https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9531ga/72/
Sorry it’s been so long. My new teaching job kept me busy for a long time, and when I got used to it, I decided to start fresh with a new series before getting back into the swing of things. I don’t know how regularly I’ll be able to update a chapter, but I will put all my effort into trying to make sure a new chapter comes out at least once a week. In the meantime, have a nice day everyone!
Russian Pencil Case
We’ve made it past the crashing yuri waves of yesterday. All in all, it marks a huge change in my yuri harem plan.
The feeding competition between Yuzuriha and Honoka. The mouth-to-mouth Hi-Chew delivery. My moment behind the curtain with Saki. Ranko’s suspicions….
But, right now isn’t the time to be reminiscing about yesterday….
It’s a short moment of free time found during our homeroom. Shibuya-sensei clearly and firmly made several important announcements to us from the front of the room, completely unlike the shy smiling teacher I found photographed in the clubroom, but right now I wasn’t focused on my beautiful teacher. I’m supposed to be acting the honor student, so what could have me acting out of character?
Using the tall Ranko-chan sitting in front of me as a cover, I had secretly begun reading a book. It’s just like those scenes from anime where the character is secretly eating their lunch during class! How sinful! Am I seriously okay falling to this level of delinquintism!? …..This gag is more embarrassing than I thought it’d be. Thank goodness I never said any of that out loud….
The book is something that actually came out just yesterday…. I’m a big fan of the author. Their last book was able to skillfully depict the pure love-hate drama that is unique to love stories featuring same sex couples. And the icing to make this situation especially sweet–this book doesn’t come out until tomorrow.
I managed to score an unexpected early copy. I never thought I’d be so lucky. Since I was able to score it on a Friday, my plan to spend my entire day off reading it completely collapsed.
I was unable to shake off the excitement that came with being able to read it, and most of my homeroom ended up being eaten away without me realizing it. All that being the case, I really should’ve seen what was coming next.
“Hey~ Hey~” I was caught off guard when Honoka appeared out of nowhere, and “Eh, w-….what?” I ended up acting incredibly suspicious without thinking.
“Yuu-chan, watcha reading…. Is that an erotic book….?”
Why is this sexual harassment-prone girl trying to act all innocent all of the sudden? She was covering her face while peering through her hands and squealing “Dirty~” at me. It was obvious from one look at her though that she was extremely happy and oozing curiosity. A round of sexual harassment is in my future.
“There’s no chance I’d read something like that. To begin with, just look at the size….”
“I’m curious about Yuu-chan’s erotic book~. Let me read it too!”
“Didn’t you hear me….!? And can you please not yell that so loud!?”
It’d be a lifelong shame if I was reading an erotic book while at school. And if rumors about this spread in the wrong way, being humiliated might be the least of my problems….
I quickly put the novel in my bag while Honoka grabbed my hand to bring me to a stop.
“Ah, why are you putting it away~? So it really is perverted….”
“The only perverted thing here is you!”
Just what you’d expect from someone in the throes of puberty. In my head I always think of teenage boys as being the ones who get all excited over erotic books, but I wonder if girls are just as interested in sex.
But as for sharing this book with Honoka….I promptly slid the book back into my bag and closed the zipper.
“Come on~ Tell me what it is pret – ty – please~”
But that’s not going to be enough to shake off Honoka’s interest, and she let me know that by glomping onto my shoulders and whispering into my ear. I thought about my answer for a moment,
“It’s a philosophy novel.”
Because it depicts a homosexual relationship, I calmly gave an answer that could barely be considered a lie. And just like I anticipated, Honoka took a step away from me with clear disgust.
“Philosophy~? Why would you read something like that? Trying to open your third eye? Looking to become a ninja monk~?”
“I like hearing about what drives human emotions and how we generate impulses that cannot be measured by standard logic.”
Again, this isn’t actually a lie but rather a roundabout way of describing impulses of love. When I finished rambling my string of smart-sounding words that made me look more scientific than I really am, Honoka made a face at me like she’d eaten a bitter persimmon. A good look for her with her orange hair.
“Ech. That sounds really hard. You better be careful or else reading something like that will make you an idiot.”
“Ahaha, thanks for worrying. I doubt I’ll ever be as bad as Ahonoka-chan, but I’ll watch out.”
I wondered if that was too harsh a joke as I was saying it. I made sure to deliberately emphasize her good points while giving as refreshing a smile as I could. If I do that, then….
“Ah! You’re making fun of me! Grr!”
She got angry although she’s still cute. As a matter of fact, her adding a, “I’m going to get mad!” just made her even cuter. The way she shows that anger is kind of similar to Saki-chan though.
“Ahaha. Sorry for teasing you. Really, it’s more interesting talking to you than reading some novel.”
I’ll try saying it with somewhat of a teasing consolation. I’m using the yuri I was just reading as a template to model myself off of.
“I-I don’t need that kind of follow-up!”
Although she quickly turned her face away from me, I could tell her cheeks had relaxed a little, and she seemed happy. Have I been able to keep my favorability up? And I was able to move past the talk about my novel too.
“Honoka, did you make your decision?”
While we were doing our thing, Ranko walked through the door and spoke up towards Honoka. Saki and Yuzuriha were walking right behind her. I guess they all went to the bathroom together. Hmmm? Did I become a social outcast at some point, and nobody told me? No, it’s more likely that they were just being thoughtful towards me since I was reading a book. These three are good friends who understand what a good sense of distance is.
“What’s up?”
I slipped myself into the conversation like it was natural that I’d take part in whatever they’re doing.
“That’s right! We’re holding a Russian pencil case competition, so you should come and join us!”
Honoka jammed her index finger at me while pulling out a folded sheet of loose-leaf paper from her pocket.
“Russian….pencil case?”
Are they preparing for some kind of game? I tried asking for more….will you stop twirling your finger in front of me like you’re trying to catch some dragonfly? Honoka-chan? Are my eyes spinning?
“We’re going to exchange pencil cases through….amida lottery! Guehehe! I’m going to get to completely strip down Yuu-kun’s pencil case….”1
With an incredibly creepy look on her face, Honoka was wriggling her fingers at me. Such busy hands….
“Just what do you think you’ll find in my pencil case….”
“Eh….? An erotic cutout of a sexy lady that you can gaze at in the middle of class whenever you want?”
“What a strangely specific and vivid answer….”
“Then secret notes?”
“That’s more realistic, but no, I’m smart enough to not need to cheat, unlike a certain someone.”
“Guh! ….Fine. It’ll all be fine anyway! I’ll just make Yuu-chan’s pencil case my own personal miracle item!”
“So you’re definitely getting it!?”
Ignoring my words, Honoka started waving her hands over the amida lottery while going, “Awawawa,” to imbue some sort of magic power into the paper. There is a part of me worried that she’s trying to cheat, but no matter what kind of ‘magic’ she uses, it’s not going to work with an amida ladder. Not as long as nobody’s done the ladder already yet. And Honoka’s not sly enough to come up with a trick for this. She’s also not very good with her hands.
“If we are going to do this, can we quickly get it done? Class is about to start again.”
Ranko couldn’t bear to watch this go on for much longer and urged us to start the game. I glanced over at the clock and saw that there were less than five minutes until our next class started.
“You’re right. Let’s leave the fool alone and get started.”
“Hmm….!? Who’s the fool!?”
“Who else but Ahonoka-chan?”
“I’m not a fool!”
“Then Ahoko?”2
“You’re still calling me a fool!”
She just kept yelling ‘fool’ over and over again, vocalizing her anger. But for now, I tilted my head and kept quiet.
“What’s with that questioning look!?”
I remained silent and averted my eyes.
“Hey, don’t you ignore me! If it’s like this….”
Honoka made herself look huge, making large prepatory movements as if she were doing a standing start in a short-distance race. If this’s what she’s doing, what’s coming next is obviously….oh no….”
“Guehehe~! Sexual harassment attack~!”
“That’s the name of your technique!?”
“Huff,” I made a small noise as I tried casually positioning myself to catch Honoka as she thrust into me. And then, “Uwa!” I pretended to be taken aback when she rammed in.
It all worked out perfectly with me falling back into a chair as she wrapped her arms around me into a hug. She rubbed her head against me while giggling, or rather, against my chest mostly…. I noticed Saki pout from the side as she watched what Honoka was doing.
“Ah, Hono-chan’s getting a head start!”
She ended up lightly smacking me instead of Honoka. Why’s that so cute? Just as cute as Honoka childishly whining as if she were a spoiled child being scolded by a parent.
But, that yuri yuri time would have to be short lived as Ranko cleared her throat.
“Skinship’s fine, but the only ones who haven’t filled out the amida lottery are Honoka and Yuriha right?”
“Fast….”
Just when did she finish making it? Ranko, slightly impatient, tapped the sheet of loose-leaf paper. Yuzuriha seemed to be especially looking forward to it, standing over the paper and unable to quite keep still.
“Then I should write it up here….”
I lifted Honoka off of me and wrote my name at the top of the ladder. Honoka came after me, writing a big letter ‘H’ at the top and drawing a circle around it. She was the only one of us who did anything like that so it looked extremely out of place and silly.
With all of us having our names on the paper, I traced my finger down the line to see who I whose pencil case I would be getting and it’s Honoka’s. Just what kind of universal power out there is trying to screw with me? Despite it’s simple, polka dot skin, the inside was crammed full of so many different vividly colored pens that it was way more trouble than it should’ve been to pull out one of the mechanical pencils I need….
“Hmm~ Yuzurin’s pencil case~?”
Meanwhile Honoka ended up getting Yuzuriha’s. A simple silver stationary set loaded down with a ton of silver keychains that all had a small chuuni-feeling to them.
An amida lottery is also called a ghost leg. I’m sure all of you have seen how this thing has been used. - A pun on Honoka’s name. Aho means fool, so Ahonoka is a combination of fool and her name. Ahoko sounds similar and combines the words aho for fool and ko for child.
Experimental Translations 