Volume 2 - CH 4

I want to die. I want to die I want to die I want to die I want to die I want to die I want to die—

Four months and a bit more have passed since I started teaching at Saigou High, when I, Kanae Ookuma, reached my limit. Everything was always tense, filled with pressure. I’m receiving help from my colleagues if I need it, but nobody is kind to each other. There’s so many people, yet no humanity in sight. I really hated this field.

The teachers constantly insult and abuse the students, and going right along with that, they do the same thing to me, a newbie teacher. Am I a teacher? Am I a student? Am I an adult? Am I a child? I don’t know, but it’s making me go insane…And more than anything, I hate the fact that I can’t be kind to other people. I don’t want to insult others. I don’t want to hurt others. What is this…What is going on…? Am I the one who’s weird…?

Thinking about it, this might be my punishment for being a perpetual liar. I’m a horrible person. I grew up with nothing but lies. The first time the wheels in my life became corrupted…was when I felt the difference between me and my classmates. I think it was right after I started attending high school. In middle school, I was part of the basketball club. But even after I entered my growth spurt, I did not experience such a change, so I stopped when I got into high school. In terms of human history, it must be a story that is more common than death itself, but it was still an indisputable anchor that shaped me. Ever since then, I began to see it…The radiant change the people around me went through.

Whereas others grew, I stayed small and tiny. The chest of the girls around me grew, but mine stayed the same. The others began getting boyfriends, but nobody ever saw me as a love interest. The people around me got more invested in makeup and clothes, but I’d rather stay playing games and eating snacks. I never changed. I didn’t understand the way to become an adult and worried about it. And then, when I got into my second year of high school, the future aspiration questionnaire arrived.

Even now that I’m a teacher, I can’t condone such a cruel system in any way. How could you ask someone who can’t even keep up with the people around them about what they can do, and what they want to do? I didn’t know at the time. And yet, the time limit was closing in. And if I don’t hand it in, I’ll get invited to a meeting with the teacher for future guidance counseling. Unable to bear with it all, I just gave up on thinking. And on a whim, I just blurted out the first thing that came to my mind—”I want to be a teacher.” If I were to voice that as my dream, anybody would admire me. It was the last weapon I had left to silence the adults around me.

“Ookuma, did you think of a job you’d like to do in the future?”

“…I want to be a teacher.”

“A teacher?! Then let me tell you what you have to do. First, for university, you should—”

Eventually, the lie I had uttered in the heat of the moment became my true desire. I’ve always enjoyed looking after other people since I was born, so I told myself that it had always been my dream to become a teacher. And call it a blessing in disguise, it allowed me to study properly. I graduated from university, finished getting my license, and managed to become a teacher. I became a teacher who didn’t know a damn thing. I worked so hard, yet I still don’t understand what the job of a teacher really is about. And after I got accepted at Saigou High, the knowledge inside of me did a complete flip.

At this school, everything is decided by pass or fail. Nobody cares about the individual. In fact, the students are being treated like a kettle that solely exists to produce results and pay money. Is this the regular scenery at a high-level school like this? Is it normal to see them as money bags? Can I really insult the students like that? Is it normal to give students with bad grades such a treatment? Is this really what education is about? Even now, I see the faces of the students in my dreams—Insulted and abused for their grades, crying uncontrollably. What even is right or wrong in this space? I don’t know, but it makes me think…Is this the kind of adult I wanted to be back when I lied?

*

The roasted beef Kurumi made was very delicious. After we finished our dinner, the both of us had some tea to finish it off. We then washed the dishes, washed the bath, cleaned up the table, and put out the futons. It was the same routine every day, completed in a routine manner. It was quiet, as all possible conversation vanished from our world. It doesn’t make sense. We’re not even fighting, yet it feels like we were.

“…”

Although we’d usually be watching TV at this time, I was now heading my way to the balcony. I wanted the cold air outside to cool my head. I opened the large window and enjoyed the feeling of the wooden floor as I stepped outside. Raising my head, I could see the sun setting behind the mountains in the far distance. The days were beginning to get shorter. When you’re living in the countryside like this, you feel like you’ve been left behind. Thanks to that, you’ll be listening to the local warnings, preparing breakfast with the ‘Good morning’ and ‘All good kids should go home’ during dinner preparations.

Because everything else was so mundane, catching on to the shortening of the days happened almost naturally. The sun was beginning to hide its appearance, as it instead made room for the dark of night. At the same time, a summer breeze went around, and I heard the grass and tree branches shake. It was a sound high like a bell, but also fundamentally different. But it also consisted of the cicadas chirping. I hate that sound. It made me feel like I’d get sucked into the darkness just by closing my eyes. The same darkness that swallowed me when I was listening in on those two teachers—

“Hey, Senpai, what is this?”

Kurumi’s words dragged me back into reality. I turned around to face her in the living room. She held a single sheet of paper, swinging it left and right.

“Sorry, I forgot to clean that up. It’s the schedule for the supplementary classes.”

“No, I get that. I’m curious about what it says at the bottom.” Kurumi pointed at the lower part of the document.

There was something peculiar written in the column for the last day of supplementary classes.

“What is this ‘After-lesson party’ it says about here?”

“Ah, that? It’s more like a party to celebrate the end of the supplementary classes?”

“A party? Ah, wait…I think the homeroom teacher mentioned something along those lines. Telling us to take work seriously because there would be an exciting event waiting at the end.”

An exciting event, huh? There’s only one thing fun about all this, and that’s once these supplementary classes are done.

“It’s not the kind of party you have in mind. More accurately, the higher-ranking students are teaching the younger-ranking students.”

“Ah, really? Is participation mandatory?”

“For the lower-ranking classes, yeah. The higher-ranking classes have the freedom to participate or not.”

“For real…?” Kurumi’s face distorted like she was chewing on an insect. “So some random people are going to tell me about things I don’t care about one bit. Could it get any worse?”

“It’s pretty much some plan to make the students from higher-ranking classes look like gods or whatever.”

It was the same last year. Some keep bragging about themselves, others just hit up the cute girls, it was honestly gross. Then again, all I had to do was occasionally respond to those upper-ranking students, so it was a lot more comfortable than taking classes. Meanwhile, Kurumi placed the schedule back on the table with a sigh.

“I swear…Leave it up to this school to come up with such an awful event…”

“Well, it depends on the person if they like this or not. Some would be happy to be taught by high-ranking students.”

“I don’t care about other people. What matters is if we suffer from it or not. In my world, only I exist, so everything else that annoys me can rot in hell.”

Well, that’s about what I’d expect her to say. I didn’t begin admiring her for nothing, after all. I knew how she’d respond the moment I asked. I left a brief moment of silence and then brought up another question.

“…If you really hate it that much, why don’t we mess it up real good?”

With such a big event, we would be able to conduct somewhat decent terrorism. And it shouldn’t matter even if we decide on it on a whim.

“Mess it up…So we’re going to use it for our terrorism, then…I see, I see…Hm…”

However, Kurumi seemed rather hesitant. She dropped her gaze back to the schedule and showed an indecisive expression. I understand where she’s coming from. It’s not like she has a problem with it, and more like she was genuinely hesitating. The party is still part of these summer supplementary classes, which will then fall under Teacher Ookuma’s jurisdiction. She’ll probably get an earful from the head of the student year, ultimately brought to tears. And because she can vividly see that happen in front of her, Kurumi now feels hesitant to hump on the idea.

Thanks to this, another long silence passed between us. Looking outside the window, the sun had almost completely set. We should probably turn on the lights sometime soon or my own consciousness will be swallowed up by darkness, too.

“I would love to completely destroy some pointless get-together like that…But…”

No matter how long I waited, I neither received a yes nor no from Kurumi. A part of me did feel regret, but not toward Kurumi, but myself. I wanted her to make a definitive decision but I was hesitant. No matter how far we’d go, how much we’d destroy, if it meant following Kurumi, I was ready to do whatever it would take. But seeing her like that, I myself became uncertain of our motive. I couldn’t believe I would still rely on her like this because of my own naivete.

“Hey, Senpai…Could I ask you to become my justice this once?”

Kurumi suddenly dropped an odd comment like that. I raised my head and gave her a confused glance.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“‘Messing up the shitty supplementary classes is our goal. Whether someone gets hurt and starts to cry does not matter to us.’”

When I heard that line, it all made sense. She’s making me play the hero of justice.

“Then…Let me think…’Teacher Ookuma is definitely suffering. She’s begun to doubt this school’s rules. If so, she’s the same as us, and we shouldn’t make her cry.’”

“‘Even if she was being forced, she still insulted her own students and gave in to the rotten education. She is plenty of a candidate to receive our revenge.’”

“‘Those tears shouldn’t have been fake. And I don’t want to hurt her. We have to be careful once we decide if we throw her away or not. Because it’ll decide where our story will take us.’”

“…Yeah, I couldn’t see any other way, either.”

Kurumi returned to her usual manner of speech and dropped her shoulders. And I don’t blame her, we probably feel the same way. No way we would reach an answer here.

“Would anything change if we kissed?”

“…I highly doubt it.”

Even so, we exchanged a kiss. And this heart of justice we sought was nowhere to be found in there, either.

*

The following day was a Saturday, but we still had classes. However, we were told that Teacher Ookuma had to take the day off because of a cold. And thanks to that, all her world history classes ended up as self-study time.

*

Sunday arrived, which finally allowed us a day off from supplementary classes. Kurumi and I slept in on that day and decided to have breakfast along with lunch. We then did the dishes and watched TV for most of the day. Whenever some level of news appeared, we quickly changed the channel to something like variety to not spoil our moods. Sure, we could have headed out somewhere to have fun, but neither of us felt like doing so. Or rather, the weather wouldn’t allow for that, either way.

The whole morning, the strong wind made the windows rattle. Clouds filled the sky everywhere, as rain was pouring down. The TV show we watched also warned us of an approaching typhoon. Well, I guess this is the season for it. I was assaulted by a faint headache but it fit the situation.

“…I guess we should bring in the laundry, then.” Kurumi placed the remote on the table and stood up.

“Yeah, let me help.”

“You say that, but you probably just want to see my underwear, right? Pervert.”

“That’s some hurtful accusation after I was just trying to be nice,” I responded and laughed.

These sorts of exchanges cleared up my mind more than anything else. But it’d be even better if the weather was just as clear. Kurumi was about to head off to the veranda but stopped her hand right as she reached for the door—because our doorbell rang.

“Oh geez, who is it…” Kurumi turned around and headed for the door.

Whenever a visitor would arrive, Kurumi always ended up greeting them. The reason for that was, of course, so that nobody would find out I was spending time here. I’m just a freeloader staying here with Kurumi’s permission, and needless to say, her parents don’t know about this fact. If people found out that two high school students were living together, it’d cause problems. And our worries turned out to be not unfounded.

“Kurumi! You’re home, right? Open up already!”

When a woman’s voice reached us in the living room, Kurumi’s face turned pale. I was wondering what was wrong, but she already ran off to the entrance and came back immediately. She carried my bag for some reason.

“S-Senpai, grab your belongings and hide!”

“Huh? Why? Who’s here?”

“It’s my mother…! So, hurry! If she finds out we’ve been living here together, I don’t know what she’ll say!”

“Oh? Is the door open? Geez, I keep telling her to be careful. I’m coming in!”

Not only did I have to keep quiet, I also didn’t have much time. Kurumi pushed the bag onto me and then stuffed me into a nearby closet. It was pitch black and had a dusty smell all over it. Shortly after, I heard the creaking of footsteps. Kurumi’s mother must have headed inside, as I could hear their conversation.

“Oh my, it’s surprisingly clean in here. I thought everything would be a lot more messy.”

“Geez, Mama! Why’d you invite yourself in like this? Also, what even brings you here?”

“I saw the news of the typhoon approaching so I brought you some food.”

“You really didn’t have to. I keep buying more than enough…”

Judging from the sounds of it, her mother didn’t find out I was staying here. That was almost really close. I guess I was lucky enough that I didn’t bring much with me here that could count as evidence. Meanwhile, their conversation continued.

“You had a regular school day a while back, right? Did you go?”

“…Yeah.”

“I’m in full support of you not dropping out of school just yet, but you don’t have to force yourself or anything. Same goes for the supplementary classes.”

“I know that.”

“You don’t have to overwork yourself just because your brother got into a great university.”

“…”

So she had an older brother? Oh yeah, I think I read about something like that in her revenge note. I’m guessing her mother was trying to be nice, but did it really come across like that? The fact she brought it up sure seemed like she was comparing the two. Just how did Kurumi feel as she was forced to listen to that? I had no way of knowing. I don’t have any siblings, so I can’t hope to understand how someone with siblings feels at being compared to them.

“Oh geez, honey. What’s that gloomy face about? I said it’s okay, right?”

“…”

“When you were just a little girl, your older brother was right in the middle of his rebellious phase. He asked for some much more attention than you ever did. He even kept calling me a hag all day, so…”

“…Yeah, yeah. I get that Onii-chan’s amazing. Can you leave now?” Kurumi muttered, interrupting her mother’s monologue.

“Excuse me? I never said anything like that.”

“You have. Like you always do.”

“I was just trying to cheer you up, though…Nothing starts as long as you don’t accept the kindness of others, you know?”

“I get it! I get it already! Just leave! I’ll put the food in the fridge.”

“I’m just worried about you, why are you pushing me away like this?”

“Because I’m doing okay! I’m fine! Just leave.”

I heard footsteps moving away. It seems like Kurumi is forcing her mother to go back to the entrance.

“Make sure to eat properly, okay? Not just cup ramen and all that fast food.”

“I know! I’m eating healthy!”

“School is starting soon, right? Make sure to pick up your stuff so that you can come home right before break ends. I’ll grab a car and pick you up.”

“…Yeah…”

Right after that conversation, I heard the door closing. I slowly opened the door of the closet, as I picked up the sound of an engine revving up. Seems like Kurumi succeeded in chasing her mother away. Thank god we didn’t get found out. I fully stepped out of the closet and brushed the dust off my clothes.

“Sorry for the trouble, Senpai.”

“No worries, I’m the one staying here, after all. Good thing she didn’t find out.”

“…That’s right.”

Kurumi’s face looked a lot more gloomy than what I was used to.

“Summer’s about to end, huh?” Kurumi walked all the way to the veranda and gazed outside.

The sky was dark with raindrops falling here and there. Seemed like the laundry got hit by the rain a bit. While we gathered up everything and brought it inside, I found myself thinking…What do we even do now? Considering the situation Teacher Ookuma is in, she definitely deserves our sympathy. However, I don’t think what we’ve done all this time is wrong. We need to think if she, Kanae Ookuma, really is the same as us, or if she’s different. Is it right to feel sympathy for her, or not? With the end of our summer break drawing closer, how are we supposed to face her? And after listening to the conversation Kurumi had with her mother, it all felt like a banal thing to worry about.

*

The same day but later—Just as the weather forecast predicted, the typhoon arrived and hit our rural area. The wind and rain were strong enough to inflict some damage on the people’s homes, too. But, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. You have this typhoon at least once a year everywhere. And the news continued by stating that the weather would remain this bad for the night. That’s why we made sure to properly prepare. We closed the rain doors and put everything unsafe or unable to be locked up inside. We felt like we’d prepared well enough, but this being an old house, you can’t shake a level of uncertainty.

The glass windows were rattling like bones and you’d fear that it could actually break. We could only hope that it wouldn’t take off the entire roof, but I doubted that could happen. To drown out the sounds from the outside, we proceeded to turn up the volume of the TV. And since we had no reason to watch the news, we went with another random channel and found a random celebrity doing a shoot of a bristling shopping area. For the first time, I felt grateful that the TV offered pre-recorded shows.

“What should we do about dinner?” Kurumi wore an apron above her regular room wear, standing in the kitchen. “Since we were so busy preparing for the typhoon, I couldn’t get anything ready.”

“You don’t have to prepare anything today, we can just eat leftovers or what’s frozen in the freezer.”

“…Yes, I guess so. But I kind of want to clear up my mind by cooking something.”

“Then I’ll wait. You can just make what you want.”

“Once again being so kind to me…That just makes me feel bad.” Kurumi trotted over to the dining table and threw her upper body on it.

Her round back of the head now was right in front of my eyes. She wasn’t wearing her newsboy cap, letting her inner hair roam free. I decided to rub her head. She pouted a moment but didn’t protest. She really was like a kitty.

“Hey, Senpai…Once this storm passes, do you think it’ll clear up our feelings, too?”

“I wonder…I sure hope it does.”

“Will the blue sky have an answer written on it?”

“…I highly doubt it.”

All I could think about was the class where I first had any contact with Nanaougi. My mind was filled with wild thoughts as I glanced up at the sky, filled with white clouds. But it made me realize that this won’t be enough to find an answer. Ever since Kurumi and I became a pair, we’ve been living our life the way we wanted…Which also meant that we were the ones deciding everything. It’s not much different from when I decided I’d be living here for the time being. We’re the ones doing the choosing. It’s a responsibility that we have to carry. And because we know that, we are being troubled right now.

“What to do, what to do…”

Kurumi rested her head on the table once more, so I rubbed her head. The light may have brightened up the room a bit, but it was still fairly dark like it was representing our own internal feelings. Maybe we’d be the happiest if time came just to a halt right now. All the negative feelings in my heart began melting away in this air.

“Maybe I should make dinner today? That way, you won’t have to worry about me, right?”

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea. If you’re fine with that, of course.”

With that decided, now we have to think about the ingredients we’d use. Surely, we’ll find a recipe or two online. But anything simple should suffice. I stood up with that thought in mind, when I heard the doorbell ringing once more. Kurumi and I looked at each other in unison.

“During this weather? Who could it be? Maybe a delivery?”

“I wonder. I don’t remember ordering something.”

“Neither do I. Maybe it’s some delivery related to the cafe’s management…”

So it’s stock, huh? I don’t know if they would deliver it this late and during such weather. If things went south, you might really get hurt with this storm outside.

“…Maybe it’s someone looking for shelter?”

“Wait, that’d be really bad! We should at least check on who it is.”

Kurumi got up and headed to the entrance. Well, no sane person would willingly step outside during this weather, so I’d guess it might be someone from her family again. They were probably worried about her as much as her mother was. It’d probably be better if I hid again just in case. I grabbed my shoes from the veranda and headed back to the closet, but right as I put my hand on the doorknob, I heard something.

“…Wha?! H-Hey! Senpai! Come here!”

Hearing Kurumi’s panicked voice, I immediately kicked off the ground and rushed to the entrance. Was it an intruder? They might be faking their need for assistance to call us out. What am I doing?! I should have been more careful!

“What’s wrong?! You okay, Kurumi?!”

Running down the hallway, I got to the front door. Standing behind Kurumi and her shocked expression—was she. The one person lacking common sense to run out here in such weather—Nanaougi Nana. She wore her regular school uniform as she smiled at us.

“Hello there. Great weather we’re having,” she nodded once which made her ponytail sway in the wind, splattering water everywhere.

She wasn’t carrying an umbrella on her, nor was she wearing a raincoat. She was drenched from head to toe, her shirt clinging to her body, revealing her well-endowed body line. What is this? Why is she so drenched? Why did she come here? How did she even know we were here? So many questions popped up in my mind, it was overwhelming. But knowing that we were dealing with Nanaougi, I knew that thinking about it too much wouldn’t help at all. I grabbed Kurumi’s hand to pull her behind me and faced Nanaougi.

“What do you want? And how did you even know we were here?”

“I wonder…If you promise not to get angry with me, I wouldn’t mind telling you.”

“I’m already pissed, so you better spit it out right now.”

“My, how scary. Fine, I guess I can tell you,” Nanaougi said and took out a small circular medal of sorts. “This is a GPS tag. Put this on a person, and you’ll be able to tell what they’re up to. Normally, it’s used to keep yourself from losing things, but…I guess you can figure out the rest?”

“Did you put this on us or something?”

“When I touched your bag that one time, I guess?”

When was that…? I don’t remember many times we got that close at school…What is she talking about?

“Oh, how dense you are. Maybe this will help your memory?” Nanaougi narrowed her eyes and repeated the same words one to one. “‘If you’re gonna meet up with a girl, you have to look the part. Your bag’s all duty.’”

…Ah, yeah. That’s from when she pretended to hit on me. I rushed back to the living room to check my bag and found the same type of chip she just showed me. Now she did it…She put it in a place I rarely ever check, so I didn’t realize it until today. I see. That’s also how she found us at the astronomy club room. I went back to the entrance and threw the chip at her.

“You’re like a bonafide stalker now. That’s a crime, remember?”

“Hahaha! Not something I’d expect you of all people to point out!” Nanaougi skillfully caught the chip and stuffed it back into her pocket.

Why’d you have to act so cool now? I really can’t stand her.

“I get how you found us, but what did you come here for?”

“I’m gonna tell you, but could you maybe let me in first? It may be mid-summer, but it’s pretty chilly for me, completely drenched like this. I’m gonna end up catching a cold.”

“Then why did you even come here during a typhoon…”

“Because that’d make it harder for you to send me away.”

“Say what?” I gave her a dubious look, as she showed me a bewitching smirk.

“I suggest you let me inside now. I don’t think you can send me away.”

“…And why is that?”

“Because I came here to talk about Ookuma-sensei.”

The moment we heard that name, Kurumi and I swallowed our breaths. Teacher Ookuma was the very problem we currently struggled with. How is she connected to her? Why would Nanaougi connect us to her? More and more questions filled my mind, and yet a part of me somewhat felt like everything connected. Whenever I saw Teacher Ookuma, Nanaougi was around. How much does she know, and how much did Nanaougi tell her about us? I want to know. Maybe it was something we needed to find out about. Kurumi and I looked at each other.

“Also, if you send me home during this weather, I might really just die, you know?”

“…The bath is down the hallway to the left.”

“Oh! Thanks so much! You’re a kind one, Kurumi-chan!”

We reached the same conclusion and let Nanaougi inside. Many things were left to be considered, but if she says ‘I’ll die in this storm’ then we won’t be able to decline.

*

“Thanks for the bath. I at least managed to not catch a cold.”

Kurumi and I waited in the living room for Nanaougi to finish her shower. She returned wearing only a bath towel around her body. It was genuine poison for the eyes. And I was worried Kurumi would blow a fuse if I kept looking, so I quickly averted my gaze.

“Hey, why are you not wearing the change we prepared for you?”

“That’s your shirt, right? It’s a bit too small…Particularly around the chest.”

Kurumi audibly clicked her tongue. Scary, scary, scary.

“I’ll lend you my shirt until the laundry’s done. The size should be big enough to fit you.”

“Now that’s better. You kept it in the laundry basket of the bathroom, right? I’ll wear that.”

“Senpai, you’re giving the shirt I wore before to another girl?”

“Do we have another option? Also, it’s still my shirt.”

“Is that so?” Kurumi asked and once again clicked her tongue.

Again, you’re scaring me. Nanaougi returned to the bathroom, from where I heard the sound of the dryer. I’m guessing drying that long hair takes a hot minute. Or so I thought, but she only returned twenty minutes later, wearing nothing but my large shirt.

“N-Nanaougi-senpai?! What about your underwear?!”

“Huh? Ren-kun’s shirt is big enough, so you can’t see below it. I figured it’d be fine!”

“Now listen here, you…! Okay, whatever. I don’t care anymore.” Kurumi sighed and rested her head on her palm.

She seems to have given up on fighting back. And that’s perfectly fine. You’ll never be able to grasp what she’s saying or thinking. Whatever you say is pointless. Nanaougi walked toward us and sat at the table facing us. Kurumi waited a moment and then spoke up.

“So…about Teacher Ookuma. What did you come here for, Nanaougi-senpai?”

“Let’s see…I figured it’d be around time to come and talk to you.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“What were you doing over the past summer break, Nanaougi? It’s time you tell us what you’re plotting.”

“If you stop cornering me. I’m sorry, okay? I’ll tell you everything today.” Nanaougi showed a smile somewhat softer than what I was used to from her. “You’re worrying about Kanae Ookuma, right?” She confirmed one more time. “She’s getting weaker by the day, right? Or rather, she’s already mentally broken.”

“She’s not really…I mean, she was crying before, but…”

“And that’s your fault. Because you two have been continuing your terrorism, she’s suffering.”

“…”

“And at the same time, it’s also my fault that things turned out this way.”

Her fault? But I couldn’t ask, as she already continued.

“Right now, you’re probably hesitant and wondering if you should continue your terrorism because it will make people like her suffer, right?”

“…Were you listening in on our conversation or something?”

“My name isn’t Ren-kun, so I wouldn’t do that. But judging from that reaction, I guess I hit the mark. But would you like to hear why exactly I know you’re feeling this way?”

“…”

“It’s because I set everything up to go this way.” Nanaougi dropped this bomb with a cold voice and then continued with a smile. “Let me tell you what happened right from the start.” Her tone reminded me of when she first came to our club room. “It all began when I came to see you at your club room. I began by provoking you and saying that I’ll cause terrorism that really isn’t anything to write home about. I made sure that you would work on your own terrorism for this summer break.”

“Hold on, you’re going back that far? Are you kidding?”

“Of course? I set up my plan even before summer break started…Yeah, when you set up your mannequin terrorism, it was already in the middle of it.” Nanaougi narrowed her eyes as she spoke like she was reading through a script. “Just as I planned, you fell right for my provocation and started your own terrorism. Sure, it might not be necessarily related to me, but you still did exactly as I’d hoped you would.”

Thinking back, my goal was to create terrorism greater than whatever Nanaougi would be doing. At that point, we were already dancing in her palms…?

“So then, while you were off conducting your terrorisms, I went to talk to Ookuma-sensei about it. I took the payment statement with me and talked with her.”

That’s what I saw at the student guidance counseling office and in the classroom away from the main campus.

“She’s responsible for the supplementary classes, so if there’s any trouble with it, she has to clean up after it, and I used that to put more and more pressure on her. By saying stuff like ‘I don’t want this school to become messy’ or ‘I can only rely on you’, of course.”

“And since you’re a higher-ranking student, they couldn’t ignore you.”

“Exactly. But some newbie teacher couldn’t hope to resolve an issue this massive, right?” Nanaougi grinned like the devil. “Thanks to all that, Ookuma-sensei will be stuck between me and her superior, receiving pressure from both sides. At the same time, you guys won’t stop your terrorism, either. Thanks to that, she’ll have no place to go, no person to consult, she’ll break down.”

“…”

“And according to what you said, she was actually crying, right?”

The attention focused on Kurumi, but she didn’t respond. Nanaougi shrugged and continued speaking like nothing happened.

“Oh well, whatever. If she’s already broken down, then the rest was simple. I just had to make sure that her memo book would reach Ren-kun. That’s how I created today’s situation.”

“So you dropped the memo book on purpose?”

“Sure did! I happened to find it myself by pure coincidence, and reading through it, I quickly came up with this whole plan. Do you get it now?”

Kurumi and I looked at each other, then glanced back at Nanaougi with a dubious gaze.

“…Well, I get the gist of it.”

Now I at least know what she’s been up to this past summer. And as well how we ended up in this situation. But the important part is still hazy…Namely, why did she do all that? Did she just want to make Teacher Ookuma suffer? Is it petty revenge? Kurumi took a deep breath and then asked the same question that’s been on my mind while glaring at Nanaougi.

“So, be honest with me, please. What exactly is your goal, Nanaougi-senpai?”

“I told you when we first met, right? I want you to let me join your ranks.”

“So you’re saying that destroying Teacher Ookuma’s mental health is the terrorism you were speaking of? Don’t joke with me, we’re not doing all this just to mess with random people.”

“I know that. I didn’t do all that just to make Ookuma-sensei suffer. The terrorism I came up with…isn’t done yet. It just entered the final phase. This is where the fun begins.”

“…And what do you mean by that?” Kurumi asked.

In response, Nanaougi showed an evil smile like no other before.

“While saving Ookuma-sensei, I’m going to hit this school where it hurts…And if I pull that off, you won’t have any more room to reject me, right?”

We’re reaching the end of summer break, so we should be able to see her terrorism soon. But, neither Kurumi nor I could have expected the direction it would take.

“Why don’t you let Ookuma-sensei join your group? If you pull that off, you’ll let me in too, right?”