“Akabana-san, do you know how many training halls there are in total? Touji and I don’t know anything about that stuff…”
“…”
“Um, Akabana-san…?”
“…You’re noisy.”
Sensei, I wanna die… Well, that’s half a joke, but it’s been like this ever since we left the classroom. Since we’ve been placed in the same group, I definitely want to deepen my friendship with Akabana, and I’ve tried talking to her many times, but all I get back are cold words.
“Hey! Uh… Akabane, your way of talking to Yukiharu has been too harsh. He’s just talking normally.”
“Ah, it’s fine, Touji. Don’t get angry. Also, it’s not Akabane, it’s—”
“Are you listening, Akabane?”
“It’s fine, Touji. Also, the name has been—”
“Don’t ignore me, Akabane!”
“Touji, that’s going too f—”
“It’s Akabana!!”
At the sudden loud voice, both Touji and I simultaneously jerk our shoulders and widen our eyes. Meanwhile, the speaker makes an expression like she messed up and quickly increases the distance between us with quick steps.
“…That one was Touji’s fault.”
“…Sorry.”
And so our Group D continued heading toward our destination in the worst atmosphere.
After walking for a while, the three of us arrive at the Thirteenth Training Hall. From the outside, the building looks like an ordinary gymnasium, and near the entrance stands what appears to be a female upperclassman.
“Hey there, new students! I’ve been waiting! You’re the first group, right? I’m Karasawa Honomi, a second-year! Nice to meet you!”
That female student with a friendly smile welcomes the three of us with a welcoming mood.
“Ah, um, I’m Watagaya Yukiharu.”
“I’m Watagaya Touji. Pleased to meet you.”
“Oh, you two have the same surname. Then I’ll call you by your first names. Feel free to call me whatever you like too.”
While Touji and I exchange greetings with Karasawa-senpai, as for Akabana—
“…”
She maintains this attitude even toward an upperclassman. This is problem child level now.
“Akabana-san, greet—”
“It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t worry. You’re Akabana Akane-san, right? You’ve been famous since middle school, and you’re the young lady of that Akabana family. I know all about you.”
Huh. I kind of sensed it from the classmates’ reactions, but she’s that famous. I think it’s amazing to be known even by other grades, and as I direct my gaze toward the person in question, there’s Akabana displaying a somewhat dark expression.
“…?”
“Well, let’s leave greetings at that and start the recreation right away!”
In the end, I don’t understand why Akabana showed such a dark expression in response to Karasawa-senpai’s seemingly praising statement, and the three of us step into the training hall.
It’s not recreation starting immediately—the first place we’re guided to is the changing room. Since the recreation involves vigorous movement, we’re told to first change into the academy-designated gym clothes. By the way, Touji went to the bathroom, so I’m currently alone in the boys’ changing room.
Therefore, while changing, I think about Akabana-san’s attitude from earlier.
“I guess that’s it. The phrase ‘young lady of the Akabana family’ must have struck a nerve.”
She was late again this morning due to family circumstances or whatever, and family-related troubles are a classic source of conflict in stories.
Well, that’s only in stories, though. Anyway, I should probably avoid touching on family-related topics.
“Still, Touji sure is taking his time…”
I finish changing into my gym clothes and putting on my jersey before Touji returns from the bathroom. Just as I’m thinking about going to look for him, someone opens the changing room door. It’s definitely Touji.
“You’re late, Touji. Don’t tell me you got lost—”
I look at Touji’s face as he enters the changing room and my words catch in my throat. That’s because there’s a very impressive handprint mark on his left cheek.
“…What happened to that?”
“Well, this is…”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
Touji shows an extremely awkward expression. Just from that, I can already imagine what happened.
“Let me guess—you accidentally entered the girls’ changing room and saw Akabana-san in her underwear?”
“…………”
At my words, Touji nods. This rom-com protagonist, I swear…
“Well then, without further ado, I’m going to have you guys take down that robot!”
After we finish changing and are guided inside the training facility, Karasawa-senpai suddenly announces this to the three of us.
The training facility looks like a slightly larger gymnasium, with nothing particularly unusual about it. However, that’s only the facility itself. Right in the center of this ordinary training ground stands a clearly异质 humanoid robot.
“There are no detailed rules! Use your supernatural powers or whatever you want to completely destroy that humanoid robot—Sugitani-kun Mark 2—and you’ll clear this assignment!”
Wow, that’s suddenly violent.
“Destroy it… is that really okay?”
“Yup, totally fine! I swiped that from the Robotics Research Club. If it breaks, nobody loses anything.”
The Robotics Research Club…
“…Well, that’s IF you can destroy it. Alright, do your best. I’ll be watching from the second floor. You can start whenever you like~”
After saying that, senpai moves to the second floor of the training facility as promised. Left behind are the three of us and Sugitani-kun Mark 2, who’s shouting “LET’S DO THIS, YOU BASTARDS!” Were you told to bat left-handed or something?
Now then, what should we do… Even if she says we can start whenever, Touji and I haven’t even properly understood what our supernatural powers are yet. For now, let’s discuss how to proceed with all three of us, including Akabana-san.
With that thought, I turn toward Akabana-san, only to find she’s already charging at Sugitani-kun Mark 2. A textbook example of acting alone. If this were that certain ninja manga’s bell-stealing test, she’d instantly get the lowest rating.
Can’t be helped. In that case, I should at least have a proper discussion with Touji—
“Yukiharu! Let’s do this!”
“Huh?”
I thought Touji would be just as confused as me, but he’s unexpectedly showing a combative attitude, leaving me bewildered.
“You say ‘let’s do this,’ but we haven’t even been taught how to use our supernatural powers yet…”
To my perfectly reasonable statement, it’s now Touji’s turn to be confused.
“Huh? But we were taught the basics of ability usage before enrollment, right?”
“Huh?”
Now it’s my turn to be confused again. How many times are we going to repeat this exchange?
“I was taught how to use supernatural powers before enrollment by our homeroom teacher Tachibana-sa… I mean, Tachibana-sensei. Didn’t you learn, Yukiharu?”
I did not learn. In fact, I was clearly told “it’s fine to wait until after enrollment.” Touji-san, don’t tell me—are you getting special treatment from the academy?
“Then could you give instructions from here, Yukiharu? Let me know if you notice anything from watching from outside.”
“…Yeah, got it.”
Honestly, I wanted to participate directly too, but it was obvious I’d be told “stay out of this, you useless nobody who can’t even use supernatural powers!”—so I obediently follow Touji’s suggestion.
And so, for a while, I watch the movements of Sugitani-kun Mark 2, Akabana, and Touji from a distance, and it truly makes me glad I didn’t participate.
First of all, their movements are insanely fast. Not so fast that I can’t see them like in Dragon Ball’s high-speed combat scenes, but definitely not speeds that ordinary humans can achieve. While I can understand Sugitani-kun Mark 2 being a robot and Akabana being able to move like that, the fact that Touji can casually keep up with those movements makes me jealous as someone in the same position. However, thinking that I might be able to move like that once I master my ability gets me excited again.
By the way, Akabana is indeed a fire user, as expected. Every time Akabana uses her ability, the floor and walls get scorched—is that really okay?
As for Touji’s fighting style, it’s not flashy like producing flames, but rather appears to be simple physical enhancement. Of course, that’s still plenty impressive.
However, these two’s attacks haven’t managed to destroy Sugitani-kun Mark 2—in fact, they haven’t even landed a single hit yet. The reason is simple and clear: rather than cooperating to destroy Sugitani-kun Mark 2, they’re dragging each other down.
“Akabana! Stop trying to do everything yourself! Match your movements with mine too!”
“Shut up! I’m perfectly fine alone! If you’re going to get in my way, stay back!”
The two shout at each other while attacking Sugitani-kun Mark 2. Just as they say, from an outsider’s perspective, it’s clear that their movements are interfering with each other.
“STOP! DON’T FIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!”
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