The Boy Who Was Doing The Wrong Thing Will Do His Best - Chapter 70

Volume II Chapter 70

Two weeks had passed since the cultural festival, and December had begun.

“Come to think of it, today Akane-san invited me to play an online game.”

Until recently, I hadn’t noticed, but (Akane-san herself told me) Akane-san was someone I occasionally played online games with even before I regained my memory.

The online game was called “Yokai Buster.” Akane-san used a half-yokai character and went by the name “Aka.” Both she and I were quiet types. But Akane-san was really good at the game, so I would invite her every time I logged in.

Taking advantage of Akane-san’s quietness, there were times when I would sneakily do a live stream and mutter things like, “She’s good, my partner,” or something like that. Thinking back, I still feel embarrassed.

Back then, whenever I apologized for causing trouble, Akane-san would say, “That’s okay, it was my second character, and it was fine since it matched my growth speed.” She was such a nice person.

“Then I’ll sit next to Taketo-kun and read a book.”

Kaori said as she brought her chair closer to my gaming seat (the computer seat). She’s so cute.

But sometimes, I feel like calling her “Kaori-san.” That’s because most of the books Kaori reads are for acquiring qualifications. Moreover, she’s finished acquiring all the construction-related qualifications, so now she’s reading books for real estate qualifications.

***

Since then, even though we haven’t uploaded any new videos, the number of subscribers to the Armed Girls Channel has been steadily increasing, reaching about 3 million now.

It seems like everyone is checking the subscriber count in order, but they all seem nervous, trembling as they check the numbers, which makes me want to laugh. Especially Sachiko.

I was a bit worried about the comments being written, but I’m relieved to see that many of them are supportive. Nene-san was also worried about having a man in an all-female band. She thinks maybe the cross-dressing helped.

The cross-dressing was actually inspired by being a model for Ayukawa-san’s shop.

There are still some hurtful comments, but there are always replies like “You’re the one who’s strange” or “Please don’t mind them” to support us.

Even if it’s just a few, having those kinds of comments makes us feel like everyone else might feel the same way, so this kind of support is really appreciated. Everyone is grateful for it.

Nene-san also said it’s important not to worry about antis because every industry has them.

But most of all, everyone is a bit anxious because the most common request is for us to release a new song soon.

So the enthusiasm for our second new song, “Smile for You,” is amazing. Apparently, this song was made to make people feel happy and cheerful when they listen to it, with a good rhythm and tempo that make you want to hum along.

However, since everyone is in the brass band club, they also have to show up for club activities.

So, whenever they have time, they drop by the studio to practice individually, and once a week, they practice together.

The dinner with the Nohara family also ended without any issues. It was mostly introductions among family members.

The members included Kaori’s grandmother, mother, sister, two aunts, and four cousins. It would have been fine if it were just them, but apparently there were also some people who seemed to be the grandmother’s sisters, along with their daughters and grandchildren. It was supposed to be just family, but there were about 40 people in total. And they were all older than me.

Everyone sitting next to Kaori kept talking to me, but there were so many people that I don’t remember who I talked to or what we talked about.

Kaori assured me not to worry, so I just nodded along and tried to listen as much as possible.

At the end, the grandmother bowed to me and said, “Please continue to take care of the Nohara family in the future,” but since it’s my wife’s family, I’d do that even without being asked.

I replied with the cliché, “I’m still inexperienced, so I appreciate your guidance and support,” and the grandmother was surprisingly moved by it.

On the way back (in Kaori’s car), she expressed her relief that I wasn’t disliked by her family, but she also mentioned that I was liked a bit too much, which made her a bit worried.

According to Kaori, her relatives are generally very reserved and rarely show expressions, tending to be unfriendly. But during today’s dinner, they were all smiling, which was quite intimidating.

Kaori said it’s scary when she mentions that, but it’s better than being disliked. Personally, I’m relieved.

Regarding the incident with Oshii-san and others, the principal, Niizuma-san, and the grade coordinators for the second and third years came to my house to apologize and report the punishment for them.

The content included an apology and a report on their punishment. They’ll be suspended from school for a month. Since the winter vacation starts in the middle of it, they won’t be back until after the New Year.

Several other students from the second and third years were also involved, and they received the same punishment.

According to the investigation with the students, they didn’t realize they were doing anything wrong because they were convinced they were doing it for the sake of Sawakaze-kun. However, they seem to be very remorseful now and have reportedly disposed of Sawakaze-kun’s support goods and even pictures and videos in front of the teachers.

Even so, Kaori, who was present, asked if the punishment wasn’t too lenient, but the school side seemed reluctant to escalate the issue any further and simply apologized repeatedly.

Then Kaori suggested that during their suspension, just for the duration of their punishment, they should work at Nohara Construction so they can understand the feelings of craftsmen who are building houses.

She said it’s fine if they refuse, but she doesn’t think a student who throws things at other people’s houses and then refuses such an offer is truly remorseful. She even suggested that such students might be better off repeating the year. Kaori seems to be intent on making the punishment heavier when she decides it’s for my sake. I need to be careful too.

The principal accepted the proposal, believing that there probably aren’t any students who would refuse such an opportunity.

Well, Nohara Construction is a publicly traded company. It’s not easy to get in just like that.

They probably judged that it would be much more educational and beneficial for the students to learn about society in this way rather than just being suspended at home.

When they become second-year students, they’ll actually have classes like that (practical experience in society), so even though the principal must have thought about it carefully, he eventually nodded in agreement.

There was such an exchange, but apparently none of the students refused, and the third-year and second-year students, as well as Oshii-san and others, are now doing their social studies at Nohara Construction.

Kaori, who had thought they were all careless, was impressed to hear that they were all taking it seriously.

“Oh, Akane-san is already logged in.”

It was five minutes before the promised time of 8:00 p.m.

The online game that Akane-san and I have been playing recently is called “Life of Adventurers in Another World,” which is a new online game planned to be released by Akane-san’s sister’s company. Currently, only invited people can play during the trial period.

I think it would be rude not to log in after being introduced, so during the trial period, whenever I have time, I try to log in as much as possible.

Although, honestly, the game is just genuinely fun.

“Taketo-kun, make sure to play with me later, okay?”

If she kisses me on the cheek before saying something like that, even I can quickly figure out what she means.

“Uh, yeah.”

It’s a bit embarrassing, so I still stumble over my words, but occasionally I want to be the one to invite her too.

With such thoughts in mind, I logged in and immediately joined up with Akane-san.

This “Life of Adventurers in Another World” is quite an open-ended game. Since we didn’t have much time today, I thought it would be appropriate for just the two of us to take on some goblins. But as I was thinking that…

“Taketo-kun, there’s someone I want to introduce you to today.”

If there was a character I didn’t recognize next to Akane-san, I guess that’s what she meant.

“Nice to meet you, Taketo-sama.”

The character, dressed in a maid outfit and equipped with a large broom, bowed after saying so.