Vol. 1 Chapter 9 – Brain Destruction

Friday, when the gloom peaked and the positive mood from the approaching long holiday weekend began to set in.

We were spending our lunch break as uneventfully as ever.

“Reiya-kun, what game are you playing today?” (Yuuma)

Around halfway through the lunch break, Yuuma suddenly asked.

“Today it’s ‘Bio-Protopolis’.” (Reiya)
“Hmm~… What kind of game…?” (Yuuma)

His words might sound interested, but he was probably just in the mood for some conversation while fiddling with his phone, likely not actually interested.

No matter how passionately I explained, these guys had never once tried a game I recommended.

Still, as a gamer’s nature dictated, I attempted an explanation.

“It’s a game where you connect various spines and organs to an experimental organism’s brain and just beat the crap out of enemies rushing at you in a surging wave. All the playable characters have quirky designs, and you can experience something that literally feels like your brain is getting scrambled.” (Reiya)
“Huh~… That sounds gross~…” (Yuuma)

As expected, he brushed it off uninterestedly.

That too was normal, so I didn’t particularly mind anymore.

This very act of having pointless conversations during lunch break was the best youth we could manage.

“By the way, there’s a mobile version too. Costs less than two gacha pulls.” (Reiya)
“Hmm~… If there aren’t any cute girls, I think I’ll pass~…” (Yuuma)
“Maybe the organs that appear were originally the organs of a cute girl… Look, this pink heart right here could totally be…” (Reiya)
“Hmm~… But I think I’ll pass on organs~…” (Yuuma)

As the two of us were dragging on with such conversation—

“Hey, you guys… come over here a sec… You can see something interesting…” (Hayato)

Hayato, who had been idly musing by the window for no reason, beckoned us over in a low voice.

“What is it…? Did some legendary organs drop behind the school building?” (Reiya)
“Like hell… ! Just come look, you’ll see…” (Hayato)

Urged on, Yuuma and I approached the window.

Following Hayato’s gaze, which was fixed intently on something—

“Ah, isn’t that Asahi-san…?” (Yuuma)

Behind the separate building, an area usually almost deserted, stood the familiar figure of her.

And facing her, there was another figure, an unknown boy.

“Who’s the other guy…” (Yuuma)
“That’s Sugitani from Class A. Baseball club.” (Hayato)

Hayato answered Yuuma’s question without a moment’s delay.

This guy mysteriously knows a lot about other classes.

No, maybe I just know too little…

“Huh~… But, could that be…” (Yuuma)
“Yeah, he’s confessing.” (Hayato)

The short-haired boy facing Asahi-san was speaking to her with a tense expression.

We couldn’t hear the content of the conversation, naturally, but it was clear he was desperately trying to convey his feelings.

Still, calling someone out behind the school building to confess in this day and age—he’s quite an old-fashioned guy.

I could feel his strong determination to definitely get a girlfriend before the long holiday weekend.

Asahi-san, on the other hand, perhaps accustomed to these situations, showed no particular change in emotion on her face.

She just silently gave small nods to his words.

“Alright, what’s gonna happen…? Whose side are you guys on…?” (Hayato)
“Knock it off… That’s bad taste.” (Reiya)

Feeling awkward for having watched even a little, I returned to my original seat.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t curious, but I couldn’t bring myself to make fun of someone’s once-in-a-lifetime confession.

“Ohh, Kageyama-kun’s so serious. I’m gonna watch him crash and burn though.” (Hayato)
“Just being able to stand on that stage makes him superior to us, even if he does crash and burn.” (Reiya)

I woke the game from sleep mode and resumed playing.

On screen, my nurtured Brain-kun fired a barrage of bullets, mowing down enemies.

“He’s talking for a really long time… Looks like he’s pretty serious…” (Hayato)
“He probably practiced over and over without sleeping. Maybe this will even work on the great Asahi-san?” (Yuuma)
“Nah… I doubt it. We’re talking about the Asahi Hikaru, right? Confessions are probably more common for her than conversations with girls are for us.” (Hayato)

Though hard to admit, that was the truth.

“True… I heard she once handled three guys in one day.” (Yuuma)
“I heard it was four.” (Hayato)

The sound of the two muttering distracted me, making it hard to focus on the game.

Incidentally, I recall hearing the record was five in one day.

“Ah, looks like the confession turn is finally over. He’s bowing his head and holding out his hand.” (Yuuma)
“First time I’ve seen someone actually do that in real life… Alright, what’s gonna happen…!?” (Hayato)
“And Asahi-san’s answer is………………” (Yuuma)

Yuuma dragged out the suspense.

It shouldn’t have anything to do with me, yet somehow I held my breath.

“Aah~, no good~…!” (Hayato)

The lump of air trapped deep in my lungs escaped upon hearing those words.

“A smooth ‘I’m sorry,’ followed by an immediate departure that doesn’t even allow the follow-up attack of ‘Then let’s start as friends.’ Only I would catch that.” (Hayato)
“It might be a kindness, not giving false hope… but wow… he’s really hanging his head. He probably had plans for dates over the holiday weekend too, this’ll probably drag on for him for a while~.” (Yuuma)
“For his magnificent crash and burn, let us at least commend his valiant effort. Chime… Gassho.” (Hayato)
“Namu namu… His posthumous name shall be ‘Priest Sugitani of the Tamagotchi Temple’…” (Yuuma)

These guys… saying whatever they want just because it’s someone else’s problem…

“However, Asahi Hikaru’s stronghold remains intact… She’s fundamentally friendly to everyone, which tends to cause misunderstandings, but when it comes to romance, her defenses are truly iron-clad.” (Hayato)
“I wonder what kind of person could possibly conquer that impregnable, invincible fortress.” (Yuuma)
“Who knows. At least within the school, there’s probably no one who matches her. It wouldn’t even be strange if it were some famous handsome model. She does modeling herself, after all.” (Hayato)
“Hmm~… I feel like Asahi-san isn’t that kind of frivolous type~. Realistically, maybe someone like a student at a famous private medical university whose parents run their own clinic and live in a tower mansion?” (Yuuma)
“For a high school girl, that’s planning the future too much, which is off-putting… Well, whatever the case, the only certain thing is that it’s a celestial matter unrelated to us.” (Hayato)

Yes, normally, no matter how you looked at it, she lived in a different world from us, truly a flower on a high peak.

And yet, that same girl spends her weekends engrossed in games at my house.

Of course, these two had no way of knowing that.

Even I still found it hard to believe and hadn’t told anyone.

The fact that no one else had said anything probably meant she hadn’t told anyone either.

What would happen if our association became known to someone?

No matter how much I insisted we were just gaming buddies, we would undoubtedly be exposed to curious eyes.

Imagining that situation actually happening put me in a rather unpleasant mood.

In the end, thanks to the doubts sparked by their conversation, I couldn’t concentrate on the game at all.

By the time it was time to return to the classroom, my Brain-kun on the screen had been thoroughly scrambled.

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• Long Holiday Weekend: In Japan, this often refers to Golden Week in late April/early May.
• Bio-Protopolis: Seems like a fictional game title, I can’t find something close to the description, the only I can think of is a game called Spore, good old one.
• Gacha Pull: Refers to using in-game currency (often paid) for a chance at getting a random item/character in a gacha game.
• Priest Sugitani of the Tamagotchi Temple: Sorry guys, I don’t know what to translate this so I asked chatgpt to explain what is it and end up got that. The raw is 玉砕院野球民杉谷居士 or Gyokusaiin Yakyuumin Sugitani Koji.