Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 7 In the Rika room
~_~ The next day, filming for the Neighbor’s Club movie began based on Sena’s script.
The script was, to say the least, terrible.
Yozora's plagiarized script aside, this second, supposedly ‘perfect edition’ script (which pointlessly added a protagonist’s brother) wasn’t much different than the first. It still came off as being extremely disorganized.
We totally forgot one thing regarding Sena’s script. Song and dance scenes, magic, ESP, cloaking, fighting in the park, love scenes between males, the transfer student being extremely popular - after throwing all of them together, the chances of the script resembling anything normal was close to zero.
Even though I admire Sena for taking everyone’s discussions into consideration, the script she worked so hard on was confusing at best.
However, since we had no other scripts to use, we had no choice but to film according to Sena’s.
“No turning back. That is the Man’s True Path”
Yukimura half sang as he danced.
With a katana slung by his waist, he looked positively satisfied by his performance.
... Calling this a “song and dance scene” is kinda pushing it, don’t you think?
“Heh, that was a good blow...”
“Same goes for you.”
The black mage Yozora and the samurai protagonist Yukimura threw away their weapons and brawled with their fists in the park, which eventually grew into friendship.
“YES!! That’s it!! Push him down right now!! Climax, CLIMAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
While they were supposed to be a black mage and a samurai, the both of them were still in their school uniforms. As Yukimura embraced Yozora and went “What a beautiful duel”, Rika exploded in ecstasy.
How would their climax be like anyway; would a scene between two girls crossdressing as guys be considered Yaoi or Yuri? These meaningless thoughts drifted across my mind.
“Kodaka! Be sure to capture my magnificent acting!!”
“We need explosions here! Yozora explode!! Huh? I told you to explode so at least self-destruct!! ……… I guess it can’t be helped, I’ll just have you explode during editing.”
“Wait Yozora! You need to look more dumbstruck here!”
“Okay Cut!! We got some really good scenes today!!”
......Taking over Yozora’s position of Director, Sena seemed genuinely enthusiastic.
No, enthusiastic would be understating it. A frenzy would be more fitting.
Even Yozora, who was initially acting begrudgingly according to Sena’s direction (“Would this script actually work?”), seemed to be enjoy herself more as filming went on.
Yukimura and Maria had no problems with the script from the start.
Rika, who smiled bitterly after reading the script, also agreed to assist Sena.
“Let our friendship pierce the heavens! I offer my heartfelt thanks to the almighty omniscient goddess Kashiwazaki Sena!”
Yozora said as she sat eating a hamburger on a bench, all the while profusely praying and offering her thanks.
“That’s it, this is love!! Ahahaha, how delicious! Hamburger!! How awesome for a hamburger to be acknowledged as a hamburger!”
“What do you mean love! This is a god’s love! Speaking of which, the hamburger’s made out of earthworms.”
“Urghurgh (vomit sounds), huh?! Is this really earthworm? This taste must come from the power of friendship bolstered by the love of god! How incredible! Is earthworm even edible?”
“Oh my, how noble right? Praise our Goddess! Oh I forgot to mention, cat meat was minced together with the earthworm, so sing her your prayers now!”
“Gasp! Cats are so cute, they’re adorable! For such adorable beings to be so tasty, it’s incredible! I should try it the next time.”
“Wait, stop. That thing about cats was a joke.”
Sitting next to Yozora and also munching a hamburger was Maria, who was speaking her lines in tandem with Yozora (the whole thing about cats and hamburgers was ad lib by the way, just like Yozora and Maria’s daily conversations).
... I felt this way throughout the entire filming.
To be honest, I’m not too sure what the entire film’s about.
I think it would be more fitting to say that no one aside from Sena would ever understand it.
However, even though it was rather disappointing in terms of plot, at least that was the only disappointment.
“An amateur student film’s not too bad after all” – that’s how I felt throughout the filming.
☺
The fourth day after filming based on the new script commenced.
After today’s filming ended, I walked towards the Rika room together with Rika.
I was carrying the camcorder, reflector and microphone. Rika was carrying the computer.
Even though the recording material were usually stored in the club room, today we decided to bring it to the Rika room for inspection, as they were starting to malfunction.
It was already dark outside.
Even though it was already late, the school was still buzzing with activity, since there wasn’t much time left till the School Festival.
The both of us were currently in the special room block. Since the rooms here were larger than classrooms, many students chose to use them as haunted houses and cafes. The change of scenery certainly added towards the mood.
A pleasant aroma drifted from the home economics room and the chemistry lab.
Speaking of which, this was the first time I was walking together with Rika in a corridor like this.
Even though I would occasionally pass by Yozora or Sena while making my way to the club room after school, I had no chance of encountering Rika, whose Rika room was all the way in the special room block.
“Heh heh, it's the first time Rika’s walked together with Senpai in a corridor like this~”
Rika who had the same thoughts as me said shyly.
“Is that so?”
I feigned ignorance.
“It is.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm what? (′･ω･`)”
Rika pouted at my reply.
Without realizing it, we had already reached the Rika room on the second floor.
“Welcome.”
Rika pushed the door open single-handedly.
This is the second time I’ve been in this room after meeting Rika.
Back then I heard a loud explosion from the Rika room. Charging through the door, I found a girl wearing a lab coat lying on the floor, whom I brought to the infirmary.”
“It’s been a while since then eh…”
I let out an involuntary sigh.
“Yeah, it’s been 122 days.”
Rika suddenly said.
“...? What do you mean?”
Seeing my confused expression, Rika smiled.
“It’s been 122 days since Rika first met with Senpai~”
“You just calculated didn’t you.”
“Nope, Rika remembers. To be exact, it’s been 122 days 8 hours and 37 minutes.”
This time, Rika smiled bitterly.
... “Calculate” and “Remember”
I didn’t understand the difference back then.
I aimlessly wandered around the Rika room.
Even though it was structure was similar to the chemistry and biology labs, it was only roughly half in size. There were no chemical flasks or preserved specimens on the shelves either, giving the room a rather vacant feel.
“There’s nothing much here.”
The moment I finished, Rika mentioned:
“Come over here.”
“What’s over there?”
Rika moved towards the far side of the room.
There was a single door, with the words “Science preparation room” on the signboard crossed off, replaced with a marker pen scribble of “Sect Σ”.
“Please don’t mind.”
Noticing my gaze, Rika said in a slightly embarrassed voice.
Rika took out a key card from her pocket, and slided it across the terminal by the door. With a click, the door swung open automatically. Even though it sounds like no big deal, it was the first time I saw one at school.
“... Incredible.”
Rika smiled bitterly in reply.
“This was originally supposed to be my secret base to protect all my research. I even had voice recognition and biometric scans once, but I discarded them after they got too troublesome. Not like anyone would ever come here anyway.”
“... Incredible.”
I said in awe once again.
“Please step in.”
☺
“... Incredible”
It was my third “incredible” in the past minute. I should really start expanding my vocabulary.
In contrast with the empty room outside, the science preparation room (or “Sect Σ” as Rika calls it) was filled with a variety of astonishing objects.
The room which was roughly three tatamis wide has what looked like a medicine cupboard housing a variety of beakers, a bookshelf crammed full with books (likely BL doujinshi), over ten surveillance cameras, three super huge workstations, a table with several unknown electronic components on it, a wardrobe, a refrigerator, a sleeping bag, what looked to be a really expensive office chair, and all sorts of other objects.
“Oh, you can leave the equipment there.”
“Oh.”
I left the camcorder on the table.
“Hehe, you’re the first person to enter this room, Senpai~”
Rika said bashfully as she sat on the office chair and spun around.
“Heh.”
“What do you mean by ‘Heh’? At least show some enthusiasm, this is the first time this girl’s brought an outsider into her room…”
“... Calling this ‘A girl’s room’ is rather pushing it…”
As I said so with a stern face, I suddenly realized something.
The sense of nostalgia I felt ever since entering the room was due to my father’s study being similar.
Of course, there weren’t as many cameras or workstations, but the general vibe of ‘a researcher’s room’ was there.
“... Isn’t it strange for you to be wearing a straight face now Senpai? Shouldn’t Senpai be blushing or going ‘what an untidy room’?”
“Those are rather polarized options of what to think of this room…”
I said as I smiled.
“Oh well, good luck with the maintenance.”
“Please wait Senpai.”
Rika called to me as I was about to leave.
“I just finished adding special effects to the movie, would you like to have a look?”
Rika said as she booted up her workstation.
“Sure, go ahead.”
Since none of us were familiar with editing and special effects, we left everything to Rika.
Even though Sena’s script was filled with notes like “Add grand explosions here!”, “Fire a blinding laser from her arm!”, “The heavens split as holy light parts the clouds above and shines on the ground”, Rika simply replied “no problem” to each of Sena’s requests.
Rika pushed some buttons on her keyboard, and the largest projector in the room started playing footage of our movie.
Upon seeing the footage… I could not help but exclaim.
“... INCREDIBLE!!”
The first scene was Yozora and Yukimura’s duel.
The black mage Yozora summoned a huge black dragon which proceeded to attack Yukimura.
Yukimura countered by unsheathing his blade, as a flash of lightning cut through the black dragon.
As the black dragon’s scales flew through the air, they turned into malevolent black flames and sped towards Yukimura. Upon colliding with a rainbow shield surrounding Yukimura, they disappeared in a flash of light.
... While shooting this scene, Yozora was blankly waving her hand in a corner, while Yukimura was chanting and dancing some strange dance.
I even remember laughing to myself, thinking how normal the scene would look on film.
With the aid of special effects, that normal scene had effectively transformed into an exhilarating battle between a black mage and a samurai.
Incredible, was all I could say.
Other battle scenes were equally impressive. Even the backgrounds were spectacular – a church with a statue of Sena the goddess, the school being set on fire – this was way beyond any high school student’s scope of expertise.
“You’re incredible…”
At the end of the film, I looked directly at Rika and honestly praised her. Blushing, Rika said:
“Oh Senpai, don’t be so direct~”
“No, it’s too incredible… Isn’t it?”
Since I knew nothing about computers, I couldn’t imagine how much effort would it take to complete such special effects. However, I could tell that it was no easy feat.
Even for the girl genius Shiguma Rika.
“Mmm well, Rika supposes it was rather challenging.”
Rika smiled as she admitted.
Something ‘challenging’ for Rika would definitely be bordering impossible for others.
“I see, if only I could have been of help…”
I who only knew how to use the computer for Internet browsing could never be of any use here.
“Ahaha, it’s fine. Rika has no lessons anyway, so Rika has plenty of free time.”
“How do I put it… I’m sorry you had to shoulder this burden all alone.”
“Not at all,” Rika said as she shook her head.
“Even if it was rather challenging, it was never once a burden.”
“Huh?”
“Even though Rika’s done plenty of video game and movie projects with adults, it’s the first time Rika’s done something like this with people her age. Rika had lots of fun doing this with everyone.”
Rika smiled gently as she said that.
Upon seeing her smile, I could not help but look away.
My gaze fell upon her book shelf, which contained volumes of BL doujinshi, games and hobby and model magazines. I suddenly realized there was a folder titled “Photo data – The Neighbor Club”.
“Photos…?”
“Oh, Senpai means this?”
Rika retrieved the file and opened it.
“T-this is…”
There were a huge amount of my photographs in the folder.
The photos were taken in the clubroom, from various angles. It was obvious they were candid shots.
“What did you…!?”
“Rika apologizes, these were all taken secretly.”
“You p-pervert!”
“Please don’t misunderstand.”
Rika said softly as she turned to the next page.
“Huh, this is…”
In addition to my photos, there were photos of Yozora, Sena, Yukimura and Maria, all taken from different angles too.
Yozora still had her head of long hair, and Yukimura was in a maid outfit.
“Do you remember the time everyone played ‘Romancing Saga’?”
“Yeah, we played it once.”
I recalled Rika saying something about her helping to develop an RPG. Using a visor, it would provide the gamer a virtual world experience.
Such equipment wasn’t new, but the game contents sadly left much to be desired.
“These were materials taken to help create the CG models for everyone in the game.”
... Thinking back about it, our avatars were surprisingly accurate in that game.
Even though she had simply brushed it off as “Oh for this time Rika already made character models based on everyone’s profile” back then, no matter how you think of it, those were high quality models, and not something one could easily pass off as ‘oh for this time’.
... In order for everyone to enjoy the game, she went through such meticulous planning.
“Ahaha, Rika’s been exposed. It’s embarrassing~”
“You...”
I suddenly recalled Rika’s expression after everyone finished ‘Romancing Saga’.
“How should I put this… I guess we shouldn’t have played that game together after all.”
I smiled bitterly at Rika, as she replied.
“Really? Rika had lots of fun though~”
“Even though it’s the first time Rika’s played games with everyone, Rika had lots of fun.”
The gentle smiled she showed me back then really dazzled me.
The same smile she had when she said “Rika had lots of fun doing this with everyone”.
Shiguma Rika.
She might be the one who wishes to make friends the most in the Neighbor's Club.
