TL: vio, ShimizuA, manshiro Editor: Arocks
A newly written short story1:
The girl’s modern life.
The scritching sounds of mechanical pencils filled the room as the students filled in answers on the blank tests before them. One of them seemed at their wit’s end and let out a groan. In response the teacher monitoring the exam simply cleared their throat, prompting the student to hurriedly focus back on the questions.
Out of everyone desperately struggling with the test, one particular student turned over their answer sheet as she wrote out her thoughts on the paper.
(Could they have made Texas gates in the Sengoku Era…)
This girl was named Shizuko Ayanokouji. Her actions were not a sign of her giving up on properly taking the exam. She had already filled in all the answers and was using the leftover time in a manner useful to herself.
While agricultural schools tend to be stereotyped as ‘having low standard scores’, it is only because of their low average score; sometimes their practical science courses score higher than general schools.
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It doesn’t mean that the other studies are neglected–if anything the content was deeper than college-prep school–but since they still have the same numbers of school years, there was a trade-off considering the priorities. The striking difference between an agricultural school and a general school is that agricultural schools tend to be huge because of the large facilities like fields and barns necessary for training.
To illustrate how vast it is, even with 10-minute breaks between each class, you sometimes needed 15 minutes to go to the next training site. On top of that, the time needed to change into training uniforms is also taken into consideration, so the students are busy.
(Can it be made only with wood? If we use wooden nails… no, I guess there would be a problem with the durability.)
Shizuko, who has already finished her test, organizes her mind while writing various things on the back of the exam paper.
The supervising teacher clears their throat right behind her, but Shizuko was so absorbed in her world that she didn’t even notice. This was not the first time it had happened, so the teacher shrugged and continued to patrol and supervise the other students.
Before long, the bell that marks the end of the exam rang, and the answer sheets were sent in order from the back to the front and submitted to the teacher in row. After the teacher checked the number and left the classroom, the tense atmosphere finally relaxed.
“Haah~ finally it’s over.”
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“How did it go?”
“…Don’t ask.”
“Hey, wanna go somewhere after this?”
High schoolers still want to play a lot, so it is natural that they feel relaxed after the long and hard test is over.
“Hey, Shizuko. How long are you going to stay in your own world?”
Her friends gently held Shizuko’s head, lost in her own world, and tapped it lightly. Hit with a physical force, even Shizuko couldn’t help but return to reality.
“Eh? What happened with the test?”
“Already over. I don’t know what delusion is forming in your head, but at least you remembered to fill in the answer sheet properly, right? If the top student, who is also our first year representative, gets 0 points, there will be an uproar.”
“How rude, Ecchan. I took my test seriously. I just put the spare time to good use.”
“If you have time left, then review your answers. And don’t be full of yourself, it’s not something to be proud of. Is it about that stinky armor delusion again?”
Shizuko pouted her cheeks hearing the sarcasm-riddled question from the girl she called Ecchan.
“Wait a moment, Ecchan. Research on how to optimize farming in pre-modern time is not wasteful. Actually, hasn’t the teacher said that things like the ancient mosquito coils or mosquito net are still being used in countries without widespread electricity?”
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“I know that, but aren’t you the absurd one, doing research in the middle of a test?”
”Hold on, Etsuko-san. Let Shizuko say what she wants to say.”
A new girl joined the conversation between the two. The girl had a literary-chick air on her, with a braid behind her and half-rim glasses–although they were not the unfashionable black-rimmed ones.
Ecchan, or Etsuko has a gal style. Combined with Shizuko’s normal ponytail, there was no sense of unity at all when all three of them were together.
“You may say that Ritsuko, but if you listen to her, the sun will set before she finishes, you know?”
“I am fully aware of that. However, Shizuko will stick to it until the end somehow or other, right? Won’t it be easier if we don’t disturb her?
“I see. It’s true that this part of her is annoying.”
“Anyhow, it probably is not that important, so ignoring her reasoning will save our time.”
“Girls, I still can hear you two. Can you at least do the bad mouthing when the person in question is out of ear shot?”
Ritsuko pushed the bridge of her glasses for emphasis, and Etsuko exaggeratedly couldn’t agree more. Meanwhile Shizuko sent them a half-lidded gaze at exchanging ways to avoid listening to her.
“I hate gossiping, so pointing out your shortcomings is our form of love, Shizuko.”
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“Geez, don’t just say things that fit you…hmm?”
Shizuko can only shrug her shoulders at Etsuko’s non malicious smile. As she gave up and sighed, she noticed that her smartphone was vibrating.
(That was close. I’m glad it wasn’t in the middle of the test.)
Feeling glad that she put it in silent mode, she impatiently pulled it from her pocket. Since it was only a mail, not a call, the vibration already ended by the time she took it out from her pocket.
“Oh! Your boyfriend?”
“Is that a jab for my age-old history of no boyfriend?…nah, it’s from my uncle. ‘There is a lecture at the National Museum today, do you want to come?’ …’Yes, I want to.’”
“What a snap decision. The theme is…the technological prowess and their development during the Sengoku period, huh. A lecture that really pinpoints Shizuko’s interest.”
“That’s none of your business. And sent. Well then, I have to get ready for the lecture~”
See you tomorrow, said Shizuko as she stood from her chair.
The moment she let out parting words to the two and turned on her heels, Etsuko and Ritsuko seized her shoulders. She almost toppled from her legs’ momentum, but somehow she managed to hold to the ground and glared at the two in protest.
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“Wait. Today the national museum is closed to the public, isn’t it? In other words, you can freely look at the exhibits inside, like the Buddha statue.”
“And the swords that are in their possession too, right?”
“…Just to make it clear, but I won’t help negotiate with the staff.”
Shizuko sighed at the two who stayed true to their desires. Shizuko is generally known as a history geek–she herself acknowledges it, and birds of a feather flock together; her friends were no different.
Etsuko’s gal-like appearance made it hard to imagine that she has a thing for relics, especially Buddha statues. On the other hand, Ritsuko has an interest in all kinds of edged tools around the world, especially Japanese swords.
Shizuko didn’t know where Etsuko’s affixation with Buddha statues comes from, but she’s aware of the reason why Ritsuko is interested in famous swords. It’s because she was absorbed in a game called “Tougienbu”2, where famous swords from around the world get personified.
It’s a long-established game that has been in service for a decade, and Ritsuko is one of it’s core players who has played since the beginning. She has gone deep down the rabbit hole; she wasn’t satisfied with just appreciating the sword, she even learned swordsmanship.
“About that, I’m sure there’s something you can do about that.”
Etsuko replied along with a cute gaze. Shizuko felt nothing but uneasiness about this, but she couldn’t escape the already excited duo, and in the end she sent an additional email that the three of them will come.
“Really, you two, the gap between your inner and outer self is too extreme.”
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The gal Etsuko was a Buddha statue maniac, the literary girl Ritsuko is a sword maniac and swordswoman on top of that. People with such disparity between their personality and appearance are really rare. Shizuko nodded in understanding while thinking about such things.
“You’re one to talk. I never see you study outside of class but you never drop from the top three ever since enrollment. Even though you have this derpy face.”
“Ecchan, you too look like a gal, but you always entered the top 10, don’t you?”
“In that case, Ritsuko is something else, isn’t she? You look like a bookworm but you’re at lower-middle.”
“I put bare minimum for studying; the rest is for leisure. With that much spare time, I can focus on leveling up Ookanehira-sama.”
“Ah, I-is that so…”
Let’s not comment on that, Shizuko and Etsuko exchanged glances.
Shizuko noticed that she hadn’t confirmed the lecture’s time, so she pulled out her smartphone and rechecked the mail from her uncle. The lecture started at 6 pm, and when she looked at the clock, it was just past 12 pm. They would meet up at 5 pm, so she should have some leeway time wise.
“Hmm, should I stay at school and go home after some research, or I go home and change first before going out for some research.”
“Research?”
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“I’m looking into Texas Gate. Currently I’m at the part called Cattle Gate, was it? I was thinking, can it be handmade–”
“Well, of course it can.”
Etsuko simply asserts Shizuko’s doubts. Shizuko was taken aback by how she said it without hesitation.
“Eh!? Is it something that is easy to build?
“After all, the principle is just to make use of their instinct; ‘I don’t like my feet to get stuck’. Since the gaps are important, the structure is also simple. If you don’t care about the strength, there are people who can make Texas Gates from scrap wood.”
“That’s quite detailed.”
“I remembered my dad talked about various things he learned when he went to American ranch for observation. He has the summary of the data, so if you want the details, should I ask for a copy for you? In exchange, can you take care of our ‘field trip’ today?”
“How shrewd. Alright then. It’s valuable data straight from the source, so I’ll humor you for today.”
While the two conduct their deals, not any word has come from Ritsuko, making them curious enough to peek at her. She was operating her smartphone with undivided attention using sophisticated and efficiency optimized movements.
“Oh my, excuse me. Right now there’s an event where you have to fill up a gauge in the span of an hour, so I need to concentrate.”
“Then all those times during recess…”
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“Of course, I needed to in order to complete this event.”
Ristuko answered as though it was the natural order of things. Hearing this, a dry smile made its way onto Etsuko’s face.
“Ah, not good. We’re going to the museum but I didn’t bring my camera.”
“You’re right. They didn’t ban photographs, so cameras are essential.”
“Don’t join the conversation while playing your game. At least look at us while you’re speaking.”
“I asked my uncle, and he got the museum staff to give their consent. And anyhow there will be a staff member accompanying us.”
“Well, some supervision is necessary. I don’t want to do anything mischievous, so I don’t mind as long as we get to take pictures.
“Then let’s meet up at my place at 4:30 pm.”
————————————
Although their conversation got somewhat derailed, the three went to their own homes after having decided on a course of action.
When the agreed upon time came, Ristuko had arrived 5 minutes prior and Etsuko 10 minutes late. Judging by their usual behavior, Shizko was glad that she had planned in a buffer of 30 minutes.
After the three changed into their normal clothes, the lack of a common school uniform made their lack of sense of unity even more pronounced.
Shizuko wore a white sweater, a green skirt, black tights, and low-heeled pumps. As long as she didn’t open her mouth, she would pass for a young lady from a good family.
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As for Etsuko who usually wore gal-like clothing, she had chosen a rare, boyish outfit.
With her flashy hairstyle still in place, she wore a white parker over a dark gray top, and the tights stretching out from her light gray shorts freely showed off her sporty and beautiful legs.
Ristuko had gone for a chic look. She had loosened her braid and let her hair flow down her back in light waves. She wore a light white coat over a black dress and a light gray flared skirt. With her black tights and velour boots, Ritsuko was by far the best-looking of the three and could pass for a college student.3
“… as usual, heavy equipment for you two I see.”
Seeing both of their outfits, a strange laugh bubbled up from Shizuko.They had professional DSLR cameras, various lenses and tripods, and even motor driven camera sliders. As a finishing blow, they even brought a high spec notebook with them to check the images on a large screen.
Expectedly, that much equipment was too much for a girl to carry on her own, so they had a family member accompany them as a pack mule.
“Being able to shoot pictures without any other visitors around is an opportunity that won’t come around easily after all.”
“We can shoot from any angle we want, so it would be a waste not to make full use of it.”
“Fine, fine, I get you. But those lenses look really expensive. How much does one cost?”
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“The macro lens for close-ups I have mounted right now isn’t that expensive. The most expensive one is about 1.5 million yen (13600 $ / 11500€). Incidentally, it is the telescope like the one you are about to poke right now, Shizuko-san.”
Amazed at the lens that is bigger than the camera itself, Shizuko was about to touch it, but pulled her finger back like burned after hearing the price. Ristuko was busy adjusting her camera, so she didn’t seem to particularly mind, but Shizuko didn’t want to touch such a scary thing.
“I don’t shoot distant views, so the most expensive one I have is probably the wide angle lens I use for shooting temples, which is about 200,000 yen (1800$ / 1500€).”
“As expected… the money daughters of big companies can spend on their belongings is a league apart.”
Although difficult to tell from their outer appearances, both Etsuko and Ritsuko were both daughters of the most wealthy families in the prefecture.
Normally, students of agricultural high schools go there by their own choice. But for some of them, their parents send them there in order to build connections to a particular industry. For these two however, the reason was simply that it was a “close and reasonably good school”.
“I want to note here that, in contrast to Etsuko-san, I didn’t beg for all of this. I got all of this as a hand me down from my grandfather. Although I did buy the camera myself.”
“How rude! I didn’t beg for it. My granny just asked me which camera I liked most.”
Etsuko passionately argued back, but the other two just let it blow past them. It was a well known fact that Etsuko’s father doted on her.
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After only having sons, the man finally got a long awaited daughter as his youngest child. And with her liking and being close to him, how could he not dote on her.
“Even if I tried that, my parents aren’t really home that much. Well, in return my grandpa gets me everything I need.”
“In my case, my hobbies aligned with my grandfather, so his affection doubled. From what I’ve heard, he was very excited when I took an interest in photography.”
“Ahh. For me it was when I first helped him with farm work. My grandma told me in secret afterwards, but he was really enthusiastic about preparing things for my use.”
“How nice. I don’t have grandparents anymore. But in return, having a lot of brothers is fun as well.”
“I am jealous of having siblings. I am an only child.”
“I would have liked a little sister-. You know my big sister is like that.”
When she mumbled that, Shizuko’s smartphone vibrated to inform her of a new message. Thinking that it was about time for them to be picked up, Shizuko took the smartphone from her pocket and checked its screen.
A single mail had arrived. The sender’s name was Kyouko and the content of the mail was a singular, short sentence.
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[Sorry for being a big sister like that]“Urgh!”
Shizuko let out a strangled scream. An email from the sister she had just talked about which even contained some of what she had said earlier. Shizuko hurriedly looked around, but her sister was nowhere to be found.
As if to ridicule the riled up Shiuko, another email arrived.
[I won’t screw up and be discovered by you. As for the slandering, I’ll forgive you if you pick up the book I ordered from the bookstore in front of the station.]That was the final blow. Seeing no path besides surrender, Shizuko sighed and sent back an email with her agreement.
“An email from your beloved sister?”
“Who is beloved? Well, it’s not like I hate her. But it’s troubling just how forceful she is at times.”
“Hahaha, that’s just what siblings are. My brother will be very bull-headed and push troublesome things on me as well from time to time.”
“Hold back a little, it hurts.”
Etsuko laughed as she slapped the back of Shizuko, who was hanging her shoulders in defeat. She frowned at the pain, but didn’t seem to mind that much and simply let it happen to her.
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They continued chatting afterwards until Shizuko noticed a single car coming towards them. Understanding that this was their ride, she told the other two to get ready as well and cut off the conversation.
The car slid to a halt near the girls, and a man in a suit exited from the driver’s seat.
“Sorry, am I late?”
“No, we just came earlier, you’re perfectly on time. Thanks for taking your time today, uncle.”
Shizuko’s uncle, a man with a refreshing atmosphere, apologized. Shizuko greeted him and told him that he wasn’t late at all.
“I’m very sorry for pushing my way into this, but thank you for your time today.”
“Thanks for having me.”
“Don’t mind it. Today is a private event, so there is no need for such formalities. But your equipment puts professionals to shame.”
Ristuko offered a polite greeting which Etsuko followed up with a more relaxed attitude. Shizuko’s uncle returned the greeting and smiled wryly when he saw their equipment.
“There aren’t many opportunities like this. I really have to thank Shizuko and you.”
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“Don’t cling to me.”
A happily laughing Etsuko hugged Shizuko and rubbed her cheek against Shizuko’s. Maybe she didn’t really dislike it, but Shizuko’s efforts to push Etsuko away from her had next to no effect.
“Please don’t leave me the odd man out, both of you?”
“Mugyu~” “Squeeze~”
Seeing the back and forth of Shizuko and Etsuko, Ristuko hugged Shizuko from the opposite direction and also started rubbing her cheek against her. Already desperate to push Etsuko back, Shizuko lost out in terms of strength once she only had one of her hands available, and was left to the mercy of her friends.
“Hahaha, you’re all close as usual.”
“Uncle! Don’t just watch, help me–”
“I would love to do that, but society doesn’t look benevolently on that lately. Furthermore, I’m already getting old and can’t keep up with you young school girls.”
Shizuko pleaded to her uncle for help, but he just watched her from afar and smiled.
“But, if we don’t get going soon, we’ll be late for the show. So let go of Shizuko, both of you.”
Showing no outward intention of saving her, Shizuko’s uncle looked at his wristwatch and casually threw her a lifeline. The words “be late” seemed to have pulled them back to reality as Etsuko and Ritsuko finally let go of Shizuko.
“Oops, got too absorbed into cherishing Shizuko there for a moment.”
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“Indeed. Let’s leave it at this for today.”
“If you do that again, I’m going to have to get serious, you know?”
“Ohh, scary, scary.”
“If we don’t tone it down, you might bring out the submission moves from your elder sister.”
Shizuko spoke out a warning in response to Etsuko’s words. However, it didn’t seem to affect the two offenders who only shook with laughter.
—————————————————————
“Well then, could I ask you to put your luggage into the car?”
When the two girls picked up their large luggage, Shizuko’s uncle opened the car’s trunk. Shizuko herself didn’t have much luggage, so as soon as they finished stuffing their luggage into the trunk, they could depart.
“You two really are something..:”
“Hahaha, you shouldn’t mind it that much. These casual conversations and the fooling around will become happy memories once you get older.”
“…do they really?”
Hearing her uncle’s words, Shizuko tilted her head in thought. Seeing as Shizuko didn’t seem to understand his point, he continued in the calm tone of an older person.
“I played around a lot back when I was a student, fooled around a lot with my friends as well. Even the fights I had with them are now something I remember fondly.
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“Hmm”
“Of course, I can’t guarantee that it will be the same for you Shizuko, but the memories of your time as a student… I think they are lifelong treasures.”
“Can’t really wrap my head around that.”
“Hahaha, of course. This is the kind of thing that only makes sense once it’s already in the past. But let me say this much at least. Have fun now so you don’t regret it later. You’re all prepared right? Hop into the car.”
—————————————————–
Although they were words from someone with more life-experience, Shizuko still couldn’t really get it. While they were conversing, the other two had finished stowing away their luggage, and with familiar ease, plopped themselves onto the backseat of the car.
The two people who had been brought along as pack mules greeted Shizuko’s uncle before waving them goodbye.
Her uncle opened the passenger side door and beckoned Shizuko to get in before nodding to the two people outside and sitting down in the driver’s seat.
“Now then, ladies, shall we be on our way?”
With these teasing words declaring their departure, Shizuko’s uncle turned around the nowadays-rare ignition key he was particular about.
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Thank you very much for reading this far.
This manga version only manages to show a small part of Shizuko-san’s vast knowledge. Those with a deeper interest should pick up the original work.
The first drawn version of Shizuko-san. There have been some changes here and there, right?
Sawada Hajime
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Thanks for the extra story! Interesting friends for Shizuko. Lol!