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Chapter 2: Greed Giant (Part 1)
The next day would be the 30th of July. Awoken at 7:30 by a loud alarm. I thought of the piece of the alarm clock that my sister had given me that I had broken. I couldn’t help but feel a bit melancholic. This was completely because my swimsuit bag had knocked the clock onto the floor, and it broke last night.
This alarm clock was given to me by my little sister on the day that I decided to go to study at the City of God Academy. I was given this gift with these wishes:
「Big brother won’t be lonely with this, even when you are alone, and you’ll be able to wake up when I’m not there.」
Every time I see this clock, I would think of my sister’s pure smile. After our mobile phones were confiscated, this alarm clock was the only thing to remind me of my family.
…I guess I’ll go to the school store to buy some glue after school. As long as it’s fixed, my heart full of homesickness would ease a bit.
After making the important decision of what to do after school, I got out of bed, changed my clothes, and left my room.
In this school, the students dined in a place called the「Restaurant Floor」. It was a two-storey building built between the boys’ and girls’ dormitories. Shops were on the first floor, and a cafeteria on the second.
After the Closed-in School Campus Game had started, the cafeteria was only open at three set times each day. These slots were 「7:00 – 8:00」 , 「12:30 – 13:30」 and 「18:00 – 19:00」. We would go to the cafeteria during those time periods, and choose our favorite food to eat from a buffet-styled arrangement.
If you go over the set time periods, then you would be mercilessly kicked out of the cafeteria, and the food would be confiscated. Being able to eat was your own responsibility, so it would suck if you overslept. If you really couldn’t take it anymore, then you could only go to the store to buy some snacks for calories.
Immediately after going out of the dormitory, I squinted from the dazzling rays of sunlight. It was probably because the air was quite dry, so it didn’t feel very hot.
From exit of the staircase to the cafeteria on the second floor, more than half of the 200 seats were taken. I held a plastic meal tray. There were about fifty different dishes placed in the middle of the cafeteria. I followed my instinct and picked my favorite foods: chocolate croissants, pasta, fried chicken nuggets and roasted beef.
After filling my plate with high calorie foods, I started wondering about where I should sit. Usually I would eat with Yuki, but I couldn’t see her anywhere today. Normally at this time, she would already be at the cafeteria. Did something happen? Also , what was she chanting last night? Could it have been that she felt sick?
…Now that I think about it, I still haven’t told Kujyo about the laptop and research data that was in the underground room…
As I was reminiscing about what happened last night, I suddenly remembered. After calmly considering the situation, I thought that it was a mistake that anyone would hate. Although being scolded severely is making me scared, I should immediately rush to her and tell her about it if I saw her.
Scanning the cafeteria, I immediately spotted Kujyo’s figure. She always sat at the farthest spot, near to the wall. It seems that this had already become her habit.
Separating myself from the crowd, I walked towards Kujyo.
“Hey, Kujyo. Good Morning.”
“—What. Oh, it’s Yagumo. What can I do for you?”
Kujyo poked at the salad and looked at me with a bored expression. I felt a little suffocated. I first put my plate on the table, then sat across her.
“Actually, I came here to apologise to you.”
“…This is my first time being greeted and immediately apologised to right after. So, what are you apologizing for?”
“Um, I hope you don’t get angry after hearing it—”
“That’s impossible.”
“I haven’t even said anything, yet!?”
“It should be clear. Even if it’s something not worth getting angry at, I’ll still get angry. It would always end up like that whenever you come talk to me.”
“Our relationship is simply terrible!”
“Stop rambling and quickly get to the point. What a waste of time.”
“Isn’t that too unreasonable!?”
While holding in the unpleasant feelings from being scolded before even getting to the topic, I told her what I saw yesterday in the underground room.
“…Basically, what you’re saying is that there’s a huge bookcase in the underground room with lots of documents. And there was also a laptop on the table, right?”
Kujyo showed a scary expression, glared angrily at me.
“B-but, the laptop didn’t have a power cable, so it couldn’t be turned on at all, right?”
“Even if it’s like that, why didn’t you tell me yesterday? Maybe there’s crucial information on the sacred sword and demonic blade in there!”
“I’m really sorry. I was only thinking about the sword that we had found yesterday.”
“Hmph. Then after finding out that the sword was a fake, you should’ve thought about reporting this information to me.”
“Even if you say that, you didn’t ask me about the details of the underground room.”
“What did you say?”
“S-Sorry…”
I Involuntarily retorted. I could only only apologise non-stop now.
“…However, if Kujyo feels like it’s necessary, I could go retrieve the laptop and the data right now.”
After giving my own humble opinion, Kujyo seemed very unhappy and shook her head.
“We can’t. If we skipped class, then the third years might find out. Also if we don’t handle it right, the situation on the underground room would be exposed. If we want to retrieve the documents, the best time would be after school.”
“However, if I just use , I could make one of my selves go to class, while my other self skips class and goes to the underground room.”
“—I see, there was that method.”
Kujyo slapped her leg, she seems to have accepted this suggestion.
“Then, can I leave the matter of the underground room to you?”
“Of course.”
After getting my reliable answer, Kujyo smiled with satisfaction. It seemed like I had finally succeeded in restoring my reputation.
“Good morning you two!!”
I turned back towards the energetic voice. Yuki stood there full of happiness. Her plate was filled with vegetables.
“Can I sit here?”
She sat to my left before I could even answer. The whole atmosphere of the table seemed to liven up.
However, after Kujyo meaningfully scanned Yuki with a meaningful eye, she quickly stood up.
“I’ve finished eating. I’ll head to the classroom first. I’ll have to trouble you with the matter concerning the documents.”
Kujyo searched her bag for a flashlight while talking and threw it to me. It should be useful in the tunnel.
In the end, she still had some salad left over on her plate. Kujyo quickly left the table. There was still some of time before we had to go to class. However, she had always liked working alone, so I wasn’t extremely mindful about it.
“…It’s really rare, you eating breakfast with Elena.”
I wasn’t sure if it was just me, but I always felt that Yuki looked at me with a piercing gaze. Being stared at by such a gaze, I would still feel a bit flustered, even if I had done nothing wrong.
“No, actually, I just remembered that there were many files and documents stored inside that underground room. After I told her, she scolded me like usual. However, because I said that I would go retrieve it immediately, I seemed to have already received understanding.”
“O-oh, so it’s like that…Because of what happened last night, I thought that Ryu and Elena would definitely have a fight.”
“—Huh? Me?”
I shrugged, thinking she was joking. However, Yuki actually had a very serious expression.
“…Actually, what happened last night was actually a very big blow to me. I didn’t know that Ryu saw Elena in that way…It’s obvious the person always next to Ryu is me…”
Yuki put her head down. She muttered in a barely audible voice to me.
…Eh, what did those words she just said mean? 「What happened last night」 should be me sexually harassing Kujyo last night, right? However, this didn’t have anything to do with 「It’s obvious the person always next to Ryu is me.」
…Could Yuki be thinking that since we’re always together, if I wanted to sexually harass someone, I should be doing it to her?
—No, that would be unthinkable. That pure Yuki would definitely not be one of those people who take pleasure in being sexually harassed.
…I’ll first put aside the unclear significance of her words. Last night, Ryuji’s sexual harassment could be considered a downright accident. In order not to make the same mistakes, it would be better to clearly explain it.
“…Um, Yuki. I already explained yesterday. Ryuji’s confession to Kujyo in the science classroom was all because of the side effects of .”
“Side effect?”
“Yes. You know how my personality and Ryuji’s are completely different, right?”
“Yes. Ryuji is a little more stupid.”
“That’s right, and what’s even more annoying is that he’s a super aggressive pervert. Kujyo said it yesterday, 「Could it be that you have split personality and they become separated into their own bodies」. Actually, that’s basically what happens. After activating Ryuichi and Ryuji, who have two completely different personalities appear. Ryuichi’s personality is closer to mine. In other words, Ryuji and I have completely different ways of thinking, so I wouldn’t want to be held accountable for his stupid actions.”
“…Ok…”
“You can’t accept it?”
“Yep, I can’t accept it at all.”
“I see…”
I tried very hard to explain, but it still didn’t work…
“…Um, then just let me confirm something. Ryu, you don’t plan to keep trying to get close to Elena, right?”
“That’s right. Don’t mention in the same sentence with that idiot.”
“Oh, so it’s like this…Although I still can’t fully accept it, I do feel a bit relieved.”
Seeing Yuki relieved and putting her hand on her chest, I could not help but smile.
“You’re such a bizarre person. Why would you feel relieved?”
“Huh!?…T-that way this matter is all better!! It has nothing to do with Ryu!!”
“W-wouldn’t it be better to say this matter only pertains to me?”
“So noisy!! Actually, I regard Elena as the opposite sex. If Ryu becomes competition, then I would feel very frustrated!!”
“Hm—As I thought, Yuki really isn’t good at lying.”
“That’s not true, and I’m telling the truth!”
“So, so, rather than treating him/her as the same ‘sex’, I’ll treat him as having different ‘last name’!”
“Then I’ll treat her as someone with a different last name, instead of the opposite sex. ”
“Isn’t that how it is for everyone normally?”
“Now that you say, you’re right!…Ryuu-kun even though you can’t see the characters, I’m amazed that you could figure out I was talking about ‘gender’ vs ‘surname’.” ***
“I could guess anything you’re thinking. I’m the one who you said is always with you when you said 「It’s obviously the person who’s always next to Ryu is me」
“C-can you stop repeating other people’s embarrassing phrases!!”
Yuki blushed, and kept hitting my left shoulder.
“Really! Topics that make people embarrassed shall end here! —A-anyways, Ryu. What I wanted to tell you before was to at least eat some vegetables.”
She pointed at the very unbalanced breakfast in front of me. Yuki very stiffly changed the subject.
“I always thought that Ryu doesn’t eat enough vegetables.”
“Huh? No, no. Could it be that you check the food that I chose every time?”
I half-jokingly asked her, but she gaze was very serious.
“Of course I would look. I look at it very carefully every morning. So Ryu, you have to be constantly aware that your life is being monitored.”
“I-I always feel a little bit scared…”
“That’s right. How about I help you choose your meal next time? I’ll be your nutrient manager.”
“O-oh…”
Looking at Yuki’s plate that’s filled with vegetables, I couldn’t resist making an irritable sound.
“…If I left it to Yuki, what food would you chose for me.”
“Ah, that. First, it would be the red-bellied snake that makes people full of energy.”
“Red-bellied snake!? The buffet menu has that!?”
“There’s also live turtles.”
“There’s definitely no turtles on the menu, right!? I’m not lacking so much energy that I would need to eat this kind of thing, right!?”
“Right, it is because Ryu is a herbivore. A herbivore doesn’t eat vegetables is weird. It’s a fatal contradiction.”
“It is troubling that you described me that way.”
“So, in order to resolve this contradiction, it’s necessary to intake a sufficient amount of red-bellied snakes and live turtles. If we could stay alone in a small room after you have eaten, then that would be even better.”
“Why!? What would you do with the energetic me!?”
“Huh!? T-to…to wrestle?”
Yuki, who turned completely red, replied in shy whisper.
…That was unfortunate. I had basically no knowledge on wrestling, but do men and women really wrestle each other? Also, wrestling is quite exhausting, but do we really have to eat red-bellied snakes and live turtles?
My head was full of questions, but I just had a feeling that if we kept on talking about this topic, it would lead to a bad outcome, so I just faked a smile and moved on.
***Note: Gender and Last name are pronounced the same way and written similarly.
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Thanks for doing this chapter!😆
Thanks for translating this!
六月三十日
Err, that’s June 30th, yeah?