Book Girl Ascends the Stairway of the Gargoyles and Idiots Chapter 3

Idiots, Staircase and Summoned Beasts

The distance looked to be about 200m when viewed directly.

Kanba Yukihiro sighed as he looked up at this building in front of him. He looked slowly at both left and right side, and there were 12 students, including Yukihiro, standing in front of the terminal that was placed quite some distance away. Their uniforms were of the male and female variety, of different styles. One of them was the uniform Tenguihama Academy’s Yukihiro was wearing, while the other…

“…Feels just like a date.”

The boy had been muttering sternly since just now. He was wearing the same uniform as Yoshii Akihisa’s Fumitzuki Academy. The ratio in numbers between Tenguihama and Fumitzuki was 1 is to 1. In other words, there were 6 people on both sides.

“You ready? We’re going to begin.”

The boy beside Akihisa said. This boy had an athletic frame, sharp eyes and short hair that gave a deep impression. His name was Sakamoto Yuuji, and like Akihisa, he was a second year of Fumitzuki Academy. On a side note, the people on Fumitzuki Academy’s side were all second years.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s hurry up then!”

An energetic petite girl’s voice answered Sakamoto impatiently as the girl jumped around.

The girl was Kokonoe Yuuko, and her round cat-like eyes were rolling. She was a third year from Tenguihama. Behind her, a delinquent-looking boy then said, “Then, let’s begin!” His name was Izutsu Ken, a student from Tenguihama, and like Yukihiro, he was a first year.

“Pl, please take care of me.”

The one who asked politely was a beauty with nice flowing long hair. She was a student of Fumitzuki Academy, Himeji Mizuki.

“Please take care of me too.”

On hearing Himeji’s greeting, a lanky girl \with nice flowing black hair bowed. Also, a bespectacled boy bowed lightly too. The girl’s name was Amagasaki Izumi, and the boy was Saegusa Souji. Both of them were second years in Tenguihama.

“Please take care of me!”

A confident-looking ponytailed girl waved her hand, and a boy with nondescript appearance nodded. The ponytailed-girl was called Shimada Minami, and the nondescript boy was called Tsuchiya Kouta. Both of them were students from Fumitzuki Academy.

“This atmosphere sure feels comfortable.”

The last person from Fumitzuki Academy who said this was a pretty girl with a rather unique choice of words. He, Kinoshita Hideyoshi, was a student who looked like a pretty girl, albeit sounding rather old-fashioned.

“Is everyone ready? We can begin.”

The last person from Tenguihama said. This handsome looking boy who gave off a sharp and primitive vibe looked around at everyone. He was a 3rd year of Tenguihama, Kariya Kengo. Everyone nodded after hearing his words, took a slight breath, and call out.

“““SUMMON!”””

Everything started from a mere moment of inspiration from Kokonoe.

“This is the one. The people from the school everyone’s talking about is here!”

The club president Kokonoe suddenly called out in the ‘club room’ of the staircase club Yukihiro belonged to, the roof of Tenguihama’s first sports hall. She waved a piece of A4 paper, and Yukihiro took a piece of paper from her.

“Is this ‘test summoning system’ Fumitzuki Academy a famous school?”

The paper had a brief introduction of Fumitzuki Academy, which used the ‘test summoning system’, and a rough explanation of the activities that would be held the next day. The place was not too far away from here, but Yukihiro did not understand the content on the paper.

“You haven’t heard of Fumitzuki Academy, Badge? It’s very famous.”

Kokonoe widened her eyes in shock as she asked. Yukihiro shook his head and asked Izutsu beside him,

“Do you know?”

“What do you mean? I did hear of Fumitzuki Academy before. It’s that high school that assigns classes according to test scores, right?”

“Fumitzuki Academy, is it?”

Saegusa helped elaborate on the vague explanation Izutsu gave.

“They sort the students according to their grades starting from the second year, and imported a world-leading system, the ‘test summoning system’, where they could call out summoned beasts whose strength is based on the test results.”

“Summoned beasts, huh? Sounds like a video game.”

Yukihiro muttered. Saegusa’s eyes lit up as he nudged his glasses up, saying,

“Yeah, that’s a kind of game. Besides, the students in the class had to use the summoned beasts for battle.”

“Ah, battle?”

“Yeah. I just said that they sort classes based on the scores. As for the class facilities, the highest ranked A class differ greatly from the lowest ranked F class. If they wanted to study in a good environment, they would need to work hard to enter the better class. Thus, students would have to fight using battles to decide who’s better. The strength of the summoned beasts are proportional to their scores, so if they want to have a better classroom, they would have to work hard to get better scores. In that case, the students would work harder on their own to get better scores. This was the aim of the school.”

“Sounds really hot-blooded.”

Izutsu sighed out as he said. However, Yukihiro was still puzzled.

“But the normal test scores are 100 at maximum, right? There has to be a limit no matter what, so how can they pull this gap?”

“Most of the schools are as such. However, Fumitzuki Academy’s test scoring system doesn’t have an upper limit, only a time limit, and there is an unlimited number of questions. In other words, they are to answer as many questions as possible within a given time. There’s no concept of full marks there, and it’s said that someone got 500 points in a single subject.”

“Wow…”

Izutsu called out.

“How is it? It’s nice, right? The Fumitzuki Academy system introduction talk will begin tomorrow. I got a piece of this paper from the staff’s office printer.”

Kokonoe happily took the piece of paper from Yukihiro.

“Is this really fine?”

Yukihiro asked.

“There’s still more.”

Kokonoe answered nonchalantly.

“Then, how about everyone go take a look during the next rest period?”

Amagasaki, who had been listening silently, cautiously raised her hand to raise her opinion, but Kokonoe shook her head and said.

“What are you saying, Izumi-chan? Why should we wait for so long? Let’s go now! They already printed the promotional poster beforehand, so that means that there’s some form of preparation for the event going on, and the people involved are going over there to play. Isn’t this too sneaky? I feel we have the right to take part too.”

“Such a lame argument.”

Yukihiro sighed as he looked around for help. At this moment, Kariya, who did not show much in this conversation, stepped forward to say.

“I don’t care about any preparations beforehand, but we’re not people involved in this, so we have no rights to take part. Let’s begin club activity today.”

Kariya interrupted the conversation skillfully, but Kokonoe would not give up.

“What are you saying? We’re related personnel here. Look!”

Kokonoe put the piece of paper in front of Kariya, and pointed at the words on it. Kariya merely answered with a ‘oh’.

“The event is sponsored by Izumi’s family company, Tenma Corporation.”

Kariya looked over at Amagasaki, who responded shyly with a ‘yes’.

“But I don’t have too much involvement—”

“That’s how it is. As Izumi-chan’s friend, everyone in the staircase club have the right to take part in this activity beforehand. Let’s get going!”

“But there’s a problem with whether there’s a preparatory event before hand—”

“Well, I’m not too certain actually—”

“Okay okay. Everyone, let’s get ready. There’s not much time left.”

At Kokonoe’s insistence, Yukihiro and the rest had to be there.

Everyone managed to get there successfully. Of course, the preparatory event did not happen. Just like that, Kokonoe happily looked around, saying that there would be something interesting.

There were no guards assigned at the entrance, and as there were many office vehicles entering and leaving, the gates were wide open. They knew that it would be bad to enter on their own, so Kokonoe could only stand at the entrance and look inside.

“There’s nothing special here. Let’s hurry back, prez.”

Kariya said from behind Kokonoe. Yukihiro and the gang were at the Amagasaki Conference plaza that would be used for the briefing the next day. This place belonged to the Tenma Corporation, and was loaned to Fumitzuki Academy for this activity.

It seemed that both sides were planning some event together, but Amagasaki herself did not know the details.

“Oi, are you done?”

Kariya wanted to grab Kokonoe by the collar, but she cried out.

“The kid’s moving the podium.”

Kokonoe was not saying anything really shocking. However, her round eyes got even rounder. She looked back at Yukihiro and the rest and waved at them. The gang could only move over.

“What is it, Kokonoe-sempai? Is there anything shocking here—”

That was a podium that would be used for an orchestra, taller than a human, yet the kid was able to move it easily.

“…”

Kariya was speechless. The kid that was moving the large podium with his back facing Yukihiro and the gang was walking and soon vanished behind the building.

“…Let’s start chasing after it.”

Suddenly, Kokonoe charged out before anyone could stop her. Izutsu followed her, and then, Kariya, Amagasaki, Yukihiro and Saegusa followed suit.

There seemed to be a tail behind the kid that was moving the podium, and its ears seemed to be sharp. Even if it was a kid, its body proportions were weird. The limbs were unnaturally short, and the head was very big. If its size were of an ordinary person’s, it might even be seen as a puppet. However, as it was less than 1m tall, that would be impossible.

“Don’t you find that kid strange?”

Yukihiro asked Saegusa behind him, and Saegusa merely curled his lips without answering. At this moment, they heard a gruff voice from the front.

“Yoshii, put this on the stage. The workers will be here soon.”

Yukihiro got over to Kokonoe and the rest who were hiding in the shadows of the building and looked over. That kid put the podium on the stage, and there were a few adults who looked like workers. Not too far away from them was a man who looked like a sports teacher. He was dressed in shorts and pants, seemingly showing off his tan muscles as he instructed the boy beside him.

That boy was Yoshii Akihisa. He, who was wearing the uniform of Fumitzuki Academy, was looking tired as he stared at the podium.

“Se, sensei, I’ll be grateful here if you let me rest.”

On hearing Akihisa’s words, the teacher folded his arms.

“What? How useless you are, Yoshii. You can’t take it after a mere 5 hours of manual labor?”

“No…I’m a human compared to you, Iro…no, Nishimura-sensei.”

“Oh really? You’re saying as if I’m not human.”

“Ah, no. I guess you can be considered a human, Nishimura-sensei.”

“Yoshii, grit your teeth and keep working.”

“Huh? Why?”

That sport teacher-looking man (it seemed that he was called Nishimura-sensei) had a manzai-like conversation with Akihisa. Soon, the teacher relented.

“…Never mind. I’ll let you rest for a while.”

“Thanks. How long do I need to rest?”

“Hm. 3 seconds will do.”

“Don’t I even have a minute? Is it even legal to have rest periods in single-digit seconds?”

“Just kidding. Just rest whenever you want when I’m not calling you.”

The man said that as he moved towards the stage, and Akihisa sat down relaxed. The kid that moved the podium ran to him.

“Really, you can’t just boss me around like that even if it’s punishment…”

Akihisa muttered as he looked over at the kid. The kid suddenly vanished.

“Ah, no way!”

Kokonoe called out, and Akihisa, who heard that voice, immediately lifted his head. Both their stares met each other, and Kokonoe ran to Akihisa before shouting loudly.

“Where’s the kid? Where did you hide him? Spill it!”

“Ah? You’re mistaken right? I didn’t kidnap any kid.”

“Fess up if you don’t want to suffer. I have evidence here!”

Kokonoe continued pressing on, and Akihisa lowered his head. Yukihiro and the rest came out from the shadows, and they had to stop Kokonoe from going out of control. At this moment, they saw three people walk towards Kokonoe and Akihisa.

“I saw it for myself. You abducted the kid and did terrible things to him.”

Kokonoe forcefully interrogated Akihisa, and Akihisa was unable to process what was going on perhaps due to things happening too suddenly. He muttered,

“…What should I do? Should I admit it?”

“So that’s how it is, Akihisa. You finally did it in the end. I knew you’ll end up going down this path sooner or later…”

“I didn’t expect you to abduct a kid, a boy at that, you pervert! You definitely have that kind of perverted preference!”

“There’s still time to repent. Reflect and repent on your actions, Akihisa.”

The trio walking towards Akihisa said with serious expressions. Just when everyone thought that Akihisa would cry out “I’m sorry, everyone, I’m guilt.”, he suddenly stood up.

“WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SPOUTING! DON’T CALL OTHERS A CRIMINAL LIKE THAT! ALSO, WHY ARE YOU HERE ANYWAY, YUUJI, MINAMI, HIDEYOSHI!? I THOUGHT I’M THE ONLY ONE BROUGHT HERE FOR PUNISHMENT!?”

Akihisa asked the students who suddenly appeared.

“Quick thinking there.”

“So so.”

Sakamoto Yuuji and Shimada Minami whispered. Sakamoto then answered.

“That’s because you interesting…situation worries us. That’s why we came here.”

“Did you just say ‘interesting’?”

“I said that ‘you’re interesting’. Besides, you’re an interesting guy no matter when.”

“Yeah yeah. You’re the most interesting guy in school.”

“The way you come up with excuses when you’re late is a classic. You actually unabashedly said to Ironman that ‘the traffic lights didn’t turn green’ there.”

“It’s nothing impressive…”

“Akihisa, you’re really an idiot.”

“Weren’t you praising me just now, Yuuji?”

“Yeah, just treat it as such. Speaking of which, is it really fine to leave those guys over there?”

At this moment, Yukihiro and the rest could finally join in the conversation.

“I apologize for this idiot’s actions. I’m a 3rd year from Tengurihama Academy nearby, Kariya Kengo. This person here is Kokonoe Yuuko. Sorry for intruding, but we just came to scout the place.”

“You’re Tengurihama students?”

Kariya quickly stepped forward to press on Kokonoe’s head as he introduced himself. Sakamoto patted Akihisa on the shoulder too, and said,

“I want to apologize for this idiot’s rude actions. I’m Sakamoto Yuuji, and this guy is—”

While talking, he turned to look at Akihisa, and said in a puzzled manner,

“Who’s this guy?”

“Ah? What’s with you, Yuuji? You suddenly lost your memory?”

“Speaking of which, who’re you?”

“Never met you before.”

Shimada and Kinoshita Hideyoshi showed puzzled expressions after Sakamoto. In this situation, Akihisa was shocked.

“…Who, who am I?”

“Didn’t they call you ‘Akihisa’?”

Yukihiro said.

“Someone even called you Yoshii just now. I guess your name is Yoshii Akihisa, right/”

Saegusa added. At this moment, Sakamoto and the rest gave looks for regret.

“Seriously, they saw through it so quickly.”

“How rude. I nearly forgot who I am there.”

Akihisa heaved a sigh of relief as he grumbled to Sakamoto and the rest.

“I think you’re really amazing to forget who you are just because of a little problem.”

Shimada sighed as she shook her head. Akihisa stared at her with a hurt expression as he said.

“Wha, what? You’re saying it as if I’m an idiot.”

“You’re obviously one.”

Sakamoto then left these words, and then said to Yukihiro and the rest.

“His idiocy is at this level, Yoshii Akihisa, the most symbolic idiot amongst our second year, no, amongst our entire school.”

“…Really?”

On hearing Sakamoto’s introduction, Yukihiro could only answer back vaguely.

“Wow, so this is a summoned beast. How cute.”

After the introductions, Kokonoe looked at Akihisa’s summoned beast and said this happily.

According to Akihisa, he was called here to help with the preparations as a punishment. Sakamoto and the rest were his friends, and they came to watch him.

“The other schools will probably find this interesting. Try training this guy. This guy likes having other people train it.”

Sakamoto said to Kokonoe, who giggles as she said,

“Really? Let me try.”

Kokonoe then reached her hand out.

“Ah? Hold on. What’s going on?”

Akihisa did not understand. Sakamoto whispered to him,

“Akihisa, show her our school’s specialty. You might get your punishment reduced.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I can guarantee it?’

“Got it! Kokonoe-sempai, you can train it all you want.”

Before Kokonoe could even start teasing, Akihisa’s summoned beast was kicked away by Shimada.

“Is that even possible? How can you even let yourself get tricked by Sakamoto like that/”

“Because he’s an idiot.”

“He’s an idiot.”

Sakamoto, and Kinoshita Hideyoshi nodded. As of this point, Akihisa was kneeling on the ground, painfully clutching his stomach.

“Minami…there’s no need to kick me when you remind me, right?”

“Sorry, I just came back from overseas. I don’t really understand Japanese well.”

“YOU’RE LYING, YOU’RE DEFINITELY LYING THERE!”

“Let’s not talk about this for now.”

Kokonoe interrupted Akihisa’s grumbling and started talking about the summoned beasts.

“Normally, summoned beasts can’t be called out without a teacher present. However, this plaza has a summoning boundary set all over this place, so we can call out summoned beasts like this guy.”

“Then, you can call out your summoned beast too, right, Sakamoto-kun?”

“Of course.”

With Kokonoe’s request, “Summon!” Sakamoto shouted. An 80cm tall summoned beast then appeared at Sakamoto’s feet. Kokonoe happily reached for the summoned beast.

“Huh?”

However, she could not touch it. Her outstretched hand went through the summoned beast’s body.

“Normally, summoned beasts can’t be touched. Only summoned beasts can touch each other. However, this guy’s summoned beast is special, and you can step on it like this.”

Yuuji said as he kept stamping on Akihisa’s summoned beast.

“WAIT, YUUJI! IT FEELS WEIRD WHEN YOU’RE STEPPING ON MY SUMMONED BEAST LIKE THIS!”

Akihisa cried out on agony on the floor.

“That means it’s fine when it’s Himeji?”

“…”

“You hesitated!? Your tastes aren’t ordinary!”

Shimada took two steps back, and Akihisa hurriedly tried to defend himself.

“No, that’s not it. I wasn’t hesitating! Just imagining!”

“YOU BIG PERVERT!!”

This time, Shimada didn’t aim for the summoned beast, but sent a kick right at Akihisa’s stomach.

“Speaking of which, where did Himeji and Muttsurini go?”

Sakamoto easily changed the topic as he looked around.

“I don’t know about Mizuki, but I’m not sure about Tsuchiya either…”

Shimada answered. At this moment, Akihisa quickly got up.

“What? Don’t tell me Himeji-san and Muttsurini are together, Minami?”

“No, Tsuchiya just disappeared out of a sudden.”

“This is bad. I hope Muttsurini won’t do anything rash.”

“We might end up having to call the cops soon.”

Kinoshita and Sakamoto said with serious expressions. On a side note, despite looking seriously, Sakamoto’s foot was still stepping on Akihisa’s summoned beast.

“Excuse me…”

Just when Yukihiro was about to ask about Tsuchiya, Kariya behind him raised his hand.

“Is the student you call Tsuchiya this guy?”

Everyone looked back and saw that Tsuchiya Kouta was tied up by Kariya and Izutsu, shaking his head continuously for some reason.

“This guy was basically sprawled on the floor trying to peep at the upskirt of Izumi-chan, and we suppressed him…”

Tsuchiya shook his head.

“Really? Sorry to trouble you guys.”

Sakamoto got Tsuchiya over, and Tsuchiya shook his head harder with Akihisa and the rest looking at him.

“Let’s see what ideas you have, Muttsurini.”

“Why were you crawling?”

Sakamoto and Shimada questioned, and Tsuchiya whispered.

“…Observing ants.”

“Seriously, do you think you’re a primary school kid?”

Sakamoto seemed somewhat lethargic, and Yukihiro felt the same as well.

“Ah, Akihisa-kun, everyone’s here.”

At this moment, a pretty girl with nice flowing hair and slender body came running over. She was Himeji Mizuki.

“It’s great that you’re alright!”

Akihisa happily went over, and got tripped by Shimada.

“Wha, what’s going on? Are you alright, Akihisa-kun?”

Himeji showed a puzzled expression, and Shimada muttered that it was nothing as she stepped onto Akihisa, keeping Himeji behind her.

“…Why do I feel that I had been stamped on ever since just now? It hurts!”

Akihisa was suddenly rolling on the floor, and Shimada could only move her foot away and ask, “What’s with you?” Akihisa stared at his summoned beast.

“Eh? Will the owner feel pain when the summoned beast is grabbed?”

Kokonoe continued to tease Akihisa’s summoned beast.

“Of, of course it will. When my summoned beast takes damage, some of the feedback will be reflected back on the owner…”

“Oh! is that so?”

Kokonoe answered as she started grabbing the summoned beast’s arms and play with them like dolls. Akihisa started rolling around in pain.

“Please stop.”

“…Amazing. I totally respect you for being able to even do this.”

Sakamoto showed his fear and admiration for Kokonoe.

“Stop it, Yuuko.”

Kariya grabbed the summoned beast from Kokonoe’s demonic clutches. Akihisa finally got release as he laid on the floor, panting heavily.

Kokonoe looked unhappy as her toy (?) was taken away. Sakamoto and the rest looked at each other, and Saegusa took out his laptop and said,

“Normally, the summoned beasts aren’t used for playing for this particular reason. But as this is an event ground, anyone can summon as long as they take the tests. The activity starts tomorrow, but the system is set up, right?”

“That old hag..old principal does things very quickly, so I guess she already got things set up.”

Sakamoto answered. The eyes hidden behind Saegusa’s glasses showed a glint.

“Then, can you bring us to where the terminal is? I may be able to activate it in this case.”

Yukihiro and the rest head towards the arena where the terminal for the ‘test summoning system’ was. Saegusa plugged the laptop into the terminal, hacked into the system, and activated the system that was on standby.

“Then, let’s look at everyone’s abilities. The teachers in charge of the subjects will normally be the ones deciding the subject for the summoned beasts use. However, everyone can summon using their favorite subject, so go ahead and test yourself with your best subject.”

“Okay.”

Kokonoe was the first one to run over, and Yukihiro was the next, running enthusiastically forward to try this. Yukihiro chose maths as his subject, since he was often forced to study maths as his older sister was a maths teacher. He had most confidence in this subject.

“The time limit is one hour. Get ready…”

Yukihiro put his watch on the table and started answering the questions.

An hour later, Yukihiro and the rest got their summoned beasts.

“Wah! How cute! They’re really cute! Everyone, check out my summoned beast!”

Kokonoe danced around excitedly once she saw her summoned beast. The mini Kokonoe-chan started dancing with her movements. It was a girl with tiger ears and tail.

“Kokonoe-sempai, your summoned beast’s movements are really refined.”

Yukihiro looked at his summoned beast as he said. His summoned beast could only do simple movements as he was not used to controlling them. Izutsu and the rest were the same.

“Ah, everyone, look at Izumi-chan’s summoned beast. It’s pretty. I want a bracelet too!”

Kokonoe, who was letting her summoned beast jump, squealed after seeing Amagasaki’s summoned beast. Amagasaki’s summoned beast was wearing a bracelet, and had small black wings on its back.

“If it’s wearing a bracelet, it means that it has high points. Amazing, Amagasaki-san.”

Himeji called out in amazement. Kariya and Saegusa whispered, “Oh.”

“I have one too.”

“Me too. Though I have less than 500 points.”

“…”

Yukihiro looked at his summoned beast unhappily. His summoned best did not have the bracelet like theirs. He thought that his scores would not be high, but still passable. Thus, he felt somewhat unhappy.

“Next, let’s fight using our summoned beast, everyone.”

Kokonoe’s summoned beast danced around like the owner, not showing any signs of authority.

“But how do we fight when our summoned beasts don’t have any weapons? Sumo?”

Akihisa explained that the summoned beasts would normally have weapons. But, after considering the safety issue for this arena, they redesigned the summoned beasts such that they would not have any weapons.

“Fufufu. Just what I want. I don’t need any weapons or sorts, because the upcoming battle is—”

Kokonoe showed a nonchalant smile.

“We’ll be running up the stairs using summoned beasts!”

Akihisa was so surprised that his eyes became dots.

A race up the stairs.

It was a match where the participants would have to run up the stairs in the school and cause havoc for others. Kokonoe’s proposal was to use the summoned beasts to run inside the plaza.

“…This is a little too…”

Sakamoto immediately shook her head after hearing Kokonoe’s words. She revealed a shocked expression.

“What’s bad about it? it’s very interesting.”

“Well, to us, that’s…”

Sakamoto opposed strongly. This was a normal reaction, and Yukihiro heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that he was a reasonable person.

“Ah, how about this then?”

Kokonoe clapped and said,

“The first place can get a reward. Helping the first place get a wish is something we can definitely do with all we have.”

“I’ll take part then.”

Sakamoto immediately decided.

“Huh!? Wasn’t your attitude just now so adamant?”

Yukihiro could not help but exclaim. Everyone’s reaction was the same as Sakamoto scratched his head and said.

“This is just taking a step back.”

“You have no intent on denying your filthy intent, do you?”

Akihisa muttered softly.

“In that case, you don’t intend to take part, do you?”

“Please let me take part, Sakamoto-kun! No, Sakamoto-sama!”

Akihisa immediately knelt down to beg without hesitation.

“…Akihisa, has your pride been eaten by a dog?”

Sakamoto’s stare showed a pitiful look.

“Alright then, let’s decide the course.”

Kokonoe looked around, finally pointed at a building, and said,

“Over there then. The flag on the roof. Whoever reaches there will be the winner.”

Yukihiro looked over at that building. The roof of the building had a pole with a raised flag.

“The one to reach the top will be the winner.”

“Alright, it’s decided. But what about the rest?”

Sakamoto looked around at the other Fumitzuki students.

“I’m in.”

“…(nods)”

Kinoshita and Tsuchiya decided to take part too.

“Ye, yeah…”

“Well…”

Shimada and Himeji looked at Akihisa, who noticed Shimada’s stare as he asked.

“Is there anything, Minami?”

“It, it’s nothing! I’m just thinking that I can beat you up if I win.”

“Wait a moment. I think it’ll be a problem if you take part, Minami.”

“We all have different wishes.”

“Everyone’s different anyway.”

Sakamoto and Kokonoe immediately denied Akihisa’s proposition.

“I’ll take part too.”

At this moment, Himeji said with a firm tone.

“I won’t let Minami-chan beat Akihisa-kun, so I…”

Himeji realized that she spoke too much at one go, and blushed as she lowered her head.

“…Ah? So…? So what about me? Do you want to beat me up, Himeji-san?”

Himeji did not answer, and Akihisa was very shocked.

“It’s decided then, Mizuki.”

“You’re in trouble, Akihisa.”

“Huh? No, I don’t mean this.”

“…But it might be good if Himeji-san herself did it.”

“Idiot.”

Amidst the chaos, Akihisa’s face took a direct punch from Shimada.

Either way, the preparations were complete.

Normally, the summoned beasts could only be with them. However, the entire venue was set up with the boundary, so the summoned beast could move on their own at any place they wanted. Also, as this activity involved a summoned beast race, there was a monitor set up in the plaza, and the participants could see where their summoned beasts were. They could see where all their summoned beasts were on the largest screen, and there were multi-direction helmets placed in the terminals that were placed some distance away. Saegusa took one of them up and started explaining.

“What’s the name of this kind of helmet? Well, nevermind. Anyway, it’s developed to send the signals throughout the entire venue. By putting it on, you can see things from the summoned beast’s perspective. There’s a mic in it, so it’s possible to hear the summoned beasts’ conversations.”

“You sure do understand this. We’re seeing this for the first time ourselves.”

On hearing Sakamoto say this, Saegusa merely answered softly, “I did some investigations.”

“The route is completely freestyle, but as the summoned beasts can’t grab things or pass through walls and floors, they can’t enter the building without an open door. If you want to get to the roof, you can only by the outer wall.

Saegusa explained calmly. The target building in question was a 20 storey building. As of this point, there was no one around, so it was fine to have this tournament. However, even if the summoned beasts were the ones running, it was scary to climb up a 20 storey build.

“Then…everyone, on your marks…”

Saegusa gave the signal, and all the participants scattered. The terminals were set up set that 4 people could use one. Yukihiro walked towards one before someone grabbed him by the shoulder.

“You’re Kanba, right? Can I have some time from you?”

It was Sakamoto. He had Akihisa and Kinoshita beside him. Yukihiro felt nervous as he was surrounded by the trio.

“Is, is there anything? Why call me out of a sudden?”

“Don’t be scared. We have something to discuss with you.”

Sakamoto put his hand on Yukihiro’s back and whispered.

“Let’s work together.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s work to win this, I, Akihisa, Hideyoshi and you Kanba.”

“…This is a personal race, you know.”

Yukihiro frowned. Sakamoto nodded and said,

“Of course, this is a personal race no one will have any grumbles about no matter who wins. But if this keeps up, those with the bracelets will end up leading the pack.”

“The ones with the bracelets?”

“The guys with the summoned beasts equipped with bracelets. You have Kariya, Saegusa and Amagasaki, right? Our school has Himeji and Muttsurini. Their summoned beasts’ base stats are very high, so it’s impossible to beat them one on one.”

Kinoshita finished. Sakamoto said with a stern expression.

“…We have to unite in order to beat them, understand?”

“…Yeah, but why me? Izutsu and Kokonoe-sempai don’t have bracelets either.”

“That’s because I feel that it’s easiest to bri…no, pull you in.”

Sakamoto patted Yukihiro on the shoulder had. Yukihiro felt that they were suspicious, but he agreed as it seemed to be interesting if they did so.

“Alright, let’s win, the 4 of us.”

Sakamoto raised his fist, and Yukihiro followed him.

The match finally began as everyone put on their helmets and wait for Kokonoe’s command.

“Everyone ready!”

Kokonoe called out with a loud voice.

“Get ready, start!”

On the mark, the 12 summoned beasts rushed out and pulled some distance away from each other. Running first was Himeji, Kariya, Saegusa, Amagasaki and Tscuhiya. Kokonoe, Izutsu and Shimada followed behind, and the last ones where Yukihiro and the rest.

“…Well, is it really alright to have such a large gap?”

Yukihiro asked Akihisa, who snorted back as he chuckled.

“Of course. We got a plan for it.”

He answered confidently. Then, he looked at Yuuji and said.

“Yuuji thought of it.”

“WHY DID YOU FORCE SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THE PLANNING ENTIRELY!?”

Yukihiro could not help but shout out. Sakamoto looked behind and gave a definite answer.

“I already thought of more than 300 ways to mess with Akihisa.”

“Wait, Yuuji! What are you thinking?”

“Well, obviously, to make you suffer.”

“You didn’t say that just now!”

Infighting began as Yukihiro looked over worriedly at each other. Kinoshita said to him.

“Relax, they’re always like this as they’re in love anyway.”

“DON’T SPOUT NONSENSE THERE, HIDEYOSHI!!”

Akihisa shouted at Kinoshita, who reluctantly shrugged with his arms wide. His summoned beast itself gave a ‘pretty expression’, and Yukihiro seemed to look at little lost there.

“Let’s stop arguing and put our plan into action.”