Chapter 16: Hinako Sakura Dies

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Two peas in a pod deal with a random banana.

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It was the next day, right after settling the beef with the CRC.

I opened the door to the student council office, only to find Sakura lying face down on a pool of blood. The victim had a knife with a ruler-length blade stuck in her waist. Her outstretched hand lay on top of an English word, Kz, written in blood — A dying message, probably.

I stepped over her.

“Yo.”

“Hello.”

Shirayuki exchanged her usual greeting with me as I sat down at the vice-president’s table.

“Another day of paperwork?“

“Um, we’re almost finished with it, so let’s go all out today,” for a while, we both quietly ran over the documents, doing everything we had to.

“—Why is there no reaction!?” She stood up with a bang. “A fellow member of the student council is lying down on a pool of blood! How can you both just… Ignore it? Did you guys expect it or something?”

“The product number on the handle of the knife is the same as the one used on old party goods back in the day. I guessed you were playing some kind of dumb prank.”

“I knew at first glance it was fake blood because it didn’t have the viscous nature of a non-Newtonian liquid, in other words, real blood. I also didn’t want to interrupt your moment of fun, you know, your playing dead act.”

“… You useless geniuses,” She gritted her teeth in frustration and pointed her index at me. “Either way, I’m really mad!”

“Are you angry?”

“Why would you be?”

“Yesterday! After school! At the student council office!” She rattled simple phrases and pouted, just like a child.

“Ah…” I see what she’s talking about.

Yesterday, after meeting with the athletic clubs, she probably went back to the student council office. Bad timing, really, since it coincided with the time Shirayuki and I went to the CRC.

She had no choice but to trudge back home, alone, after waiting for God-knows how long.

Yeah, that’s probably why she’s angry.

“I’m sorry. A lot of things happened yesterday, and I forgot, Sakura-san.”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve at least left you a note.”

“Eh… No, I’m not really that angry, you know?” Perhaps because of the decent apology that came out of left-field, Sakura forgave us easily.

“I’ll be careful next time.”

“Well then, back to work,” Shirayuki and I resumed our work.

“Just checked the request form. I’m done.”

“Fast as ever, huh. Now on to—”

“U-Uuu… This ain’t right!” Sakura couldn’t stand it anymore and kicked the ground. She’s lively today, I see. “Where did you two go off to yesterday?!”

“The Computer Research Club.”

“We had a bit of trouble yesterday.”

“Trouble with the CRC? … The hell happened?”

We both explained Sakura yesterday’s situation briefly.

“I… See. Huh, you both sure enjoyed the time you’ve spent playing games together.”

Are you deaf?

I expected her to throw another tantrum, but surprisingly, her cowlick just hung down.

“…. I can’t stand this,” she speaks softly, almost purring. “I caught a fever and missed the first day of school. I also had a meeting with the athletic committee and I couldn’t go with you guys… You both are getting closer and closer, and I feel like I’m the only one left behind…”

“Sakura…”

“Sakura-san…”

She had an IQ of 3 — That’s what I thought of her, but it seemed like she had a lot on her mind.

“Sakura, you see—”

Just as I was about to follow up—

“That’s why—Don!” She pulled out a weird magazine with pictures of space. “To better understand each other, let’s do a psychological test!”

She said something ridiculous, as always.

I take back what I thought before. She had an IQ of 2, at most.

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