Vol 2 Chapter 6 (1/2)

And like so, the RPG teairls headed toward the Touwa household after school With a flower in each hand, I didn't even have another for the girl stuffed in the basket I found her walking back home from ith no shoes on, so I picked her up The tension between her and Ryuushi+-san seeh As for Erio, she'd shown nothing but a blank face

Ryuushi+-san sighed on the way to the bicycle lot: “Ah~ Now the position of starters is further away from me~ I don't wanna be the secret weapon anymore~” The Touwa household isn't exactly a paradise of hope and dreaht firecrackers with her brain there though

“Hoh~ So this is Touwa's house?”

Parking first into the front yard, Maekawa-san carefully observed that residence that should be a fairly nor (like five seconds) she h she seeive in to pressure, her body seems slave to her blood flow She mentioned before that 'I've never been to a hospital;' if possible, I hope she could live on peacefully

“Whoa~” With a hel and trod to ht maybe the walls would be covered in futons, but it's just a pretty house!”

Ryuushi+-san earnestly reported on the gap between her i the colance, but didn't dissent She ht have the terrifying thought of 'that's not bad at all' She is, after all, the fanatic that would surprise people if she doesn't collect blanket catalogs

“I thought it'd be covered by a white sheet”

Maekawa-san, too, followed I've seen this somewhere![1]

Bell signifying some sort of break resounded from an elementary school nearby I've been there before: it's a school about ten minutes away from the Touwa residence Erio attended there as well Contradicting the proble birthrate, the amount of students there seem to multiply like biscuits in a pocket Currently, the school is undergoing renovation and expansion of classroo well around here [2]

Affected by the bell, we moved toward the entrance like students at the field toward classroo strictly by her appearance, the warrior Maekawa-san took vanguard, followed by Ryuushi+-san,in the middle of Ryuushi+-san and Erio, I should feel proud But for Erio, maybe she just wanted to 'prepare for an aainst? The world has an apparent animosity for her, so she probably doesn't have many comrades There's Meme-san and Tamura Oba-san

And me? At least for now Would this be considered as indecisiveness?

“H Maekawa-san voiced her objection at the solidity of the door and the common sense of all households

“Usually people lock their houses when they leave” I took out the key and went next to Maekawa-san

“We don't, more often than not”

“For whom it may concern, did you hear that~?”

I ridiculed her and opened the door “It's opening!” For so the door ajar, she see it repeatedly I decided to let her be

Taking the key out, I glanced back, only to find Ryuushi+-san and Erio fixed on their spot

“And why are you two just standing there? Saving someone's spot?”

There isn't entrance liet mad if you cut the line

“Since Niwa-kun is the third, I' your spot as a healer”

She n, she boasted

You're thehere

Yet froo, Nervousness— or rather, anxiety — crept up in , this isn'tinto my room choked the top of my stomach

Not one on one, but one vs ht their time has come froze, doubtful and without direction I too wondered ould happen

“We're co in!” Finally tired of the toy that is the door, Maekawa-san entered the entrance with a casual greeting “Excuseto Erio halfway through the sentence As expected of the polite helirl

And the last two said 'I'm home' We even received the normal reaction of 'welcome!' Maekawa-san, who had speedily took off her flats, welcomed us kindly A lot about this was questionable Sheher head:

“I screwed up That's for my house; it should have been welcome home”

Seemed like she still couldn't amend the mistake completely Hladly toss that big kid out Only, she would come back faster than a salmon

“House? What does your fa her shoes next to Maekawa-san's, Ryuushi+-san inquired with a straight back “Oh, you live in the city, so you don't know, huh Ryuushi+”

“I told ya I'm Ryuuko”

“My house runs a pub in the shopping district, so you have to coh, Ryuushi+… Given that if the pub is still runnin' by then!”

Ahahah~ Since I can't articulate any better, I'll just laugh Maekawa-san's expression conveyed so

“Anyhow, let's go to transfer student's room Which floor?” Maekawa-san pointed toward the hallway

“Second floor But there's seriously nothing interesting in there”

“What are you on about, transfer student? Using poker as an exale card: the point is how to use that card in an interesting way”

She dauntlessly asserted the lack of fun of a room she's never been in I couldn't help but feel that a that others will criticize my lack of entertainment value I had one in my old home, but I think I sold it when I moved

A person befitting of being a tour guide, Maekawa-san led us forward as if directing her family With this kind of advance, the distance sound of a whistle was almost audible

A guy irls This madeof which, wasn't there a story called “The Red Fruit Has Burst” in our textbook? What was it about? I thought it's about a girl going out to buy fishes… I think, but that's not the point of the story But whatever with that[3]

Maekawa-san stepped onto the stairs, peeking inside Erio's room

“Mm? This Touwa's room?”

“Yes” A tiny confirmation from the back

“I see~ It sure suits you… Ah, that's the school unifor?”

“No, it is not” Erio denied Maekawa-san's biased evaluation of the uniform

Then why? I wanted Erio to spill the answer, but she si the owner of the voice

“Ah, it's Mr Pluto!” [4]

On the other hand, what piqued Ryuushi+-san's attention was the tan-coloured doll sitting on the ball chair It's a… creature (?) of roughly forty centi On it's head was a hair not unlike the parents of a certain Isono faot a red ribbon Pluto? Does it have anything to do with space? It is sitting in Erio's room Um… Is the discovery of such creature on Pluto human's spearhead of discovery? NASA would drop their jaws[5]

It's a cute doll that girls seeed the doll that's strikingly larger than her face “How cute~ Boing!” You are so da Erio pulled on my sleeve from behind I only looked back

“T-that's mine”

She's like a little girl angry with her older sister who stole her toy, telling her mom

“Then tell her” I ae

“Wuu Wu”

Erio closed in onto Ryuushi+-san and forcefully took the plushy away Uh, back? It is hers, but her action was unreasonable

“Eh? Ah?” Ryuushi+-san's dreaers quivered

“H-he sits here” Erio put the plushy back to where it was

“S-sorry…?”

Ryuushi+-san haltingly apologized like she'd just accidentally sat on a house made of match sticks

Just like before, an enigmatic air twisted between the two As if veiled by a thick cloth, they could never reach each others

Why are these two so aard? The girl who has the sensibility of the world (? Questionable, but I won't take it back now) just can't be friends with the futon roll who strayed from common sense?

Then the bystander Maekawa-san spoke her thought regarding the plushy:

“How childish of you, Ryuushi+, satisfied with a doll of only that size”

A giantess preached so She even sighed disapprovingly She also seemed to have misunderstood why Ryuushi+-san was so happy

“If it were me, a 1799cm Mr Pluto is totally possible”

“Don't do it” It would be a different breed of creature at that point

“H-awaited room of Niwa-kun!”

Ryuushi+-san went 'Oh~!' leading her feet out with her right ar the leader, she traded place with Maekawa-san, increasing the distance froain, would this tea Ryuushi+-san follow Erio next? I suddenly had the feeling Isout because of Meht worried me

“Hoh~ So this is Niwa-kun's room?”

Ryuushi+-san firstly peeked intophrases of impression

“Hoh~ So this is the room where transfer student rolls around on the floor in”

Maekawa-san described the space Apparently even the way I use it was set

“Hoh~ The cousin's room” Why did you follow them, Erio? Don't you come here all the time?

Fros worth looking increased in my roo the two class room suddenly lit up

As long as these two are in the room, they could even replace an air freshener

Erio, finding nothing interesting in the roo the futon on her, she spun to the side…

“What kinda prank is this?” I pulled on her right leg

Extracted by'what's the problehtly cocked

“What are you doing?”

“That is ?”

“I' that on”

“I a sixteen year old ants to wear relaxing clothes at home”

“Shut up”

“My set on it”

“I Don't Care”

I can't believe she ree prediction-sketch of Erio turning into Meh draft next?

“Hey… Hey~ Niwa-kun” Ryuushi+-san called Slightly thorny in her enunciation, I reflexively straightened htly-hunched back

“Hazed lost their sharpness, round like always:

“Is this the deep-see animal atlas ya mentioned?”

Ryuushi+-san, who had scanned the bookshelf, put her finger on the spine of a book

“Yeah, that's it There's a ton of picture in there It's a lot cooler than the other books!”

“Hoh~” She retrieved the atlas and flipped through it: “Uwah, the naked photos of ugly-cute characters!” As usual, her impressions were kind of twisted

If Ryuushi+-san were brought to a zoo, would she accuse them of public display of indecency?

“Um, which do ya like, Niwa-kun?”

She sat directly on the floor, opening the atlas about the size of a hardcover book Then Ryuushi+-san beckoned, asking ” I accepted the invite

I kneeled on one knee next to Ryuushi+-san's right On the page that Ryuushi+-san had open were four deep-sea octopuses My favourite creature was not swi in there

“This is so cute!” She pointed at the Dumbo Octopus in the middle

“I know!” I indulged her It's not like it'd be a proble one more animal

“Then which one do ya recommend the most?”

“Ue on the bottoes need to be flipped back Sixteen pages later, I pointed at the picture on the bottom left

“Helicolenus Hilgendorfii?” Ryuushi+-san read its name

“Yeah, isn't it pretty?”

A red fish with a white crown flung its tail fin

“It is, even though it's around a buncha freaky animals”

“I like the way it stands out”

“Oh~ But Niwa-kun, you shouldn't stand out, okay?”

“Haze on the top of my head, I looked up

Erio sat on the bed, her eyes fixed on us The ly intentionally hid into the futon “Haa, really?” What does she want, my attention?

da kid

I loosened the curled leg and waist, htly landed, and froentleame![7]

“Oh~ no~” For some reason Maekawa-san provided a voice-over fro for around the rooh [8]

Because the way she walked and scanned was just like a certain 39 years old child

“This room lacks the colour of skin”

What kind of thought was that? This isn't where a serial killer hides dead bodies

“Hey~ Niwa-kun, c'mere~ c'mere!”

Ryuushi+-san waved at ain with a warmer attitude Am I a hot item or what?

What, haspopular co this out forever!

Youth-points are thing that won't react if directly approached

“I' my body as far as I can toward Ryuushi+-san My neck extended to theover the atlas from the top My head almost rammed into Ryuushi+-san's

“What else do ya like? Hey, why not just let go of the blanket?”

“Uh Well, if I let go, a certain someone will become the local mascot”

“Why not just tie her up? Let her roll around over there”

Da with her She even started pouting Is she jealous? I'onna assume you are Don't underestihschooler If that was true though, uh… The hell do I do? crap, the solution known as 'experience' isn't doing it's job on guiding me Because it doesn't exist!

“Hey~ Transfer student, look”

“Hah?” I looked back to Maekawa-san's voice

With half the blanket rolled on her, Erio hopped on my bed!

“Gah~!!” The dust's everywhere! What a waste, I' to have to vent the room now!

And why are you just sitting there elegantly with a smile, Maekawa-san?! Go find some porn!

“Niwa-kun, click, click!” As if to sooth me, who had left, Ryuushi+-san summoned

A classmates?

In the end, I ran around the blanket between Erio and Ryuushi+-san thirty times

Drenched in sweat, I opened theregretfully The air of girls and the heat escaped outside

Out of the , the colour of dusk began to s the edge of the sky The world was as if flipped

Only one person would appear when trouble's amok Everyone should know

The person whose personality and other aspects vex people to no end — Touwa Meirls were about to take off, they bu Meme-san Incidentally, they both called her smooth-skinned sensei

Looks like both Maekawa-san and Ryuushi+-san had met Meme-san Now that I mentioned it, Ryuushi+-san seemed to have received cola from Ryuushi+-san before, but Maekawa-san… What was it? I don't see their connection

Meme-san whispered a feords to Maekawa-san, clapped her hand saying 'Okay~! It's settled!' first and then declared 'I'ain;' Maekawa-san also clai hoet so on?

If it were the usual, Meme-san shouldn't be baited by this kind of a festival But she did look busy Is she conniving so practical jokes

Me siirls do so?”

“Cough, cough, so I don't have to cook, cough cough”

“I don't get why you coughed”

After waves of disturbance, Ryuushi+-san decided to call home first Decided to stay in the Touwa household till later, she planned on going ho so

And thus Meme-san and Maekawa-san left the house Erio, Ryuushi+-san and I remained

…This is practically a develople'

Well, it's because of the words Me me and Ryuushi+-san extra conscious of each others

We stared at each other with a twisted smile One of us moved first, and the other two followed behind Step, step Only the sound of footstep echoed lightly

In the living rooin front of the table

“…” Erio, who rarely sat upright, said nothing She rubbed her upper ar her anxiety over bare skin Her eyes oscillated

“Ah, uh… I wonder what Maekawa-san's bringin'~”

Ryuushi+-san facedto me instead of Erio

“I have no idea What could it be?” Could be a costu

“Hm, I wonder” Voices trailed off, and the conversation paused here

If it were only me and Erio, or only me and Ryuushi+-san, then any sort of conversation could becoe

The ticking of clock that should be the sound of a daily life did not resonate The roo in the ear proliferated The chirping of crickets that starts in the beginning of autu as the current situation

My nose dried; the taste of burn permeated in my throat This was the syndrome of boredom

“Want to watch… TV?” Erio held the remote and peeked at my face Is this the conclusion she reached to cope with idleness?

“Sure” I agreed; the TV shone

On the screen gradually lighting up, sushi+ appeared It looked to be a show proh-class sushi+ The reporter and celebrity whose na 'so good' He said nothing else in terms of compliments

Since the volume was set on loud, the initially silent room suddenly flooded with noise The various sound effects and BGM forced intome

Noe're evennoise and the current status of the room was too different

I couldn't stand it any tea

After preparing tea for three people, I returned to the living room The two still bored holes into the TV

“Here, some tea”

I put the tea in front of Erio She looked down on the tea, staring into her reflection within

For reasons unknown, she pushed to slide the tea in front of Ryuushi+-san The rising steam followed after

“Here, tea”

Basing her conclusion on so, Ryuushi+-san slid the cup of tea to ame of 'the bar scene you always see in cowboy flicks'?

“… A cup of tea”

I attely handed the tea to Ryuushi+-san “Here, tea” Though frowning, Ryuushi+-san still returned the cup of tea tobehind, the steaoing up

I thought the thirst of boredo steam

After that, the cup of team circled endlessly on the table

The re two cups of tea were ostracized fro the steam that is the candle of life

In theforced to do can-crushi+ng during an activity of kid's day

After about forty minutes, Maekawa-san came back

“I’m home!” Somehow, she announced her return with the manner of the patriarch of the house

Yet, there isn’t anyone who could change the ambiance better than she As expected of ‘when you’re troubled, just find her’ Maekawa-san

The light steps unfitting of her height approached the living room

The person who entered the roo with no dreams inside

“Since I a to the basics: lab coat”

With the height of 1799cm (self-proclaimed) and a lab coat over her uniforlassesIf she were to appear during play house, you’d worry about having your stomach cut open — that’s the anxiety caused by the sharp aura exuding from her

Es that resembled nozzles lied on the bottom

“By the way, the glasses are fake For fashi+on purposes” She pushed the glasses up with her free hand

“Whoa~ That’s so cool!” Ryuushi+-san looked up in awe

Indeed, with her coht, the outfit beautifully conveyed the sense of coolness

“Hehe” Having her serious cosplay praised accordingly, Maekawa-san chuckled joyfully and said: “I’ arm lifted the blue cup and dumped the tea in her mouth

“What the? It’s at the perfect temperature!”

It didn’t sound like a protest against the cold tea, but a praise Looks like Maekawa-san is afraid of heat

“Okay, so what you got there?”

I queried for the three of us “Oh” The cup left Maekawa-san’s lips

“We’rebottle rockets! That’s smooth-skinned sensei’s request She said to have Touwa and the transfer student make them These are the material”

Swoosh~ She lifted the bag This was Meme-san’s malicious plan? Or a part of it?

“I got soht?” Maekawa-san watched for Ryuushi+-san’s reaction; she tilted her head with finger on her lips:

“Hmmo settling on that nickname”

“No probleh to teach”

“Then I’ll try~ But why, all of the sudden? I mean Touwa-san’s mom”

“Who knows?” Maekawa-san revealed athe question

“Touwa or transfer student, one of you go get scissors and knives fro me to her room? I think the tools we need are in her room”

“Then, followroom with Maekawa-san

Using the chance that we had walking in the hallith lights brighter than the sun, I questioned Maekawa-san

“Hey, Maekawa-san”

“Hhout the bottle , call me doctor”

Hands in her white coat pocket, Maekawa-san requested a change in profession

If only Ryuushi+-san could change her name as easily as she

“…Doctor Maekawa” Rolled off the tongue easier than Meme-chan

“H, she smiled satisfactorily

“The rockets from a while back — are they related to this?”

“Hoh, how keen of you!”

Mae… Doctor Maekahistled as if co the exceptional answer from her student:

“But one does not need to know the language of flower to appreciate its beauty, transfer student”

“What I’m concerned with is if this is somehow related to me and Erio”

“Neither do I know theof flower, unfortunately”

Her metaphoric response blurred my comprehension

“Oh, I know this: red spider lily ain,’ and ‘I miss only you’”

“I think the topic is going into the wrong direction…”

“In any case, it’s not a big deal! They are just bottles”

Ultimately, she brushed me off

In the story that progressed elsewhere, what role do I exactly play?

“Alrighty Doctor Maekawa’s class will now begin”

In the living roo on the opposite side of the table, Doctor Maekawa declared the start of her crafting class

On my sides were Erio and Ryuushi+-san The students were fully prepared Only…

…U used as a screen to separate the two?

Won’t it be better to have these two get along? Ryuushi+-san seems to frequent Tamura shop anyway But is it okay for me to be so nosy? This was the true question

“Do you remember how to make them, Touwa?” Maekawa-san surveyed to see if Erio had the proper knowledge

“…Don’t know” My left neighbor hurriedly shook her head

“You should have made them in art class before, since ent to the same school”

“Um, I took it home to have mom help me, so…”

Erio shrunk embarrassedly and confessed Have mom help probably actually ’ Appeared to have noticed, Maekawa-san grimaced:

“Then we’ll say you have a perrab a bottle”

Following her direction, all three of us laid the bottles on the table We had a total of five, which will all be used e finished I didn’t know that till today

“Next, pick up the nozzles that was given beforehand and screw that onto the bottle”

I screwed the nozzles that sat on the bottohtly onto the neck of the bottle Compare to me and Ryuushi+-san, Erio had a bit of trouble, but still successfully completed the task

“Noe’re done with that, set it aside Prepare the second bottle”

“Done, Doctor Maekawa!” Ryuushi+-san feigned an innocent reply She’s pretty good at being a student Wait, she is a student

“See that line on the lower half? Cut the bottom off with the box cutter Since we only have one, we have to take turns”

Like doing a demo, Maekawa-san adroitly cut off the butt: “The trick is to not move the knife, but rather spin the bottle forward to cut it — just like shaving an apple!”

After giving the advice, Maekawa-san passed the box cutter to Ryuushi+-san “Whacha call it, Ia tune I’

I too finished without any problem As for Erio, everyone held his or her breath as atched Erio claers “Uh, relax a little But do hold on to it”

She slightly loosened the grip Then she clawed the bottle, her fingers digging in “This isn’t a disposal site… But do hold on to it” She eased a bit And so… screech, screech… the knife sunk into the bottle She gingerly exerted enough force that ht snap the blade If the cutter slip off, a part of Erio along with the clothes ht end up split apart I prayed for her safety

Perhaps it was answered: she cut opened the bottle safely Is everyone going to be on the edge from nohen it’s Erio’s turn? I sed the epiphany like a stone

“… Uh, well then Next step is to cut the extra part below that line The key is to start from the bottouidance

Next was to use the third bottle to h cut with the box cutter, and then finer detail with the scissors; thus the rocket was mostly complete

“With the PE rocket head as the tip, the second bottle on the top, the first on the bottom, and the base last… Here we are, the completed body!”[9]

Co stood on the floor Ryuushi+-san and I both tried putting the rockets together while Erio cut away on the bottle

Although I offered help, she insisted, ‘No need I must do it this time’ Hence I stared from the side From the bystander’s view point, I was terrified Now I understand why Meme-san is so protective of her

“Apparently the rockets are undergoing test-flight tomorrow” Maekawa-san spoke

“Tomorrow?”

“Eleven of clock, the closest beach Meme-san’s instruction”

If she whispered the instructions of ine Me The closest beach — is it the one Erio and I went on that night? Riding there takes at least an hour!

After Erio’s finished with her work, Maekawa-san shi+fted direction to the s The parts cut off from the bottles were flattened with a piece of wood This was the only part Maekawa-san perfor it down for a while… “Gwahh…” This person planned on throwing her dignity aith the lab coat effect

Pliers could be used to stabilize the ridges on the flattened wing prototype Next, label it with a ether with double-sided tape and staple them Finally, cover the stapleis now finished

Now to put the wings on in an X shape on the body (this was is the hardest part) Connect it to the rocket with electric tape, then you can yell ‘done!’ And then wait for Erio to finish I knew it Ryuushi+-san’s andpart, but they at least had the shape I inspected it insohedup my head

I switched the TV that’s never been off onto the news to check the tiht In other words, we spent about an hour and half onrockets On one hand, I understood starvation On the other, I was shocked at how late city girls are allowed to stay out If it here I used to live, if there was soht PM, they’d be considered suspicious A lax night like this would be upon every family by now

“The night is full” Eyes glued on the TV, Maekawa-san mumbled Eh? So the city uses the same standard?

“Yeah, it’s about tio home”

“We have to prepare dinner for Touwa and the transfer student first”

Hearing Maekawa-san’s words, Ryuushi+-san winced She stared at h, Meme-san’s words echoes in

In the spare time, Maekawa-san even decorated the rockets She coloured the thing white to is She called it ‘skyfish’ [10]

“I’ve never seen the actual thing, so this is just referring to the a”

“Of course ya wouldn’t!”

Ryuushi+-san’s sheepish eyesthe rockets fro to Maekawa-san

But in this town, it is said that skyfish has been witnessed frequently Maekawa-san spoke as if to herself:

“Since to all of theh These rockets probably won’t be mistaken as UFO trails; they’ll just crash midway Maybe my skyfish will end its life as a seafish”

And then Maekawa-san looked askance at Erio, divulging a jeering grin:

“I guess the only way is to have a fishi+ng line hang it from space, huh”

Was Erio equipped with the sense to detect that she had just been the butt of a space joke?

She ceased the work on hand, slightly pouting Maekawa-san, who looked from the side, relaxed her expression and squinted Instead of a quip, it was more a subtle smile:

“I look forward to it, Touwa Use your space power and send these rockets upward!”

Okay, class is over Now to the self-provided lunch Meme-san’s still not home

Looking at it this way: having done an unusual project and cooked dinner, it’s like a su

And I get to eat food irls This was unquestionably a three-pointer The food itself is trivial — what matters is the act

The conclusion was that everyone including me had to make a dish The maximum occupancy of the kitchen o, so we decided to have Maekawa-san and Ryuushi+-san go first, then me and Erio next

Erio and I sat in the kitchen’s chairs, appreciating the beauty in front of us Sitting fro the classmates in apron, I savoured the taste of youth Maekawa-san still had the lab coat though