Chapter 1: The Law of Cute = X
Truth is stranger than fiction. This stems from a line left by a British poet.
It’s a proverb widely recognized in Japan as well, and I see—a senpai who looks like a succubus, a cat-like gyaru, or a mermaid-like honor student, a snow-woman-like teacher… I can’t introduce them all here, but there are many others.
It’s been about half a century since mysterious phenomena, which are [slightly milder] versions of original fables and legends, began to be confirmed among some young people. They are called “Myudents,” and depending on their symptoms, they might gain, lose, be jerked around, or get caught up in minor incidents—at a glance, it might seem stranger than fiction.
However, in the end, they are Homo sapiens just like us. They don’t possess enough power to shake the world, and at most, they are celebrated within the limited community of a school. It’s merely an adolescent runaway caused by an incomplete mind and body.
Most young people are too busy to stop, chased by more critical problems—like being in a pinch this month because they spent too much on gacha games, or getting yelled at when they questioned their boyfriend about cheating with three other girls, or being troubled because their senior in the same club does nothing but build plastic models.
That regular short break in the busyness of youth is truly God’s mercy.
“Whew, it’s finally over~!” “Want to stop somewhere on the way home?” “I want to go eat something sweet~!”
The miscellaneous conversations possess an indescribable freshness.
The time is mid-May. Inside the classroom, where the mid-term test schedule has been completed without a hitch, a unanimously relaxed atmosphere drifted. To put it bluntly, everyone was slacking off.
Some joyfully started pulling on social game gachas, while boys and girls affectionately discussed their plans for after school. It seemed that even lost money and cheating boyfriends could be forgotten at this moment. This scene of peaceful stupidity woven by students released from oppression probably hasn’t changed from ten years ago and won’t change ten years from now.
But there was one pitiful man who was unable to share in that happiness.
“I wish I could forget about my weird senpai right now too…”
“Otsu-otsu~, Komori-kun♪” (Good job, Bat-kun!)
“…She’s here, huh. Sigh.”
A sigh escaped me instinctively.
The girl who smacked my back as I was slumped over my desk to inject some “fighting spirit” had a bright brown side-tail as her trademark. As if it were a privilege of being a teen, her skirt was short, and the collar of her shirt, with two or three buttons undone, looked breezy.
My classmate, Shishihara Maon, was dressed in a [Gyaru of Gyarus] style again today.
“What’s wrong? You’re shrouded in a dark aura even more than usual.”
“You can tell the difference between the same shades of black?”
“Totes. There are two hundred shades of white and three hundred shades of black. Did your test results turn out disastrous? Don’t worry, don’t worry. Just move on.”
“Don’t just decide that on your own. What about you? Do you feel confident?”
“Ahahaha. Living wisely means not worrying about things that are over, Komori-kun.”
“You didn’t answer, but I can tell what the answer is.”
Since I don’t have an image of Shishihara being good at studying (sorry), I wasn’t disillusioned.
By the way, [Komori-kun] = [Bat] is my nickname.
It’s a derogatory term combining my last name, Komori (古森), with the nuance of being a “goldfish poop” (a hanger-on). Most people use it as a back-stab, but this woman is the strange one who says it to my face.
“Hm, you have a face like you want to say something?”
“I was just wondering if ‘Bat’ is a compliment in your head.”
“Eh? Well, if anything… if you look closely, they’re kimo-cute (creepy-cute), right?”
“Sorry for being creepy.”
“I said kimo-cute. Anyway, I’m talking about animals. Well, cats are a hundred million times cuter, though.”
“Don’t you get embarrassed saying that yourself?”
“I told you, I’m talking about animals!!”
Her tied-up hair bounced with her retort. Apparently, her hairstyle is meant to evoke a cat’s tail.
To tell the truth, she is a Myudent called a “werecat,” and she possesses a special constitution related to cats (specifically small wildcats, the ancestors of domestic cats). Her excellent eyesight and sense of smell are low-key impressive, but I haven’t seen them be useful even once so far.
However, if she weren’t a werecat, there’s a possibility that we would have graduated without ever speaking a single word to each other.
“Now then, the time has come to diligently engage in club activities with vigor today as well!”
“Yeah, good luck with that. Well, I’m gonna head out soon…”
“Wait right there! You’re coming too!”
“Tch.”
“No clicking your tongue!!”
The hem of my blazer was grabbed by Shishihara, who pouted her lips.
Yes, club activities. The one and only greatest bond that connects her and me, who seem to be opposites.
Needless to say, Shishihara is a character who lives on the sunny side. Normally, she should be over there—with the group of girls currently loitering by the window, who are clearly high-caste. Given the volume of their voices and their flashy looks, she should be over there having fun with those high-ranking girls.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Don’t pull me, it’s annoying.”
For some reason, in reality, she’s pestering a guy like me.
“There’s no way a boy in his prime would go straight home. Going home after the sun sets is best.”
“Don’t talk like some big-hearted mother. You’re the one who should think about using your time for something more meaningful, since tests just ended.”
“Meaningful, like what?”
“…………Like drinking the new Frappuccino at Starbucks with your close friends, or making mysterious mocktails at the Saizeriya drink bar.”
To my concept of “meaningful,” which even I thought had a low IQ, Shishihara laughed it off with a “Hah? Are you an idiot?”
“I did that yesterday and the day before.”
“Go home and study during the test period, then.”
“Stop talking like my mother!!”
“Ah, ah, I can’t hear you~”—literally refusing to listen, I was led out of the classroom by Shishihara. A high school sophomore being invited by a girl in his class to go to club activities. It sounds like a scene out of a youthful romance, but the sad part was that in reality, it wasn’t like that at all.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
Literature Club ( ).
That is the name of the club I belong to.
The parentheses and the space aren’t a typo; rather, the essence is concentrated in that blank space. The name “Literature Club” is just for show, and officially, its true purpose is to [Stay close to the diverse problems students face while learning about the healthy state of the adolescent mind].
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, let’s just call it a “Consultation Office” or a “Counseling Facility” for now. It’s not a suspicious religious organization, but I have a feeling we’d lose if we were ever taken to court.
In short, it’s a shady existence where if you tap it, dust comes flying out.
All of this is entirely the fault of the cult leader—I mean, the one-woman Club President. Since my honest feeling was that I wanted to avoid involvement as much as possible, the test period (when club activities are completely banned for about a week) could truly be called an oasis for the heart.
“I beg of you! Just this once…”
“Please, give us amnesty!!”
“I’ll do a kowtow or anything!”
The third floor of the special building. From the back of the peaceful floor where culture-related club rooms were lined up, I heard screams like minor characters begging for their lives in a yakuza movie, and I couldn’t help but frown.
“I wonder what it is? It’s noisy,” Shishihara said, as if it were someone else’s problem.
I walked down the hallway, actually impressed by how a cat could have such low crisis-detection skills. Unfortunately, or as expected, the source of the noise was our destination.
The club room located at the very end. On the brand-new glittery plate, the words [Literature Club ( )!!] danced.
From the wide-open entrance, I could still hear unsettling voices like “Forgive me!” and “Have mercy!”
When I peeked in fearfully, there were three boys with their hands on the floor, groveling. Their figures prostrate on the cold flooring were exactly like those of debtors whose lives were ruined. In this day and age where the eradication of anti-social forces is preached, this was a violent scene you wouldn’t even see often in a loan shark’s office.
“Ahaha♪ If it’s a ‘no,’ it’s a ‘no’ ♡”
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
