Sayaka placed the chalk down at the request of her childhood friend, then stepped out with Masachika into the hallway, where he immediately shut the door, cornered Sayaka against the wall, and placed a hand on the wall by her head.
“What were you planning on writing on that chalkboard?”
“What? …Sigh.”
She sighed as if to say, “That’s what you wanted to talk about?”
“Dark Alliance,” she revealed in a matter-of-fact tone as she adjusted her glasses.
“Wooowee. Now that’s a doozy. That was a close one. Even I almost took damage.”
“What are you rambling on about?”
“No, what are you rambling on about? What other amazing names did you come up with?”
“Well, I was considering Nightmare or something similar.”
“Ooof. Aren’t you a little too old to be having your emo phase now?”
Although it wasn’t an emo phase, Sayaka hadn’t been a nerd for long. She had only gotten into anime and manga in June during her second year of middle school—in other words, right after she lost to Yuki and Masachika in the middle school student council presidential election. Until then, she was an overachiever just like her parents wanted her to be, and she never once questioned why she was living solely to satisfy her parents. She was the model student who went to a prestigious school to meet her parents’ expectations. In fact, the first time she had ever failed to meet their expectations was when she lost the election.
She wondered how she would be punished for her failure when she nervously went home that day…but what waited for her was her parents’ love and affection. It was anticlimactic while simultaneously making her notice that she’d been the one who wanted to become the model student to live up to her parents’ supposed expectations. The entire experience was also what pushed her into thinking that maybe she should enjoy her life a little more. That was how Sayaka became a healthy nerd. Two years had gone by, and now she was finally going through her edgelord phase!
“I’m telling you this for your own good. Do not write either of those names on the board. They’re going to smell the nerd on you.”
“…! That would be bad…”
His warning seemed to work perfectly on this closeted nerd. So after thinking for a few moments, she walked back inside the classroom and casually erased the word Dark on the board as if nothing had happened.
“What about you, Alisa? Do you have any ideas?”
“Huh? Me?”
But despite Sayaka suddenly moving on, neither Takeshi nor Hikaru even uttered a word. Perhaps they were slowly catching on to her.
I’m genuinely surprised she has managed to keep her nerdy hobbies a secret this long.
While Masachika’s heart was filled with a mixture of admiration and annoyance, Alisa somewhat hesitantly spoke up and suggested:
“How about Fortitude…?”
“Fortitude? That’s like one of those words I hear a lot but have never actually looked up in the dictionary,” joked Takeshi, except for the fact that it wasn’t a joke.
“It means to have courage in the face of pain or misfortune.”
“O-oh yeah… I knew that…”
“Yes, courageous… ‘Unconquerable’ would be another way of trying to get my message across.”
“Unconquerable…”
Hikaru rolled the word off his tongue. Alisa continued:
“Just like how humility is viewed highly in Japan, having a never-give-up attitude and overcoming whatever life throws at you is considered a virtue in Russia. I understand this might be a unique value held by Russians who grew up in adverse environments, though.”
“Overcoming whatever life throws at you…”
Both Hikaru and Takeru seemed to pick up on what Alisa was trying to say.
“I like it. I like it a lot,” said Hikaru with a grin as he nodded at Alisa.
“Me too! It has a nice ring to it!”
Their acceptance instantly suggested that they were going to use Alisa’s idea, prompting Sayaka and Nonoa to exchange glances as if they were communicating through eye contact alone.
“Great. I think we should go with Alisa’s proposal, then. Does anyone have an issue with that?”
Their silence said it all.
Takeshi somewhat hesitantly spoke up. “Uh… This isn’t an issue or anything. I was just wondering what ‘unconquerable’ was in Russian.”
“Hmm? Oh. Несгибаемые.”
“Neese-gee bayayaya…? Okay, then… Let’s just go with Fortitude.”
Thus, the group decided on Fortitude as the band’s name.
“Now, we need to discuss the songs we’re going to play at the school festival. Each group has roughly fifteen minutes of stage time, which means around three songs if you include our self-introductions. However, the tabs I received the other day were for three covers and one original, so…what do you want to do?”
Takeshi made eye contact with Hikaru after hearing Sayaka’s query, then weakly mumbled:
“Oh, right. My bad. I know I was the one who sent ya the tabs, but that original was actually a song we made with the original band…so it wouldn’t really feel right if we played it without them.”
“Oh. That’s fine. Shall we go with the three covers, then?”
“Yeah, I guess that would be our best bet when you consider how little time we have to practice before the show.”
But there was a faint note of disappointment in Hikaru’s tone, as if he really wanted to play an original deep down inside.
“If you want to play an original, you should. You guys still have a whole month to practice.”
“A month isn’t a lot of time. Besides, while Takeshi and I might be able to write the lyrics, writing the music, too, on such short notice would be impossible…”
Even though Masachika tried to be encouraging, he still couldn’t convince Hikaru to give it a try. Takeshi looked like he wanted to say something as well but ultimately maintained his silence. They were most likely hesitant, since they didn’t want to put any pressure on the so-called guest members, much less bother them. However…
“If you want to do an original, then I think we should. I’ve already agreed to help, so that’s what I’m going to do. Let’s put on a show that none of us are going to regret,” an unexpected voice suddenly chimed in. Takeshi and Hikaru were wide-eyed in astonishment at Alisa’s support. Even Masachika was somewhat taken aback by how unexpectedly motivated and aggressive his partner was being.
“None of us.” She put the team first…
She wasn’t solely pursuing her ideals but instead giving a common goal for everyone to pursue. It almost brought tears to Masachika’s eyes.
“I appreciate the thought, but as I mentioned, we don’t have time…”
“Then how about you use one of Saya’s original songs?” interjected Nonoa, making everyone turn to look at Sayaka. “You wrote a few originals, Saya, right?”
“I did write a few, but they’re all for guitar.”
“Wait. Sayaka, you can play guitar, too?”
“I’m average at best, but yes,” she smoothly replied, so Nonoa shifted her heavy-lidded, unmotivated gaze at Hikaru.
“So there you go. You have an original. Besides, you guys picked out those covers with the original band, too, right? Like, one of the songs is a bad match for Alisa’s voice, so maybe we should make a new setlist altogether?”
“Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“Then let’s start from the very beginning. It won’t, like, matter if we practice covers or originals if we’re starting all over, right?”
Takeshi and Hikaru exchanged glances and nodded after seeing how confident the female members were being.
“All right… Yeah…let’s do it! Let’s do this!”
“Now we’re talking! Sayaka, do ya have any recordings of your originals? I wanna hear them.”
“Well…I have a video of myself that I took on my phone for practice.”
“For real?! Let me hear it!”
The burning motivation and excitement pushed Takeshi and Hikaru over to Sayaka’s side, where they all listened to her originals.
Uh… Is it just me, or do these all sound like anime songs?
Even the song titles sound—
That’s enough. We get it.
The boys in the room froze, speaking to one another only with their eyes.
“What do you think? I take pride in my work, and I feel like the quality’s there.”
Meanwhile, Sayaka seemed strangely confident.
“Oh my god.”
It was an ambiguous phrase that young girls like Nonoa could use to avoid saying how they actually felt.
“I thought all the songs were wonderful and really conveyed how you see the world,” replied Alisa genuinely, only making the other five like her even more than they already did.
“I especially enjoyed the second song.”
“Oh, really? I’m surprised you like that one the best.”
“The second song was really bad—uh, ass. Really badass, and I agree with Alisa.”
“Yeah, it was rather relaxing. I enjoyed it a lot!”
“Oh my god.”
After everyone agreed to go with the song Alisa selected, which also happened to be the least unique, they decided on two more songs, completing their setlist for the school festival.
“All right, let’s go with Sayaka’s song ‘Anthem’ for our original. Is everyone else okay with that?” asked Alisa.
“Oh, it’s actually called ‘Phantom.’”
“What…? Oh, uh… Okay.”
Once again, it was a mystery how most people didn’t pick up on how much of an anime nerd Sayaka really was.
No, no, no…
The following day, Masachika was tottering down the hallway and feeling overwhelmed by a sense of imminent danger.
I have to…hurry…
His legs were trembling, and his vision was blurry, but even then, he desperately pushed forward, for if he stopped moving for even a second, it would all be over. Because at that moment, he would surely…
I’m going to fall asleep standing up at this rate!!
Although it may have sounded like a joke, it was the truth. Ever since becoming a member of the student council, Masachika had actually scaled back his carefree lifestyle and changed his day-to-day behavior so that he wouldn’t humiliate his partner, Alisa, in any way. For instance, he had been gradually increasing the amount of time he slept at night and worked hard to pay off his sleep debt so that he wouldn’t have to take naps at school any longer.
But once summer break started, he got into the habit of going to bed late, getting up late, and taking naps on the side, instantly destroying his progress on the good habit he had been building. The new semester had only just begun, and he was already battling against the almost unbearable urge to sleep. That said, he still managed to stay awake during all his morning classes… Perhaps that was an exaggeration, since he hardly had any recollection of what happened during the second half of fourth period, but Alisa didn’t reprimand him, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Nevertheless, Masachika did sense that she was catching on to him, so he decided to make a run for the student council room.
I should be able to take a nap there…without anyone finding out…
Eventually, he managed to make it to the student council room without falling asleep, although 30 percent of his brain wasn’t functioning any longer.
Oh, right… I should set my alarm…
Once inside, he pulled out his smartphone and headed to the couch, then picked a good time to wake up from his saved settings, kicked off his slippers, and collapsed onto the couch. Only after placing his phone on the table in front of the couch did he finally allow his body to go completely limp.
After finishing lunch, Maria grabbed the paper bag with her new summer uniform inside and headed over to the student council room. The ridiculously long line the day before convinced her to wait until the next day, so she came to school in her old uniform…but it was unreasonably hot for September. To make matters worse, she sat in one of the window-adjacent seats, which were always the hottest. Her peers were all wearing cool, short-sleeved shirts, while she was wearing a collared shirt, a jumper, and even a blazer, as if she were spitting right in the face of climate change. She was already far beyond what she could take.
Therefore, she bought the new uniform at the school shop in between morning classes and decided she would change into it during lunch. There was only one issue: Where would she change? She wasn’t comfortable using the school’s dressing room all for herself, and using the girls’ bathroom was not an option, either, since she was a member of the student council—and for aesthetic reasons as well. Then where? The first place that came to mind was the student council room, since she could lock the door, which would at least prevent anyone from walking in on her.
“Hello?” she said just in case, even though she figured nobody was there. However, the first thing she saw when she walked inside were slippers randomly lying on the floor and two feet poking out from the edge of the couch.
“Oh, gosh. That scared me…”
She jumped, but whoever was lying on the couch didn’t even flinch.
“…”
Maria cautiously approached the feet, stole a peek over the armrest…and lovingly grinned from ear to ear.
“He’s sooo cute. ♪”
After throwing any wariness she had out the window, she promptly rushed over to the front of the couch and crouched in front of Masachika. Gazing at his innocent, sleeping face, Maria placed both hands on his cheeks while silently squealing to herself.
“Giggle. ♡ Look at you, Mr. Sleepyhead.”
She mirthfully giggled as if she were a mother watching her young child rest. Ever since she was born, she had been full of more love than most people and had far stronger caretaking instincts than most, always having the urge to spoil and watch over all those she loved. Up until now, she mainly only had her little sister to take care of and spoil, but Alisa was far more mature and independent than her older sister, so being pampered was out of the question. Therefore, Maria was always overflowing with so much love and affection that she didn’t know what to do with it.
But that all changed when she happened across the boy she fell in love with, passed out from exhaustion on the couch, and he was just waiting for her to take care of him (from Maria’s point of view), which was why she was on the verge of losing control. If he were sleeping in a bed or on the floor, she would have undoubtedly slept by his side or rested his head in her lap while he slept.
“Mmm. ♪ You’re so cute, Sah. ♡”
Maria had no interest in damaging the relationship between Masachika and Alisa, and she genuinely meant what she said when she told him she wanted him to prioritize Alisa, but these were two separate issues entirely. The person who had stolen her heart was right in front of her, awaiting her affection and care, so taking care of him was the only right thing to do. Alisa only had herself to blame for not being there to take care of him.
Oh, Alya. What am I going to do with you? Your partner is exhausted, and you’re not even here to support him.
But after telling herself that, she realized that maybe this was intentional. Maybe Masachika didn’t want Alisa to see him in such a fragile state, so he chose to rest here in secret. The instant Maria realized that this had to be what happened, her heart became swollen with love and an intense desire to protect him.
Oh, Kuze. ♪ Boys will be boys, I suppose. It looks like I’m just going to take care of you and pamper you if Alya’s not here to do it!
Maria needed a cause, and now she had one. She was going to do this on behalf of Alisa, and thus, it began. She started by gently poking Masachika’s cheeks.
“Giggle. ♪ Poke, poke. Goochie-goochie-goo.”
Her fingertip tickled his cheek until she noticed his eyebrow faintly twitching and stopped, gleefully shaking her head as if to clear her mind of the pink hearts that were practically visible around her.
Ah! I have to capture his cute, sleeping face on camera!
She immediately sprang into action, stood in the corner of the room, and began to take pictures from a distance to make sure she wouldn’t wake him with the camera’s shutter sound. She then got closer and closer to him, zooming right up on his face like a cameraman for a reality show where someone sleeping was about to get pranked.
“Ahn. ♡ I love him so much, ♡” whispered Maria, squirming excitedly while poking his cheek again, enjoying every bit of his cheeks, which were surprisingly smooth and soft for a boy in high school.
Hmm… What should I do next?
While deciding how she was going spoil him, she realized that there wasn’t much she could do with him on the couch. Since she couldn’t sleep by his side or rest his head in her lap, her only options were essentially rubbing his head or singing him a lullaby…
Oh my. I’m already doing both?
That was the moment Maria noticed that she had been unconsciously humming a lullaby while gently rubbing his head, which surprised even her. However, after she saw how peacefully he was sleeping, her beaming smiling only grew wider. Maria got over things quickly, so she didn’t let little things bother her. In other words, although she felt that maybe Masachika appeared to be sleeping so much more peacefully now without a certain someone poking his cheeks, she wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it!
“Thou art safe in my arms ♪,” whispered Maria, finishing the lullaby.
“Kuze, do you think I’m too kind to a fault or too self-giving?” she asked with a relaxed voice. Of course, he didn’t reply, but she continued speaking all the same. “Because you would be wrong if you did.” She softly smirked. “Because I…”
Maria closed her mouth and paused for a moment before whispering ever so quietly:
“Я думаю, у вас с Алей-тян не ладится.”
Her eyes narrowed somewhat sorrowfully and yet affectionately as well while she held Masachika’s head.
“Вот увидишь, ты терпеть не сможешь быть рядом с Алей-тян,” she added in a voice so soft that it was almost inaudible, then pouted and rubbed his ears.
“So you see…I’m actually not a nice person at all. Got it?” claimed Maria in a baby voice before she began to rub his head once more. She then brushed Masachika’s bangs back on a whim, cracking a beaming smile once more.
“Sigh. Even your forehead is adorable. ♡”
…Maria truly did get over things quickly. She was emotionally unique and already on the verge of melting as she gazed at his forehead, gradually getting the urge to just kiss it.
I want to kiss that cute forehead of his. I want to kiss it so badly… Oh, maybe I could kiss his cheek?
Out of nowhere, Alisa’s face popped into her mind.
Oh, Alya. No. This isn’t what you think. It wasn’t supposed to be a romantic kiss. It was more like a good-night kiss a mother would give her child…
She instinctively began to make excuses to her sister, but such excuses soon lost meaning as she continued to stare at Masachika’s sleeping face. After a soft gulp, Maria placed her phone on the floor, then slowly brought her face closer to his.
“It’s Alya’s fault she’s not here…”
Right when she got close enough to feel his breath—
Knock-knock.
“…?!”
There was a knock at the door.
“…? What are you doing?”
Having only knocked as a courtesy, Alisa promptly opened the door with a paper bag in hand and immediately witnessed Maria jumping to her feet…which obviously made her sister curious.
“Oh, Alya? I wasn’t doing anything at all. I found Kuze sleeping, so I was just checking on him.”
“…?”
Alisa frowned at her sister’s unusual overreaction, then she shifted her focus to the couch, where she noticed two feet sticking out, which apparently belonged to Masachika.
“Did you come all the way here to change, too?”
“…? Yes…”
The furrow in her brow deepened as she looked at her clearly flustered older sister, carefully observing her expression. As if to avoid those judgmental eyes, Maria immediately averted her gaze, allowing her eyes to aimlessly wander while she faintly smirked.
“Then I guess we should start changing, since that’s what I came here to do, too…”
“No way. Masachika’s right there,” said Alisa, sending her sister a scornful gaze as if to say, “You’re not going to fool me,” since it was painfully obvious that Maria was trying to hide something. However, Maria’s reaction was beyond anything Alisa could have ever predicted.
“Hmm? So what?”
“Excuse me?”
Maria was not trying to play dumb, and she didn’t feel like she was in too deep to back out, either. She was genuinely puzzled. At the very least, that was how Alisa interpreted her reaction.
“Kuze’s sound asleep, so just lock the door. It’ll only take a minute.”
“No, no, no! No way!”
“Alya! Shhh!”
“Ah—!”
Alisa covered her own mouth in a fluster after realizing how loud she was, but when she glanced at Masachika, he was still sound asleep, not even a twitch.
“…See? We should be able to change without waking him up.”
“But still—”
“What’s our alternative? Did you find somewhere else we could change?”
Maria’s question shut Alisa down, since they both specifically chose the student council room after careful consideration. It wouldn’t be easy to find another location as good as this, especially since such a place might not even exist.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. We’ll quickly change into our new uniforms and be out of here in no time.”
As soon as Maria locked the door from the inside and closed the curtains just in case as well, she placed her paper bag on the table and immediately started to change into her new school uniform.
“H-hey—”
“Alya, you better hurry before our lunch break is over. ♪”
Once Alisa glanced at the clock, she realized that they only had a little over ten minutes before lunch was over. Although she frowned, she concluded that she probably wouldn’t be able to go somewhere else to change and still make it to class on time.
But still…
What if Masachika woke up while they were changing? The thought alone made Alisa’s entire body feel like it was on fire.
Yeah, I’m not doing this…
After she came to that decision, a certain thought crossed Alisa’s mind. What if she woke Masachika up after changing here, waited until he noticed that she was wearing the new school uniform, and then told him that she got changed in this very room? Just imagining the look on his face tickled Alisa’s mischievous heart.
The chance to see that carefree joker embarrassed because of something he himself did was extremely appealing to her. Having the opportunity from time to time to witness someone usually reliable turn red in the face like a helpless child was the chance of a lifetime. It was hard for Alisa to not want to see those cute, pathetically adorable blushing cheeks, and she was willing to use her powers as a woman to the fullest to do so in order to tease him to her heart’s content.
I wonder how he’d react if I told him I got changed in front of him. Would he be startled? Would he be like, “O-oh?” and try to play it cool?
If he tried to pretend he was fine, then she could show him the outfit she changed out of. Maybe she could let him touch it and she’d say, “See? It’s still warm.” The thought alone was embarrassing enough to make Alisa feel hot all over, but the joy she got from it overshadowed the negative—so much that she couldn’t stop grinning. An exciting chill ran down her spine as she imagined herself toying with Masachika and making him squirm.
He was really cute then, too…
Alisa thought back to how adorably pathetic he was at the restaurant a few days earlier when she was writing on his palm. She’d had to stop herself from going overboard, given the situation, but today—
“Alya…?”
“…!”
Alisa’s expression tensed in shock; she suddenly realized that her sister had been staring at her weirdly while removing her blazer, so she shot Maria a piercing glare as if her daydreaming were her older sister’s fault, and she promptly began to change before her sister could even get another word in. She made sure to take off her uniform quickly but carefully as to not make a sound. She untied her ribbon, removed her collared shirt, and grabbed the new school uniform when—
“Let’s go! Flyyy hiiigher!”
The sudden shout startled Alisa, making her jump and drop the new school uniform on the floor.
“…!”
Masachika instantly sat up in a panic the moment he heard the familiar anime song he had set as his alarm and impulsively reached for the source of the noise.
“Ack…! Ugh…,” he groaned, for he had far too much momentum when he reached out to grab the phone, and he slid right off the couch.
“Ah! No!”
The sudden shriek immediately got his attention, welcoming his eyes to paradise, for standing before him were two beautiful sisters wearing nothing more than their socks and underwear. Alisa’s large, plentiful chest and rear were both perfectly round and firm. Compared to those, her waistline was slim and toned. Maria, on the other hand, had an extremely mature, feminine body, which didn’t seem to match her youthful appearance one bit. While Alisa boasted a perfect, tight figure, Maria’s voluptuous body was unparalleled, and both of their bodies were in plain sight. Even their underwear—hardly covering anything—appeared to be nothing more than decorations worn to complement their breathtakingly beautiful naked bodies.
“…??”
Masachika stared in silence with his mouth agape, still unable to discern whether this was a dream or reality in his half-awake state. It was like a flood of data being downloaded onto a freshly rebooted computer and causing it to freeze.
“S-stop staring!”
“K-Kuze? If you keep staring like that, I…”
Only when he heard the blushing sisters speak up did Masachika’s brain start to function again. Nevertheless, he still couldn’t process everything that was happening, so he just smiled tightly and gave them a thumbs-up.
“Don’t worry! This is no different from seeing you two in a bathing suit!”
However, his way of trying to make them feel better apparently didn’t work. Alisa’s eyebrows furrowed as she grabbed her collared shirt, which hung over the chair, and threw it as hard as she could at Masachika without even giving him a second to dodge. The soft impact was followed by darkness, but he could still feel Alisa’s warmth. The smell of a girl’s skin and sweat tickled his nose, overloading his mind with so many different thoughts until his brain bugged out, resulting in him being unnecessarily honest.
“Ah, this smells really good.”
Immediately, something else hit him right in the face, forcing his consciousness to once again shut down.
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