kscans

Chapter 153 - A Peaceful Trial

The day after I was left thinking, 'B-Rank' sounds terrifying…

Just like every other day, the TV declared it was 'hotter than the yearly average,' and I headed to school through the muggy air.

One of the small blessings of becoming an Awakened Person is that I barely have to worry about heatstroke anymore.

I can still feel hot and cold perfectly fine, but my upper and lower limits have expanded. It's not just me, either; pretty much every Awakened Person is like this to some degree.

When the temperature hits 30 degrees Celsius, both non-Awakened and Awakened will feel 'hot.' But if it climbs past 60, the former would collapse, while the latter would just start sweating a bit more and still say, 'It's hot'... Something like that?

Basically, we got tougher. And apparently, I'm one of the toughest of the bunch, thanks to my unique skill and my stats.

However. Hot is still hot, and my belief in the greatness of air conditioning hasn't changed one bit. I think the person who invented the air conditioner deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize ten times over.

I finally reached the classroom, thoroughly annoyed by the cicadas' screeching along the way, though my spirits were lifted by the sight of the girls' summer uniforms.

"What should we do for the cultural festival?!"

A certain self-proclaimed ninja was already in super-high spirits this morning.

Yep, same old Erina-san.

But her outfit was different!!

Since the end of summer break, she'd switched to her summer uniform...!

Huh? So it's already her 'usual' outfit? Don't think. Feel.

Her arms, peeking out from her white short-sleeved shirt, were fair and slender, beautiful all the way to her fingertips. The pleated skirt covered her thighs to their mid-point, and the sliver of skin visible between it and her black knee-high socks—her absolute territory—was dazzling. Her legs were healthily toned, yet the slight indentation from the top of her socks proclaimed the soft flesh of her thighs.

And most importantly, the tent-like effect of her magnificent chest was even more pronounced than in her blazer...! It was a bounty so rich you'd think she had two large melons tucked in there.

I see... It appears my brain is boiling. What happened to my heat resistance?

"What's wrong, Kyou-chan? You spaced out for a second, and now you're holding your head."

"Ugh, the guilt..."

"What happened?"

"I'd bet anything he was just thinking something pervy."

"Sh-Shizuku-san, let's be easy on him. Yagawa-kun is a growing boy, after all."

Heh heh heh, I've got nothing to say to that... Being force-cooled by a calm third party is just plain painful.

Trying to change the subject, I recalled Erina-san's question.

"So, what's this about the cultural festival?"

"More importantly, are you okay? You look like you're about to cry."

"I'll double down. His boiled brain just got cooled, and he took a massive hit to his mental state."

"Shizuku-san, that's not how a bet works..."

Please stop. Any more and I might actually start crying.

"I'm fine, so let's talk about the festival. Why the sudden interest?"

"It's not sudden! Our school's cultural festival is in September, right? It's almost August, which means we practically have only one month left!"

"Ah..."

Now that she mentioned it, she was right. Unfortunately, all of us here, myself included, are first-years. We've never experienced a high school cultural festival, so my only frame of reference is what I've seen in anime.

And it's in September? I honestly thought it was in October.

"I heard the other classes have already started preparing! Ichiko-chan just told me!"

Erina-san declared cheerfully. I think Ichiko-san was the girl Erina-san made do a no-rope bungee jump with her teleportation.

Poor girl. Being accosted by a self-proclaimed ninja who, for some reason, barely breaks a sweat in this heat must have sent a chill down her spine. Then again, considering the reason for the no-rope bungee jump, I don't feel too much sympathy for her.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. A cultural festival, huh...

"Why don't we just do an exhibit on local history?"

"Seconded."

"Whyyy?!"

Ooyama-san raised a hand languidly in response to my words.

"Kyou-chan, Shī-chan, you're both being weird! It's the cultural festival! A festival! Why would you suggest something so boring?!"

"It's a pain."

"Same here."

"C'mon!"

Erina-san swung her arms back and forth like a child.

Gah! Her chest bounced up and down with a bounce, bounce! Is this some kind of seduction technique? If I hadn't already been seated with the desk as a defensive wall, I'd have been in trouble. She might have noticed my... biological reaction.

Resisting the skillful visual誘導 with all my might, I looked Erina-san in the eyes.

"Look, there are only four people in our class. What do you expect us to do?"

"Yeah, what he said. Besides, I bet the school would give us a sour look if we tried to do anything big."

"I agree."

"Ā-chan, you too?!"

That made it three against one. This is the law-abiding nation of Japan. By the power of democracy, otherwise known as majority rule, the matter was as good as decided.

This battle is our victory!

"You really don't want to do anything...?"

"Urk..."

Erina-san placed her hands on my desk, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Her chest, pressed by her upper arms, changed shape.

Damn it, she's too cute! I have to look down!

Damn it, her chest! I have to look up!

What is this infinite loop?! There's no escape. Is this the power of a ninja, even a self-proclaimed one?!

"Hey, Yagawa's about to crack. Aika, use your Arcane Gear to seduce him and pull him back to our side."

"I will back-drop you."

"Sorry."

That exchange was happening one desk over. It seemed I couldn't expect any reinforcements.

"W-Well, you see..."

"Even with just a few people, I think we can do all sorts of things. We only get one first-year high school cultural festival, you know? Not counting, like, repeating a year or reenrolling or anything. C'mon, let's make some memories together."

"...I-I'll consider it."

I finally found an escape route and turned my face toward the hallway wall.

"After careful consideration upon careful consideration, I will give you my answer. I must refrain from answering at this time."

"That's a textbook evasion if I've ever seen one."

"Yagawa-kun, you'd probably make a terrible politician."

Say whatever you want...!

As my lips trembled into a pout, a cool, soft hand took mine.

"So that means you're neutral for now, and there's a chance you'll say yes later!"

My, what a positive outlook.

As I took in Erina-san's radiant smile and the soft touch of her fingers, I felt my heart race and gave a small nod.

She shook my hand enthusiastically before skipping over to Ooyama-san and the others.

As she raised her arm, I could see the sway of her sideboob even from behind. My Spirit Eye didn't miss it. Amazing, Spirit Eye.

"Okay, so if I can convince Shī-chan and Ā-chan, it's decided! We're doing something fun for the cultural festival!"

"Oh crap. She's heading this way..."

"This is not good. Can we withstand that natural-born flirt...?!"

"She might turn us to putty like she did Yagawa."

"We might end up disgracing ourselves like Yagawa-kun..."

Say whatever you want...!!

In the end, all three of them were made to nod in agreement. The self-proclaimed ninja is strong.

Soon after, our teacher arrived and class began, so we decided to discuss the specifics later. By the way, the moment our teacher heard we were planning an exhibit for the cultural festival, her face twitched into a half-crying smile.

She was a young female teacher who looked like she'd had a bit of a rough life. In a way, she was a victim, having likely been forced to take charge of our class.

All I could say to her was: Tough luck.

*

'What did we do for the cultural festival? A local history exhibit, of course.'

'That has zero festive charm!'

After school, I asked Aira-san that question while we were playing 'Matsuo Sea Battle ☆ Squid-Octopus Frenzy,' and that was the answer I got.

"Aira-san, you went to an all-girls' school, didn't you?"

'Indeed. Mia and I, up until high school. And Erina-kun until middle school. It was an integrated system from elementary through high school, by the way.'

'It got a little awkward for me after I became an Awakened Person, so I left.'

"I have an image of all-girls' schools being for the wealthy these days. Wasn't your cultural festival a big deal?"

'I can't speak for other girls' schools, but it's true that most of the students at ours were well-off. Still, they were students. They hated hassle and most just wanted to walk around looking at other classes' exhibits with their friends.'

"I see..."

'Oh, my gauge is full. P●●p, launch!'

"Don't abbreviate it! Say 'Ultra-Pup'!"

At Erina-san's crude declaration, her character started swinging a giant hammer.

Isn't that just Ultra Ham●er? Sorry, my English isn't so good, so I wouldn't know.

'My gauge is full, too! Aira, Sea Urchin Tank, launching!'

"Why did you have to pick that one? There were so many better options."

'This one looks stronger!'

"Well, it did get buffed in the last update, but still..."

Don't try to mimic that certain anime. And your tank is red, anyway. At least make it white.

...Wait, didn't the red one do something similar without announcing it?

'Sea Urchin Tank, launching!'

'Go, Senpai!'

'Sea Urchin Tank, destroyed!'

'S-Senpai!!'

"Knew it."

Well yeah, the pilot's weak. The woman just charges in recklessly.

'WRAAGH! For my senpai! Take this, d●ng toss!'

"Don't abbreviate it! And are you a gorilla now?"

'I-I'm surrounded! Kyou-chaaaan!'

"Yelling at me won't help."

Why do these two turn into wild boars when they play games? Or maybe it's because it's a game.

I casually spammed my own special, the 'Cow Dung Missile,' while asking a question through my earring.

"By the way, Erina-san. Have you already decided what you want to do?"

'Hmm, there are just too many things I want to do. I actually haven't decided yet.'

"I see. Well, that's very like you, Erina-san."

'But it's already been decided that you'll be front and center, Kyou-chan!'

"Huh?"

Wait, was that a death sentence?

I'm a guy with only slightly below-average communication skills. Why am I being pushed to the front instead of the three gorgeous girls? Is this some kind of punishment?

'And you're cross-dressing! That's also a done deal!'

"Come again?"

It was a genuine death sentence.

'Ho ho, tell me more. This is most intriguing.'

"Shut it, you hopeless university student."

'Hmph!'

"Are you a child?!"

Don't give me that ridiculously cute rejection!

'Excuse me, were you talking about Kyouta-kun cross-dressing?'

"Ugh, she's here."

Mia-san, how long have you been listening? Seriously.

'Indeed! The question is what kind of clothes to put Kyou-chan-kun in.'

"I. Am. Not. Wearing. Anything."

To show my protest, I lightly scratched my earring with my fingernail. Eat the sound of scraping a mirror.

'Heh heh heh. Actually, I've already decided what he's going to wear.'

But it seemed to have little effect. Damn, she's surprisingly tough.

"I told you, I'm not doing it. You want me to just ditch the whole thing on the day of?"

'This is going to be fun, Kyou-chan!'

"Are you listening to me???"

While we were talking, my character got surrounded by the enemy team and was defeated.

In the blink of an eye, the opponent's ink covered the battlefield, and we suffered another crushing defeat. To the random person who got stuck with us, my sincerest apologies.

That person, 'CannonSword,' who was fighting with us was strong, but we completely dragged them down.

'Hey, hey. What do you want to do while you're cross-dressing, Kyou-chan?'

"First of all, I don't want to cross-dress."

This is bad. I might get another 'persuasion' session from Erina-san tomorrow. Will I be able to resist?

Nope, it's impossible. In my mind, my orichalcum-grade reason is about to put on a sash that reads 'Aluminum Foil.'

...I almost wish some trouble would come up and the cultural festival gets canceled.

But after the whole demon incident, I bit my tongue, knowing that was too inappropriate to even think.

'Oh, speaking of costumes, Senpai.'

'What is it, Erina-kun? Is it an interesting topic? Tell me anything! I shall cooperate!'

'Yay! Then it's about time you used that Tokyo souvenir we bought you!'

'...'

A speechless, hopeless university student. A second hopeless university student whose breathing I could have sworn just got heavier.

Yeah, this thought I can say out loud.

"SERVES YOU RIIIIIGHT!!"

'Y-You baaaastard!!'