Chapter 47: Summer sky.

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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“How far are we going?”

“Right over there, see?”

As we walked, I pointed to the closest privately-owned dry cleaner near the school that I had looked up on my phone. In front of the shop, two female students in gym uniforms stood just inside the glass doors, watching eagerly for something.

One of them was clutching a black tube almost as tall as she was. No doubt, that was the container for the championship flag.

“Hello, upperclassmen.”

“Eek! Uh, who—wait, who are you?”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Takatsuki, a second-year. And this is Tsukino.”

After a brief introduction, the two students exchanged glances, then looked back at me. It seemed they vaguely recognized the name Takatsuki, judging by the conflicted look that said, “So this is the guy…”

“…Did you, by any chance, tell Mishima?”

“No, I didn't. The only ones who know about this are Tsukino and I.”

“Does that mean…you'll keep quiet, Takatsuki?”

“Of course. I thought it would be easier to return it without getting caught if we had more people here to help.”

“Oh, thank goodness! But how did you even know we'd be here?”

“The trash can in the student council room was empty.”

But at that, the three of them—including Tsukino—just looked at me like, “What is he even talking about?” Maybe I skipped too many steps in my explanation.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard you two stayed in the student council room overnight to work on decorations. It seems you put in a lot of effort. I saw the evidence on the desk in there just now.”

“Yeah, well, it's our last sports festival. The cultural festival isn't until winter, so we wanted to go all out on this one.”

“Here's the strange part, though. Even though there was no time to tidy the desk, the trash can was empty. So why was the trash can cleaned out, when nothing else was?”

No need to drag this out. These two had already admitted they were the culprits. I should just tell them.

“The answer is, you wanted to get rid of the evidence that the championship flag got dirty. If any trash had been left, it would defeat the purpose of trying to hide the proof like this.”

“What do you mean, Shinji?”

…Well, I guess it'd be a bit unfair if only she didn't know.

“You brought snacks and drinks into the student council room to pull an all-nighter, and at some point, you must have spilled it all over the championship flag.”

“I see! So that's why it's the dry cleaner!”

“When they saw the stained championship flag, the two of you must have tried everything you could think of. But the lettering on that flag is embroidered. Rubbing it with a towel would only fray the thread and make it look worse. Sponge or toilet paper could only absorb so much.”

The upperclassman without the flag container—sporting a ponytail—let out a low “Ohhh.”

“So you thought about taking it to a shop, but dry cleaners don't open in the middle of the night. If any other students came by, your crime would be exposed, and you'd end up getting scolded on sports festival day. You couldn't let that happen. So, what to do?”

“Got it! ‘Return the championship flag clean before the last 400-meter relay and act like nothing happened!'”

Correct answer.

Since they didn't deny it, that must be it. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be right.

“Impressive! It's hard to believe you managed to find us here after only an hour since the festival started.”

“I'm honored.”

As I started to bow, the upperclassman with the container gently stopped me.

“Hehe. You know, we've had a pretty ordinary school life up to now. Before graduating, we wanted to leave some proof that we were here.”

“So that's why you picked the championship flag. Nice choice.”

Hearing this, the two of them chuckled. They were probably good people I wouldn't normally get involved with.

“Right? It's super conspicuous, but since you only see it once a year, everyone can look at proof we were here without ever suspecting a thing. We stayed overnight, thinking we'd stitch something together just the two of us.”

It was probably a bad thing to do, but their words struck me as endearing. I didn't feel even the slightest urge to blame them.

“But Shinji, don't you think it's strange that no one notices the announcer booth is being run by someone other than the broadcasting club? I mean, it seems a little too oblivious, don't you think?”

“That's because Mishima-senpai has been deliberately gathering the event committee members on the school building side. He probably knows you two are the culprits and is keeping the other committee members from finding out.”

The two of them jolted slightly but then softened into relieved smiles, perhaps recalling Mishima-senpai's personality.

“But couldn't that just be a coincidence?”

“There's one more reason—this one is more substantial.”

“And what's that?”

“Mishima-senpai, as the committee chair, personally asked the principal to cancel the championship flag return ceremony.”

Exactly.

If the return ceremony role belonged to the committee chair, only the chair could have canceled it. And there was one reason the committee member Higashide introduced Mishima-senpai—because he's the only one who has the student council room key.

“It's just speculation without solid proof, but you could say something like, ‘Due to staff shortages with exams coming up, we're behind schedule,' and just cut it from the program. It's a shame for the principal, who's lost his only chance in the spotlight, but for the sake of the overall plan, it can't be helped.”

“Haha, that's funny! You're pretty good at scheming, aren't you, Takatsuki?”

“I wouldn't say that.”

The ponytailed senpai giggled, leaning on the other senpai's shoulder with a carefree smile, enjoying the situation despite it all. They seemed to be having fun, but I wondered if they'd actually thought of a way to return it.

“Hmm? Actually, we haven't thought of anything. Takatsuki-kun, got any good ideas?”

“…Well, until the afternoon events start, let's hide it just outside the school gate. Then my friend and I can take care of the rest. You two should hurry back to the announcer booth.”

“The afternoon? Why's that?”

“Did you forget? The morning is the boys’ ‘Group Formation.' In the afternoon—”

“Oh, right! The girls’ ‘Mounted Battle'! Just like this morning, security will be looser!”

A bit disappointing that Tsukino stole my line, but yes, that's the plan. With the allure of a girls' showdown, security would be even more relaxed than during the boys' event, and then Higashide and I could casually return the flag to the announcer booth.

It's a simple task; no major effort required.

“You'll help us that much?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you! You're a great guy, Takatsuki-kun!”

The ponytailed senpai flashed a smile and lightly tapped my chest. Behind me, Tsukino let out a small gasp and nudged me on the back of my thigh a bit harder than necessary. Naturally, I pretended not to notice.

“So, did you manage to leave any trace that you were here?”

At that moment, an elderly couple, both holding the championship flag together, appeared at the entrance, joyfully opening the glass door. It seemed the cleaning was complete. The flag looked even better than last year—so immaculate it could have passed as new.

Feeling a bit nervous that it might be too conspicuous, I glanced at the right edge of the flag, where an unfamiliar silver thread was embroidered. With handwriting that neat, it could almost pass for a maker's signature.

“‘djutb’? What does that mean, senpai?”

Tsukino asked, but the two of them just laughed, rolling up the championship flag and carefully sliding it back into the tube before quickly turning to leave.

“Nope. We're not telling you that, juniors.”

And so, we returned to the school, successfully restoring the item without incident.

I just hope that championship flag someday becomes their summer sky.

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TL: Didn’t get the djtub thing either.

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