Chapter 12: Matsuyama’s side.

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

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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“Ugh, he’s getting cocky even though he’s just him!”

I, Yuto Matsuyama, couldn’t bother hiding my vitriol. Of course, it was all that b*****d’s fault. With a stampede of rage bursting inside, I kicked the desk where he was just sitting at.

“H-Hey, calm down.”

“Mhm. It’s useless to waste brain power on him, right?”

My negative spiral was enough to bewilder my classmates… That’s not the word. They all looked at me with fear in their eyes. I had to stay cool, or things would turn sour fairly quickly.

I can’t just beat him up out here…

Without a second to spare, I put on my usual mask and put out an excuse. “Sorry, sorry. I was a bit distracted, is all.”

Soon, the tense atmosphere among my classmates faded away and the usual routine took its reins once more. However…

“But damn, that creeper was really on a roll today, wasn’t he?” That single comment was the catalyst for a wave of criticisms to start falling in.

“Hey, Matsuyama-kun, you were just not in good shape today, right?”

“You’re right,” another agreed. “If you were serious, you would’ve solved that question in a flash.”

“It just wasn’t your lucky day today, Matsuyama-kun.”

They all badmouthed Iwaki while propping me up. I’m truly blessed with classmates like these, I smiled to myself. Once again, I reaffirmed my own drive: I will crush that damned panda when tests come around. I just happened to be in a bad mood today, that is all. I stood awake until late at night studying over the last few days. That must’ve taken its toll, I’m sure.

“But that panda f*cker was solving problems we couldn’t…” The voice of a foreigner spilled out. The murmur, neither loud nor small, brought silence to the class.

“E-Even if we can’t do it, there’s no way you would lose if you put your mind to it, right Matsuyama-kun? Right…?” The anxiety propagated through my peers.

Good grief…

“Be real. How could I ever lose? Besides, there is a reason why the Creepy Panda solved that difficult question this time. A trick, if you will.”

“A trick…?”

“Yes,” I continued with straightforward eyes and a confident voice. There was no other way to do this. “He made Saki teach him what the teachers hadn’t covered yet.”

This was the only possible way—I told my classmates. They seemed to get the point quite well.

“Sure, if she was the one behind it…”

“That guy’s unfair.”

“Right? So Mizumoto helped him learn, yet he was still acting as if it was his own achievement?”

“Disgusting!”

Without a second thought, the class started bashing Iwaki again. This is it. Iwaki does something really scummy and ‘binds’ Saki. So, Justice is on my side.

I reveled in the sensation of my enemy being scrutinized while riding on this magnificent justice horse. Still, the reason why I bothered so much with that creepy little kid had to do with my sister (to-be), Saki.

Oh, Saki Mizumoto… I fell in love as soon as my eyes laid upon her.

Sure, I had always been an ace in sports, and I was always the best when it came to studying. In addition, heaven bestowed upon me charisma and a handsome complexion. Thanks to this, it was quite easy for me to always be at the center of class.

However, I tasted defeat for the first time after I got into the high school my father ran. I checked my ranking numerous times, and it always read “second.” Frustration burst inside like a million fireworks, but soon it didn’t matter. Saki Mizumoto—the number one—was incredibly beautiful. Just her looks alone were enough to completely take me over.

Ah, that woman is on the same level as me. She deserves to stand by my side.

From then on, my every action was focused solely on winning her over. She was the girl’s representative for the class, so I ran to be the boys’. If I spent time with her, I thought, she would eventually fall completely for my charms. However, even after more than six months, she hadn’t even looked my way.

Such a baffling thing was alien to me. At the same time, it reaffirmed a fire within. If she were to be my woman, she had to be as perfect as she was, as unattainable.

But one fateful day, I overheard some girls talking to Saki. It was the so-called “love talk” girls so usually partook in. I was talking with the guys while it happened.

“Is there anyone you like, Mizumoto-san?”

As soon as one of the girls said that, I pumped an imaginary “Yes!” with my fists.

“There is.”

Her answer was immediate, causing the girls around her to shrill excitedly and ask her who it was. As she said her next words, Saki’s voice quivered a little.

“He’s someone I’m always with. I keep sending him signs over and over, but he never notices me at all,” her cheeks flushed pink. “He’s amazing at studying, and might be good at sports too, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Really? But aren’t you the best with books, Mizumoto-san?” One of the girls asked.

“I’m not sure. Well, if anything, he might be smarter than me altogether.”

I chewed on her every word.

“Hey, Matsuyama? Is something wrong, bro? Your face is red.”

“Nah, it’s nothing,” I shook his worries away.

I see… So you’re waiting for me to beat you in the tests, Saki.

She was a handful, sure, but I loved that about her. After that, I became as serious as ever about my studies. However still, I could not beat her at her own game. I was always the number two, and she was always ahead of me during our freshman year.

I thought this endless game would never end, but God loved me so. Around February of the first year, my father and Saki’s mother decided to get married. I was delighted. God did everything in his power to bring the both of us together. If we could really become siblings by law, we could be together more than usual.

When Saki and her mother met me and my father face-to-face, I had nothing but favorable impressions of them. Her mother’s manners were soft and she seemed very kind. It was here that I first learned that Saki had a stepbrother. However, Mikiko—her mother—told me that he had committed domestic violence against them because they were not related by blood, and then disappeared.

What a horrible guy, I thought to myself. Thus I figured I’d support her as her new brother, so I told her I hoped we could get along together. However, she glared at me and said, “I don’t want to be your sister.”

Normally, I would’ve lost my heart upon hearing something like that with such a strong glare. But I knew more than to let myself misunderstand her.

She wants to be my girlfriend right?

I gazed upon the heavens above and witnessed my genius staring back. It hit me that I really was different from the ordinary folk, who would never be able to read between the lines. That day I vowed to surpass her and finally tie the knot, so I worked even harder.

In our second year, she and I were separated into different classes. Unfortunate, yet inevitable all the same.

Saki formally joined the student council in the second half of her freshman year. Furthermore, if you wanted a chance to join as a freshman, you had to be number one. Then, she remained in the council up to her sophomore year.

I figured it would be difficult to remain in contact with her, so I continued to be one of the class representatives. After all, the representatives and the council were close to each other, and I’m sure Saki would like that.

I’ll give it my all for this teasing stepsister of mine…

However, the moment I became a class representative, a problem arose. There was a student who kept sleeping during classes and recess. He would arrive at school late and would be the first to leave—In a hurry, no less.

That topic came to mind as Saki and I walked with her from a meeting we happened to have together. I spoke up, “There’s a guy in my class who sleeps all the time. What should I do about him?”

“I’m not interested in your classmates,” she was ruthless, but it soon turned cute once you realized she was just being shy.

“If I remember correctly, his name is Akito Iwaki.”

“D-Did you just say Iwaki?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I see…”

At that time, she made a face I had never seen her make before, at someone else. A thing pitch and murky swelled from within, like venomous oil stuck to a pipe.

“If there are such troublemakers out there, I’ll have to correct them personally so they have a better outlook in life. Good job, Matsuyama-kun.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.”

While her steps seemed ever so light, my mood hit the ocean floor. The next day, I decided to help Saki in regards to Iwaki, so as to not bother her.

“Oi, Iwaki. Wake up, will you?”

I tried to wake him up as normal, but he wouldn’t budge. I was so angry at him for bothering Saki, even though he knew nothing, I couldn’t hold myself back.

“Hey, wake up, f*cker!”

“Guh!”

I rolled one of my textbooks and smacked his head as hard as I could. The sound was like the crack of a whip, and it echoed throughout the whole classroom.

“Hm, what the…?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Iwaki. You’re always sleeping in class, aren’t you? Don’t you feel sorry for the teacher?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Dark circles sunk beneath his eyes, probably due to staying up late playing games. His shoddy appearance only served to make me even angrier. Why had Saki beamed at the mention of his name? The more I thought, the less I understood, and the more frustrated I got. However, what I did know is that I had to give him a thorough lesson in her behalf.

After all, he’s to blame for everything.

Thus all my actions were justified.

From that day on, I have him the lessons of a lifetime. At first, people around tried to stop me, saying I was going overboard or other nonsense. However, his refusal to change his ways was getting on everyone’s nerves, teachers included.

Thus all my actions were justified.

Everyone around me was on my side, so he was the one to blame. I was sure. I am sure.

I will free Saki from this problem child. Then, she will realize what a good man I am. Be patient until then, my love.

“T-This is bad.”

The few classmates I had sent to watch over Saki and Iwaki came back in a panic. Seeing that, my dwelling of the past came to a halt.

“What happened?” I talked to the small subgroup comprised of my most loyal classmates.

“That Creepy Panda was teaching Mizumoto-san how to study.”

“Ha?” I didn’t understand what my classmate said, so I probed him further.

“I said, that b*****d Iwaki was teaching Mizumoto-san how to study! He was!”

“…Is that true? He’s not capable of that.”

“I saw it with my own two eyes!”

The class soon erupted into a frenzy.

“Could it be he really is smart?”
“No shot.”
“But Mizumoto-san asked him if he could teach her…”

I sighed and clapped to calm their upset. Soon, their eyes were all on me.

“Thanks for watching over them for me. You’re probably tired, right? It must’ve been a sleep-deprived hallucination. I’m sorry for pushing you so get some rest, m’kay?”

“Huh? Ah, okay…”

I gave him money so her could get something nice from the cafeteria.

“But, Matsuyama, if this is true…”

“It’s not. It’s impossible,” I answered with pure confidence.

It would be an actual impossibility for him to teach her. After all, in order to do so, he would have to have finished the whole subject for the tests during this weekend alone. It’s not humanly possible. So much so, I sigh, realizing I was overreacting to it all.

“If you say so, Matsuyama…”

Everyone else agreed, albeit reluctantly.

“Besides, I have a secret plan for this test.”

“A secret?”
“Huh?”
“No way!”

My classmates all looked at me in shock. The plan I would put in motion for this test was something I originally planned so I could defeat Saki. I’ve convinced my dad, too, so it was basically certain I’d become the best in my grade.

“Don’t tell the rest of the class, okay? Especially not to that Creepy Panda. The truth is, this will be announced on the same day as the test.”

Everyone nodded suit, and I told them about what would happen on the fateful day of the test.

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