Chapter 2: Sudden business.

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.

T/N: Yeah, there are no titles for this novel. I’m still not used to it lol.

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“Haah…” I sighed into my hands, head cradled in my grasp. The reason for this conundrum was Saki, of course.

What should I do now? I threw the rhetoric to no one in particular. After all, no later than the moment she stepped out of the house, I had been thinking of her; she had been in my head all night long, in fact. So, I was at a loss. What could I do?

“Yo, Creepy Panda! Ha-ha-ha!”

I turned to see Matsuyama and his cronies grinning in happy vitriol.

“Morning…”

“You’re the ugliest Panda I’ve seen. Not cute at all! Heh!”

The people huddled around started cackling. Just the usual. So there was no point in trying to defend myself or do anything for the matter. I decided to laugh and play it down.

“Nah… Ha-ha…”

“So? How many Z’s will you catch today, huh? Haha!” His nasty questions came unabashed, like always. I tried once again the playing-off strategy, but they paid no mind. These guys even started betting on how long it’d take for me to fall asleep.

“I say first period!”

“Nah, I think he’ll lose at the second.”

“Me too!”

“I’ll risk it all and say he won’t today!”

“No way, haha, that’s not gonna happen!”

I was told many things. Despite wanting to talk back from my gut, I couldn’t. They were right, after all. As I clenched my fists to power through their mocking, Matsuyama concluded with, “I bet he’ll lose in the first fifteen minutes!”

“That’s mega early! Haha!”

“Too far dude, hahaha!”

“No, no, no. He has a point! Heh!”

“Dude’s going all in! Haha!”

“Matsuyama, you’re a genius! Hahaha!”

His closing remark brought about a final rush of excitement from his circle. Before anything else happened, the teacher swung open the classroom door and walked inside. “Let’s start homeroom!”

Within a blink, the hustle and bustle disappeared. Then, I promised myself I’d fight tooth and nail, and not lose. I would not fall asleep.

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Sickening giggles and boisterous cackling surrounded me like sharks. I had fallen asleep without even realizing it.

“Never thought Matsuyama would be spot on! Damn!”

“That’s him for you, haha!”

“Crap! I should’ve gone with his call!”

“It was so fast I almost lost it in front of the teacher! Hahaha!”

Hearing their predatory voices all around, I kept my head to the desk and pretended to stay asleep. It seemed like I had fallen asleep the way Matsuyama predicted. Why am I like this… I couldn’t help but hate myself for not being strong enough.

“I’ll wake ‘im up to grab us some juice then!” He announced. “Hey, Panda Boy… Creepy Panda! You’re awake, right? Oi~!” His footsteps approached like doom. Though I couldn’t see, I figured he’d force me awake and make me buy all their juices once again. I sighed sullenly in my heart.

However, something was different this time.

“Excuse me.” A dignified voice rang through the classroom like a chime. The buzzing bees around me all turned their heads, forgetting the amusement of messing with me.

“Hey, Saki. What’s up?” Matsuyama greeted as a gentleman would. The switch was so sudden, I almost wanted to hurl.

“Yeah. I’ve got some business here. Stepbrother…” I almost reacted in his place and ended up sneakily opening my eyes, but the memories of yesterday kept me in a lock. Speaking of which, I think Matsuyama said something about his father and her mother—Mikiko marrying soon… While I had forgotten all about it, my classmates were basking in the news.

“Wow, she said stepbrother!”

“You two really are siblings now, huh?!”

“I’m so jealous!”

“This is just like one of those novels!”

Their cheers erupted around, yet I couldn’t feel more different. Up until recently, I was the one she called brother. From now on, however, Matsuyama would take my place. Truth be told, I felt a bit sentimental.

“You finally called me your brother, huh? Good, good,” he nodded in satisfaction. “So, what do you need from me, Saki?” He urged her deliberately as if to show himself off to every soul around us.

It worked. People looked on with great interest. However….

“I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you have, but I never said anything about wanting to talk with you, did I? Plus, don’t expect me to ever come to speak to you in the first place.”

“Eh?”

Not only Matsuyama, but every classmate in hearing distance froze up. The guy in question was the first to thaw and speak up.

“W-well then, who did you come here for?” He prodded her. His composure was slightly regained, his signature fake smile growing on his face.

“It’s…” She walked up to the desired person and, “There you are, sleepyhead. Look at you, pretending to be asleep. Wake up, now,” she came onto me, and pressure rained from above.

How did she know…?

“Hm? S–Mizumoto-san…? What’s up?”

Shoot. Almost called her by her first name, I grimaced inside. Then, Saki tried to answer but was cut off by Matsuyama.

“S-Saki? What do you want with the Cree—I mean, Iwaki?” He had never been so impatient. In fact, he was so affected his fake smile almost crumbled like a crouton. None of his cronies, or rather my classmates, had expected Saki to want me, so they watched listlessly.

Casually, Saki put a finger to her chin and thought for a second. Then, she dropped a nuke.

“Akito and I are dating~!” She cooed.

“What?” Matsuyama and I exclaimed in unison. An unpleasant coincidence to be sure, but he and I were on the same page. A beat later, the nuke exploded.

“Eh?! No way!”

“Why is the school’s Madonna with the Creepy Panda?!”

“What the hell is this?!”

“The Creepy Panda must’ve done something!”

“Y, yeah, it must be! He must’ve done something bad!”

Hey, Saki!!! What are you on about?!!! Inwardly, I was but a trembling lamb before her sudden revelation.

“It’s a joke,” she chuckled, pleased to see the army of aghast faces. Everyone around us was pleased to know she was just kidding, as there was no chance she’d be with the Creepy Panda.

“R-right?”

“The Panda and her could never possibly have that kind of relationship…”

“Y-yeah. Thinking calmly about it, it makes perfect sense.”

“I mean, this is the first time I’ve seen Mizumoto-san smile…”

“Yeah. It’s so beautiful…”

One guy stood different from the crowd, nonplussed. He didn’t like Saki’s mischievousness in the slightest. “H-hey Saki, don’t go far with such jokes again. As your brother, I can’t allow you to do that. Moreover, with the Cree—with Iwaki, even…?”

He warned her as a brother would. However, against everyone’s expectations, she turned to him and glared as she would at a piece of excrement by the side of the road—in heartfelt disgust.

“Drop the big bro act. I’m about to hurl… It’s disgusting, so can you please just stop, Matsuyama-san?” She pronounced his name as if to emphasize her not calling him brother.

“—!”

Indeed, she dared not call him stepbrother or the like again. Instead, she used his last name and shushed him like some sort of babbling drunk. Matsuyama could only pale at her comment before quickly regaining his cool. He spoke through his fabricated smile:

“D-don’t be cruel. You called me your brother just now…” He stopped to recollect. “Please, understand how I feel. As your stepbrother, I just don’t want to see you mingling with some nefarious scumbag,” he hurled insults as if it was the most natural thing in the world, all while acting like an older brother.

Yeah. I know I’m not good enough… His words echoed dry.

“Yeah… You’re right,” she crossed her arms, assuming the quintessential thinking pose. Seeing this, Matsuyama sighed in pure relief.

“If you understand me, Saki, please get away from that—”

She cut him off. “In other words, I should stay away from people like you, yeah?”

“Wha?” He looked like a drowning fish—stupid and aghast. Actually, his face was so stupid, I had to look down as to not burst out laughing.

Following up, she nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll keep it in mind.”

“H-hey!”

Deciding her conversation with Matsuyama was no longer worthwhile, her eyes jumped to meet mine. “Sorry about earlier, I joked too much. Ah, but it’s true I have business here.”

“With me?” Her ardent confession came to mind, but it seemed like that wasn’t the crux of the matter.

“I’ve heard some naughty things about you. As an officer of the student council, rehabilitation is in order. So, I’m asking you to come with me to the council office right now.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, by the way. You have the right to remain silent.”

“H-hey!”

She pulled me by the arm, dragging me out of the classroom in the direction of her office. As we left, however, Matsuyama’s voice echoed as the last thing I heard.

“Sh*t! I’ll remember this, you f*cking Panda!”

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