“We’ll check out the physics club since we’re here. But whether we join is another matter. We were in the chemistry club in middle school, and we’re planning to take biology and chemistry instead of physics and chemistry for our classes. Physics just doesn’t suit us.”
In high school there’s a science subject selection, and if you’re science track, you often choose two from physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth Science. Physics-chemistry selection makes up an overwhelming three-quarters majority, but chemistry-biology selection also has about one-quarter, which is what Mizusaki and I are considering. Incidentally, there are also a very small number with unusual preferences for physics-biology selection, or who choose the very unpopular Earth Science.
Mizusaki confirmed with Mikage, looking a bit apologetic.
“So… you won’t hold it against us if we don’t join the physics club, right?”
“Of course. My brother will be satisfied if you just come look.”
“Alright! It’s decided then! This is getting fun!”
While I was picking at my cherry tomatoes, the conversation progressed rapidly. Mizusaki seemed elated about the prospect of checking out club orientations with a beautiful woman. If this guy were a peacock, he’d surely be spreading his tail feathers to the fullest right now.
After finishing the negitoro onigiri, Mikage suggested as if it had just occurred to her.
“How about we check out the chemistry club first? They should be doing orientation in the chemistry room just around that corner.”
And so, after finishing lunch, we headed to the chemistry room.
“Please try not to be surprised even if my attitude changes drastically.”
Mikage gave us this cryptic warning before opening the door to the chemistry room.
The chemistry club orientation was more lively than I’d imagined. Unlike our middle school chemistry club, where a very small number including Mizusaki and me silently conducted experiments, many students were chatting in the chemistry room. As expected of Tsunagai High School.
We could also see first-years getting excited watching demonstrations of changing BTB solution colors. It’s an indicator that turns yellow in acid, blue in base, and green (in between) in neutral. However, because its color change range is wide, it’s not often used for measurements. I didn’t quite understand why they were playing with color changes.
“Oh! The newbies are here!”
An upperclassman with a solid build spotted us standing near the entrance with sharp eyes. He held out a chart with lines drawn by ruler on loose-leaf paper.
“Write your class and name here. I’ll show you around.”
After Mizusaki and I wrote our names, Mikage finally inscribed hers. Her handwriting was as elegant as her atmosphere suggested. The period she put at the end of her name was probably a habit.
After confirming the three names, the well-built upperclassman’s eyes widened.
“Mikage Aya? Mikage… that Mikage?”
He stared intently at Mikage while speaking exaggeratedly.
“Probably that Mikage, I think.”
“Well I’ll be. I thought that guy was just a siscon, but she really is cute.”
What a vulgar man.
Like Mizusaki, commenting on someone’s appearance—calling them beautiful or cute—right in front of them is unacceptable. He probably thinks he’s complimenting, but isn’t the act of verbally evaluating beauty or ugliness itself ill-mannered?
Mikage didn’t change her expression one bit at being called cute, and gave a small bow.
“If she’s Akki’s little sister, Indy would be better than me… hey!”
The one called wasn’t an archaeologist with a whip—but a female student with bright blonde hair.
Fully made up, she’s the type the word “gal” suits perfectly. The collar of her stylishly worn lab coat, left unfastened in front, has a heart sewn on as an accent. Her fingertips gleamed with gaudy, elaborate nails unsuited for a chemistry club. They’d make it hard to wear gloves.
“Wow! It’s Aya-chi! Good to see you!”
To the gal rushing over, Mikage was surprisingly unresponsive. Mizusaki reacted instead.
“Hongou-senpai!”
Apparently they were acquainted. I did feel like I’d seen her face somewhere, but couldn’t remember where we’d met.
“Oh! Mizucchi too! Welcome, welcome!”
When I asked with my eyes whether they’d met before, Mizusaki told me in a small voice.
“There was a small guidance session before the entrance ceremony, remember? After textbook sales. That’s when she taught me various things… like this school’s popular kid ratio and the cherry blossom rumors.”
What useless information to ask about.
I was near Mizusaki during the guidance too. I don’t think I directly spoke with Hongou-senpai, but perhaps I spotted her there.
Mizusaki puffed out his chest and proudly introduced me.
“Hongou-senpai, this is Delta.”
“Hm? Delta?”
“That’s right. Some people call him Izuta, but his real name is Del—”
“Izuta Shou.”
I interrupted Mizusaki to introduce myself.
“I see. Then you’re Delchi!”
Please listen to me.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
It’s not like you can just add “-chi” to any name. That would make Mohorovičić into “Mohorovičić-chi.” And most importantly, there is no “Del” sound in my name. But protesting would be pointless. I just bowed my head.
The gal in the lab coat placed her hand on her chest with a confident expression.
“I’m Hongou Nagisa. Believe it or not, I’m the chemistry club president! Thanks Saya-cchi, I’ll show them around, so please take care of those kids over there.”
Saya-something-senpai with the roster replied “Sure!” and started attending to new first-years.
Led by Hongou-senpai, we headed toward one of the long tables. On the way, Mizusaki asked.
“Senpai, are you called Indy?”
“Just within the chemistry club. An upperclassman started calling me that as a joke.”
Just as “Delchi” doesn’t suit Izuta Shou, the name Hongou Nagisa has no “Indy-ness” to it. I was wondering why she had such a nickname when Mizusaki pointed it out for me.
“But senpai, why Indy?”
“It was ‘indicator,’ which got shortened to Indy. It only makes sense in the chemistry club though.”
Senpai stopped. The top of the black ChemiSurf table was cluttered. Lab equipment like beakers and mortars, and as if someone had a cold, even mouthwash solution and vitamin C powder. And what appeared to be Hongou-senpai’s pencil case. How could I deduce it was hers? Because it was absurdly decorated with countless pin badges and a mountain of straps.
While taking our seats, Mizusaki asked me.
“What does ‘indicator’ mean?”
“Display device, isn’t it? ‘Indicate’ has the same etymology as ‘index’ of the index finger, meaning to point out. I think it refers to the part of machinery that displays numerical values by pointing to graduations.”
“I see, display device…”
But “display device” didn’t make sense. Perhaps she got that nickname because her expressions change frequently and are easy to read?
“Now then, let me show you something interesting right away for showing interest in the chemistry club.”
Hongou-senpai pulled a plastic bottle of barley tea from a bag on the floor. Smiling broadly, she placed it on the table with exaggeratedly careful movements.
“Here we have tea.”
“Is this a magic trick?”
“That’s right, Mizucchi. If you can figure out the trick, I’ll give you something nice!”
Winking and speaking seductively, Hongou-senpai gestured toward the barley tea.
“Now then, I shall make this tea disappear.”
Oh. A battle of wits, is it? Sounds quite interesting.
Mizusaki and I nodded and looked at the plastic bottle. Ordinary barley tea sold at convenience stores. Senpai picked up the plastic bottle with magician-like movements.
“Here we go… three, two, one, go!”
She suddenly shook the plastic bottle as if throwing it, then placed it down in front of us with a thud.
The contents of the plastic bottle had instantly changed to clear, colorless water.
“Ta-da! The tea has disappeared!”
After staring at the plastic bottle for a while, Mizusaki considerately clapped his hands. I followed so as not to be rude. For some reason, Mikage was attempting to open a mathematics magazine. She must have tremendous courage to do that in front of senpai, but apparently she had no interest whatsoever.
“So? Did you figure out the trick?”
As senpai asked, Mizusaki prompted me with his eyes. Leave the explanation to me, that meant.
The trick is clear. Staking the pride of a former chemistry club member, I boldly pointed it out.
“What was in that plastic bottle wasn’t barley tea to begin with.”
Hongou-senpai widened her eyes as if surprised.
“Oh, what makes you think so?”
“Senpai fairly left the materials on the table for us. What looked like barley tea was actually iodine-containing mouthwash solution thinly dissolved in water.”
I pointed to the mouthwash solution container on the table. It’s a dark brown liquid with iodine dissolved as povidone-iodine, but if you dilute this it would become the color of barley tea in a plastic bottle.
“When iodine is reduced, it becomes colorless iodide ions. As a reducing agent, powdered vitamin C must have been attached to the inside of the cap with tape or something. By shaking the plastic bottle vigorously, the vitamin C dissolved in the water, and through an oxidation-reduction reaction, the solution became colorless and transparent.”
Vitamin C powder was also sitting on the desk. If she really wanted to show it as a magic trick, she would have hidden both the mouthwash and the vitamin C. This must have been a test of our level.
Or perhaps Hongou-senpai had simply been careless.
“Whoa, amazing, absolutely correct!”
Hongou-senpai gave us a big round of applause with a beaming smile.
“How do you know so much? Did you do chemistry in middle school too?”
“Huh? Didn’t I mention it? Both Delta and I were in the chemistry club in middle school.”
“Oh really! I see now. No wonder you’re so knowledgeable.”
Laughing “ahaha,” senpai poured the mixed solution of mouthwash and vitamin C down the sink.
“By the way, senpai, what’s this ‘nice thing’ you’re going to give us?”
Mizusaki turned a vulgar, expectant gaze toward her. Senpai stuck out the tip of her tongue with a “tehe.”
“I honestly didn’t think you’d actually get it right, so I didn’t decide on anything!”
Apparently we’d been underestimated.
It seemed leaving the hints on the desk was simply carelessness after all.
“Ah, I know! I’ll give you that. Come here for a sec.”
Hongou-senpai stood up and started walking toward the back of the classroom. We followed, but Mikage remained focused on the magazine spread out on her desk and showed no sign of moving. Maybe she and senpai were close enough that she didn’t need to be considerate, but even so, it seemed excessively indifferent.
I recalled what we’d been told before entering the chemistry room. “Her attitude changes drastically”—was this what she meant? As advised beforehand, I decided not to worry about it too much.
Senpai opened a small refrigerator and took out something packed in a silver pouch. What came out was a small plastic spray bottle. It contained a transparent liquid with a faint yellow tint.
“This is a luminol reaction reagent! It glows when there’s blood or something. You know it?”
We nodded. We’d even experimented with it before.
“I mixed this up today for the new student welcome, but when I thought about it, you can’t really use it unless you dim the lights, but if we dim the lights we can’t do the welcome event, and I made way too much to use it all… It should last about a week in the fridge, so here!”
I would have been grateful to receive anything, but I had a slight concern.
“We’re planning to check out other clubs too. We’ll be getting home late, and it might go bad in the meantime.”
“Ah, I see, you’re right! Sorry! You know, it’s kinda like that feeling when there’s delicious snacks that need refrigeration and you have to give up on giving them to your boyfriend?”
“Oh, senpai, you have a boyfriend?”
Mizusaki instantly latched onto the unnecessary detail.
“I do! He’s super handsome and we’re so in love!”
“I see, that’s unfortunate…”
Give up on this gal. She’s absolutely not right for you.
“Could it be Mizu-cchi was aiming for me?”
“Aha, you caught me?”
“Sorry, but give up on me. I love my boyfriend. We’re doing cross-coupling like crazy.”
“You’re bonding!?”
“We even make double bonds.”
“Even π bonds!?”
Hey you two over there, stop gleefully trampling over chemistry terminology.
Suddenly I felt something like a chill or killing intent on my back. When I turned around, I noticed Mikage, who should have been absorbed in her math magazine, was looking this way. But her face maintained its usual expressionless look. When our eyes met, she smiled ever so slightly. The killing intent must have been my imagination.
Returning to the desk, senpai handed us some booklets. They were simple things—B4 paper printed and bound in half-fold. The covers read things like “The Evolution of Polymers—Ebiwaka Resin Factory Tour” and “The Miracle of Calcium Carbonate—Fuji Cave Tour.” The covers were full color. Whether ordered from a professional or not, they had a fairly polished design.
“This isn’t much of a substitute, but I’ll give you these! Our chemistry club goes on quite a few field trips, and we write reports each time. What I’m giving you now are the especially well-done ones I carefully selected, and I designed the covers myself—they’re my favorites!”
As expected of Tsunagai High School, even this gal wasn’t ordinary. At least in terms of design sense.
I bowed my head and accepted them.
“Thank you very much. Would it be alright to read them here for a bit?”
“Of course! Take your time!”
Mizusaki and I sat down and flipped through the booklets. The factory tour report I opened was from last year, written by a second-year student named Sayama. She should be a third-year now. Which means she might be the “Saya-cchi” who greeted us at the entrance.
As I read on, my spirits sank.
The content was bland, and somehow the Japanese was off in places. The crucial section about chemical reactions that I was most interested in—whether copied directly from materials they’d received—had reaction equations whose numbering started partway through, making it hard to follow.
Tsunagai High School is supposed to put special emphasis on science education. Even if the student level varies, it’s the top prep school in the prefecture. And this is one of the “especially well-done” reports from their chemistry club?
Mizusaki was reading the stalactite cave tour report with a difficult expression. When I looked at Hongou-senpai, thinking I’d ask to borrow others if there were any, she was peering at what Mikage was doing.
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