyazato (a.k.a. Sato-chan) sat in the chair in front of me, face down on my desk, crying.

She looked exactly as I did a few minutes ago.

[Iuchi-san, do you want this?]

I asked Kayoko Iuchi, who was still sitting next to me. But she shook her head very quickly.

It was of no use.

[Okay, Ichiya. Let’s go home.]

But…

As I was about to leave my seat, I was grabbed by my shirt. The owner of the hand was still lying on the desk, which made me feel slightly horrified.

[What’s up, Miyazato (a.k.a. Sato-chan)?]

[That parenthesis aka Sato-chan is unnecessary.]

[You should either cry or be angry…]

That said, I don’t like it when people laugh at me.

In Miyazato’s case, it looks like she’s going to turn into something else while she’s laughing hysterically with the bottom half of her mouth. Like a squid tail or something like that.

[Anyway, let’s start over.]

[…Okay]

It’s troublesome, but I’ll go along with it.

So, once again…

[What’s wrong, Miyazato? To think you’re crying.- Kohon. …Sorry, I got a sore throat in the middle…]

[You’ve got some nerve, Chiaki.]

Miyazato looked up and stared at me with flat eyes…

[No, because it’s Miyazato, right?　I’m sure it’s for some insignificant reason anyway.]

[So what if it’s Iuchi-san?]

[Of course, I’d be worried.]

[What about Toya?]

[I’d be worried… Maybe]

I’m a little unsure of myself after the way I was treated earlier.

[Then if it’s the school’s idol, Katase-senpai…]

[That’s a trap!]

[…What?]

[Of course, it’s a trap!　Do you think that senpai would cry for an ordinary reason?　She must be up to something. If you get close to her out of worry, you’ll end up in her clutches. Worst case scenario, you’ll get eaten.]

[……]

[……]

[……]

[…. Sorry, forget that.]

[You… What kind of image do you have of that Katase senpai…]

[Yeah, well, That’s just, you know…]

If Tsukasa senpai was crying huh…

[So, what happened to Miyazato?]

It seemed that the conversation was not progressing, so I asked again.

[Ah, but don’t tell me you made a mistake on the test or something like that okay…Because I just did the same… What’s that vexing look on your face…?]

Nailed it, huh?

However, for me to do something the same as what Miyazato did… Okay, I’m a little shocked.

[What use are formulas and functions in the future?　It won’t kill you if you can’t do these things.]

Miyazato said, crossing her legs and resting her cheek on her hand.

You’ve gone all soft this time, Sato-chan. You look like you’re about to say “Ke!”.

[Isn’t that the kind of thing you complain about when you’re studying for an exam?　Miyazato is like that. The type of person who, after killing someone, when cornered, would say, ‘In this situation, killing one person is the same as killing two people,’ right?]

[I’ve never been in a situation like that, so that analogy doesn’t really ring true to me.]

[That’s true.]

But when I imagined it, it looked perfect for her. But would she be upset if I told her?

[…Well, I think it’s unconstructive to worry about something that’s already over.]

[You sound like you know what I’m talking about.]

[Yeah, well, I went down the same road a few minutes before Miyazato.]

A dry chuckle escaped from my mouth.

[You have a point there… Well, I guess I’ll just have to make the most of my days off until the end of the semester and the summer vacation that awaits me after that.]

Miyazato’s earlier depression was gone, and she said with a refreshing smile. Miyazato’s quickness in changing her mind is probably one of her strong points.

[But you’ll get your report card back at the end of the semester. though.]

[Gefu!.]

[If there are any red marks, you’ll have to go back to school for a while even during  the summer vacation.]

[Aaah!]

With just two words, Akira Miyazato (a.k.a. Sato-chan) fell down on the desk again and started to feel depressed, pessimistic about the future.

[God bless you… Okay, I’ve sunk Sato-chan. Let’s go home, Ichiya.]

[…Are you a demon?]

By the time I left the classroom and went to the entrance of the school, I was separated from Ichiya. He had to go to another school building because he had some business with someone he knew.

That’s why I went out the entrance alone.

[……]

When I got out, I looked around.

(I wanted to meet senpai…)

Many students were waiting to go home with their friends from other classes or departments, but there was no sign of Tsukasa senpai.

As Miyazato said, today is the last day of final exams, and school will be closed for about a week from tomorrow until the closing ceremony. It’s going to be very different from the current situation where we can usually meet each other if we are on the same campus or go to the cafeteria during lunch break. So, I wanted to see Tsukasa senpai at least once before the end of the day.

[As I thought, Senpai is not here.]

I looked around again. I was trying to unwind my stiff neck from the test, so my head was spinning in three directions.

[Which senpai?]

[Whoa!]

I jumped up when someone suddenly called out to me from behind. I turned around and saw Yuko Igarashi Senpai standing there.

[Yukorin-senpai?]

[Hello, Chiaki-kun. Are you waiting for someone?]

Yukorin-senpai asked with a giggle, probably amused by my surprise.

[Not waiting, more like I’m looking for someone…]

[You said ‘senpai’ right, is it Katase-senpai?]

[Eh? No, Um… what made you think that?]

Returning a question with a question is a sign of mental inferiority. You can’t help but feel like you’re digging a shallow grave.

[Yeah, Chiaki-kun. You seem to be on good terms with Katase senpai.]

[Well, we do get along. But that’s all it is, you know?]

[Hmm, I see.]

She stared at me.

[……]

Ugh, I’m starting to sweat like crazy, and not just from the heat.

Today’s Yukorin-senpai is kind of hard to deal with. She crept up on me from behind, and she was strangely sharp. I wonder when she acquired such skills. She’s usually so calm that she seems to be out of sync with her surroundings.

[I see.]

Yukorin-senpai repeated the same words as before, meaningfully.

[Well then, I’m going home then. I hope you find senpai, Chiaki-kun.]

[Ah, yes. See you…]

After responding to Yukorin-senpai’s greeting, I watched her back as she walked away. She was walking very slowly and seemed to be out of step with the flow of students leaving the school. It was like a single-car driving at 40 kilometers per hour on the highway.

Oh, I’ve been caught off guard from the back.

[……]

Even though she used to be one of the relatively decent personalities around me. I’m starting to wonder if I’m starting to form a strange magnetic field of attracting such people. I’m getting a little worried.

And then…

(Hmm? What’s that?)

A girl was peeking out from the pillar of the school gate.

She seemed to be a junior high school girl. The twin-tails on her head were hanging downward in the vertical direction according to gravity.

(That’s just so bizarre..)

She might be trying to sneak inside to see what’s going on, but this is the school gate where the students go to and from school. She wasn’t hiding at all. It was so obvious. I felt that it was hard to get close to her because she was hiding so openly, so everyone was looking at her sideways and avoiding her.

I would have done the same.

For now, let’s pretend I didn’t see her.

---

TN: Start of new chapter.. It’s gonna be fun…

IMPATIENT MTL READER

---

Previous | TOC | Next