NOVEL NEXT 3-12: Hidden Circumstances < Food < ??? (2/2)
“Hey, let go–”
Shinichi pulled the student toward him with sheer strength, and then coldly looked him in the eye.
When the student saw his cold face devoid of emotion, he gulped.
“Is it you?” Shinichi asked.
“H-huh?” The student replied.
“I’m asking if you people are the ones who kicked the table.”
Even Shinichi’s voice was devoid of emotion. It was as if he was only truly ascertaining the fact.
In fact, even his eyes said so, but the students couldn’t comprehend that, so they thought he was only acting.
“Are you blind!? I did it right in front of you!” The student angrily spat back.
Hence, to them it was a foolish question.
But because of that Shinichi forced the student down to the ground and hit him toward the floor.
“Wh!?”
Never did the student think that he would suddenly find his face right next to the floor.
He was so close to it that he was almost kissing the dirty floor covered in Shinichi’s food.
“From the way you spoke just now, that was intentional, wasn’t it?”
I’m neither a demon nor an ogre, so if it was an accident, just apologize and I’ll forgive you.”
That was Shinichi’s last warning as his foot bore heavily on the student’s head.
That was his last act of mercy, as well as a failsafe to keep himself from unjustly hurting others.
If this were Falandia, this person would apologize here.
Shinichi didn’t survive the otherworld through communication (Physical Force) alone.
Unfortunately though, he was in Earth right now, so he didn’t show off his strength.
“Ha? What the hell are you going on about? Hurry up and get out of there already, and show that D Rank idiot your strength,” another student said.
“Damn it! Move your leg! Shit, why can’t I get up!?” The student beneath Shinichi’s foot yelled.
Unable to move, the student could only whirl his arms as Shinichi’s foot bore on him.
From an outsider’s perspective, it looked as if Shinichi was pushing his foot onto the student while he sat.
It didn’t seem as if he was exerting himself. In fact, any student should be able to brush that foot aside, much less a student of the special class.
Of course, that would only hold true if the force Shinichi bore on the student was normal.
“W-What are you doing!? Move your foot aside already, you bastard!”
“Aren’t you just using a skill or something? That’s cheap!”
“…You people sure don’t know how to listen.
All I asked was for you to apologize for wasting food.
Just say ‘sorry’. There’s no reason to make such a fuss.”
The other student yelled when it seemed as if the student being held down by Shinichi truly couldn’t move.
In response, Shinichi could only shake his head and sigh as he quietly spoke to the students with a look of pity.
“What are you saying! You’re the one who was ignoring us!”
“Right! It’s because someone like you, a lowly all D, shamed Padyuel-san!!”
“…………I don’t understand a thing you’re saying.
I never ignored you and neither did I ever shame that ringlet curls.
You sure those translator gadgets of yours are working? I don’t think they’re translating my words correctly.”
Those words only added fuel to the flames, but to Shinichi that was the truth.
He never heard these students talking to him, and while he did play with ringlet curls, he never shamed her.
This was the truth as far as Shinichi was concerned, but to these students, they were nothing more than a provocation.
“Just now, and this time too… Just how much are you planning to make a fool of us!?”
“I thought you would eventually wake up to reality, so I wasn’t taking you seriously, but to think you would actually take advantage of our kindness!”
In their anger, the students took out their fosters and attached it to their arms.
Shinichi slowly trampled on the student he was stepping on as he stood up.
“Oh?
So, in other words, you fully intend on fighting despite knowing you’re facing someone beneath you?
You students who were chosen to be members of the special class are intentionally going to pick a fight with little normal class me?
This all D transfer student that knows nothing?”
Those words seemed to show disdain for himself, but they bore heavily on the pride of these students before him, stopping them from what they were about to do.
Shinichi knew these sort very well.
People confident in their social status and abilities, who believed others would bow to them because of these things. These sort usually had a lot of pride.
The easiest way to shut them up without using (Physical Force) was to make use of that pride.
That’s why Shinichi said that.
“So the special class students were the sort who would gang up on a lone pitiful student!”
“Tch, you bastard!”
‘You were chosen, a special class of students placed above the rest, and yet you’re actually picking on a weakling?’ Shinichi words seemed to imply.
These students worked tirelessly to acquire the position they had now.
How much blood and sweat did they shed just to have what they had today? If they were to attack Shinichi, they would be throwing all of that to waste.
These students did not wish to dominate over the weak with the power they’ve gained.
They just wanted him to bear in mind the position they had.
“Truly a detestable tongue, but your words ring true.
I don’t like it, but it seems any further talk is meaningless.
We’ll compensate you for your—”
“—That’s not what I asked for. I told you to apologize.”
“Gah!?”
The calmest and most leader-like of the students tried to wrap things up, but all Shinichi was asking for was an apology, so his efforts were in vain.
Shinichi bore his foot down once more on the man he was stepping on and glared coldly at the leader-like student.
“W-Why are you being so obstinate?
It was just some rice.
We can pay you as much as you…”
“Are your translators really broken?”
“GU, GAH!”
The students unintentionally faltered as they argued, but Shinichi was fed up with them.
He walked over the student beneath him and approached the students.
“*Gulp.”
Shinichi only walked up to them near enough to be about an arm’s length, but the students felt like they were choking.
His gaze was calm, yet in them burned a silent wrath. His cold voice, his cold gaze, either one of them bore heavily on the students.
The students could not comprehend why, but for some reason, sweat slid down their back, and they could not move an inch.
“I am telling you to apologize.
I’m sorry. It was our fault. Forgive me. Sorry (Said in English).
Are your translators getting these?
When you do something bad, you apologize. That’s the way it’s supposed to be for everyone.”
Is there something wrong? Shinichi implied as he spoke calmly yet powerfully.
That gaze of his bore down on them as if it were saying that a half-hearted rebuttal would not be forgiven.
Just a little, those emotionless eyes seemed to laugh, causing the students to let out a small shriek.
Shinichi was still relatively calm, however. As proof of that, he was “still” able to calmly make his decisions.
Which is why what Shinichi was doing now was nothing more than the normal procedure from “his perspective”.
“L-L-Like I’d know! Let’s go!’
The student said despite panicking, almost as if it was too shameful to bow his head to someone lower ranked than he.
Though, truly, it seemed as if it was only through sheer will power that the students were able to turn their back and walk away in hurried steps.
Unfortunately for them, Shinichi wouldn’t let them go so easily.
Aiming at the student farthest away, Shinichi unhesitatingly took his foster and threw it.
“Term-!?”
The terminal flew through the air and splendidly hit the back of the student’s head.
As the student tumbled onto the ground, the fleeing group of students tripped on the fallen student one after another, falling over like dominoes.
Apparently, they weren’t that nimble.
“Who said you could leave?”
“Eek!”
Without even making a sound, Shinichi stood before the fallen students and looked down at them as he spoke with that ever calm voice of his.
His face looked terrifying when looked at from below, causing the students to scream out in fear.
The student closest to him was so scared he shuddered. He tried to crawl away, but Shinichi’s foot kept him rooted firmly onto the ground.
“Ow- Eek!?”
“Apologize. Say sorry. Just that and you’ll be able to go home.
I’m not telling you to lick the floor clean, you know.
Or what? Would you prefer I have you do that instead?”
“Ah, no, st–”
The corners of Shinichi’s mouth lifted up, but his eyes weren’t smiling.
Like that Shinichi stepped on the male student, keeping him from moving.
The male student couldn’t understand why, but his body wouldn’t stop shaking.
Because of that he couldn’t move his mouth properly.
“S-Stop it. If you use violence, we will—!?”
The leader-like male student approached to intervene, but Shinichi grabbed him by his school uniform’s collars and lifted him up.
“Uwaah, what!?”
“Why are you acting as if this were someone else’s business. May I remind you that you’re also one of the culprits.”
Immediately, the leader-like male student tried to pry off Shinichi’s hand with both of his arms, but he couldn’t even get him to budge.
It was almost as if the arm holding him was that of a bronze statue’s. It was so hard his meager attempts were powerless before it.
“W-Why? …My strength is B+!?”
“…It seems you people really don’t know how to listen.
Good grief, what am I to do with you? Well, alright, I’ll be the adult.
As long as you apologize, I’ll let your whole group off.”
“This is the strength of a D Rank? This is impossible! Impossible!”
The leader-like male student was the calmest person in this group of students, but when he realized that his strength was weaker than Shinichi’s, that calm facade of his broke.
He whirled his arms again and again, trying to move Shinichi’s arms out of the way, but no matter how much he tried, it never budged a bit.
“What the heck? The ones who can’t listen are clearly you guys. I’m telling you to apologize.”
“He doesn’t even have his foster! This is impossible!”
The leader-like male knew that Shinichi had thrown his foster, causing him to panic even more, as that fact proved that Shinichi was neither using a skill nor a barrier. This arm strength Shinichi was exhibiting was truly nothing more than his physical strength.
The leader-like male actually lost in a contest of pure strength.
There was something to infer from that, but he was so panicked he couldn’t.
“Doesn’t Garesto have ‘apology’ in its dictionary?”
“Let go! Don’t think you’ll be let off so easily pulling something like this!”
“………..This will be the last time. Apologize.”
“I’m supposed to be superior! A B+ couldn’t possibly lose to a D!!”
“…………Goodbye, then.”
Pity appeared on Shinichi’s cold eyes before he promptly threw the leader-like male student outside the cafeteria.
The leader-like male student flew through the air, crashing into a wall outside in the hallway and losing his consciousness.
“…And? What about you guys? Are you going to apologize?”
Shinichi completely ignored the voices worrying for the student flying just now as he asked that question to the students who didn’t even try to stand up.
The students no longer bothered trying to pick a fight with Shinichi after seeing him throw a person over 5 meters away while relying on nothing more than sheer strength.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“S-Sorry.”
“W-We won’t bother you anymore, please forgive us.”
The remaining students all apologized with shaking lips.
“From now on, don’t waste food, alright? Or else…”
“Y-Yes…”
After threatening the students, Shinichi removed his foot from the student beneath him.
After which, all the students, including the one who he had been stepping on, rose up, carried the leader-like male student, and ran away.
“…”
“…”
The students who happened to be watching the whole thing unfold looked on dumbfounded.
They didn’t know what to think of the fact that the school’s absolute rule was broken just like that.
They glared at the students running away, then they turned to Shinichi.
But the moment they did—
“…*S-Sniff! My pork fried with ginger set!!!”
The man who had bullied the special class students was suddenly bawling his eyes out on the floor.
It was such a ridiculous sight that the sound of jaws hitting the ground filled the cafeteria.
“I don’t even know where I’m supposed to make that straight-man remark anymore,” Myuhi said.
“In an odd and unfortunate case of coincidence, I actually agree with you,” Shinguuji said.
They left for just a moment to get their food, but when they came back with their tray, Shinichi was already stepping on someone.
Then before they knew it, that man who dared bully the special class students was bawling his eyes out on the floor.
“Kyui, kyui.”
“No, it’s not your fault.”
She cried out to console him, but Shinichi shook his head.
She felt responsible because she was so engrossed in her food that she forgot her surroundings.
“And besides… The food just fell on the floor.”
“Kyui?”
“What?”
For a moment, Myuhi thought the sight of the Amaryllis consoling Shinichi was a beautiful thing to behold, but the next words that came out of Shinichi’s mouth made her raise her brows.
Looking closer, she noticed that Shinichi’s teary eyes were hollow. Even sanity seemed to have left them.
“There was a time when I had to get by on grass and rocks for half a month, and I wasn’t even sure if those were edible. But these! These were food to begin with! Obviously, I should still be able to eat them since they just fell on the ground!”
“Wa–!!?? Stop! Stopppp!!”
“KyuUuu!!!”
When ‘she’ saw Shinichi about to eat the pork fried with ginger set spilled on the floor, she panicked and stretched out her whole – regardless how small – body to stop him from approaching the spilled food.
At the same time, the fox girl ran and took Shinichi’s arms from the back to stop him.
“Let-me-go!! That’s my meat!!”
“Woah, he’s strong!!! Guu-chan call the cleaning robot!!”
“Sigh, can’t be helped.”
Shinguuji placed his and Myuhi’s trays on the table, then he touched the screen of his foster.
When he did, the quadrangular-prism-shaped cleaning robot of the cafeteria moved out and briskly cleaned the dirty floor.
It only took a few seconds for the cleaning robot to make the floor all sparkly again.
Incidentally, Shinguuji had Myuhi’s tray because she forced it on him when she ran to stop Shinichi.
“N-No… My pork fried with ginger. It was actually eaten by a machine…”
“It’s cleaning the floor. It’s going to turn that food into fertilizer, so it won’t go to waste!”
Myuhi said in a panic when Shinichi turned to her with the same pair of wrathful eyes one only looked at his parents’ killer with.
When Shinichi heard the food hadn’t gone to waste, he calmed down.
His countenance was as dark as ever, and while his tears had stopped, his voice was still nasal.
“You can just order again,” Myuhi said.
“No, if I do that, I won’t have enough money for tomorrow’s supper,” Shinichi replied.
“Ah, you calculated it already,” Myuhi said.
“………You missed your timing. You should have said something when he pretty much just said he’s going to eat a month’s worth of food in two days,” Shinguuji interjected.
The month would indeed end in two days, but exactly how much was Shinichi planning to eat to actually use up a month’s provision?
Shinguuji was so fed up he didn’t even feel like bothering anymore, but then he bumped onto something.
“Hmm? Ahh, hey, your foster fell here.
It says your boiled salmon miso soup is done… What? So you were still planning on eating?’
The foster had apparently ended up in Shinguuji’s path.
When he saw the text written on the display, he was again shocked.
“Right, I-I still have a… Boiled salmon miso soup!!”
Shinichi immediately stood up, took his foster, and ran for the counter.
Myuhi and Shinguuji couldn’t help but do a double take.
“Fuu, I’m so full… so full…” Shinichi said.
“That’s.. great. Yeah,” Myuhi said.
“You still have room for a dessert?” Shinguuji remarked.
Not just a dessert too, but one whole apple pie.
Shinichi had caused them some trouble, so he shared a little with them, but the rest of the pie was still completely eaten by Shinichi alone.
Even though he had already eaten so much.
“Is your stomach a black hole or something?” Shinguuji asked.
“I have another stomach just for desserts,” Shinichi said.
“You know girls are the ones who normally say that,” Myuhi remarked.
Myuhi and Shinguuji were both astounded by Shinichi’s capacity for food, but Shinichi wasn’t concerned in the slightest.
Meanwhile, as a certain fox was happily watching over Shinichi, a pair of familiar voices resounded.
“Ah, this smell… It’s apple pie. Nee-chan, can I have some?”
“No, I told you we’re only here as representatives of the public morals committee.”
“!?”
Two students who acted like a pair of siblings chatted as they entered the cafeteria.
They both had black hair like a Japanese, the boy’s hair was cut shorter, while the girl’s hair reached her waist.
The two students did not come here for food but for something else.
“Ah, Yo-yo-chankun!”
The moment Myuhi saw them, she called out another one of her odd nick names.
Shinichi vehemently tried to tell her to stop, shaking his head, but she didn’t notice him.
“Myuhi, didn’t I tell you to quit bundling us together with one nick name?”
“Nee-chan, it’s hopeless.”
Maybe it was because it was an acquaintance who called them, but despite the fed-up look on the siblings’ faces, they walked toward Myuhi with a sense of intimacy.
Although this pair of siblings were differently gendered, their faces were very similar.
“I did hear you two were essentially a set, but I didn’t think you’d be together even during lunch,” Shinguuji said.
“You-are-mis-ta-ken!
We were supposed to be training by ourselves, but then the committee had to call us.
Apparently, some trouble happened in the cafeteria. Do you know?”
Immediately, Myuhi and Shinguuji turned to Shinichi, but he was currently looking down for some reason as he drew cold sweat.
“W-Why are they here?” He muttered to himself.
Of course, the reason why they were here was because of the disturbance awhile ago.
No one could hear his small voice, but he was very panicked at this unexpected reunion.
At the same time, “she” pranced back and forth under the table, wondering what to do.
“Huh? Oh, come to think of it, it’s pretty rare to see you eating with someone, Ruona-san. Who is he?”
“It’s the transfer student who just transferred today. I’m in charge of him!”
“Oh? It’s pretty rare to get a transfer student here… Hey, show your face at least.”
“Let me, Nee-chan. I’m Senba Yousuke. This here is my twin sister, Youko. I know she can be a bit scary, but we’re both Japanese, so let’s get along.”
“Yep, Icchi is a Japanese alright.”
Shinichi was looking down, so they could only see his black hair. Normally, that would make it hard to tell what country he came from, but this academy started exchanging students with Asia first, so there were a lot of Japanese in it.
Of course, there were other Asians too, but Yousuke had taken that into consideration when he assumed Shinichi to be a Japanese.
“Who’s scary!? But, well… yeah. This school here is a bit different from other schools, and Myuhi is the person looking after you. Who knows what’ll happen? Anyway, if something does, feel free to consult us. I’m a member of the public morals committee, so I’m sure I’ll be of help.”
“Yoppi, that’s cruel!!”
Youko spoke in a softer voice compared to when she yelled at her brother.
Myuhi was protesting behind her, but she seemed to be used to it and didn’t mind.
“D-Don’t mind me,” Shinichi said stiffly, softly refusing her kind offer.
Shinichi’s voice had become much higher for some reason.
Though that was actually only a given considering he couldn’t stop sweating.
“Icchi?” Myuhi asked, concerned.
“What happened to the arrogant kid just now?” Shinguuji asked.
For some reason, Shinichi had suddenly changed.
He was as quiet as a borrowed cat now.
Clearly, something was wrong.
“I don’t really get it, but you should at least show your face. How shy are you, seriously.”
Youko was annoyed at the fact that Shinichi didn’t even spare her a glance, so she tried to look up from under the table to see his face.
When she tried that, “she” panicked and quickly climbed up Shinichi’s seat to hide behind him, while Shinichi himself looked up the ceiling.
Shinichi’s clear attempts at avoiding her gaze further aggravated Youko. This time, she tried to look at him from above, only for Shinichi to turn the other way.
Every time she tried to take a peek at Shinchi’s face, he would turn the other way.
Youko even tried to feint Shinichi out, but Shinichi was able to read ahead and look the other way.
In one sense, what they were doing was fairly impressive, but from other people’s perspective, the whole scenario was laughable.
“Is this the so-called ‘Look over here’?” [1] Myuhi remarked.
“No way. Seriously, what are these two doing?” Shinguuji said.
“…”
While Myuhi and Shinguuji were calmly commenting about the vicious battle of stares unfolding before their eyes, Yousuke knit his brows and quietly joined the fight.
“What!? Ku!”
When Yosuke’s face suddenly appeared, Shinichi immediately tried to turn his face the other way, but unfortunately for him, that was where Youko was.
“Eh——!?”
“!!”
—As a result, they ended up seeing each other. Youko went speechless, while Shinichi paled.
“Ahh… As I thought, so that’s how it was…”
Yousuke peeked from behind to confirm his suspicions. When it was proven, a difficult expression surfaced on his face.
The other two weren’t any better.
Youko was completely silent, stupefied, while Shinichi’s face had been drained of blood, his eyes darting to and fro, unable to settle on a single point.
“What? You know each other?” Shinguuji asked.
“Guu-chan, is that something you should be asking now?” Myuhi asked.
Shinguuji asked that question despite the obviously sensitive atmosphere between the three.
When Myuhi pointing his insensitivity out was added, the tense atmosphere between the three shattered, waking them up from their stupefaction.
“—–*SNIFF*, Why are you here!?” Youko yelled.
Youko’s emotions blew up.
Shinichi never showed any signs of weakness until now, but when she blew up at him, he faltered.
“Umm, ahh, no, it’s just…” Shinichi stammered.
“What!!?
We’ve finally, finally gotten so far after everything! So why!? Why did you have to come!?” Youko yelled.
“C-Calm down, Nee-chan. This guy is a returnee.
Of course, he would come. Nee-chan, you knew too, right!?” Yousuke tried to console her.
Yousuke tried to calm down his sister who was burning up in emotion, but that only made her panic more.
“But he’s an all D! You can’t get any worse than that!
Why would someone like that be sent here!? What did we spend the last 8 years for!?”
“Ugh, ah…”
When Youko yelled that, Shinichi’s face finally lost whatever color it had left.
He stood up flustered from his chair, and then walked away form the panicking older sister and the younger brother who tried to calm her down.
“S-Sor… Thank you for the food!!”
“Ha?”
Shinichi seemed to be hesitating for a moment, but in the end, what he yelled out was that last sentence, then he ran away.
He ran so quickly, he was gone from the cafeteria in the blink of an eye.
He ran even faster than the students just a while ago.
“Icchi, running away is pathetic,” Myuhi said. [2]
“…You know that reference?” Shinguuji asked.
They tried to conclude things with a joke, but unfortunately, the image of the of the older sister and her young brother was just too strong to shake off.
Tl Note: 1. There was a mistake in the last chapter. It wasn’t the last day, just almost the last day before the month ended.
2. I’m bad at English onomatopoeia. Can you suggest something for *Short Inhale?* (I just wrote this down as sniff.) You know like that sound you make when you take a very brief breath before you’re about to say something.
[1] A game wherein two players play Rock-paper-scissors first. After which, the winner has to point toward a direction, while the loser has to turn toward another direction. If the loser turns toward the direction the winner pointed to, the winner is decided as the final winner, otherwise, the two players are to play Rock-paper-scissors again.
[2] A reference to something. I have no idea what it is. Here is the original line:「オオ、イッチーヨ、ニゲテシマウトハ、ナサケナイ」. Here it is in romaji: Oo, Icchi yo, nigeteshimau to wa, nasakenai. Let me know if you get it.
Tl Note: Next chapter will be posted by my partner. Oh, and I’m not sure if I got the readings of the siblings’ names right, as no reading was provided. There’s something in the past chapters if I recall correctly, but I was in a rush and couldn’t dig through them to find out, so I’ll have to double check later. I’m pretty sure the first names are right though: Yousuke and Youko. I’m just not sure about the last name.
Author’s Note: These pair of siblings were originally good children. It’s just that Shinichi has a bit of problem with them.