Chapter Text
It’s the middle of summer vacation.
The heat was particularly bad today, so I spent the day finishing the latest volume of <Trapped in Another World with my Gal Classmate!>
Having read this, I can conclude that the best partner for an isekai adventure is a bubbly and flirty gal who suffers clothing damage every 3 pages.
I did not do much else today, but after the insanity that was last spring and the Literature Club taking over my house as a meeting room, that is already its own reward.
Oh. The Literature Club. That’s right, I guess I should check on what they’re up to.
I quickly browsed through LINE to see what everyone else was doing.
It looks like I’ve unfortunately leveled up into a normal person. I couldn’t imagine doing this in my first year.
Let’s see..
Looks like Yanami is out with her family in Okinawa. I hope they keep her well fed there.
Yakishio is going to Osaka..
Shiratama is with her sister and Tanaka-sensei on a beach.. Well, it’s good that they’ve made up quickly after that stunt.
That leaves..
Suddenly a text came. It’s Komari.
<It’s happening this weekend. Meet at the club room tomorrow.>
Ah right. That . I almost forgot the date.
Komari and I have been secretly planning a trip to Tokyo to visit Comiket, Japan’s greatest doujin festival.
It is said to be a mandatory pilgrimage for any otaku. However, I must insist that I am not an otaku, and neither is Komari. We are simply there for research on the doujin industry and its contributions to modern Japanese literature. It’s an honest and purely academic club activity.
Tamaki-senpai and Tsukinoki-senpai have always wanted to visit during their tenure as president and vice-president, but they’ve never had the chance. They’ve entrusted us with making the dream of the Tsuwabuki Literature Club at Comiket a reality, so our purposes for the trip are purely noble and selfless.
If I took Yanami or Yakishio, they’d unfairly dismiss me as a creep and a weirdo. And I’m absolutely not going on a day trip with Shiratama.
As club president and vice president, it is natural that we are the only ones who can do it. Now that Tamaki-senpai and Tsukinoki-senpai are gone, only Komari and I understand the beauty of modern self-published literature.
I have no need for such judgemental words from those who can’t appreciate art that pushes past societal norms. For that reason, these materials will be for the president’s eyes only. One needs to be free from judgment to analyze these works comprehensively.
That’s why it is absolutely crucial that others, especially Kaju, do not know anything about this.
Komari was to handle the trip itinerary, while I was tasked to ensure the secrecy of our expedition, and that is a task I do not take lightly.
Time to show her the fruits of my planning.
*
The school was mostly empty in summer as expected. A few students were practicing at the fields below, but the buildings were mostly empty. That’s good, the last thing we need are unwanted figures snooping around.
I slid open the club room door. Komari was there already.
“N-Nukumizu. Y-you’re late.”
I ignored her for now and paced around the room with this new gadget in hand. Komari’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
“W-what is that in your hand?”
“It’s a gadget I nicked off Asagumo-san. It detects any of her trackers and recorders. She uses it so she can pick them up after she’s done, but I’ve found a new use for them.”
“P-paranoid.”
The device suddenly beeped. It beeped stronger when I pointed it towards the old speaker on the wall.
“U-wah! W-was this room bugged the whole t-time?!”
It seems to be coming from the speaker box. Looks like a certain someone hid a microphone and connected it to some unused wires here. Let’s disconnect it before it could hear anything more.
Now that Kaju is friends with Asagumo-san, you can never be too safe.
With that out of the way, I sat down and faced her.
“How’s the preparation going?”
Komari nodded gently, with a determined look in her eyes that I have not seen in a long time. She pulled out a small notebook and slammed it onto the table with pride.
“All done.”
“Good. What’s the travel plan?”
“F-from Toyohashi t-to T-tokyo is 2 and a half hours by S-shinkansen. E-each trip is 11,000 y-yen. F-first leaves at 6:30 AM. L-last t-train l-leaves at 9 PM. I-If everything goes to plan.. should be just a day t-trip.”
“And what if we have to stay overnight?”
Komari smirked, clearly proud of herself for having foreseen this. She smugly pulls out a key
“That’s taken care of. I-I have a relative in Tokyo who works the night shift. S-she gave me her spare k-key the last time she visited.”
I clapped my hands in praise. That’s Komari for you. It’s just like the Tsuwabuki fest last year, she has quite the talent in planning and organizing.
“And how much do we have to spend?”
“W-we have 9000 yen leftover in club f-funds. S-split halfway, that's 4500 e-each. I-I’m adding 10,000 yen of m-my own m-money.”
“Good, I’ll be doing the same.”
“He-he, all my w-work in saving and working odd jobs for my family has a-added up.”
I could see the drive in her eyes. Komari was just as determined to go as I am.
“I’m surprised you could plan this so thoroughly, Komari.”
“W-who do you t-think I am? G-go die.”
That was supposed to be a compliment but if you’re going to be like that, never mind then.
“S-so then.. What a-about your part?”
“Since everyone is out on vacation, it shouldn’t be too bad to keep it a secret from them. What are you going to tell your family?”
Komari looked at me with sharp eyes, getting serious again.
“I-I could just tell my family we are on a club trip. The rest of the c-club I think we can handle. But then there’s still..”
“Kaju..”
Remembering my defeats to Kaju last February, I have been thinking about how to evade her for some time now. Asagumo-san’s presence is definitely not helping matters, but I think I’ve formulated a sufficiently good plan.
“The student council. Sakurai-kun might be the way.”
“S-student council? And why Sakurai-kun?
“Kaju will be less suspicious if I’m with a guy and she doesn’t know the student council well. I’ll just tell her Sakurai-kun asked me to help with student council work. I’ve stayed the night before at Prez Hokobaru’s house so it won’t seem weird.”
Komari’s face suddenly started pouting after remembering the time I stayed overnight at Prez Hokobaru’s place last spring.
“W-what were you even doing with her back then?”
“Eh? I just trained for the race against Yakishio with her. I bunked with Sakurai-kun so you it’s not like I did anything with the Prez-”
Oh no. I’ve said too much. Komari’s BL senses immediately overrode her pouting face.
“B-bunked together? T-tell me more!”
This rotten girl. Tsukinoki-senpai has a lot to answer for.
“Nothing happened then! Sakurai-kun and I just shared a room at Prez’s house, that’s all.”
If she knew we showered together she might just faint on the spot.
“D-did your heart f-flutter while you s-shared the same bed with Sakurai-san? W-who was the big spoon?”
Let’s just let her lose herself in her depraved fantasies of me. We need to move on.
I reached into my backpack for my secret weapon. A classic prepaid flip phone.
“What’s t-that?
“A prepaid temporary phone for tourists. Bought in person, so no internet receipts. I’ll be using this number while in Tokyo, so add it.”
Komari looked at me puzzled, but did as she was told.
“Is this not going o-overboard? Why do you need a new p-phone just for this?”
She still hasn’t understood the gravity of the situation. I leaned over the table to get closer to her face to drive the point home. Komari flinched and squealed cutely.
“W-weh! Too c-close!”
“As long as my phone is on, Kaju knows where we are. That’s why we can’t take any risks, understand?”
Komari turned her gaze away, her face quickly turning red. Why does this keep happening?
“..Y-yes.”
“Anyway, I will have to trouble Sakurai-kun for this. I’ll ask him to meet in the morning of the trip at the train station, I’ll leave my phone with him, and we will be on our way. This will at least throw Kaju off for a while.”
“I really h-hope you know what y-you’re doing.”
*
I went to the student council room after that with Komari in tow, after confirming that they are on campus.
I knocked on the door. Sakurai-kun greeted me warmly. It’s always nice to meet another sane person.
“Ah, Nukumizu-kun, good to see you. What brings you here today?”
“I came here for you, actually.”
I heard the sound of someone suddenly choking on their drink from inside the room. No surprises who that is. There was an intense glare coming from behind as well.
Tsukinoki-senpai may have graduated a few months ago, but it seems her legacy is still alive and well.
“Basori-kun, you’re having a nosebleed again. Here, tissues”
“I-I’m fine Prez! Please don’t worry!”
Sakurai-kun shot a quick glance into the room but quickly decided it was a non-issue. Now that’s the attitude of the man who has seen a thousand battles.
“For me? What can I help you with then?”
“It’s something private that only you can help with. Can we talk in a quiet place where no one will hear us?”
Suddenly there was a crashing noise from the student council’s office. I peeked over Sakurai-kun’s shoulder to see the cause of the commotion. Looks like Tiara-san dropped a stack of books on the floor.
Prez Hokobaru quickly came to her aid.
“Basori-kun? Are you alright? I’ll take you to the infirmary.”
“N-No! I have to hear this!”
“No, you’re clearly unwell. We have to take you there at once!”
Sakurai-kun turned back to me with a deep sigh which gave way to a forced smile. I could notice him starting to clutch his stomach as well.
“Well, let’s get out of their way then!”
*
I explained our elaborate plan to Sakurai-kun after doing my due diligence in ensuring the corridor was not bugged.
“Ehhh.. So you want me to meet you at the Shinkansen station in the morning, where you’ll hand me your phone so you can pretend to be sleeping over at my place?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“That sounds really complicated. Why do you need to go so far to keep this a secret?”
I sighed and held my hand to his shoulders. Sakurai-kun backed off towards the wall and started to look away. Eh, why is he blushing too? To make matters worse, Komari is really enjoying this.
“Sakurai-kun, you certainly have things you wouldn’t Prez to find out about right? You should understand as a fellow man. If I bring my phone with me, Kaju will know where I’m headed.”
“She tracks your phone like that? Ehhh?”
He looked down to the floor, still averting his gaze.
“...T-then what do you want me to do with your phone once I have it? ”
“You’ll reply to them in my stead. I’ll message you any updates so you can pass it on to Kaju or the rest of the Literature Club. If I just shut my phone off, they’ll be suspicious too.”
“Impersonating you?! I don’t know if I can do this...”
I was getting desperate. I needed him to understand how much I needed his help. Unconsciously, I leaned closer to him while holding out an arm against the wall to support myself. Komari stared at us with dirty eyes while sketching furiously in her little notebook.
“Please, Sakurai-kun, you’re the only one I can turn to for this.”
Sakurai-kun is still trying to avoid eye contact and his face turned scarlet. Am I that scary?
“All right! All right! If you want it so badly.. I’ll help out I guess..”
Great, we’ve secured his cooperation. But why do I feel like I did something wrong here?
We left soon after, successfully recruiting Sakurai-kun to our scheme. As we walked away, Komari was still grinning and mumbling to herself.
“I was wrong about you N-nukumizu... You can be quite p-pushy with guys.. Need to m-make some revisions..”
If you are going to make horrible doujins of me with other guys, at least make me look good.
“What ever gave you the impression I was a bottom?”
“When H-Hakamada dragged you out to talk last year..”
“That’s not-.. That’s different. Hakamada was full of main character energy. If Himemiya-san dragged you out for your lunch money, you’d fold too.”
Komari gave it a thought too, before conceding in agreement.
*
Back home, Kaju is preparing dinner while humming cutely. I don’t know what I did in my previous life to deserve a sister like her. Unfortunately I will have to deceive her this weekend for the greater good. I hope she can forgive me.
I was on the countertop next to her, helping her prepare dinner by cutting up the ingredients. I am certainly not on her level when it comes to cooking, but I can do this much at least.
Alright, time to break the “news” to her.
“Kaju, I’ll be helping the student council with work over this Saturday. There’s a lot of work done to take care of the transition to a new president since the senpais will be retiring soon, so I might have to stay overnight at Prez’s place.”
Kaju took a second to process it before turning towards me.
“Is that so? It’s great that onii-sama is now involved with the student council.”
Kaju quickly went back to cooking. Did I do it? Did she fall for it?
“Kaju was just thinking about how much onii-sama changed over the past year. At the start, onii-sama was totally friendless! But now it seems like onii-sama has so many friends that depend on him. Now Kaju doesn’t have to worry about onii-sama staying alone for eternity!”
Were my prospects that grim before?
Suddenly her mood seemed to drop. Her face was still smiling but I could sense there was a hint of sadness. She murmured in a low voice.
“But sometimes.. Kaju feels that onii-sama has too many friends now.”
Eh, this is sudden.
“Hmm, why do you think that?”
Kaju realizes what she said out loud and shakes her head, messing up her hair.
“Please forget it, Kaju was just being childish and was afraid onii-sama won’t have time for Kaju anymore.”
Is that what’s bothering her? No wonder she seemed more on edge recently. Was this about Shiratama-san?
After finishing with the onions, I washed my hands and rubbed her shoulders from the back to reassure her.
“You worry too much. Onii-chan will always be there for you no matter what.”
I could feel Kaju’s mood improve already. She started giggling.
“Is that a promise?”
“Of course. There may be more people in my life now, but Kaju is always Kaju and that can never change.”
“Ehehehe.. Kaju is very glad to hear that, onii-sama.”
Looks like that reassured her. Seeing Kaju this vulnerable made me feel awful about the fact that I was deceiving her. I started wondering if I should just come clean.
Ping!
Oh, a Twitter notification. It’s from Minami-sensei, the illustrator for <My Little Sister Transferred to a Maid Academy and Now She Pampers Me at Home Everyday>. It’s quite derivative, if I say so myself, but for some reason I can’t stop reading it.
Looks like she will be opening a booth at Comiket for her newest doujin. Let’s see what it is..
It features the title character, Risa-chan in a bunny costume with a lewd expression.
All doujinshi are good, but a doujin from the official illustrator is on a different level. It is the difference between konbini sashimi and a fine cut of maguro sashimi at a real restaurant. Now I know I must go.
I’m sorry Kaju, your brother is too weak to resist. Please forgive me when I come back.
*
It’s the morning of the trip. Komari wanted us to take the earliest possible train at 6:30 AM so I rose up at 5 AM.
I’ve messaged Sakurai-kun to get ready for the switch, and thankfully, he is awake as well.
I kept my bag empty for the books, bringing just a change of clothes and a travel pack in case things happen.
I knocked on my parent’s door before I left, but they were too tired to wake up. I shouldn’t be disturbing their rare chances to sleep in anyway.
I went to Kaju’s door last. It was so early in the morning that even Kaju could not even wake up before me. Still, she got up to see me out.
“Goodbye, Onii-sama. Kaju will wait patiently for you at home and count every second until your return, as painful and lonely as it is.”
Hey calm down, it’s only a day at most.
“Don’t be silly. Onii-chan will get you something nice on the way back okay?”
I patted her head and hugged her before leaving. That should keep her satisfied for a while.
As I left my home to head towards the train station, I double checked my surroundings for any suspicious items.
Nothing. Could I really have tricked Kaju?
Certainly, it was fortunate that I left so early. Not even Kaju could think at 100% this early.
I took the tram to Toyohashi station. Komari was already up and on her way as well.
Looks like we’re really about to do this.
If I’m honest, something about the secrecy of the trip makes it so much more exciting.
I was first to arrive at Toyohashi station. Even this early in the morning, it was quite crowded. I started to look for Sakurai-kun or Komari among the crowd.
Komari arrived soon after, wearing her familiar yellow hoodie and green backpack that she wore when she stalked me and Yakishio at the aquarium.
Its cuteness is undeniable, but it makes me feel like her chaperone. I will need to get Kaju to fix her wardrobe sometime.
“Oh there you are, Komari. Good morning. Did you get much sleep last night?”
She visibly had bags under her eyes.
“N-not much. D-does Kaju suspect a-anything?”
“I think I managed to throw her off. We should be in the clear.”
“T-that’s good.”
Komari then proudly showed me her phone and scrolled through her camera roll, showing a random assortment of pictures of her home.
“D-dummy pictures. In case s-someone like Yanami-san tries to ask where I am.”
“Ooh, you’re getting into it too.”
“Well of course! They can’t know it’s just the t-two of us...”
She must be planning on buying some pretty lewd stuff herself then.
Sakurai-kun arrived soon after. I made sure to bow deeply for troubling him this much on a Sunday morning.
“It’s fine, It’s fine, Nukumizu-kun! I said I would help after all. You’ve helped us so much so it’s the least I can do.”
I handed my phone over to him. It’s a strange feeling, as if I was giving up part of my body.
“The password is written on a small paper I snuck in the casing. If anyone sends me a message, respond, but keep it short and simple.”
“Got it. Don’t worry about it and enjoy your trip with Komari-san!”
“I’ll bring you back something good to make up for this, I promise!”
Sakurai-kun waved at us warmly as we left to board the train. Why can’t we have someone reliable like him in the Literature Club instead?
*
We got into our seats in the Shinkansen. It’s an older train so the seats are not very spacious. It’s a 2 and a half hour trip so we can at least make up for some lost sleep.
Komari sat next to me nervously, fidgeting around.
“Will this be your first time in Tokyo, Komari?”
“Y-yes. The furthest I’ve been with my family is just N-Nagoya.”
“Well, I’ve been to Tokyo a few times. I guess I can be your guide then.”
She nodded gently, accepting my offer.
Going on a faraway trip with a girl classmate.. When you think about it, this is a privilege only reserved for rom-com MCs
Komari is already glued to her phone, looking at the attendees list for potential authors to buy from.
“You know, it’s funny how we’re the two loners in class and yet here we are on a solo trip together out of town. What would the others say if they saw us?”
“Fueh!? Of course that w-would be bad! D-dummy! That’s w-why we went all the way to keep it a secret from e-everyone!”
Her face was almost as red as her hair. Is being seen with me that embarrassing?
The train captain soon announced our departure over the speaker. We are now on the way to Tokyo at over 300 km/h.
Without my phone, I don’t have many options to entertain myself. How did people survive before the smartphone? Maybe I’ll just go sleep it off.
I suddenly felt the warm feeling of a head resting on my shoulder. Komari has fallen asleep on me.
Her red hair is poorly combed, messy and has split ends all over. Her dress sense is strange. But looking at her right now, she really is a cute girl underneath it all.
It’s a good thing we kept this trip a secret. For some reason, I don’t want anyone else to see this side of her.
Extra: Pretending is Fun
Hiroto Sakurai made it back home after being dragged out to help Nukumizu with his scheme to secretly visit the Comiket in Tokyo without anyone else knowing.
He was entrusted with Nukumizu’s phone, for both tracking insurance and to respond to messages in case others get suspicious.
His stomach started to hurt, thinking about all the trouble that could befall him if things go awry.
“What did I just get myself involved in? Oh.. if this goes wrong..”
PING!
A LINE notification came from Nukumizu’s phone.
“A message this early already? From.. Yanami-san. This is the girl he hangs out with all the time isn’t it?”
<I’ll be back from Okinawa later today. See you soon.>
A husky voice soon came from behind.
“Hiroto, who’s phone is that?”
Hibari Hokobaru, student council president and now, third year student. The university entrance exams are coming soon and so she has started attending the cram school in Toyohashi. Her usual residence is hours away, so she has made a habit of crashing at Hiroto’s house unannounced.
“Oh there you are, Hiba-nee. Nukumizu from the Literature Club is out on a secret trip to Tokyo with Komari-san. I think they were going to Comiket? His cover story is that he’s going to help us deal with transitional paperwork for the next semester. I’m supposed to help keep their cover, so Nukumizu gave me his phone and told me to pretend to be him.”
Hiroto is very bad at keeping secrets.
“A secret trip between a boy and a girl, trying to keep their relationship hidden from everyone else! What a beautiful story. Allow me to help you with your task to ensure no one disturbs them!”
“Eh? Hiba-nee? Please, I think it’s best you don’t get involved-”
“Nonsense. You don’t understand a maiden’s heart. Tell me now: how would you respond right now to Yanami-san’s message?”
“Hmm.. something short and simple like: Sounds good. I am helping the student council today so unfortunately I can’t see you now.”
Hokobaru audibly sighed, and grinned smugly.
“Alright then, give it a try and see what happens.”
Seeing his cousin’s smug expression, Hiroto became scared and started doubting his response. Was there something wrong in what he wrote? But he was determined to not let Hokobaru be involved and cause trouble for Nukumizu.
Hiroto typed up his response as Nukumizu and sent it to Yanami.
“This is a perfectly neutral response. I don’t know Yanami-san very well, but she must be a normal person. There’s no reason for normal people to be angry at this, right?”
A response quickly came from her.
<The student council again? Are you our president or their lackey?>
“Whaaa?! Why did she get mad out of nowhere???”
“So? How did Yanami-san respond?”
Sakurai can only weakly hand her the phone for her to read.
“Yanami-san is already angry. W-what do I do now?”
Hokobaru brushed her long flowing auburn hair while looking down on her terrified cousin.
“I told you, Hiroto. You don’t understand anything about a girl’s heart. You somehow missed that the literature club girls are very sensitive about Nukumizu-san’s involvement with the student council.”
“They are? But why? Did we do something wrong to them?”
“It is because they feel we are taking Nukumizu-kun away from them. Last spring, when we trained him to race Yakishio-san, they were stalking our practice sessions. His involvement with the student council is a sore spot for them, so we must address this carefully. If not, they may come to investigate on their own and ruin his cover.”
“..I-I didn’t know.. Then what should we do?”
“I’ll handle it. Watch and you may learn a thing or two about dealing with a maiden’s heart.”
Hokobaru started writing a response. Each keystroke was calculated and there were no second guesses or revisions.
“And sent.”
“Let me see what you wrote, Hiba-nee.”
Hokobaru showed him the phone, proud of her handiwork.
<I’m sorry Yanami-san, Sakurai-kun asked urgently for my help. How about I treat you to parfaits tomorrow to make up for it?>
Hiroto looked at the message, unimpressed.
“..Is that it?”
“Hmph. You still don’t understand anything, Hiroto. Every sentence was carefully constructed.”
Hokobaru smiled proudly, bringing up her fingers for added effect.
“First. Apologize! Admitting fault is the best way to soothe a girl’s heart. I could have brought up the fact she was away on vacation leaving Nukumizu-san all alone, but that would only cause trouble.”
“Second. Avoid mentioning any other girls! Had I dropped my name there, or Basori’s or Shikiya’s, that would have soured her mood even further.”
“Oh no! I was planning to use Basori-san as the excuse. That would’ve been a disaster.”
“Third. Offer compensation! This makes your apologies less empty and more genuine.”
“Isn’t that just bribery?”
“Is it alright to make that kind of promise out of nowhere? Nukumizu-san doesn’t even know about this.”
“Hiroto, a parfait is surely worth a saved relationship.”
Suddenly a response came. Sakurai can barely look at the inevitable catastrophe.
<You’re always like this.>
Was that not enough?
< You always think you can buy me off with food.>
Even Hokobaru started to visibly worry a little. “Did I miscalculate?”
<Three parfaits. And you’re paying.>
Eh? It worked!
“Too easy. I told you, Hiroto. You need a woman’s touch for this, so I will help you.”
Sakurai-kun’s stomach flared up in pain. Hokobaru may have salvaged the situation for now, but he can’t shake the feeling of impending disaster for everyone involved.
“I am so sorry, Nukumizu-kun.”