Chapter 26: 25

Vol. 1 Chapter 25

25th day of confinement

Translated by SoundDestiny
Edited by Kaepinned

 

I still can’t finish the manga.

 

No matter how much I think about it, I can’t come up with a logic for a smelly, gross, erotic alien to be someone’s crush.

 

Should I make the protagonist an extreme B-bitch with a special proclivity for smells?

 

No, that’s a cop-out.

 

The protagonist is erotic, but only at a level of sexuality that is acceptable to the average reader.

 

“Are you alright? Maybe the food tastes bad?”

 

Konata calls out worriedly.

 

“Hmm?　Oh, sorry. I was in deep thought. The food is delicious.”

 

I reply and hurriedly move my chopsticks.

 

Today’s lunch is a set meal of grilled fresh ginger. It’s not the best, but it’s my favourite.

 

“Are you having a hard time with the manga?”

 

When Konata says this, she rolls up a slice of cabbage with gingerbread and puts it in her mouth.

 

“…You know what I’ve been going through?”

 

“Because you don’t draw me much these days.”

 

Konata mutters a little sadly.

 

“Aaa, that’s right. I want to finish it all at once, so I am still  thinking about the storyboard….Actually, I got stuck on the last part of the story. I’m really very close to finishing it but I’m still working on it. I just can’t think of a way for the main character to defeat the last boss.”

 

I say this and slurp down some Chinese soup with daikon radish to wash the oil out of my mouth.

 

“…… Let me see that manga.”

 

Konata puts down her chopsticks and says so, a little nervously.

 

“Ah, okay. I think it’ll be fine to show you. If you notice anything, I’d be happy if you give me some advice.”

 

I say comfortably and indicate my chin at my drawing tablet.

 

At best, it is like a goofy suspense drama, with casual, everyday conversation hopefully providing a hint to break through the situation.

 

“Okay.”

 

Konata nods and stops her meal. She then moves to the drawing tablet upright and uses her clenched fist for support.

 

Even though I am still working on the story, it is somewhat embarrassing to have my manga being read so close to me.

 

I push such feelings aside and continue to eat with an impassive face.

 

Thinking about it, is it okay to allow JK to read a manga with a 『protagonist who makes everything look erotic, even things that are not erotic』? Wouldn’t that be sexual harassment?

 

Well, she said she is a fan of my work, so I guess it’s okay.

 

……。

 

……。

 

About ten minutes, I think.

 

When I finish my meal, Konata finishes reading the story and puts down the drawing tablet.

 

She then returns to the front of the room.

 

“Thank you for letting me read it.”

 

She bows her head after saying so.

 

“So, how was it?”

 

“It was interesting.”

 

She smiles, closes her eyes and nods in satisfaction.

 

“That’s good to hear. Now if only I could think of the last one……”

 

I scratch my head.

 

“─ ─ Why did that enemy erotic alien come to Earth in the first place?”

 

“Eh?”

 

I look up.

 

“Because if the hero loses the match, the erotic alien is going to blow up the whole planet, right? If that’s the case, then she’s not trying to invade. Because if she destroys it, she won’t be able to use it. If that’s the case, I wonder why she came all the way from distant space to Earth.”

 

I’m glad that Konata, who is usually a girl of few words, is interested in my work enough to talk about it so much.

 

“Indeed. There is too little merit for the erotic alien to fight the protagonist. If the erotic alien just want the pleasure of seeing the earthlings suffer from their unreasonable demands, there are plenty of other ways to do it.”

 

“Yes. Then why did the erotic alien want to fight the protagonist?”

 

She tilts her head slightly.

 

“──I hadn’t thought about that.”

 

I turn over and fold my arms.

 

I was thinking only about the main character and didn’t delve into the setting of the final boss.

 

It’s a gag manga, so I wasn’t concerned about the consistency of the enemy’s actions and motives but it’s worth thinking about.

 

“…..Maybe the erotic alien was lonely. Because although she had confronted the most erotic males on various planets, no one could look at the erotic alien with erotic eyes. But I am sure that somewhere in her heart, the erotic alien wanted to lose the contest. That’s why she continued her search for erotic males across the entire universe.”

 

“……”

 

Konata nods as if she were making an interactive gesture.

 

“─ ─ I see! The erotic alien wanted to be seen as erotic. This is erotic! No matter how far from erotic it looked, the very fact that a female wants to be seen as erotic is erotic!”

 

I hit my knees and look up.

 

I finally understand!!! That’s how it is!

 

The erotic alien was not imposing unreasonable demands.

 

She was just looking for an existence that would accept her as a female.

 

That’s the last boss’s – the erotic alien’s – weakness. In other words, the hero’s breakthrough.

 

“Thank you! Konata! Thanks to this one, I’m about to finish my storyboard!”

 

I am so moved that I involuntarily take hold of her hands.

 

“Well, uh, it’s no big deal…”

 

Konata shrinks back and mumbles something in a whisper.

 

“Aa, well, I’m sorry. I got excited on my own…”

 

I let go in a hurry.

 

“I,it’s fine…”

 

Konata’s cheek dyes red and resumes her meal.

 

“…… Well, now it’s your turn.”

 

I open my mouth with all my willpower.

 

“Ee?”

 

“I think you’re having some problems, too. For example, about school.”

 

I think it is now or never if I am going to talk to her about her problem.

 

“I’ve been found out…”

 

Konata says this and has a strange expression on her face, which can be either weeping or beaming.

 

“Yeah. To be honest, I’m not that perceptive, but when I think about why you’re basically in uniform all the time, and why you’re studying here and all that sort of stuff. As a thank you for helping me with my manga, I’ll listen to you if you don’t mind talking about it to me.”

 

I haven’t finished the manga yet, but thanks to her advice, I’m on track.

 

I can use this opportunity to pay her back for kindness.

 

Showing her my unfinished work is as embarrassing for a manga artist as showing her my naked body.

 

Now that I’ve shown her the story, I think I have the right to step inside her line…I think.

 

Probably.

 

“…….”

 

Konata remains still, holding a bowl of tea or a bowl of white rice.

 

“Oh, um, of course, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to talk.”

 

I wave my palms at her.

 

“No, I’ll talk. I’ll talk. I want to……talk.”

 

Having said this, Konata puts down her cup of tea and drinks just enough to moisten her throat.

 

“Ah.”

 

She straightens her back.

 

“── it was just a cold that started it all.”

 

“A cold?”

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“Yes. I called in sick to school as usual for the first day or two and…well, a cold usually goes away after that, doesn’t it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“But my cold continued and by the third day the fever had gone down a bit but I still couldn’t go to school. That morning, I had a lot of things to do, like taking out the rubbish and picking up the parcels and I happened to forget to call the school.”

 

She starts to talk about her life in a rambling way.

 

I guess there are things that have accumulated up to now.

 

Her usual reticence to speak seems to be a lie.

 

“Well, it happens.”

 

Everyone makes careless mistakes.

“Yes. But even though I didn’t call, the school didn’t call or anything, and by the fourth day, I didn’t have a fever anymore but my body was feeling a bit lazy, so I didn’t know whether to go to school or take another day off just to be safe.”

 

She pauses there and starts to chew the cold gingerbread.

 

“It’s great that you hesitated. If it were me, I’d be skipping without hesitation.”

 

“To be honest, I felt like skipping too, but somehow I made up my mind. If the school called to confirm my safety, I would go to school even if I was late. You know, like a schoolboy making a wish that if he could just walk home along the white line on the footpath, he’d get a hundred marks on his test. It’s childish, but…”

 

When she says this, she bashfully lowers her gaze.

 

“No, I sometimes also do things like, 『If the tissue I throw goes in the bin, I get a heavy print run』.

 

Of course, there is no example of the result of such wishful thinking being successful.

 

“That’s a rather cute way of telling fortunes, but mine was a cowardly way of leaving my decision to a third party. ─ But then, I still didn’t hear from them. So, after Saturday and Sunday, on Monday, I decided that I had to go, so I got my bag ready and went to the door.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

“No, it’s not. Because I suddenly thought to myself. If I don’t go to school for a few days, no one will worry. No one cares if I go to school or not. I don’t have any friends. So why do I go to school in the first place? I don’t know anymore. And then, for the life of me, I can’t go to school.”

 

She says in a mumbled voice, her lips pursed into a straight line.

 

“Hmm, a reason to go to school…….Right. The common moonbat opinion is that it’s to broaden your future options, or that you can’t be a respectable adult unless you’ve at least finished high school? But, well, I can’t really preach to you about being a respectable adult, because I myself chose to be a waterboy in the broadest sense of the word, a manga artist.”

 

I am surprised at how easily I can call myself a manga artist.

 

Before I know it, I am back to being a manga artist.

 

I can once again identify myself as a manga artist, even if I have no series now and still call myself one.

 

“Being a mangaka is a respectable profession!　But I don’t have anything I want to do and my family probably has enough money for me to live without working for the rest of my life if I don’t do extravagant things. So those common reasons don’t really resonate with me. ……Of course, I know in my head that it’s an extravagant worry.”

 

“No, you don’t have to worry so much about it….It is not the child’s responsibility to be born into a rich family. I think children have the right to use the environment they’ve been given to their advantage to the best of their ability.”

 

It’s up to the parents to bring them into this world, so they should use what they can.

 

“I don’t think so…..”

 

Konata blinks quickly and smiles vaguely.

 

“Yes, I do. ─ – but, um, I’m not familiar with this school, but usually, if you’ve been absent for a week, your guardian will be contacted.”

 

I say with one elbow on the cardboard and a cane on my cheek.

 

It is a little hard to imagine that a rich young lady’s school will be so indifferent to its students.

 

“I think they’ve probably been contacted. It’s possible that as early as the third day, my parent’s phone could have received a call from a teacher. So, I’m sure, that person could have made some random excuse, like 『it’s a family situation』or something like that, that would make it harder for the school to step in.”

 

“….That person?”

 

“Because my mother doesn’t come home very often. We don’t have the same rhythm of life.”

 

Konata mutters in a cold tone.

 

“I see…..”

 

I nod and speak in a neutral tone, neither confirming nor denying.

 

I am quite curious about her family environment but it seems she didn’t want to talk about it anymore as she was about to end the conversation, so I don’t pursue it further.

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But when I asked about 『guardians』, Konata only mentioned her mother.

 

Does this mean that Konata is more estranged from his father than she is from her 『mother who doesn’t come home very often』?

 

“Oh, but don’t get me wrong. I want to go to school now, not because it’s logical or anything, but because I want to. You see – 『Raindrops are not as free as you think they are. But if they get lost in the river, one day they’ll find their way to the sea.』”

 

“That’s a line from one of my manga. You really are a real fan.”

 

I beam with embarrassment.

 

“You had your doubts?”

 

Konata puffs out her cheeks in a bit of frustration.

 

I know that there are female readers, but I didn’t expect to have such a beautiful girl like JK as a fan. But if my manga can make her feel positive, I’d be very happy about that.

 

“No, I wasn’t doubting you but I had a series in a manga magazine aimed at men…….Sorry, go on.”

 

I stick out my right hand and urge her to go on.

 

“….Okay. It’s funny but when I decided to go to school, I suddenly became afraid of what other people would think of me. I wondered what would happen if I was approached by neighbours, or how my classmates would look at me. I stopped going to school because I didn’t want anyone to care about me but now I’m afraid that someone will care about me. The more I procrastinate, the more scared I get.”

 

I pick up the cabbage with my chopsticks, lift it halfway up and put it back on the plate again.

 

“I see……..I think I know that feeling a bit. For me, it’s not school, it’s comics. If I don’t draw one day, I feel much heavier the next day. It’s not simply double. It’s more like a cumulative or exponential increase in the amount of work I have to do.”

 

“………..”

 

“Sorry. It was a bit vain. Since Konata is studying mathematics, I thought it was embarrassing for an adult not to know anything, so I tried to say something like that.”

 

I look down and say in a slightly joking tone, trying to soften the heavy atmosphere.

 

“Fufu, why are you competing? 『My first steps are slower than anyone else’s because I go further than anyone else.』”

 

She says self-mockingly.

 

“Konata, I know you’re a fan, so stop quoting from my manga. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

 

I cover my face with my hands.

 

“Really? But it’s cool……”

 

Konata mutters in a slightly dissatisfied tone.

 

“Anyway, if Konata is willing to go to school now, please give it a go. Of course, I’m not a teacher or a psychiatrist, so I can’t give much advice, but if there’s anything I can do to help you go to school, let me help.”

 

“N,no need. That’s as good as it gets. You have your manga that needs to be finished!”

 

Konata shakes her head sideways.

 

“It’s a thank you for helping me come up with the idea for the manga. Or, you know, a fan service? Sort of.”

 

I say in a light tone so that she doesn’t have to worry.

 

“Are you serious?”

 

She asks probingly.

 

“Yes. I’d love to return the favour.”

 

I nod deeply.

 

“Then…..──So, for rehabilitation, can you come with me for a mock class exercise?”

 

Konata asks with a look of strength in her brow.

 

“Okay. Let’s see, should I play the role of a classmate? I mean, I think it’s a bit difficult to play the role of teacher. Brain-wise.”

 

Well, I’m already an adult, but playing the role of a high school student, that’s weird.

 

‘But I’m still in my twenties, and I should be just barely old enough to be considered a youth, right? I have a rather childish face.’

 

I tell myself that.

 

“Well, you’ll play as a classmate.”

 

Konata mutters.

 

In the end, I am taken aback.

 

“What would the subject for the  class be?”

 

“English or music.”

 

“Why are you considering those subjects?”

 

“English, because we have to read the textbook aloud in pairs, and music, because we have to do ensembles. …… I’m not particularly good at subjects that are done in groups.”

 

Konata says, busily moving her chopsticks and clearing away the rest of her meal.

 

“I see. If it’s a choice between those two, I’d choose music.”

 

I’m not very good at music either, but I don’t think I can do English at all.

 

“Well, first you need to change your clothes.”

 

“Well, reality is important. But do you have school uniforms or something ready?”

 

“My uniform – I’ll lend you my winter uniform. It might be a bit hot.”

 

Hmm?

 

“Konata’s uniform? Me?”

 

I can’t believe my ears, and I can’t help but confirm this.

 

“Yes. If possible.”

 

“Well, I mean, I may look like this, but I’m still a man.”

 

“My school, it’s an all-girls school.”

 

Konata says, a little awkwardly.

 

The reason is irrefutable and irresistible.

 

As the practice is to attend an all-girls’ school, it is only natural that it should be practised with female classmates.

 

“I see. I understand. Let’s put on our uniforms”

 

I nod, clenching my fists tightly.

 

I can’t say I don’t want to now.

 

This is also for Konata.

 

I will bear it sweetly.

 

“Thank you. ─ ─for the time being, I’ll clear the dishes.”

 

Konata lowers the tray of food and brings her uniform.

 

Then she goes out of the room and a rustling sound is heard.

 

Perhaps she is looking for some equipment for her music lessons.

 

Meanwhile, I put on her uniform.

 

‘….. I seem to manage to fit it on.’

 

Of course, I can only button the shirt about two buttons down and the waist area is a bit tight, so the zipper on my skirt is half open.

 

If I were a high school girl, I’d be half a slut.

 

‘I mean, she smells kind of nice….’

 

Of course, I know it’s probably the smell of detergent or fabric softener but when I think it is from the uniform I am wearing, I almost feel weird.

 

“Hello. Nice to meet you.”

 

She opens the door and walks into the room, bowing to me.

 

She holds what looks like a guitar case about two sizes smaller on her chest.

 

Apparently, practice has already begun.

 

I mean, does Konata speak honorifics to her classmates too?

 

“Unn. It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve just transferred from a public school, so I’m not used to this school. So I might cause you a lot of trouble. Please tolerate it.”

 

I stand up and slightly raise one hand in response.

 

 I have no idea what’s going on at Ojousama’s school.

 

So, I’m going to go with the setting of 『I’m a commoner who has suddenly transferred to an Ojousama school』.

 

“Don’t worry, It will be fine. I’m also not good with my hand and we don’t have much time before the presentation, so do you want to practise?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“……Then.”

 

She puts the case on the floor and opens it.

 

I roll my eyes at the instrument that comes out from inside.

 

‘Violin?’

 

When Konata says music lessons, I imagined at most an altricorder or something like a pianica, but you know what? It’s an Ojousama’s school, isn’t it? So this is what happens.

 

“Well, I’ve been so busy moving that I haven’t bought an instrument yet. So I’ll just use my voice.”

 

That’s what I decided.

 

“Okay. Then I’ll accompany you.”

 

Konata nods her head and begins to play the violin.

 

I don’t know if Konata is better or worse than the average student at Sakuraba High School.

 

But I’ve heard that it’s difficult to even make a sound on the violin and from the way she can play without interruption, she doesn’t seem to be an absolute beginner.

 

I mean, this intro…

 

‘Isn’t this the opening song of my animated film?’

 

“….. Is it possible to have anime-songs in class?”

 

“It’s for beginners, and it’s standard practice to do songs like Ghibli and Disney animation.”

 

Konata looks puzzled and says.

 

“Well, if it’s Ghibli or Disney, then yes….”

 

I smile wryly.

 

Sure, they are in the same animation category but mine doesn’t look like it had any chance at all of winning an Oscar.

 

‘Konata is looking at me with crazy expectant eyes…’

 

Needless to say, just because I’m the author of the original film doesn’t mean I can sing the OP well.

 

But I give in to her shining eyes.

 

“『On the page I tore up, I scribbled a map. I put it away in my pocket and forgot about it…』”

 

I raise my voice as best I can.

 

What if the neighbours complain?

 

“……………..”

 

Konata continues to play the violin, occasionally nodding her head in satisfaction, despite my concerns.

 

I put strength into my belly in response.

 

……。

 

……。

 

……。

 

In the end, the class lasted exactly fifty minutes.

 

In the end, I even had to sing the ending song, which left me physically and mentally exhausted.

 

“So, did it help a bit?”

 

I ask, rubbing my throat.

“Uun. Thanks. I feel better.”

 

Konata replied, putting the violin back in its case.

 

“That’s good.”

 

I smile naturally.

 

‘I wonder if this was really practice for going to school. …..’

 

To be honest, I can’t help but think about that.

 

But since she seemed to be having so much fun, I’ll let that be enough for now.

 

“Um…..can I ask you to come along to practice with me again sometime?”

 

“Sure. I’ll finish my manga tomorrow so that I can help you whenever you want to practise.”

 

I declare this and face the drawing tablet.

 

I feel tired, but I feel good.

 

I had a feeling that I would be able to make progress on the last spurt of the story.

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