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The Second Question
Please read the following paragraph and answer the questions:
( 1 ) is one of the aspects of ( 2 ), commonly used as an indicator of ( 3 ).
Q1: Please write down the term that describes the term ‘Gross Domestic Product’. Q2: Please write down the term that describes ‘the output of all goods and services produced in a country’ Q3: Please write down the term that fits the context.
Himeji Mizuki’s answer.
( GDP ) is one of the aspects of ( National Income ), commonly used as an indicator of ( Economic Growth ).
Teacher’s Comment:
Correct answer. As GDP is commonly confused with GNP (Gross National Product, the total produce of the citizens of a country), it is important to memorize the definitions. Also, GNP is commonly replaced with GNI (Gross National Income), so it is better to memorize them together.
Yos.h.i.+ Akihisa’s answer:
( HP & MP ) is one of the aspects of ( Player status ), commonly used as an indicator of ( level ).
Teacher’s Comment:
It is because of you that sensei here seems to hate RPGs recently.
Due to all sorts of reasons, we were forced to end our intense clash with A cla.s.s. C cla.s.sroom is still ours before we start our war with A cla.s.s. Right now, we’re waiting for Yuuji, who’s in the strategy meeting. “But that was really crazy yesterday.” “…Never thought that the third years would appear.” “It really was a crazy day for me yesterday too…I never thought that my diary was in someone else’s hands…” “Hm? What diary?” “Ah, no, it’s nothing! Anyway, I really don’t know how this level summoning war will happen!” “…Things got really complicated.” “Yeah, since this has already become a school event itself…” The Taihō Code[1] divides the people into two different cla.s.ses. What are they? The answer’s…good civilians and bad civilians…right? Right right.[2] “Well…I feel that it’ll be good if the current situation continues on like this.” “…I agree.” “Yeah. Me too.” “Same goes for me.” Under the code, what’s the ‘guard’? Please answer. The answer’s…a soldier protecting the gates of a palace. I know this. “““…””” The system to grant people land and collect tax from them is— “Hey, Aki.” The Group field collection system. [3] “Aki! (Pak)” “Woah!?” I’ve been focusing so much on the reference book. The sudden attack really shocked me, and I feel darkness in front of my eyes out of a sudden that I can’t pull myself from. “Good grief, isn’t that too violent? My head went backwards at that moment.” “What do you mean? It’s Aki’s fault for ignoring me here.” “No no no, I’d say that your wrestling shouldn’t appear in an amicable conversation, you two.” It seems that when the joints are trained, the angle they can turn towards will grow larger. This is some trivia. “Then, what now?” “What do you mean by ‘what now’…I’m just wondering if you have a fever because you started studying hard out of a sudden.” “If you’re worried that I have a fever, you don’t have to turn my head 180 backwards…” What kind of structure do you think my body has here? “But Akihisa, I know that you’re very concerned about this war, but you don’t have to be that serious, right?” “Yeah, Aki. The opposite effect might happen if you strain yourself too much.” “…You need to relax.” Minami and the others say. It’s true that I’ll be lying if I say that I’m not forcing myself…but, “After being told off by that guy like that, I really want to buck up and study hard.” It’s already too late, but I want to try my best here. “How much meaningless time did you spend after that?”
Takas.h.i.+ro-sempai’s words appear in my mind. “And it’s just like what sempai said.” At that time, I did not react at all because I admitted to sempai’s words.” “But it’s true that studying’s important.” “Even so, I think that you didn’t waste that time at all, Aki.” “…Everyone’s values are different.” “I feel this way too.” Everyone too disapproved of Takas.h.i.+ro-sempai’s views. “Never mind. Don’t worry too much about me. I just want to do what I can right now.” “But if you fall ill when it’s time for you to step up, won’t you be reversing your priorities?” “…(Nods).” “And you don’t have to be so serious about this, right?” “Hm, that third year valedictorian Takas.h.i.+ro is someone who’s easily tricked. Since his grades aren’t as amazing as Kiris.h.i.+ma, there shouldn’t be any problems.” “…If we’re comparing the abilities of the valedictorians, we have the advantage.” It’s like what everyone said. Takas.h.i.+ro-sempai’s grades are good, but his scores aren’t really outstanding. Also, he’s easily fooled, and maybe he’s not someone we have to worry against. But, “I’ve…had enough of that guy.” “I suppose that is the case.” “…If you’re not angry after what you did, you’re basically a person from another world here.” “DON’T REMIND ME OF THAT ALREADY!” Even if we ignore that, I want to say that there’s something wrong with it somewhere! “You don’t have to worry too much about that, Aki.” “That’s true, but…” “It’s fine. It’s not like it’s your first kiss—” As she said this, Minami suddenly seems to recall something as she starts to stammer. “—Any…way…” Minami blushes as she lowers her head. That wasn’t the first kiss; well, this first kiss will refer to, the one Minami and I had— “…” “…” “Really, you said it yourself, so what’s so embarra.s.sing about that?” Once I recall what happened back then, even I can’t lift my head. Uu, ugh, it’s really embarra.s.sing! “…Even…I too…” “Hm? What did you say, Himeji?” “It-it’s nothing. I didn’t say anything!” Anyway, let’s change the topic…! Erm…! “Speaking of which, where did Yuuji go to?” “It seems that he’s having a strategy meeting for the summoning war against the third years.” “Right right! The representative of each cla.s.s are discussing about that now.” “Heh? It’ll be great if they can come up with a good plan!” “Yes! That’s right!” “…The change in topic is too obvious here.” “Muttsurini, playing along with them is a show of our kindness as friends, you know?” ““Ahahaha!”” Minami and I laugh as we cover up the voices of Hideyos.h.i.+ and the rest. What’s there to worry about? There’s no problems if the meeting has Yuuji and Kiris.h.i.+ma-san! “To be honest, I do have interest in Sakamoto-kun.” “Ho-how’s that possible. Yuuka…!” “Oi oi, Sakamoto, when did you and Koyama…?” “Unforgivable…! I can’t even confess to Kubo-kun properly, and now someone’s concerned about his own love…!” “…”
(…What with, this situation here…) To be honest, with the cla.s.s representatives of A to E here, I’m really confused here. (Right, got to calm down and a.n.a.lyse the situation properly.) I take a deep breath, and recall what happened up till now. It was just 5 minutes ago when we used a corner of A cla.s.sroom for our strategic meeting. B cla.s.s rep Nemoto proposed ‘Let’s choose a main strategist amongst us’, and up till this point, there hasn’t been any disagreements. Unlike a usual war between cla.s.ses, this is a war between the school years. It’s already troublesome for us to manage everyone’s scores; Shouko’s not good at speaking, and she’s shy. Will her burden lessen if she’s to just set up and explain the strategy? I think it’s good that she does that. That’s still good, but the question after that was ‘who’ll take that role’. “And so, I propose that Sakamoto-kun be the main strategist." And Koyama overturns my ideas with just that line. …Right. For some reason, Koyama recommended me. “What do you intend to do, Koyama?” “Oh my, that’s surprising. Is it strange that I recommend you?” To be honest, it’s really strange. After all that had happened up till now, the relations.h.i.+p between our F cla.s.s and her C cla.s.s is practically at the brink of collapse. So why did she choose me? “Didn’t I say it before? ‘I like smart people’.” And then, this line came up. To be honest, I really don’t understand at all. “You managed to overturn the tide of the war against us even in that situation. I don’t think it’s strange for me to change my view of you, right, Sakamoto-kun?” “Yu-Yuuka! What are you saying!?” “You’re noisy, Nemoto-kun. I don’t have any relations.h.i.+p with you here, right?” “Bu-but, using such personal reason to decide such an important position is really…” “Even without that reason, I do feel that Sakamoto-kun has quite a lot of accomplishments. And Nemoto-kun,” “Wh-what is it?” “Don’t call me on a first-name basis like this, okay?” Koyama immediately dumped Nemoto just like that. “Wha…!? Wh-why, why on earth…!?” Nemoto was all shaken up. “…Be quiet, everyone.” Even so, it’s not like I don’t understand. Koyama is Nemoto’s ex-girlfriend. “…In this situation, we have to calm down with Lamaze breathing techniques[4].” But why are you panicking too, Shouko? “Calm down, Shouko. If anyone sees a High School student do a Lamaze breathing here, it may become a huge problem.” Shouko seems somewhat normal, no different from usual, but her fingers are trembling, and her eyes are moving around. I can see her faltering through such minor details. “Really, what are you panicking for?” “…Because this is the first time someone of the other gender likes you, Yuuji.” It’s true that this is the first time in my life. “…I thought that you definitely would never have anyone falling for you, ever.” But aren’t you being too overboard here? Just when I’m thinking of how to comment on this, Koyama asks me, “How about it, Sakamoto-kun? Do you want to go out with me?” Hm. That’s impossible. Why? It’s simple? If I think about it, Koyama’s saying such things in front of her ex, Nemoto. This means that she’s just doing this to spite him. I’m going to go out with someone else because of this reason? Definitely no way. Maybe Koyama is sincere here, but she’s someone who latched onto another guy in front of a guy she once dated. Who wants this kind of woman? In other words, I can only reject her here. So, I’ve already made this conclusion, but even though I got it… “Uum” “What’s with you, Sakamoto-kun? You look really bothered here.” I’m really hesitating on whether I should reject her here. I don’t care about her pride, since she just tossed away Nemoto viciously. There’s no way I’ll show her mercy. But what I’m concerned with is that…with the upcoming summoning war against the 3rd years looming, Koyama may harbour intense hatred if I reject her here. Having enemies now will be really stupid. And also, if I pretend to play along with her, I don’t know what kind of reaction Nemoto will have. Also, there’s the possibility that those guys from F cla.s.s will want my life…I don’t know whether I can see the sun two days later, let alone the summoning war next week. There’s no need to use my brain to see these developments coming. Right now, I’m in a dilemma, but there’s no time for me to hesitate. If I can’t settle this decisively, the neutral Hiraga and Nakabayas.h.i.+ may become my enemies. (Seriously. Is there a line that I can use to reject her without bringing a grudge on me…) I really don’t want to admit this, but this is truly the result of my inexperience with the opposite gender. d.a.m.n it, what should I do…! As I’m hesitating, Shouko, who had been coy up till now, speaks up. Right, didn’t she have a lot of confessions up till now? She’ll definitely handle this situation properly— “…No way, Yuuji’s my item.” This is what it means by adding fuel to the fire. ““…”” This line cause Hiraga and Nakabayas.h.i.+, who had been looking on, to give me antagonistic intent. Why are you pressuring me like this now!? Don’t you want to win this summoning war!? “My item? What do you mean? You’re not dating with Sakamoto-kun, are you, Kiris.h.i.+ma-san?’ “Alright! This topic ends here! Let’s continue with our strategic meeting!” “…No, we’re going steady here.” “THAT’S WHY I SAY THAT WE’RE TO CONTINUE DISCUSSIONS ON THE STRATEGY NOW, d.a.m.n IT!” We’re breaking up this disjointed year even further now. Are you happy with this now!? Or do you want the 5 cla.s.ses to work together against mine here!? “When did you start dating?” “…It was promised when I won the summoning war before this.” “Speaking of which, I heard of similar rumors.” That was the promise to the bet I easily agreed to in the previous summoning war. It may be just rumors to others here, but I really want to forget about this. “…So I won’t allow such a thing when he’s dating me.” “But that sort of thing is simply a formality, isn’t it? Don’t you find it strange to restrain others with that kind of thing?” “…But a promise is a promise.” “Hmm…hey, Sakamoto-kun, I won’t restrain my partner here, you know? We have to respect each other’s choices, so that means I won’t intrude on your personal s.p.a.ce. Don’t you find this kind of interaction good?” No matter whether it’s good or bad, I only had one answer right from the beginning. But I can’t have more enemies until the summoning war ends. In that case…I can only answer this now? “Koyama, is it okay if I give you my answer after the summoning war?” Anyway, let’s try to delay this for now. I really hate such an answer, but I can only do this in this situation. Seriously, spare me here. “…? …After the summoning war?” Koyama and even Shouko are showing a surprised look. I suppose the latter is too tense that she doesn’t realize that I’m trying to appease everyone here. “I see…after the summoning war, is it?” On the other hand, Koyama seems to understand something as she answers my request meaningfully, and glances at Shouko. “…” Shouko receives Koyama’s stare, and ponders for a slight moment. “…!” It seems that she notices this too as she closes her mouth. She probably realized that her unnecessary words are disrupting the harmony—I hope. “Then, I can attract your attention if I work hard in the summoning war, right, Sakamoto-kun? I’ll do my best for the sake of getting a confession from you.” Not good. These guys don’t understand at all. “Yu-Yuuka—no, Koyama-san! I’ll do my best too, so watch me!” But well, it seems that Nemoto can perform well in this situation, so the outcome isn’t too bad. Good grief…now we can finally start with the strategic meeting. “Then, regarding the strategist we talked about in the beginning, I’ll do it—” “No, leave it to me. I’ll be fine.” “No, it’s better for me to do so when I’m B cla.s.s’ rep, right?” Koyama and Nemoto raise their hands, ostensibly jostling for the positions. You guys are really annoying here…! “You two should calm down here. This is a summoning war; don’t involve your personal thoughts in this.” “Yeah, Nemoto-kun, can you please give up quietly?” “No way! If this really is the case, you’re doing things out of your own selfishness here, Sakamoto! I should be the one handling things because of the cla.s.s ranking!” All the various suggestions are preventing us from having a proper meeting here. “I really, absolutely object to having Sakamoto as strategist!” Nemoto loudly declares. It’s really troublesome, but if I leave it like this, it’ll be tougher for me to follow up in the future. Looks like I really have to talk with him here. “Can you hear me out regarding the reasons, Nemoto?” “If you’re going to command everyone here, you need to have everyone believe in that strategy! You already betrayed our trust completely here!” “Huh? I feel that Sakamoto-kun had quite a lot of accomplishments here, you know?’ “I’m not talking about this, I’m simply talking about personal trustworthiness here! You may have forgotten about it, but Sakamoto was the main culprit behind the peeping incident back then! Hasn’t this guy lost the trust of the girls; that’s half the second year’s cohort!” If we’re talking about personal trustworthiness , there’s no way Nemoto can be the strategist no matter what he says. He probably knows that he’s not to be trusted at all…but I guess that being dumped by Koyama caused him so great a shock that he can’t seem to calm down and think properly. But if I involve this topic now, it’ll be troublesome to me too. “If we’re talking about trust, I still have a few issues with F cla.s.s too.” Nakabayas.h.i.+ joins in the conversation, ostensibly saying that even if she has nothing to complain about the strategy, she can’t let her guard down. “Nakabayas.h.i.+, the lack of developments between you and Kubo is because of Kubo’s personal issues, you know?” “THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A LACK OF DEVELOPMENTS WITH KUBO-KUN!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!? I SUMMONED MY COURAGE TO CONFESS TO HIM, AND YET HE USED THE Pa.s.sION OF A GAY IDIOT AND SOME RIDICULOUS GAY IDIOT KID TO REJECT ME!! HOW CAN YOU UNDERSTAND MY AGONY AND ANGER HERE!!!???” Wait, how in the world did Kubo reject her? “““…””” Everyone’s stare is focused on the infuriated Nakabayas.h.i.+. Once she notices that everyone’s staring at her, she seems to be very fl.u.s.tered by this, and clears her throat, “An-anyway, if we’re talking about trustworthiness, I personally can’t support Yos.h.i.+ Aki—F cla.s.s!” After saying this, she sits on the chair with a thump. Speaking of which, she was just about to say Akihisa, right? That d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s getting in my way even in such a manner. “But if Sakamoto’s a no go here, what do we do? I just said that I’m not good at coming up with strategies here.” “Then…well, even though I voiced my disapproval, even I too…” Hiraga and Nakabayas.h.i.+ don’t seem confident as they say this. “Then, it’s back to cla.s.s ranking again, so that’ll be me since I’m in B cla.s.s.” “““No way.””” Naturally, Nemoto, who volunteered for this, was immediately rejected. But in this case, Koyama will be the strategist for this war, and I have a bad feeling about this. Got to prevent this development. “…In this case.” And then, Shouko, who had been silent up till now, speaks up. “…In this case, I’ll collect everyone’s view and summarize everything.” She suggested. “You’ll summarize?” “…And then, we’ll make up a strategy all members can accept.” It’s true that if Shouko’s going to collect the suggestions, there won’t be any objections, and there’s a binding force of unity here. The angles we can see will be wider since there are opinions from more people. “But Kiris.h.i.+ma-san, won’t it be adding onto your burden? This will be a reverse of priorities here.” “…It’s fine.” Shouko firmly answers in response to Hiraga’s question. Since she says so, I’ll just end up b.u.t.ting heads with Nemoto if I say anything more. “A strategy everyone can accept. In other words, if I strongly disagree with a certain person’s strategy, it won’t be used, will it…?” Nemoto shows a devious smile. He probably thought through the meaning behind Shouko’s proposal here. —Right, Shouko wants to make sure that everyone can accept this, and this will mean a majority vote. As the minority, our F cla.s.s has enemies everywhere, and it’s basically impossible for my view to be accepted. In this case, if anything happens, our F cla.s.s won’t be able to do anything at all. It’s like— “…Please leave it to me.” —It’s like saying that she doesn’t need my strength here, and they’re cutting me off from here…this really isn’t funny to me. “Um, yeah! It’s best to leave it to Kiris.h.i.+ma-san!” “Right, n.o.body will object here.” “If Kiris.h.i.+ma-san has no issues with this, I’ll agree as well.” Nemoto and the rest raise their approvals. To be honest, even if I don’t involve my selfish intents here, I really don’t agree with this proposal. Accepting everyone’s view will allow us to see issues from all angles, but it’s very time-consuming, and it’ll be tough for the person summarizing everything. Also, Shouko’s not good at doing this at all. I really don’t think this is a good idea. “…I’ll do my best.” But even with so much burden, Shouko herself is very enthusiastic. If I voice my opposition here, the unity Shouko worked so hard to exchange for will be for naught—and that’s a stupid thing to do. “…” It seems that Shouko’s waiting for my answer as she continues to stare at me. “…I understand. I agree with this too.” Upon hearing my answer, Nemoto shows a disgustingly sinister smile. “Sakamoto, since everyone decided on this, you better not talk about dating or anything.” So this means you don’t want me to say anything weird to Koyama, right? It just so happens that I don’t want to get involved in such things either. “Of course, I don’t want to do any unnecessary things that will get me suspected for no good reason.” “Humph, but I’m rather suspicious about whether you’re hurt or not by this.” Nemoto’s little nagging line ends all discussions about the hierarchy. And then, everyone raises their suggestions, Shouko collates them, plans the strategy, and the meeting ended like this. “Ah, Sakamoto, you’re back.” On hearing Minami’s voice, I lift my head and look at Yuuji, who entered the cla.s.sroom. “…How is it?’ Muttsurini asks Yuuji as the latter approaches us. Of course, the ‘it’ here will refer to the strategy meeting. “…Ah, at least we had a basic idea of what to do.” Yuuji answers Muttsurini’s question with a very cold tone. “Sakamoto, what happened? You have a rough idea of what to do, but why do you not look happy at all?” “Did something happen?” “Lots of it.” Yuuji really looks very frustrated here. “It looks like you got some really troublesome thing to handle here, right?” “What nonsense. I won’t get hotheaded just because of that.” You definitely will. “Hm…then, why are you so unhappy?” “…Your suggestion wasn’t accepted or anything?” “Hm…yeah, it’s not too far from what you said, Muttsurini.” Yuuji probably calmed down a little. He looks really annoyed here, but at least he’s answering in his usual manner. “What? What’s going on?” “I sacrificed my right to speak up so that all the cla.s.ses can get along.” “???” I really don’t understand. “Forget about it. Let’s not mind about such small things. I can handle it on my own.” “Hm—if you say so, Yuuji, I think it’s fine either way.” This guy has his own thoughts, and if he’s not willing to talk about them, I can’t just force him to say them out. “Then, can you tell us what the strategy involves?’ Hideyos.h.i.+ seems to be thinking the same thing as me as he starts to talk about the strategy again. “Hm, as long as she can summarize everything properly, I think there shouldn’t be a problem…” “The way you’re saying this feels ambiguous to me.” “It’s a strategy formed by the combined suggestions of everyone, so I can’t say anything now.” Hm…it’s a little worrying to me that Yuuji, who normally (even if he’s wrong) concludes so decisively, used such terms. “Don’t show such worried looks. Since we need to spend manpower and time, we definitely mustn’t come up with some weird strategy. In fact, there will be less blind spots compared to a strategy I come up with.” It’s true that since we have Kiris.h.i.+ma-san, there shouldn’t be a problem. “That’s how it is. Instead of worrying about such things, you better focus on what you can do.” Yuuji says as he looks at the reference book I’m holding. “Got it. Let’s do this.” There’s still a week till the level summoning war. I don’t know how much I can improve in this time, but I better study hard.
Due to all sorts of reasons, we were forced to end our intense clash with A cla.s.s. C cla.s.sroom is still ours before we start our war with A cla.s.s. Right now, we’re waiting for Yuuji, who’s in the strategy meeting. “But that was really crazy yesterday.” “…Never thought that the third years would appear.” “It really was a crazy day for me yesterday too…I never thought that my diary was in someone else’s hands…” “Hm? What diary?” “Ah, no, it’s nothing! Anyway, I really don’t know how this level summoning war will happen!” “…Things got really complicated.” “Yeah, since this has already become a school event itself…” The Taihō Code[1] divides the people into two different cla.s.ses. What are they? The answer’s…good civilians and bad civilians…right? Right right.[2] “Well…I feel that it’ll be good if the current situation continues on like this.” “…I agree.” “Yeah. Me too.” “Same goes for me.” Under the code, what’s the ‘guard’? Please answer. The answer’s…a soldier protecting the gates of a palace. I know this. “““…””” The system to grant people land and collect tax from them is— “Hey, Aki.” The Group field collection system. [3] “Aki! (Pak)” “Woah!?” I’ve been focusing so much on the reference book. The sudden attack really shocked me, and I feel darkness in front of my eyes out of a sudden that I can’t pull myself from. “Good grief, isn’t that too violent? My head went backwards at that moment.” “What do you mean? It’s Aki’s fault for ignoring me here.” “No no no, I’d say that your wrestling shouldn’t appear in an amicable conversation, you two.” It seems that when the joints are trained, the angle they can turn towards will grow larger. This is some trivia. “Then, what now?” “What do you mean by ‘what now’…I’m just wondering if you have a fever because you started studying hard out of a sudden.” “If you’re worried that I have a fever, you don’t have to turn my head 180 backwards…” What kind of structure do you think my body has here? “But Akihisa, I know that you’re very concerned about this war, but you don’t have to be that serious, right?” “Yeah, Aki. The opposite effect might happen if you strain yourself too much.” “…You need to relax.” Minami and the others say. It’s true that I’ll be lying if I say that I’m not forcing myself…but, “After being told off by that guy like that, I really want to buck up and study hard.” It’s already too late, but I want to try my best here. “How much meaningless time did you spend after that?”
Takas.h.i.+ro-sempai’s words appear in my mind. “And it’s just like what sempai said.” At that time, I did not react at all because I admitted to sempai’s words.” “But it’s true that studying’s important.” “Even so, I think that you didn’t waste that time at all, Aki.” “…Everyone’s values are different.” “I feel this way too.” Everyone too disapproved of Takas.h.i.+ro-sempai’s views. “Never mind. Don’t worry too much about me. I just want to do what I can right now.” “But if you fall ill when it’s time for you to step up, won’t you be reversing your priorities?” “…(Nods).” “And you don’t have to be so serious about this, right?” “Hm, that third year valedictorian Takas.h.i.+ro is someone who’s easily tricked. Since his grades aren’t as amazing as Kiris.h.i.+ma, there shouldn’t be any problems.” “…If we’re comparing the abilities of the valedictorians, we have the advantage.” It’s like what everyone said. Takas.h.i.+ro-sempai’s grades are good, but his scores aren’t really outstanding. Also, he’s easily fooled, and maybe he’s not someone we have to worry against. But, “I’ve…had enough of that guy.” “I suppose that is the case.” “…If you’re not angry after what you did, you’re basically a person from another world here.” “DON’T REMIND ME OF THAT ALREADY!” Even if we ignore that, I want to say that there’s something wrong with it somewhere! “You don’t have to worry too much about that, Aki.” “That’s true, but…” “It’s fine. It’s not like it’s your first kiss—” As she said this, Minami suddenly seems to recall something as she starts to stammer. “—Any…way…” Minami blushes as she lowers her head. That wasn’t the first kiss; well, this first kiss will refer to, the one Minami and I had— “…” “…” “Really, you said it yourself, so what’s so embarra.s.sing about that?” Once I recall what happened back then, even I can’t lift my head. Uu, ugh, it’s really embarra.s.sing! “…Even…I too…” “Hm? What did you say, Himeji?” “It-it’s nothing. I didn’t say anything!” Anyway, let’s change the topic…! Erm…! “Speaking of which, where did Yuuji go to?” “It seems that he’s having a strategy meeting for the summoning war against the third years.” “Right right! The representative of each cla.s.s are discussing about that now.” “Heh? It’ll be great if they can come up with a good plan!” “Yes! That’s right!” “…The change in topic is too obvious here.” “Muttsurini, playing along with them is a show of our kindness as friends, you know?” ““Ahahaha!”” Minami and I laugh as we cover up the voices of Hideyos.h.i.+ and the rest. What’s there to worry about? There’s no problems if the meeting has Yuuji and Kiris.h.i.+ma-san! “To be honest, I do have interest in Sakamoto-kun.” “Ho-how’s that possible. Yuuka…!” “Oi oi, Sakamoto, when did you and Koyama…?” “Unforgivable…! I can’t even confess to Kubo-kun properly, and now someone’s concerned about his own love…!” “…”
(…What with, this situation here…) To be honest, with the cla.s.s representatives of A to E here, I’m really confused here. (Right, got to calm down and a.n.a.lyse the situation properly.) I take a deep breath, and recall what happened up till now. It was just 5 minutes ago when we used a corner of A cla.s.sroom for our strategic meeting. B cla.s.s rep Nemoto proposed ‘Let’s choose a main strategist amongst us’, and up till this point, there hasn’t been any disagreements. Unlike a usual war between cla.s.ses, this is a war between the school years. It’s already troublesome for us to manage everyone’s scores; Shouko’s not good at speaking, and she’s shy. Will her burden lessen if she’s to just set up and explain the strategy? I think it’s good that she does that. That’s still good, but the question after that was ‘who’ll take that role’. “And so, I propose that Sakamoto-kun be the main strategist." And Koyama overturns my ideas with just that line. …Right. For some reason, Koyama recommended me. “What do you intend to do, Koyama?” “Oh my, that’s surprising. Is it strange that I recommend you?” To be honest, it’s really strange. After all that had happened up till now, the relations.h.i.+p between our F cla.s.s and her C cla.s.s is practically at the brink of collapse. So why did she choose me? “Didn’t I say it before? ‘I like smart people’.” And then, this line came up. To be honest, I really don’t understand at all. “You managed to overturn the tide of the war against us even in that situation. I don’t think it’s strange for me to change my view of you, right, Sakamoto-kun?” “Yu-Yuuka! What are you saying!?” “You’re noisy, Nemoto-kun. I don’t have any relations.h.i.+p with you here, right?” “Bu-but, using such personal reason to decide such an important position is really…” “Even without that reason, I do feel that Sakamoto-kun has quite a lot of accomplishments. And Nemoto-kun,” “Wh-what is it?” “Don’t call me on a first-name basis like this, okay?” Koyama immediately dumped Nemoto just like that. “Wha…!? Wh-why, why on earth…!?” Nemoto was all shaken up. “…Be quiet, everyone.” Even so, it’s not like I don’t understand. Koyama is Nemoto’s ex-girlfriend. “…In this situation, we have to calm down with Lamaze breathing techniques[4].” But why are you panicking too, Shouko? “Calm down, Shouko. If anyone sees a High School student do a Lamaze breathing here, it may become a huge problem.” Shouko seems somewhat normal, no different from usual, but her fingers are trembling, and her eyes are moving around. I can see her faltering through such minor details. “Really, what are you panicking for?” “…Because this is the first time someone of the other gender likes you, Yuuji.” It’s true that this is the first time in my life. “…I thought that you definitely would never have anyone falling for you, ever.” But aren’t you being too overboard here? Just when I’m thinking of how to comment on this, Koyama asks me, “How about it, Sakamoto-kun? Do you want to go out with me?” Hm. That’s impossible. Why? It’s simple? If I think about it, Koyama’s saying such things in front of her ex, Nemoto. This means that she’s just doing this to spite him. I’m going to go out with someone else because of this reason? Definitely no way. Maybe Koyama is sincere here, but she’s someone who latched onto another guy in front of a guy she once dated. Who wants this kind of woman? In other words, I can only reject her here. So, I’ve already made this conclusion, but even though I got it… “Uum” “What’s with you, Sakamoto-kun? You look really bothered here.” I’m really hesitating on whether I should reject her here. I don’t care about her pride, since she just tossed away Nemoto viciously. There’s no way I’ll show her mercy. But what I’m concerned with is that…with the upcoming summoning war against the 3rd years looming, Koyama may harbour intense hatred if I reject her here. Having enemies now will be really stupid. And also, if I pretend to play along with her, I don’t know what kind of reaction Nemoto will have. Also, there’s the possibility that those guys from F cla.s.s will want my life…I don’t know whether I can see the sun two days later, let alone the summoning war next week. There’s no need to use my brain to see these developments coming. Right now, I’m in a dilemma, but there’s no time for me to hesitate. If I can’t settle this decisively, the neutral Hiraga and Nakabayas.h.i.+ may become my enemies. (Seriously. Is there a line that I can use to reject her without bringing a grudge on me…) I really don’t want to admit this, but this is truly the result of my inexperience with the opposite gender. d.a.m.n it, what should I do…! As I’m hesitating, Shouko, who had been coy up till now, speaks up. Right, didn’t she have a lot of confessions up till now? She’ll definitely handle this situation properly— “…No way, Yuuji’s my item.” This is what it means by adding fuel to the fire. ““…”” This line cause Hiraga and Nakabayas.h.i.+, who had been looking on, to give me antagonistic intent. Why are you pressuring me like this now!? Don’t you want to win this summoning war!? “My item? What do you mean? You’re not dating with Sakamoto-kun, are you, Kiris.h.i.+ma-san?’ “Alright! This topic ends here! Let’s continue with our strategic meeting!” “…No, we’re going steady here.” “THAT’S WHY I SAY THAT WE’RE TO CONTINUE DISCUSSIONS ON THE STRATEGY NOW, d.a.m.n IT!” We’re breaking up this disjointed year even further now. Are you happy with this now!? Or do you want the 5 cla.s.ses to work together against mine here!? “When did you start dating?” “…It was promised when I won the summoning war before this.” “Speaking of which, I heard of similar rumors.” That was the promise to the bet I easily agreed to in the previous summoning war. It may be just rumors to others here, but I really want to forget about this. “…So I won’t allow such a thing when he’s dating me.” “But that sort of thing is simply a formality, isn’t it? Don’t you find it strange to restrain others with that kind of thing?” “…But a promise is a promise.” “Hmm…hey, Sakamoto-kun, I won’t restrain my partner here, you know? We have to respect each other’s choices, so that means I won’t intrude on your personal s.p.a.ce. Don’t you find this kind of interaction good?” No matter whether it’s good or bad, I only had one answer right from the beginning. But I can’t have more enemies until the summoning war ends. In that case…I can only answer this now? “Koyama, is it okay if I give you my answer after the summoning war?” Anyway, let’s try to delay this for now. I really hate such an answer, but I can only do this in this situation. Seriously, spare me here. “…? …After the summoning war?” Koyama and even Shouko are showing a surprised look. I suppose the latter is too tense that she doesn’t realize that I’m trying to appease everyone here. “I see…after the summoning war, is it?” On the other hand, Koyama seems to understand something as she answers my request meaningfully, and glances at Shouko. “…” Shouko receives Koyama’s stare, and ponders for a slight moment. “…!” It seems that she notices this too as she closes her mouth. She probably realized that her unnecessary words are disrupting the harmony—I hope. “Then, I can attract your attention if I work hard in the summoning war, right, Sakamoto-kun? I’ll do my best for the sake of getting a confession from you.” Not good. These guys don’t understand at all. “Yu-Yuuka—no, Koyama-san! I’ll do my best too, so watch me!” But well, it seems that Nemoto can perform well in this situation, so the outcome isn’t too bad. Good grief…now we can finally start with the strategic meeting. “Then, regarding the strategist we talked about in the beginning, I’ll do it—” “No, leave it to me. I’ll be fine.” “No, it’s better for me to do so when I’m B cla.s.s’ rep, right?” Koyama and Nemoto raise their hands, ostensibly jostling for the positions. You guys are really annoying here…! “You two should calm down here. This is a summoning war; don’t involve your personal thoughts in this.” “Yeah, Nemoto-kun, can you please give up quietly?” “No way! If this really is the case, you’re doing things out of your own selfishness here, Sakamoto! I should be the one handling things because of the cla.s.s ranking!” All the various suggestions are preventing us from having a proper meeting here. “I really, absolutely object to having Sakamoto as strategist!” Nemoto loudly declares. It’s really troublesome, but if I leave it like this, it’ll be tougher for me to follow up in the future. Looks like I really have to talk with him here. “Can you hear me out regarding the reasons, Nemoto?” “If you’re going to command everyone here, you need to have everyone believe in that strategy! You already betrayed our trust completely here!” “Huh? I feel that Sakamoto-kun had quite a lot of accomplishments here, you know?’ “I’m not talking about this, I’m simply talking about personal trustworthiness here! You may have forgotten about it, but Sakamoto was the main culprit behind the peeping incident back then! Hasn’t this guy lost the trust of the girls; that’s half the second year’s cohort!” If we’re talking about personal trustworthiness , there’s no way Nemoto can be the strategist no matter what he says. He probably knows that he’s not to be trusted at all…but I guess that being dumped by Koyama caused him so great a shock that he can’t seem to calm down and think properly. But if I involve this topic now, it’ll be troublesome to me too. “If we’re talking about trust, I still have a few issues with F cla.s.s too.” Nakabayas.h.i.+ joins in the conversation, ostensibly saying that even if she has nothing to complain about the strategy, she can’t let her guard down. “Nakabayas.h.i.+, the lack of developments between you and Kubo is because of Kubo’s personal issues, you know?” “THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A LACK OF DEVELOPMENTS WITH KUBO-KUN!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!? I SUMMONED MY COURAGE TO CONFESS TO HIM, AND YET HE USED THE Pa.s.sION OF A GAY IDIOT AND SOME RIDICULOUS GAY IDIOT KID TO REJECT ME!! HOW CAN YOU UNDERSTAND MY AGONY AND ANGER HERE!!!???” Wait, how in the world did Kubo reject her? “““…””” Everyone’s stare is focused on the infuriated Nakabayas.h.i.+. Once she notices that everyone’s staring at her, she seems to be very fl.u.s.tered by this, and clears her throat, “An-anyway, if we’re talking about trustworthiness, I personally can’t support Yos.h.i.+ Aki—F cla.s.s!” After saying this, she sits on the chair with a thump. Speaking of which, she was just about to say Akihisa, right? That d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s getting in my way even in such a manner. “But if Sakamoto’s a no go here, what do we do? I just said that I’m not good at coming up with strategies here.” “Then…well, even though I voiced my disapproval, even I too…” Hiraga and Nakabayas.h.i.+ don’t seem confident as they say this. “Then, it’s back to cla.s.s ranking again, so that’ll be me since I’m in B cla.s.s.” “““No way.””” Naturally, Nemoto, who volunteered for this, was immediately rejected. But in this case, Koyama will be the strategist for this war, and I have a bad feeling about this. Got to prevent this development. “…In this case.” And then, Shouko, who had been silent up till now, speaks up. “…In this case, I’ll collect everyone’s view and summarize everything.” She suggested. “You’ll summarize?” “…And then, we’ll make up a strategy all members can accept.” It’s true that if Shouko’s going to collect the suggestions, there won’t be any objections, and there’s a binding force of unity here. The angles we can see will be wider since there are opinions from more people. “But Kiris.h.i.+ma-san, won’t it be adding onto your burden? This will be a reverse of priorities here.” “…It’s fine.” Shouko firmly answers in response to Hiraga’s question. Since she says so, I’ll just end up b.u.t.ting heads with Nemoto if I say anything more. “A strategy everyone can accept. In other words, if I strongly disagree with a certain person’s strategy, it won’t be used, will it…?” Nemoto shows a devious smile. He probably thought through the meaning behind Shouko’s proposal here. —Right, Shouko wants to make sure that everyone can accept this, and this will mean a majority vote. As the minority, our F cla.s.s has enemies everywhere, and it’s basically impossible for my view to be accepted. In this case, if anything happens, our F cla.s.s won’t be able to do anything at all. It’s like— “…Please leave it to me.” —It’s like saying that she doesn’t need my strength here, and they’re cutting me off from here…this really isn’t funny to me. “Um, yeah! It’s best to leave it to Kiris.h.i.+ma-san!” “Right, n.o.body will object here.” “If Kiris.h.i.+ma-san has no issues with this, I’ll agree as well.” Nemoto and the rest raise their approvals. To be honest, even if I don’t involve my selfish intents here, I really don’t agree with this proposal. Accepting everyone’s view will allow us to see issues from all angles, but it’s very time-consuming, and it’ll be tough for the person summarizing everything. Also, Shouko’s not good at doing this at all. I really don’t think this is a good idea. “…I’ll do my best.” But even with so much burden, Shouko herself is very enthusiastic. If I voice my opposition here, the unity Shouko worked so hard to exchange for will be for naught—and that’s a stupid thing to do. “…” It seems that Shouko’s waiting for my answer as she continues to stare at me. “…I understand. I agree with this too.” Upon hearing my answer, Nemoto shows a disgustingly sinister smile. “Sakamoto, since everyone decided on this, you better not talk about dating or anything.” So this means you don’t want me to say anything weird to Koyama, right? It just so happens that I don’t want to get involved in such things either. “Of course, I don’t want to do any unnecessary things that will get me suspected for no good reason.” “Humph, but I’m rather suspicious about whether you’re hurt or not by this.” Nemoto’s little nagging line ends all discussions about the hierarchy. And then, everyone raises their suggestions, Shouko collates them, plans the strategy, and the meeting ended like this. “Ah, Sakamoto, you’re back.” On hearing Minami’s voice, I lift my head and look at Yuuji, who entered the cla.s.sroom. “…How is it?’ Muttsurini asks Yuuji as the latter approaches us. Of course, the ‘it’ here will refer to the strategy meeting. “…Ah, at least we had a basic idea of what to do.” Yuuji answers Muttsurini’s question with a very cold tone. “Sakamoto, what happened? You have a rough idea of what to do, but why do you not look happy at all?” “Did something happen?” “Lots of it.” Yuuji really looks very frustrated here. “It looks like you got some really troublesome thing to handle here, right?” “What nonsense. I won’t get hotheaded just because of that.” You definitely will. “Hm…then, why are you so unhappy?” “…Your suggestion wasn’t accepted or anything?” “Hm…yeah, it’s not too far from what you said, Muttsurini.” Yuuji probably calmed down a little. He looks really annoyed here, but at least he’s answering in his usual manner. “What? What’s going on?” “I sacrificed my right to speak up so that all the cla.s.ses can get along.” “???” I really don’t understand. “Forget about it. Let’s not mind about such small things. I can handle it on my own.” “Hm—if you say so, Yuuji, I think it’s fine either way.” This guy has his own thoughts, and if he’s not willing to talk about them, I can’t just force him to say them out. “Then, can you tell us what the strategy involves?’ Hideyos.h.i.+ seems to be thinking the same thing as me as he starts to talk about the strategy again. “Hm, as long as she can summarize everything properly, I think there shouldn’t be a problem…” “The way you’re saying this feels ambiguous to me.” “It’s a strategy formed by the combined suggestions of everyone, so I can’t say anything now.” Hm…it’s a little worrying to me that Yuuji, who normally (even if he’s wrong) concludes so decisively, used such terms. “Don’t show such worried looks. Since we need to spend manpower and time, we definitely mustn’t come up with some weird strategy. In fact, there will be less blind spots compared to a strategy I come up with.” It’s true that since we have Kiris.h.i.+ma-san, there shouldn’t be a problem. “That’s how it is. Instead of worrying about such things, you better focus on what you can do.” Yuuji says as he looks at the reference book I’m holding. “Got it. Let’s do this.” There’s still a week till the level summoning war. I don’t know how much I can improve in this time, but I better study hard.
