Today was the last day of mid-term exams and the chairwoman was in a worse mood than ever. The reason was that the results of the examinations were not good. It will be a long time before the answer sheets are returned to the students after being graded. However, as she had already done some self-testing, she had a rough idea of the scores. In English, she scored better than she had expected. But the other subjects were a complete disaster.
"This is the worst..." she muttered to no one in particular as she slumped in her seat.
I'm so weak, I can't even bring myself to open my textbook. I think I've lost the will to even open my textbook. It's been like this since just after lunchtime today.
What's more, her mental health is under pressure from the "bet" on her exam scores. She tries not to think about it, but the pressure is still on her shoulders.
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In contrast, the one with a smile on his face is the joker. He is the one with the smile on his face, the one who is reading his books and notes in silence. In the past, he would have preferred to talk to his friends, even on exam days.
Looking at him, Suzuki, who had been spending his time chatting with Takeuchi, raised his voice.
"What's Ogino doing studying so seriously?"
"That's normal, isn't it? Studying for a test."
"Studying now won't help, he's just an ordinary idiot."
"......"
For the past few days, Suzuki has been in a bad mood, influenced by the bad mood of the chairwoman. Takeuchi, who was accompanying him, had no words to reply.
"Even if I get a sports recommendation, won't it be bad if I get a bad score?"
"You can avoid getting a bad score by listening to the class."
"Hmm?"
"I can study as hard as Takeuchi. Then I will go to the same university the chairwoman is going."
Suzuki says, looking at Shimizu, who slumped on her desk. Takeuchi who responds is plain.
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"That's probably impossible. The chairwoman is aiming for Tokyo University of Foreign Studies."
"That's right."
"If you're going to play football at university, isn't English a must? If you want to become a professional, you can't avoid it. If you can't speak at least everyday English, you'll regret it later on."
"Don't footballers to have their own translator?"
"That's only for a few aces. I read in a magazine or something that players with a high level of awareness learn to speak another language by the time they are 20 or so, because it's common for players from overseas to play in the Japanese league, and there are more and more opportunities to play against foreign teams."
"......"
Suzuki's face turned pale. He hates English. If he could only get through one more subject, he would have a fun launch after school.
"My head is in a mess!"
"By the way, Takeuchi, what did you write in your favorite subject for the bet?"
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"It would be boring if I told you that right now."
In the classroom, everyone is focused on the tests.
For some, it's to raise their marks. Some are trying to raise their pocket money. Others are trying to make themselves more attractive to the opposite sex. Some are working hard at their desks. But there are always exceptions to the rule. One person who stands out from the crowd is Matsuura-san.
She is sitting in her seat, playing a mobile phone game.
"..."
I couldn't find any textbooks or notes in her drawers, let alone on her desk. There was no enthusiasm for the exams. The reason for this was the deposit made in her bank account.
Like Nishino, she had also received a large sum of money from Gabriella's father as a reward and hush money for the dance event. It was enough money to keep her out of work for the rest of her life.
Therefore, she had abandoned her studies. She had abandoned her school life.
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Whatever the circumstances and motivations, the fact that she had actually put her life on the line to save Gabriella's life meant a great deal to her. That's why she can still play games right before exams. The future of Matsuura-san's life was set on easy mode.
It was against this background that she spoke out loudly to the chairwoman in the classroom yesterday. Even if she lost her place at school, she had nothing to fear. She is free to behave as she pleases, even on campus, where she has moved down the caste ladder. Naturally, there are glances of disapproval from those around her. But not a single student raises his voice. Matsuura the knife is a nickname that has spread rapidly over the past few days. She is invincible in both name and reality, and there is nothing to fear on campus.
Meanwhile, the bell rang, signalling the start of class.
"Well, it's time for the next exam..."
Nishino's casual comments annoyed his classmates.
◇ ◆ ◇
On the same day, a little after lunchtime, Rose was contacted by Francisca.
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She had come to the share house where Nishino was living. She had abandoned the rest of his mid-term exams because she was feeling unwell.
Although she was initially warned not to make any sudden moves, she was still called to the scene because of the urgency of the situation. When she arrived at the scene, she was able to use her physical strength and picking skills
She entered the house by using a technique. She had reached Nishino's room on the third floor.
"Francisca, I have reached my destination."
She talks to her boss through the phone in her hand. The voice on the other end of the line is the same as usual.
"Are you on the third floor?"
"I'm in his room, the one you mentioned in your report."
"It's good to see you're working so quickly."
She is sent to investigate a break-in at the share house where Nishino lives. Rose has been given the task of checking the interior of the house before the residents return home. She is both happy and annoyed to have this unexpected opportunity to break into her beloved boyfriend's room.
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She has mixed feelings about this.
"By the way, how's the surveillance going?"
"We're tracking the intruder, but we seem to have lost him."
"How useless are you?"
"I don't think it was an accidental break-in."
This is the person that Francisca has arranged to monitor the share house. It was about an hour ago that I saw someone invading Futsumen's house.
"By the way, what am I supposed to do with the girl?"
Rose's gaze, which had been fixed on Nishino's room, shifted to a figure standing close to her. She sees Gabriella, still in her school uniform, looking at the ransacked room.
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Rose puts the phone in her skirt pocket after finishing the call. Then, she turns to the opponent who stands next to her. Gabriella talks.
"What's this all about?"
The two, who had been looking at each other, turned their attention back to the room. When the lunch break was about to end, Rose suddenly left her seat and decided to go home. Feeling suspicious, Gab was curious and followed her.
The futsumen's room was a mess.
The coloured box in the corner of the room had fallen over and the school things that had been stored in it were scattered all over the room. The floor was strewn with books, clothes, and other personal belongings of the futsumen.
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"This is for him, help me."
Apparently, she accepted.
The two have clashed many times in the past. But this time, Gabriella accepted to help Rose. Although there is no certainty that the cooperative relationship will be maintained to the end, they have shown a willingness to cooperate with each other, at least for now..
"I'll take the top and you take the bottom."
"I understand."
If things went well, Nishino might praise them. It was with this faint hope that the Lolitas came together. After nodding to each other, each of them turned their attention to the task of fusion. Immediately after that, there was a rumbling noise in the corner of the room.
Without pausing, they turn in the direction of the presence. In the corner of the room, underneath a uniform that had fallen to the floor, something was moving.
It was the size of their fists. It stopped and moved repeatedly. Wriggling under Nishino's uniform.
"Sister, there's something over there."
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As she listened to Gabriella's words, Rose remembered that her former roommate had a hamster pet. She had lost count of the number of times she had been jealous of the hamster, which had been the object of Nishino's affection.
"Does he live in a rat-infested house?"
Gabriella held up her arms to the uniforms on the floor, ready to use her magical powers.
"Wait a minute."
"What?"
"He had a hamster as a pet."
"Is that so?"
As soon as Gabriella was still, Rose went to the bottom of the uniform that had fallen to the floor. As she did so, she scooped up a moving object underneath the jacket of the uniform that had been released. At the unexpected touch, the opponent begins to run around inside the uniform.
Rose is unconcerned about this, and looks round Nishino's room.
She found a cage lying a short distance away. The contents were a mess and dented in places, but fortunately the cage itself was in good condition.
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She waited for a few seconds, and then a fluffy creature appeared between the fabric of the uniform. It was, after all, a hamster she had seen before. She knew that she would get a lot of flack from Nishino if she were to destroy it.
When she was sure that the object was in the cage, she let out a sigh.
"Certainly, that's not a mouse."
"Yeah."
"What are you gonna do with the hamster?"
"I'll leave it with a friend of his later."
"Well then, let's keep investigating.”
Nodding to each other, they set out to investigate the share house.
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◇ ◆ ◇
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On that day, Class 2A of Tsunuma High School finished the whole schedule of mid-term exams. In the classrooms after school, there was a constant buzz of activity as the students exchanged words. After the quietness of the exams, the students are now free from their studies and chatting with their friends about their future plans. They are discussing how to celebrate the end of exams.
Some groups rushed out as soon as homeroom ended, determined not to waste a single minute or second. Others, unable to contain their excitement, were loudly discussing where to go and who to join.
The most conspicuous of these is a group of handsome guys and pretty girls, led by Takeuchi-kun. In contrast to the launch of the school festival, only the top of the caste was allowed to participate in the launch.
As Takeuchi calls out, everyone around her cries out,
"Okay, let's get started!"
Everyone was smiling, and everyone seemed to be having fun.
Thanks to that, Nishino feels lonely.
"Of course, no one invited me..."
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All that was left was to pack his bags and go home. In recent years, Rose and Gabriella have been visiting him at every opportunity. Today, however, they are both absent from school. Nishino is not sorry to hear this, but he does feel a little sad about it.
He was still the lonely Futumen in the classroom. But now he had somewhere else to go. He had moved to a shared house. When he returned home, there would be a black gal who had come home from work.
Nishino was not so discouraged and prepared to leave. In the back of his mind he thought about what he was going to do after he left school.
I think I'll stop by the supermarket and buy some expensive cake. I'm sure Yamanobe will be very happy. And so on. That's about it. I'm uncharacteristically excited.
But something goes wrong.
"Ah, there he is! Nishino! Hey, Nishino! Nishino!"
A door at the back of the classroom, through which a girl in an unfamiliar uniform entered.
The voice sounded familiar. His mind wandered away from the luggage on his desk and towards the sound of the voice. And there, for some reason, was a white gal.
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This is the friend of the black gal I met in my living room a while back.
"Why are you here?"
"What? Mayu?"
In addition to Nishino, Risa also responded. It seems it's true what they said about knowing each other when they exchanged words in the living room of the share house just a few days ago. Apparently, her name is Mayu.
She was the only one who looked the same at her age but had a different uniform design. Her presence was noticed by all the remaining students in the classroom. They began to ask questions about her presence here and there. The fact that Nishino's name was mentioned was also significant. Everyone in the room was wondering what was going on.
"How did you get in here?"
"No time for that! Follow me!"
"Sure, but why don't you at least tell me what do you want?"
"Yamanobe and Yukki are in trouble!"
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Watching her panic, Nishino, who has found a way to look cool, immediately decides to be cynical. She, on the other hand, shifts her attention from the Futsumen to the other side of the room. After a few moments of scurrying around the school, her gaze settled on a point.
"The handsome guy there is Takeuchi-kun, right?"
In a corner of the classroom, a group of students were about to launch their mid-term exams. In the middle of the group, a white gal spots a boy with an outstanding face and calls out to him. In the same group are Risa and the chairperson.
"You're the one who rescued your classmates from the yakuza!"
"...Huh?"
Takeuchi was surprised at the remarks.
"Please! I want you to come with me for a moment!"
The white gal unexpectedly appears and asks for a favor. In response to this, Nishino and his friends decided to move the conversation to another location.
◇ ◆ ◇
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Those who left the classroom of Class 2A moved to the back of the school building. The members are Nishino, Takeuchi, Risa, the chairwoman, and Suzuki, with the white gal at the top. They told their friends who were going to be with them for the after-school party that they should start before them.
As for the other members of the group, except for Nishino and Takeuchi, Risa, who was acquainted with white gal, accompanied them because of their relationship, followed by the chairwoman of the committee, who was a good friend of Risa, and Suzuki, who wanted to show his cool to her, raised his hand as if he wanted to take the opportunity.
"Yamanobe was kidnapped?"
"That's right!"
The white gal told Nishino and the others that his roommate was in trouble.
She continued with an impatient look on her face.
"I was going to go to visit her and I saw her being put in a car on the street near my house!"
"They forced them to go with them!"
"Did you call the police?"
"Yes, I did! Of course I did!"
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Takeuchi was also surprised by the abduction.
A bad imagination begins to run through his mind about what he overheard in the classroom about the yakuza. It's easy to guess what the gal in front of him is trying to do when she visits Class 2A, and he begins to get nervous.
On the other hand, it was Nishino who maintained his stance on the subject.
"Your work is over here."
Futsumen said plainly. Unnecessarily generous and cynical words inevitably annoy the other party. The white girl was no exception to this rule. She slaps him on the cheek, and there's a resounding poof. The guy stumbles and falls to one knee on the ground. Whether by accident or aiming to do this, the pose is subtly cool.
The white gal's rage flared even more fiercely.
"How can you say that!?"
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"We all have to be patient. I don't know who they are, but what can a simple student do? If you have reported the incident to the police and provided information, then you should keep quiet. What will happen if Takeuchi gets involved? Do you really think that a student with no equipment or organizational skills will be able to accomplish more than the police?"
"But..."
"When it comes to human trafficking, the police in this country are among the best in the world."
"..."
He intends to tell the facts based on his actual experience, but he doesn't understand the surroundings. The classmates all look at the two of them with a look that says,
"You should just die."
However, there was a voice of support for such Futsumen this time.
"I think Nishino is right,"
Takeuchi said. He knew that if Nishino lost the argument, he would be the one who would get the blame.
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The white gal appealed to him with a snarling look.
"But Takeuchi-kun is close to Nishino, right? The one who was kidnapped is a girl who lives in the same share house as Nishino! A friend of a friend is a friend of a friend, right? Please! At least give me some advice..."
"...What?"
It was a question that came out of the handsome man's mouth. For a moment, he thought he had heard wrong.
"I heard you were friends."
"......"
Takeuchi's gaze turns to Nishino. The other people also stare at Nishino.
"...We used to be in the same club, I'm not lying."
It's the payback for lying to the white gal.
"Well, let's put his argument aside for the moment..."
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Because he knew Risa, Takeuchi kept his words relatively calm. If it had been a stranger, he would have said bye bye to her.
"I don't know what you've heard about me, but I'm just an ordinary student like you. Leave it to the police. If we let the police handle it, we'll be fine."
"But... I think it would be more of a problem for people if we didn't take action."
"..."
The handsome guy follows the persuasion that Futsumen failed. The white gal also lost momentum because she was squeezed by the handsomeness of Takeuchi.
"I guess we could let it to police..."
The good-looking words were persuasive enough to make ger think so.
Immediately after that, Nishino's phone starts to tremble.
"..."
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His device shakes in his trouser pocket, but he ignores it and gets on with the conversation. He ignores it and gets on with the conversation. No matter how long he waited, his phone would not stop buzzing. It would go off and on, but then it would start buzzing again.
"Hey, Nishino..."
"I don't mind."
I just want to talk to my classmates. I love school. I love the classroom.
The chairperson of the committee, recalling a past transaction, thought frankly that Nishino-kun's phone kept ringing at odd times. A similar incident occurred some time ago when we were preparing for a cultural festival.
She doesn't know it, but it is repeated in the club room of the breakdance club. Takeuchi also remembered these, and raised his voice in irritation.
"You should really pick up."
"...Alright."
In response to the criticism from classmates, The Futsumen picks up.
The caller's name was Marquis.
"It's me"
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The briefness of his first words annoyed everyone present. We wondered if it was really a phone call. It might be an alarm, we thought. But he didn't seem to be bothered by it. He continues to talk on the phone, acting as if he's being generous.
"I'm sorry to keep calling, but it's about the job."
"That's good news." "
"I'm sorry to bother you, but could you come into the shop now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if you want to take care of the subject of your investigation, you'd better hurry."
"Okay, I'll go right now."
No doubt it had something to do with the story that the white gal had brought. With this in mind, Nishino decides what to do after school. He quickly disconnects the call.
"I'm sorry, but something urgent has come up."
"Oh, hey!"
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The white gyaru shouted at him, but Nishino didn't care and left the back of the school building. Whatever the outcome of the meeting, he was going to work for the black gyaru. There was no hesitation in his steps.
He left the school and caught a taxi on the street in front of the school gate.
He rushed to Marquis' shop in Roppongi.
Here's a digest of the conversation the two men had after receiving the call.
"I'm sorry to keep calling, but it's about the job."
"That's good news." "
"I'm sorry to bother you, but could you come into the shop now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if you want to take care of the subject of your investigation, you'd better hurry."
"Okay, I'll go right now."
Those who remained behind the school building looked away with an indescribable expression on their faces.
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Thanks for the chapter : )
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