Chapter 12 – Preparation and malaise (5)

Translator – Vodka

Short chapter. Has been a while. I will probably post on Saturdays from now onwards.

“Um, Kirasaka-san, there are few things that need to be discussed regarding our group.”

“…………..”

One of the members in her group summoned his courage and asked her.

His reserved way of talking and expression told tales about the bravery he had summoned for pulling off this feat.

Kirasaka ceased to read the paperback in her hand and lifted her head. Her gaze met his.

Eyes so cold that the person at the receiving end of her gaze, might freeze over. It couldn’t be helped but fall prey to such a hallucination. Confronted with such a gaze, he unconsciously withdrew a little into his chair.

“……What is it?”

With a clear voice, she issued a short reply.

The male student seemed relieved to have received that reply as he started talking.

As this spectacle before me unfolded, I anxiously looked on. However, it would seem that such concerns were unnecessary.

She too, in the course of these last few months, had associated with strangers.

I wouldn’t say she had developed resistance, but she had somewhat gotten used to human relationships.

As I was thinking of retracting my gaze from her, I heard a voice.

“We will need to contact each other about this training, so, if it’s fine with you, can you tell us your contact?”

“No way.”

Their conversation was under the watchful supervision of the majority of our classmates.

How will she react?

Everyone must have been pondering this one question.

However, her reply was excessively short.

Immediate reply, huh……

The guy was now, probably, standing stock still, petrified at her response.

I don’t what to say……Don’t mind.

Developments like these did happen.

It wasn’t a bad pretext for asking her contact details.

In reality, they would need to keep in touch as they were going to be operating as a group. They could talk to each other in person or do that over the smartphone.

Even if they didn’t exchange contacts, they needed to figure out a way of communicating with each other. So, by no means, was his decision, incorrect.

That was why he must have thought that he had a chance at victory, that there was a possibility that they could exchange contacts. However, Kirasaka had flatly refused him. I could only conjecture his current state of mind.

Well, this is her we are talking about.

Her words and actions always broke the norms. I couldn’t help but think that she had acted very much like herself.

The male student died a swift and noble death in front of his classmates. He dropped his shoulders in disappointment and returned to his seat, dejection apparent on his face.

Next up was the other guy, and a short while after, we had on our hands, yet another swift and honourable death.

Well then, who will overcome this obstacle?

As I continued to look on with bated breath, I listened to the clack of her shoes. Kirasaka was walking towards me.

“……What happened?”

The match is yet to conclude, you know.

At my question, she let out a sigh, as if to say it had gotten tedious, and said.

“I want to get some fresh air. I want you to come along.”

“Eh, no way.”

I said all that about her, but what the heck, I too issued an immediate reply.

It was a super-fast, peremptory refusal, unwilling to lose to Kirasaka’s.

I hadn’t given it any thought. When I came to, those words had already escaped me.

I guess this is what you would call, a reflexive behaviour.

Our nearby classmates were looking at us, their mouths agape. Clearly, they were dumbfounded at my immediate refusal.

Kirasaka wasn’t angry. She let out a chuckle, forcibly proceeded to grab hold of my hand, and started dragging me away from the classroom.

……If this is forced participation, just say so.

She was pulling me while laughing. Too scary.

“Sensei, I need to receive an important document regarding this event from the student council president. I will be going out for a short while.” (Kirasaka)

“Eh, a-ah, understood.”

Look, even Sensei is at a loss here.

A student leaving the classroom as she pleases while class is still in session?……Where did this delinquent girl come from?

Kirasaka had pulled a fast one on the teacher. When we were going to exit the classroom, another voice rang out.

“I too had requested the president for an application form. Is it fine if I went to pick it up?”

It was Shizuku.

I haven’t heard about any application form from the president. Don’t use the president to make such a blatant excuse for following us.

With a trot, she caught up to us. Then, the three of us headed for, obviously not the student council room, but the stairs to the rooftop of the second building.

What faded behind us, was the scenery of our classmates looking at our direction with envy. Amidst them, the figure of a pensive Yuuto could be made out.