Chapter: 115. Preparation for the School League (3k8)
“It’s great that Nagi-Sister can participate in the school league! I also want to go to Hokkaido!”
After the morning class meeting.
Yukino cried out, leaning into Nagi’s embrace.
Since this time the school league is held in another school city, special students like Yukino, who have not yet awakened their abilities, cannot leave the Ark Academy to participate in the league.
Upon learning that Kanade chose to participate in the league, Nagi immediately signed up.
Surprisingly, neither Kanade nor Rin stopped her from participating this time. It seems she had left a significant psychological shadow on them, and this time they didn’t dare leave her alone in another place.
“Don’t worry~ I’ll buy some Hokkaido specialties for Yukino-chan~” Nagi gently placed Yukino’s head on her lap, giving her a knee pillow while softly stroking her head.
“Uu~ Nagi Mama~”
“Be good~”
…..
“…..Oh no, does Hoshimiya-san still look like an elementary school student?” A boy nearby was shocked, his pupils dilating.
“So? What are you trying to say?” His friend next to him had a bad premonition.
“A maternal, beautiful elementary school student mommy—don’t you think that’s the best!?”
“Police! Is there a police officer here? There’s a criminal waiting to happen!”
Meanwhile, in the class where Kanade was.
After the class meeting ended and the homeroom teacher Kurokawa left, Uemon, who sat a bit away from Kanade, walked over.
“Hey~ it’s the guy dating the loli fiend.”
Uemon greeted Kanade in his usual tone, so naturally that Kanade didn’t immediately react.
“…..Wait, did someone just label me with an outrageous title?”
“How could that be? As far as I know, you’re Hoshimiya-san’s boyfriend, aren’t you?”
“Please don’t say it as if little Nagi has other boyfriends! Plus, what does that have to do with this?”
“I heard Hoshimiya-san was acting a little strange while walking today… Hey, hey? Tsukimi-san? Why are you looking away?”
“I-it’s not what you think! This is slander!” Kanade turned her head away, loudly protesting.
“Well, well, in situations like this, let’s stay calm and consult the police~” Uemon patted Kanade’s shoulder to comfort her.
“Y-you’re right… for now, let’s report to the police about this slander…”
“Remember, when you see the police, you need to confess all the mistakes you’ve made—”
“—You mean you plan for me to turn myself in!?”
“Don’t worry, after the case is adjudicated, I, as your friend, will—bring flowers to your memorial!” Uemon gave a thumbs up.
“And I’m sentenced to death!?”
“Well, even if the judge thinks your crimes don’t warrant the death penalty, I believe many people will still be targeting your life.” Uemon explained: “It seems that many students have spontaneously formed a group called ‘Hoshimiya Nagi Supporter Group’ recently, and all members wish to take your head.”
“Why does Ark Academy allow such a suspicious-sounding group to be formed!?”
“They claim it’s not suspicious at all; they just believe in the doctrine that ‘Hoshimiya Nagi is the god of the new world.'”
“That’s exactly what I call suspicious!!!” Kanade retorted vigorously.
“However, it seems this group disbanded this morning.”
“That’s not surprising at all! How could Ark Academy allow such a questionable group to exist!”
“No, it’s said that Hoshimiya-san felt very troubled this morning and told them, ‘Kanade and I are truly in love, please don’t trouble Kanade anymore,’ so they disbanded on the spot.”
“It’s truly great that Ark Academy got rid of a strange club!!”
“But it seems they immediately reestablished a new club called ‘Kill Tsukimi Kanade, the Enviable Soul,’ which is currently submitting an application to the student council.”
“Isn’t that club name just too straightforwardly malicious against me!?”
After Nagi was infantilized and presented in a primary school appearance in front of the special students, strange groups like this one were rapidly increasing.
Even Kanade had heard about it; reportedly, on the morning of the first day back to school, the students in Nagi’s class were treating her as the class pet. By evening, almost the entire grade had become devoted followers of Nagi, which not only made Kanade sigh in admiration of her childhood friend’s unmatched charm but also raised a question—are there really so many lolicon enthusiasts in this school?
—Although she could understand it, since little Nagi is just so cute… N-no, that’s not right! I shouldn’t understand that!
—I’m not a lolicon! It’s just that my favorite little Nagi happened to change into a loli!
After venting her frustrations, Kanade sat back down in her chair, a bit out of breath.
At this moment, Uemon got straight to the point: “I heard you’re planning to participate in this year’s school league, Tsukimi?”
Among the special students, news related to the supernatural world spreads quickly.
Since Uemon already knows, it’s evident that most of the students in the special class have also learned this news.
“Have you decided on your team members?” Uemon continued to ask.
Although the school league involves sending students from each school to compete, students participate in teams. A team can have a maximum of four members and a minimum of just one.
However, even if a team only has one person, when it comes to team matches, that person will need to participate alone.
“Ah, I should be teaming up with little Nagi and Rin…” Kanade honestly replied.
To increase her chances of winning, Kanade chose to team up with Rin, especially since Rin won the school league championship last year.
“This year, everyone seems less enthusiastic about participating in the school league…”
“Well… it’s because last year Rin went overboard…” Kanade nodded, understanding the situation.
Rin had just entered high school last year, qualifying to participate in the school league.
In her first competition, Rin made an astonishing debut, sweeping the entire venue with her absolute strength far beyond other supernatural powers, shocking a league traditionally focused on showcasing abilities and combat styles. She also broke Ark Academy’s record by becoming a TOP 10 contender in her first year, and this year she directly ranked No.2.
The school league had returned to focusing on “strength” because of Rin, which caused many students to lose motivation.
After all, not all special class students possess abilities suitable for combat.
But this is also bad news.
Because it means that this year, the majority of the students participating from other schools are pure powerhouses.
In fact, many schools have even made bold statements that this year they must defeat Rin to redeem themselves.
Thus, this year’s school league has become known as the “most intense one in history” among students.
—But regardless, I must uncover the truth behind the “protagonist plan”…
Thinking this, Kanade turned her head to look out the window. Through the window, she could see many school staff members in dark blue uniforms busily working on the playground below.
They are technical staff from the special circle SEMA, strengthening the monitoring and defense systems across Ark Academy’s internal domain to prevent another monster invasion like yesterday’s, and providing extraordinary items that can have significant effects in the realm of time and space.
For now, Ark Academy doesn’t need to worry about fantastical monsters invading like they did yesterday.
————————————-
After school.
With no club to join yet, Nagi had the opportunity to engage in free activities.
She thus declined Yukino’s invitation to check out the club with her and headed alone to the medical area of Zone Zero at Ark Academy.
Waiting for her there was Amane’s figure.
“…..What is this about?”
Amane, who had changed into her school uniform and was ready for discharge, looked at Nagi holding a bouquet of flowers, confused.
Although she had learned from her phone that Nagi intended to visit her, seeing her with a bouquet piqued her curiosity.
“Of course, it’s to celebrate your discharge, Amane. What else would it be?” Nagi tilted her head in response.
“Oh, is that so… thank you. I thought, after not seeing each other for a week, you got married and left me this bouquet as a gift…” Amane relaxed slightly and reached to take the bouquet from Nagi’s hands.
“Hah? What nonsense are you talking about?”
“After all, I’ve heard that, you know… there’s a loli-loving boyfriend who makes his loli girlfriend weak in the knees to go to school…,” Amane said playfully, casting a sidelong glance at Nagi.
At this, Nagi turned her head away, feeling guilty.
“Wow, these sheets are really white~” Nagi exclaimed with a serious expression.
“……Is that really true?”
“N-no! There are very complicated reasons behind this!”
“I thought you’d say ‘there are very complicated misunderstandings behind this’…” Amane grinned while looking at the blushing loli beauty in front of her, reflecting that her brother in this state was practically committing a crime. If a boy with weak willpower saw her innocent and confused reaction, he would surely turn into a lolicon on the spot!
“I heard you’re planning to participate in this year’s school league?” Although teasing her loli brother was fun, Amane decided to set that aside and asked about serious matters.
Amane understood her brother’s personality; he definitely wasn’t interested in the fame from something like the school league. After all, if he really had that kind of ambition, even the entire world together might not be his match.
“Yes, because that’s a valid opportunity to leave Ark Academy.” Nagi nodded, further explaining: “I plan to take out something I’ve hidden in the past.”
“……Something you hid in the past?” Amane’s mouth twitched at her words: “That sounds threatening…”
“And, I have something I want to ask of you, Amane.”
“What is it?”
“In the future, could you help me deliver those things to Kanade-kun and Rin?”
“Why me…?”
“Because if I take them out myself, I wouldn’t be able to explain clearly… Instead, using you as someone from the Tenkain family, it would be very normal for you to know about some special items, wouldn’t it?” Nagi said with a mischievous smile.
“…..Brother, you’re really good at giving orders. Were you like this in the past too?” Amane raised both hands in a surrender gesture, agreeing to Nagi’s request.
In response to her answer, Nagi just naturally turned her head and replied indifferently: “Well, who knows…”
……
……
At night.
Kanade originally planned to invite Amane to join her team, but unexpectedly got turned down.
“I’m sorry, Tsukimi-senpai, but this time I have other people I want to team up with…” On the phone, Amane explained apologetically.
However, her reason was naturally a lie.
The real reason was that she needed to keep her schedule separate from Kanade and the others to retrieve those few items.
If she teamed up with Kanade, her arrangements would become complicated, not to mention that Kanade’s team includes that “Hinata Rin,” under her sharp observance, Amane couldn’t guarantee her actions wouldn’t be exposed.
So a more rational approach was to find someone else to team up with for the school league.
“Ah, no, Amane doesn’t need to apologize; rather, it’s my fault for making a last-minute decision…”
After hanging up the phone, Kanade looked awkwardly at the team formation list.
Her name, along with Rin’s and Nagi’s, was already filled in, but the last slot was still empty.
Logically, even with just three people, they could still participate, but clearly, a four-person team would be more powerful and have a greater chance of winning.
Initially, she wanted to invite Ayako.
But the latter had cheerfully turned her down, and her reason was quite sound—
Her purpose for this trip was to get close to members of the special circle SEMA’s board, and if her team included Ayako as an “insider,” it might make them wary.
As for Seiryu, not to mention that he had already lost the power of Aoi and significantly reduced his combat effectiveness, he also wasn’t fully recovered, making it likely he wouldn’t be able to join in time for the school league.
Kanade knew a lot of people, but those she was close enough to ask to team up for the school league were few and far between, not to mention they needed to have battle-ready abilities.
“Could it be… that I have to invite him?” At the last moment, Kanade thought of someone’s name and hesitantly picked up her phone.
……
……
“Uh, while it’s not impossible, I have one request… can you find a chubby beautiful girl to invite me over the phone?” Uemon’s reluctant voice came from the other end of the line.
“I’m sorry to say that I don’t know any of those kinds of curvy beauties you have in mind…”
