NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 30
Chapter
The light novel of 2004 can be seen as a turning point in some ways.
It feels like a tightrope walk between “cartoonishness” and “a degree of realism.”
Of course, very few people truly think of light novels as “realistic,” but there’s still a bit of…something, right?
When you look at gag manga from the 90s to the early 2000s, there’s always this moment where someone suddenly takes out a white fan to hit someone from behind, or a female character has such strength that she lifts motorcycles or people with ease.
If you read the early light novels, you often find descriptions like “one hand lifted a motorcycle and smacked someone with it” or “hit someone from behind with a fan” appearing from time to time.
Then around the mid-2000s, with the emergence of somewhat serious light novels, those overly “unrealistic” elements mostly disappeared. The heroines that follow had strong abilities, but it was rare to see something like… uh, superhuman strength.
The reason I’m suddenly saying this is that I can’t help but think that the character Yamashita Yuuki might be one of those early gag light novel characters.
How is it possible to not get pushed back while fighting three people at once?
“Eek…! You’re not letting go of this!?”
Well, if you think about it, I was there too, so you could say it wasn’t entirely three against one. But it’s definitely not three against two, because I can’t do my part. If anything, we were more like 1.5, right?
Running up from behind the athletics club president, I contemplated for a brief moment about grabbing a utility knife to slash my wrist.
Wasn’t this a golden opportunity where time stopped, I could get a counselor, and even get a weapon?
Of course, my peaceful school life that had been somewhat maintained would be completely over.
With a bam! sound, my head snapped to the left. It hurt so much that I wondered if my right temple had caved in. No, rather than pain, I merely realized that a physical collision had taken place. The pain came a little later.
Looking beyond my sparkling vision, it turned out that the athletics club president had swung her body to the right and elbowed my right cheek.
Was it that my arms weren’t strong enough to properly restrain this girl, or was I just pulling too hastily and couldn’t control my strength? In any case, she seemed to have found the opportunity to turn.
The hands that had been clasped together suddenly released, and I staggered.
“Why is this happening!?”
As the athletics club president shouted that, someone suddenly grabbed her hair from behind.
This girl didn’t have super long hair, but it was probably the longest among the three. It’s not that those with short hair couldn’t be grabbed with a hand, but still…
With her head pulled back hard, the girl’s mouth opened, and a long shriek escaped.
The utility knife was still gripped in my hand. I could barely see it with my returning vision.
My right hand was directed over my shoulder. It was toward Yamashita’s face. If I swung it like that, it would probably leave a big cut on Yamashita’s face.
Without thinking twice, I grabbed that right hand.
“…Ah.”
Then I made a mistake.
I hadn’t grabbed her hand; I had grabbed the blade.
“Uh.”
A sound escaped the athletics club president’s mouth, but Yamashita, who was behind her, didn’t seem to notice.
After all, there were two people pulling Yamashita from both sides.
I felt heat in my hand. It was painful, but not to the extent that I couldn’t endure it. Perhaps I wasn’t fully feeling the pain yet since my head was still buzzing.
I felt something sticky on my right hand. Seeing the slickness made me realize the cut was deeper than I had thought.
I clenched my teeth, and twisted my right hand hard.
Crack! With a cool breaking sound, the utility knife fell. While the tip was still sharp, it was much better than when it was sticking out elongately.
I threw the blade to the floor. The sticky, red blood-soaked blade landed with a tick, tick sound—nothing particularly impressive.
Seeing the red color made the kids’ faces turn pale.
Why?
It’s strange. Didn’t I say I had hit my underclassman before? Didn’t I not see any blood then? It’s possible I didn’t actually cut her. But still, if someone attempts suicide, it doesn’t seem like just a few slaps to the cheek would do.
“…You.”
After seeing the bloody blade drop to the floor, I heard Yamashita’s voice.
“Eek!?”
The athletics club president’s head fell back. The knife she had been holding dropped, and I quickly stepped on it, pushing it further away.
Then I ran with all my might, passing by the athletics club president, who was held by Yamashita, and grabbed the face of the girl who had just been trying to act tough.
“Whoa!? What are you doing!?”
Contrary to her tough appearance, a completely thin shriek flowed out. It seems she had forgotten her usual way of speaking.
Was she that scared of a bloodied hand sticking to her face?
My hand was still sticky with blood, and my headache was slowly subsiding while the sting from my hand’s injury was rising, but I bore with it and forcefully pulled the girl’s face from behind.
In many ways, our actions were quite absurd.
Pulling each other and yanking randomly, swinging hands and feet. At least it wasn’t the cool fight often depicted in light novels.
After kicking her a few times, I was finally able to pull the girl’s head back.
“Ah.”
“Koto Ne!?”
For Yamashita, who rarely shows her emotions, to call my name means that the situation wasn’t going well.
It was good that I had removed the tough girl, but the problem was that this girl let go of my hand to try to get free.
Naturally, we both fell back together.
And conveniently, there was a sink right behind me.
With a thump! sound, a dangerous noise rang out.
Stars sparkled before my eyes once again.
“…”
The surroundings quickly turned with a crimson hue.
All I could hear was the sound of sniffles and breath that seemed tense.
I hadn’t fainted. The stars were dancing before my eyes, and my head ached to the point of feeling nothing, and my neck just creaked a little.
The weight of one girl who had been on top of me disappeared instantly. Given the sound of her gasping for breath, it seemed that… my condition, wasn’t so good.
Did I die? No, that shouldn’t be it. I had lived through serious injuries before, after all.
Of course, it wasn’t my ability, more like a mysterious presence above watching me like a Tamagotchi character.
With my right hand, I tried to push the ground but slipped once, then tried again to get myself up.
There was some power lacking in my neck, but I managed to raise myself up somewhat.
I bowed my head, and as I raised it, a snap sounded, and my vision was cleared.
Long hair was sprawled out over my face without restraint.
The hair… was sticking to my face and wouldn’t come off easily. It felt like something sticky was dripping.
“Eek!?”
There was a startled voice as my head turned.
I heard hurried footsteps. Before I could reach out, silhouettes faintly visible through my hair disappeared in an instant.
Well, who could blame the athletics club president?
When I finally raised my hazy head and attempted to get up, someone supported me and helped me up.
“…Yamashita.”
“…Let’s go to the nurse’s office.”
“…To the literature club.”
“In that state?”
“…”
Yamashita summed up my condition in just four words.
Uh… certainly, if I went to the club room covered in red, Ikeda would probably faint just at the sight of me.
“…To the nurse’s office.”
“Yeah.”
Yamashita nodded and helped me head to the nurse’s office.
…On the way, I think I passed four students, but they all looked horrified and avoided us.
No, just what do I look like right now?
*
“On the outside, it doesn’t look like you’re injured badly.”
The kindly looking school nurse said that.
This person knows. Although her name isn’t mentioned, the school nurse is always the one getting angry when the protagonist gets hurt fighting Yōkai at school, appearing in the nurse’s office each time.
Actually, seeing my condition, she wasn’t getting angry.
To anyone, I looked more like I had unilaterally gotten beaten up rather than having fought back.
“The cut will heal quickly. Just don’t shower today and keep the bandages on. Come back tomorrow for a change. We’ll see how the wound is then. And your head… you might need to go to the hospital for that. Did you hit your head hard?”
“Yeah.”
Yamashita answered in my place.
“The blood from your hair is making it hard to see where it’s flowing from. It seems like it’s not completely torn, although it bled a lot… but the real concern is the impact on your head, right?”
“…”
I touched my head with my hand.
With bandages wrapping my right hand, I could only feel it with my fingers, but as the nurse said, it didn’t seem to be specifically torn.
“I’m fine.”
“Fine, huh?”
The school nurse let out a light sigh.
“…Just wait a moment. I’ll call for the teacher. Which teacher is your homeroom teacher?”
“It’s Teacher Suzuki.”
No, even if I really go to the hospital, it wouldn’t be a major issue. I’d just be wasting money.
But I couldn’t exactly say anything here. Yamashita saw exactly how I was when I collapsed, and there were three more witnesses besides her.
…Soon, won’t rumors spread throughout the school? They’ll probably say there’s a zombie in this school.
The school nurse reached for the phone on her desk and pressed a few numbers. She was likely calling Teacher Suzuki’s office.
“…”
While the nurse finished her brief conversation, I sat there dazed until I felt a steady gaze on me.
Yamashita was staring at me.
Although I couldn’t say Yamashita had never shown any interest in me before, she wasn’t nearly as concerned as Fukuda or Miura.
Actually, she didn’t seem that interested in worldly matters at all.
She was almost always staring at her phone screen, and when Miura and Fukuda chatted, she didn’t really say much.
If I were to count the biggest emotional changes I’d seen from Yamashita so far, it would be today’s angry Yamashita and the first time I saw her singing karaoke.
I thought she didn’t have much interest in me, but could it be that she sees me as someone important?
I fixed my gaze straight ahead.
If I looked back just because she was staring at me, it might seem confrontational.
More importantly, how did Yamashita know to come to the bathroom? The classrooms that students use are mostly in the new building. Only certain unpopular clubs are in the old building, and most are on the upper floors, not the first.
Even if Yamashita suddenly decided to join some club activity, there would be no reason for her to head to the first-floor restroom. Unless she randomly walked by and suddenly needed to go to the bathroom.
“She says to wait a moment. She’ll be here soon.”
“…”
The school nurse was likely relaying everything she heard to Teacher Suzuki in the same way. She was quite the diligent character, even if her name wasn’t mentioned in the original work.
Yamashita isn’t the type to go on long rants, but she could probably convey the essence of, “We fought” and “So we got hurt.”
I sat there quietly for a while.
Yamashita, who had been staring at me, was now also being looked at by the school nurse.
It seemed they were worried I’d suddenly drop dead if they left me alone for even a moment.
“…”
I tapped my fingers lightly on my knee for a few minutes.
Drrrr!
The door suddenly flung open.
“Is that Kurosawa?”
Teacher Suzuki said, catching her breath.
“…”
Not knowing what to say to her, I just stared blankly.
“What happened?”
Teacher Suzuki quickly entered and grasped my hand. Given that it was wrapped in bandages, it seemed like it looked much worse than it actually was.
“Looks like you were bullied by an upperclassman.”
“Upperclassman? Do you know who it was?”
Ugh… I don’t know.
Wow, thinking back, I really don’t know the names of the people in that room.
But looking at me, who genuinely didn’t know, it seemed Teacher Suzuki thought in a completely different direction.
“…Was it Yamashita?”
“I don’t really know either.”
Yamashita shook her head.
“…I see. They said you hit your head. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Let’s go to the hospital first.”
No, I said I’m fine.
I understood her concern, but I found it really annoying. After all, I just wanted to go and sleep without this club activity nonsense.
Having finally gotten this weekend off, I didn’t want to waste time going to the hospital. I had just been there up until yesterday.
Seeing me shake my head, Teacher Suzuki made a deeply guilty expression, causing me to lose my words again.
No, making that kind of expression weakens my resolve. She was already younger than her actual age.
Teacher Suzuki looked at me with a face full of things she wanted to say before she glanced back at Yamashita.
“Yamashita, do you want to go with him?”
“I’ll find my way back.”
After saying our goodbyes and parting ways, I breathed a small sigh.
“…Then…”
I said quietly, and Yamashita nodded back.
I hesitantly raised my hand to give a small wave. Yamashita stared back at me.
“…”
Hmm.
So, that was a farewell, right?
Thinking that, I turned to walk away and took a few cautious steps.
The sound of footsteps echoed behind me. In the same direction.
Maybe Yamashita is also heading in the same direction after all.
When I halted, she stopped too.
…
Does she have something to say?
When I cautiously turned back, I found Yamashita still standing there. Clad in her black school uniform, one arm carrying a bag and both hands tucked into her pockets.
Her eyes remained fixed on me.
“…Are you heading this way?”
“I can go this way.”
What does that even mean?
“…”
I turned my body again and walked a few more steps. This time, I could clearly hear Yamashita’s steps following mine as well.
Many students were passing by, yet Yamashita’s footsteps seemed to stand out more to me as I was more aware of them.
When I turned around again, Yamashita had also stopped and was looking at me.
Does she have something to say?
I was about to ask, but hesitated for a moment.
Wouldn’t it sound a bit confrontational?
“You’re interesting.”
Yamashita said.
“I understand why Fukuda thinks you’re cute.”
Was she teasing me?
If you’re going to tease me, just do it openly like Fukuda. When you do it with a straight face like that, it almost seems like I’m getting scolded.
“If today, you want to share what happened.”
“…”
Hmm, her words seemed a little short. Though it was more me being cautious about making a mistake with my words, her tone sounded quite peculiar like a mechanic from some weird place.
Of course, her appearance was completely different. She’s… uh, a gal. With jet-black, voluminous hair and fair skin. She has a slightly light makeup look. While both have a ‘flashy’ aspect, their images are completely opposite.
“Don’t want to?”
I shook my head.
“Then let’s go.”
Yamashita casually passed by me, her hands still in her pockets.
Is she telling me to follow?
I shrugged my shoulders a bit and trailed behind her.
…And then, that was when I realized something.
Earlier, when Yamashita had helped me move to the nurse’s office, didn’t I pass by some students?
A chill ran down my spine, and I quickly looked at my left wrist, where a headband was tied around it.
Just like I usually do.
When did I do that?
I lifted my head again to look at Yamashita.
She was turning around to glance at me as well.
“Don’t want to?”
“…No.”
I quickly caught my senses and hurriedly began following behind Yamashita again.