Chapter 11 Consolation Party
“…So, our first term ended rather quickly, but…”
We were in the clubroom as Yozora said that with her usual sullen voice.
It was Yozora, Sena, Yukimura, Rika, Kobato, Maria, and I (aka all of us) in the clubroom.
“That’s not the end of the year for us yet, since we’re on a two term system and all.”
Today is July 12th, and it’ll be summer break starting tomorrow.
Just as Sena said, Saint Chronica is on a two-term system in which the first term is from April to the start of October, and the second is the rest of the year.
We didn’t have any big tests or ceremonies in July, just like a three-term school would do, and even today, the day before summer break, classes were held normally after which we all assembled here in the clubroom.
“Who cares about that.”
Yozora said, with a frown on her face.
“…As you should know, the goal of our Neighbors Club is ‘to make friends’.”
She looked around at us, and then said,
“…So, who in here made a friend? Is there anyone who has plans to have a normal summer with their friends?”
Silence.
Nobody said a word.
“…Actually… forget making friends, I’m pretty sure my reputation got even worse.”
I said along with a little sigh.
There’s all kinds of rumors like how I supposedly raped Yozora and Sena, that I forced Yukimura to be my errand boy, that I raped Rika too, that I made a move on a sister here, and even that I make a little girl wear goth loli clothes and walk around school like that…
“…I had the same thing happen just a little while ago where I overheard some girls in my class saying ‘You know that Kashiwazaki from Class 5? I heard she’s going out with that yankee guy, gyahaha!’ I’m going to… kill them.”
Said Sena with a heavy look to her eyes.
“Ahh… um, sorry, I guess…”
I gave a little apology and then,
“I-it’s not like it’s something you have to apologize for, god damn it!”
Yelled Sena whose face was red for some reason.
“I have also noticed the taunting from my peers has gotten worse than before.”
“Eh!?”
I was stunned at what Yukimura said.
The ‘taunting’ Yukimura is talking about is from the boys in his class not knowing how to treat him, who looks exactly like a girl on the outside, and deciding to just avoid him, but… that’s gotten worse?
“Once in a while when I go to bring food and yankee to Aniki, they’ll try to get in my way saying ‘You don’t have to do that anymore you know’ and other stuff like that. Serving as Aniki’s errand boy is my true purpose in life. Getting in my way is rather cruel of them.”
“…I see.”
“Please do not be alarmed. I have a firm will and will not give in to such cowardly threats. In order to become a true man, I intend of serving you for the rest of my life, Aniki.”
“Uh-huh… Well, keep up the good work…”
I get the feeling it’d be a waste of time to try and convince him otherwise at this point.
“…Kukuku… I never intended on colluding with humans anyway… A solitary noble of the night, whose only friend is the darkness… that is who I am…”
“Haa, we did a bunch of stuff too…”
Sena ignored Kobato’s chuckling, and let out a sigh.
“…Wait, we did something?” I asked.
“Of course, we did tons of stuff. You know, like… we played that game… we played another game… did that acting practice… played another game… had that short story relay, went to karaoke…”
“Basically it was all just playing around, wasn’t it?”
Rika said, without a moment’s hesitation.
“Ahaha. You guys really are just a bunch of trash!”
Maria laughed while munching on her potato chips.
Yozora smacked Maria on the head with her flyswatter without saying a word.
Maria then ran over to me while crying.
“O-Onii-chan! Yozora hit me!! She’s just a fly covered in poop, but she hit my wise head with her flyswatter! Stupid fly Yozora hit me with her flyswatter!”
“Maria, the one who calls others a fly is the real fly.”
Yozora coolly retorted.
“Eh!? T-then poop! That piece of poop Yozora hit me, a wise fly, with her shit-swatter, and- W-wait, huhh!? I can’t keep track of it anymore!”
Maria grabbed her head in confusion.
Unfortunately, I can’t say you look all that wise, Maria.
“Hmph, I’m not giving an annoying brat like you potato chips anymore. And to think, I even brought some special consommé flavored ones today too…”
“C-Consommé!? You mean it’s not like those ones with just a little salt on them!?”
Maria opened her eyes wide in shock.
Yozora took the consommé-flavored potato chips out of her bag.
“Indeed. However, it appears as though you don’t want them. Too bad, I guess I’ll have to eat them myself.”
“I do! I want them!!”
“You want them that bad? So greedy… If you want them that badly, then get on your knees and pray to me. If you do, then I shall allow you to bask in their glory.”
“Please give me those consommé-flavored potato chips, Yozora-sama!”
Maria did as she was told, and prayed to Yozora on her knees.
“Very well. Then as I said you may now bask in their glory.”
“Yay~!”
To Maria’s sparkling eyes, Yozora replied,
“…Here you go. Feel free to bask all you want.”
Yozora raised the bag of potato chips she was holding above her head.
“…How old are you?”
“Fueh? Ha? Heh? ???????”
Maria had a completely stupefied look on her face, and then after about 10 seconds she snapped out of it.
Then she made a shocked face and said,
“Ahh! Bask! I can definitely bask in them like this! So that’s what you meant! You’re pretty smart, aren’t you!”
“…She makes some really weird reactions sometimes doesn’t she…”
Yozora made a slightly awkward face after holding the potato chips up for 10 seconds.
“Yozora, is tricking little girls like her fun for you?”
Sena asked while giving Yozora a little glare, who then went “Hmph.” and said,
“It was just a joke. Here, take them.”
She threw the bag of consommé flavored potato chips at Maria.
“Yay~!”
Maria happily opened the bag of potato chips, then stopped her hands all of a sudden and said,
“…I shouldn’t have opened them… I won’t be able to get potato chips during summer break, so I should’ve saved them for a while longer…”
Maria said, depressed, causing the rest of our faces to cloud over.
“Now that I think about it, you’re right. Kodaka-senpai and I won’t be able to flirt for 40 whole days…”
“I won’t be able to be Aniki’s errand boy will I…”
Rika and Yukimura said, both with a lonely tone to their voice.
“…Wait, hold it Rika! Don’t make it sound like we’ve been flirting before!”
“Our fun little dissection, drug testing, and body remodeling will all have to be postponed…”
“No, not postponed, none of that is ever going to happen!!”
“Haa~…”
Rika ignored my comment and let out a bored sigh.
That little…
“…Geez… I was trying not to think about it too…”
Sena pursed her lips.
As she did, Yozora made a puzzled look on her face and tilted her head.
“…What are you all talking about? We’re having club activities in the summer too.”
…Eh?
“…We’re still doing stuff? In the summer?”
“Of course we are.”
Said Yozora in her usual casual manner to the rest of us staring blankly at her.
“The track and field club, band club, theatre club, and a bunch of others all have club activities in the summer, don’t they? Why would only we take a break?”
“No, well… There’s no tournament or anything like that we need to prepare for, and we don’t even have set activities, so I just figured we wouldn’t do anything over the break…”
“Hmph, how naive Kodaka. Do you think we’ll be able to reach our goal like that?”
“Ugeh! Then does that mean you’re all coming here in the summer too!? I thought I’d be able to nap in peace with the A.C. on!”
Maria did a 180 from her sad face to a look of utter disgust.
Then Yozora said,
“Besides, summer is the season normals really go out and do things. If we don’t practice for when we manage to make friends and become normal, their level of normalcy will be too high for any of us to handle. It might even kill you depending on the situation.”
“Now I get it. It’s the same as putting a hot liquid into a glass cup, and having it shatter because of rapid expansion from the heat.”
“Yes, that’s exactly right.”
I wasn’t quite sure what Rika and Yozora were going on about.
But, in any case, we’ll be holding club activities over the summer as well.
I’ll be seeing this hopeless bunch all summer too I guess.
…I surprised myself when I realized that made me feel a little bit relieved.
“But, well, we can end things here for today. We were unable to make friends before summer break. Let’s think about why we couldn’t, and work to improve our club activities in the future.”
Yozora said, to which Sena replied “Hold on.” and raised her hand.
“What do you want, Meat?”
“I think it’s because Yozora is too incompetent~”
Yozora’s eyebrow twitched for a second, and then,
“…I see. To tell you the truth, I have a few ideas about why we failed as well. One is because you’re too stupid, another is because you’re too much of a retard, another is because you’re too annoying, and another is because you, Meat, are such an incredibly incompetent imbecile whose very existence has no value whatsoever to our club or the world at large.”
“D-did you have to go that far!?”
Sena started getting teary-eyed.
“…You’re right, I guess that was a bit much.”
Yozora coolly nodded her head.
After looking like she was deeply reflecting on her actions for a while, she then said,
“Yes… That was a bit much for me… Even though I know it’d be impossible to perfectly explain just how pathetic of an existence you are to this world no matter how hard I try, I still wasted my time with my earlier remarks. Saying you’re an idiot, or a retard, or annoying, or an imbecile, or a worthless existence, or a half-wit, trash, or lower than a fly, or a maggot, or a piece of shit, or a walking shit factory, or a disposable Dutch Wife is truly a waste of time. Wasting precious oxygen insulting you is an extremely inexcusable act to our planet. It is the most sinful use of oxygen in the world. Amen.”
“Gh…. Ughhhh….”
Sena’s face twisted with anger, and then,
“Moron! Yozora, you moron!!
Sena gave us her usual childish insults, and ran out of the clubroom crying.
“…Hmph, always a hopeless case isn’t she…”
I noticed that Yozora, who said that line as though spitting it out, actually had a faint but gentle looking smile on her face.
After Sena left, we all killed time as usual doing whatever we felt like in the clubroom.
While wondering whether or not we should do something special for our last club activity before summer break, I remembered all the things we’d done up until now.
It’s been just over a month since I ran into Yozora talking to her air friend.
It hasn’t been that long, but… in that time I met Sena, Yukimura, Rika, and Maria. We did all sorts of pathetic things, and… somehow it feels like we’ve spent a lot of time together already.
I wonder if it’ll stay like this for a while longer.
“Yozora.”
I casually called out to Yozora, who was reading her book in front of me.
“Hm?” she replied without lifting her head from her book.
“It’s been a fun month. Thanks.”
…
…Yozora didn’t say anything back, though she did raise her book a bit making it seem like she was trying to hide her face.
I noticed that her ears were read, and unintentionally let out a little chuckle.
As I did, the door to the clubroom flew open and re-entered the clubroom.
Sena quickly walked over to me and said,
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Kodaka.”
“What is it?”
“You said something about coming over to meet Papa before, didn’t you?”
“Ah!”
I did say that when we went to the pool together.
I heard that when Kobato and I enrolled in Saint Chronica Academy, Sena’s father, who is also our dad’s old friend and the headmaster of this school, pulled some strings for us, so I’ve been thinking I should stop by and at least say thanks to him.
“I told Papa about it the other day, and he said you should come over since we’ll have free time over summer break. I think he’s been wanting to meet you too.”
“Oh, he does?”
“Yeah. So just let me know when you want to come over.”
“Gotcha.”
I gave my quick reply to Sena, but as I did,
“H-hold it right there!”
Yozora let out an incredibly panicked sounding voice.
“W-why is Kodaka going to Meat’s house t-to, m-meet her father!?”
I was confused as to why Yozora was so curious about me going to Sena’s house.
Sena then said, “Hmmm…?” in a tone that made it sound like there was some deeper meaning to it.
“Nah, it’s just that when we—”
“Kodaka, keep it a secret. It could cause problems and all.”
I tried to explain the situation while still confused about Yozora and Sena’s behavior, but Sena quickly stopped me mid-sentence.
“Ah, you’re right…”
She’s definitely got a point. Going around telling people her father pulled some strings for us when we came to enroll here probably isn’t the best idea.
“Mu… A secret…?”
Yozora made an unhappy look on her face, to which Sena curtly replied,
“It’s got nothing to do with you, Yozora.”
I could see a little smile creep up on her face as she said that.
“Heh heh, Kodaka coming to my house and meeting my papa has absolutely nothing to do with you Yozora~ This is something between me and Kodaka.”
“Gh…”
I tilted my head in confusion at Yozora who was upset for some reason, and Sena who looked triumphant for some reason.
“Anyway Kodaka, that’s all I wanted to tell you so just call me later, ok?”
“S-sure.”
Sena walked out of the clubroom happily waving her hand at us.
Yozora watched her from behind with an upset look still on her face.
…In any case, that’s how I, who now had a feeling something bad was going to happen in the near future, reached a turning point in my life at Saint Chronica Academy along with the start of summer break.