Wednesday. After seeing his mother off at the airport.
Sakurai returned home.
It wouldn't be difficult for him to finish the self-reflection essays within a week—only three thousand words total. It was now late June, and summer vacation would begin in late July. He could use the suspension to get his motorcycle license.
He had experienced studying and living alone before. To put it in a more chuunibyou way, Sakurai Saki was already a strong person who could endure long periods of solitude.
After buying some groceries on the way, Sakurai returned home. He separated the vegetables and meat, put them away, then went to the living room and turned on the TV. Later, he had to go to the Five Sisters' home to tutor them, but it was still morning—no need to rush.
He lay on the sofa, hugging a blue orca pillow, and watched TV.
On the screen, a street interview program was playing.
"...May I ask both of you, what are your thoughts on the consistently high divorce rate in this island nation?"
The interviewees were two high school girls together.
"...We're still high school students. This topic is too early for us."
"If you're going to get divorced, why get married? Isn't it better to be single?" one of the girls, dressed like a gyaru, said. "My boyfriend eats loudly, and in the summer, he smells bad. Anyway, I'd rather die than marry him. Once I get tired of him, I'll definitely find a reliable one. Oh, you'll blur our faces, right?"
Reporter: "This is live broadcast."
"..." The gyaru showed a desperate expression.
Sakurai pressed the button to change the channel.
"Super delicious ramen recipe..." — TV Tokyo.
Switch.
"A fire broke out at a construction site near Tokyo Minato Ward. Fortunately, it started in the middle of the night, and there were no casualties throughout. The site has been sealed off..."
Switch.
"New movie—'This Year's Class 2-F' is expected to be released in four months. Director Kinoshita intends to reflect social reality..."
Boring.
Finding no interesting programs, Sakurai turned off the TV.
He hadn't slept well last night, but thankfully, his superpower had no side effects today. It was called Clairvoyance—he could observe any situation on Earth, but he couldn't interfere remotely or hear sounds. Quite useless.
Out of boredom, and it being lunchtime, Sakurai decided to use Clairvoyance to observe the Student Council Room.
In the image, there were currently two people there: Ishigami Yu and Shirogane Miyuki.
Student Council Room.
Ishigami Yu held a manga, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Miyuki-senpai, is it normal for a romantic comedy manga to have no accidental exposure even after fifty chapters?"
The one in his hand—let alone accidental exposure—he couldn't even see the edge of the underwear.
"Ishigami, this is the Student Council Room." Shirogane Miyuki took a sip of milk. "Bringing manga in is against the rules."
He hadn't heard what the other person was talking about.
"But, Miyuki-senpai, don't you think it's strange? Fifty chapters! Not a single bit of fan service!" Ishigami Yu held the manga above his head, trying to adjust the 3D angle to change the gravity of the skirt in the 2D world.
This was undoubtedly a foolish act. But Shirogane Miyuki didn't think he was foolish. After careful consideration, he said in disbelief, "Not a single bit of fan service?!"
Is this even a qualified romance manga? In anime, usually by the seventh or eighth episode, it should be time for a swimsuit episode! This manga doesn't even show underwear?
"Show it! Author! Show your underwear! What are you doing?!" Shirogane Miyuki, holding his milk, sat down next to Ishigami Yu.
Ishigami showed him a few pages. "Only thighs. Although the absolute territory between the knee-high socks and the pleated skirt is very tempting, and the author's depiction of feet is perfect, but…"
Shirogane Miyuki finished his sentence: "No underwear."
"However, it says here…" Ishigami Yu looked at the spot he was pointing to and read out each word: "Nipple, X, Release, Forbidden."
"Don't say 'milk' when I'm drinking milk, hey!" Shirogane Miyuki retorted.
You got it backward, Miyuki-senpai. Ishigami Yu said, "The chapter you're talking about is the bathroom episode. But never mind—just see for yourself."
Shirogane Miyuki took the manga and flipped through a few pages.
"Why is the fog so thick?"
Let alone the important parts—even the upper body and thighs were covered by fog.
"This bathhouse has really good quality!" Shirogane Miyuki gritted his teeth.
Mid-sentence, a knock came at the Student Council Room door.
"Good afternoon, Senpai. I'm here to deliver…" Miko had just opened the door.
Behind the door—
"I can't see any nipples at all!!" Shirogane Miyuki shouted.
Thud. The documents scattered all over the floor.
"President Shirogane…" Miko's face was panicked. She was so scared she collapsed onto the floor.
Shirogane Miyuki turned his head.
Cold sweat dripped down his face.
"Uh, Iino, we're talking about…"
"Don't eat me. My chest is very small, and my nipples are also very small…" Miko's face was full of fear, and she retreated toward the door.
Shirogane Miyuki turned to look at Ishigami, then realized Ishigami was also stunned.
"Ishigami!! Quick!! Keep Iino here!!"
"Yes!!" Ishigami shouted as he rushed toward the door.
Just as Miko was about to escape the Student Council Room—
Thump! The door was slammed shut.
Iino Miko clutched her chest, curled up in a ball, her voice like a startled fawn. "No~"
"What you're doing is illegal, my father is a judge…"
"Don't come over. Don't come near me!!"
Seeing the misunderstanding deepen, Shirogane Miyuki quickly took the manga and showed it to her. "Iino!! Look at this!!"
One minute later.
Miko, blushing, put the manga away. "Bringing this kind of manga to school is against the rules." Her face grew redder and redder, steam almost coming out of her head. "And you're actually talking about a girl's… a girl's underwear. This is bad! This is wrong! Shameless!"
In front of her, Ishigami Yu and Shirogane Miyuki knelt on the floor, listening intently to her lecture.
But… this manga really wasn't excessive. A manga without accidental exposure couldn't even be considered a manga. This was a shonen manga!… Iino probably didn't understand these things, right?
"Why can't you two learn more from Sakurai-senpai?! He never looks at these things!"
"Ishigami! Don't think that just because you made a bit of a splash at the Sports Festival, you can ignore school discipline!" Miko pointed at Ishigami and shouted loudly.
The two did not refute.
Sakurai (Senpai) was a perfect existence in her heart.
As for whether Sakurai Saki would read strange magazines or manga—the two were indeed unsure.
In the rented apartment.
Sakurai Saki watched the whole thing. He had probably guessed their conversation, but why did Miko always happen to stumble upon strange scenes so coincidentally?
Was she the reincarnation of a door god?
"I don't think I finished the novel I bought last time," Sakurai Saki muttered to himself.
Then he stood up and rummaged through the small bookshelf next to the sofa. This bookshelf was usually for his bedtime reading—he would read light novels for a while before going to sleep.
After getting the book, Sakurai Saki lay back on the sofa and started flipping through it. Recalling the expressions of the two flipping through the manga earlier, Sakurai tilted his head, resting it on the orca pillow, and pondered—
Why look for non-existent things in shonen manga? There's so much of it in reality.
He really couldn't understand what high school students thought these days.
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