Campione 05

by Miko of the Sword

  With her face flushed red and facing downwards, Yuri rushed to the shrine.

  When she opened the unlocked front shrine, she found Ena rolled up in a sleeping bag, lying on the floor.

  "E-Ena-san...!"

  She hadn't expected her to sleep in the shrine.

  While thinking how horrible that was, Yuri called out quietly.

  "Hey, Yuri, morning~. That smells nice~, did you bring me a lunchbox?"

  Ena suddenly opened her eyes. Her voice was so clear it did not sound like she had just woken up.

  "Y-yes. I brought your share, too, so if you'd like..."

  "Of course I do~. You really are sensible, you know~. You're the number one girl I want to make my wife. Good girl, good girl. My praises to you."

  While bantering like that, Musashino's greatest Hime-Miko opened her sleeping bag.

  She got up, immodestly clad only in a tank top and shorts. She looked thinner in clothes; while slim, her curves were amazing.

  Yuri became embarrassed, as the splendor of Ena's body could easily be seen through her thin clothes.

  "B-by the way, were you already awake, Ena-san?"

  "I was perfectly asleep. I just woke up when I heard the taptaptap of your footsteps all the way here. You seemed totally hurried, what was up?"

  Immediately waking up because she discerned who came from footsteps.

  While amazed by Ena's inhuman hearing ability Yuri quietly said: "U-um, around this shrine there are so many strange buildings..."

  "Ah, sorry sorry. Ena was also surprised when she came; it really is full of dirty hotels, isn't it! Tokyo really is amazing~! But it's convenient to have a convenience store so close. And there are no bears."

  Apparently for half a year, Ena had gone through training in a sacred ground in the mountains.

  Laughter born of a wild lifestyle made Yuri blush. They were in a quiet residential area. But several hotels of a certain kind were erected around the shrine.

  "But you know, Yuri, don't you come to these places as well?"

  "I don't! How did you reach such conclusions?!"

  Yuri strongly refuted the idea.

  However, Ena curiously inquired with a blank face: "Why?"

  "I don't! Godou-san and I are only friends! We have a pure relationship!"

  "Ehh~? But your rivals, that Erica and Liliana, are foreigners, right? ... I'm not quite sure, but don't they make progress that way?"

  "P-progress?"

  After putting away the sleeping bag, the two Hime-Miko sat down across each other in seiza.

  Ena accepted the proffered lunchbox, quickly opening the lid and wolfing down its contents.

  "Yeah, your cooking is great as always. Lately I've only had nuts, wild plants and the like, so this is exceptional~."

  Apparently she had abstained from all kinds of grains. Ena's training was harsher than the one for other Hime-Miko.

  Polishing her sword skills, chastising herself again and again, emptying her mind. Lately Yuri could not stay quiet without discussing this issue as she worried over the girl's body.

  "...That is, does Godou san... no, do men prefer assertive and sensual women after all?"

  "Uhm~, Ena doesn't really know either, but isn't it different~?" Ena said while happily tasting the white rice.

  She spoke frankly, but when sitting in seiza she looked terrifically beautiful. Her way of eating and mannerisms were good and she sat upright. Actually, in terms of being a young lady, she exceeded Yuri.

  "Yesterday, you know, after I finally came back to Tokyo, I went for some sightseeing. To Akihabara."

  "Ahh, aren't there many foreigners around there?"

  "And then, after looking through most of the electric appliance stores in the main street, I also entered the shops in the buildings and other places... and it was amazing."

  "Amazing?"

  "Yeah. There were many small stores, all so strange and fascinating. There are lots of shops that are, you know, completely pink, or like skin-colored."

  "Completely skin-colored...!?"

  "Nirvana or Paradise, may be like that. Whether it's to the left or right, in front or behind, there are nude images all over the place. Hey, you know the Mithuna reliefs[21] in India or somewhere? Like those, BAM, a wall of pictures of naked men and women!"

  "I'm sure very pious people must have gathered there..."

  She had not known Tokyo had such a sacred place for foreigners.

  While embarrassed by her own ignorance, she decided that one day she would go there herself and study it.

  "Maybe. Anyway, Ena understood that boys probably like these kinds of things," Ena remarked as she gobbled down on the vegetable side dishes.

  She was looking somewhere far away. Like there was a very sensational scene going on.

  "I think since Kusanagi-san is a boy, he's the same. In the end being naked will work, definitely!"

  "You're saying too much! It's a bit doubtful at times, but Godou-san basically is someone diligent!"

  "I wonder~. Yuri, you're too fastidious so he just might not be able to say it."

  Yuri was taken aback when her fellow Hime-Miko pointed it out.

  On Sardinia, Lucretia Zola had thoroughly lectured her on boys' mentality.

  But she could not understand that profound theory in the least. Possibly, the key for a smooth interaction with Kusanagi Godou lay in that.

  "By the way, you brought Ena's lunch box, but did you properly make one for Kusanagi-san? Although it doesn't look to me like you have that extra baggage..."

  "Ah, yes. It's just your share."

  "You can't do that! Don't forget the shortest way to get close with an animal is through feeding!"

  "B-But there is no reason to. There is no reason to make a lunch box for that person in the first..."

  "Don't worry about that. You need to start acting first! First, need you to approach him more forcefully, like by asking him to embrace you and sneaking over at night."

  "Sneak over at night!? Please hold it, how did we end up there!?"

  "I think it's easier to win his heart if you do. Hold nothing back!"

  "Me, sneak over at night... don't the men usually do that? First of all, it's illegal nowadays!"[22]

  "You've got problems~~. Anyway, you need to do at least that much. Ena will help out too, you see? For now, let's develop your relationship with Kusanagi-san all across today. Okay?"

  Yuri paled in response to Ena's exceedingly unreasonable proposal.

  "I-I can't! That's impossible!"

  Part 3

  Jounan Academy had segregated physical education for boys and girls.

  Two classes would take lessons together; then boys and girls would split up. Godou's class five was together with class six.

  The sun's rays were still relentless and the temperature was high, too. It was late summer, but the weather felt like midsummer. Therefore, the pool was used during physical education.

  Once again, the curriculum called for swimming.

  But that was only for the girls. The boys had gymnastics in the humid gymnasium

  The feverish atmosphere was stuffy to the limit, and in the swirl of heat and body odor, the male students did mat exercises or apparatus gymnastics.

  "Gentlemen, don't you think this is wrong?"

  Someone asked a forceful question.

  The speaker was Nanami. He often made problematic statements like "Actually, I'm a sucker for miko."

  But he was also an unexpectedly charismatic leader. Whenever people did something as a group, he was usually found at the center of it all... as good-for-nothing of a center as he may be.

  "'Segregated society.' Let's think about the meaning of these words once more, comrades. Gathered here are nothing but men, in a gray wasteland of a world with neither warmth nor color. Is it fine to submit to this? Most certainly not!"

  Nanami was shaking the gymnasium with the heap of nonsense he was loudly proclaiming.

  Incidentally, the teacher
in charge of physical education was absent. A few minutes earlier, he had left, accompanying a student who had fallen off the balance beam and apparently fractured a bone. Now they were in the middle of self-study.

  "So if this world is a wasteland, only those! Only those! Who follow their ambitions will be able to change this place. We have to pry open the doors of paradise ourselves!"

  "Nanami... what you want to say is, in short, that?"

  The one who asked was Takagi. He belonged to the Kendo club and, due to his large build, he was quite able at it.

  But he was a man weak to strange influences and easily led astray.

  "At this very moment, we must aim for heaven!"

  "Yeah. Currently, the place closest to heaven in this school is the pool. The pool where our girls of classes five and six are taking lessons together! The sacred grounds we are forbidden from entering, the secret flower garden where more than thirty girls are frolicking in the water and where lily flowers bloom![23]

  "But the risk is too high..."

  A cool voice poured over them like cold water. Sorimachi derisively laughed.

  The self-styled "Man with 108 little sisters in 2D." As ridiculous as it may be, it was a weirdness only when carried to an extreme. At least he was not an ordinary person.

  "We boys from class five and six number a total of thirty six. This many people would act at the same time to appreciate the girls at the pool. Certainly it is a charming idea but we only have forty minutes until classes are over. We won't even be able to make proper preparations in such a short time. Feelings alone won't take us anywhere..."

  Nanami stomped towards the speaker.

  Bam! Nanami's fist struck home. Sorimachi sternly looked at the assailant who had hit him on the cheek.

  "Nanami, you!!"

  "I misjudged you, Sorimachi. I never thought you were such a boring man."

  The one who struck and the one who was struck were facing each other, one with anger in his eyes, the other with pity.

  "Back then, you'd never have used that as an excuse. You boldly faced even the most difficult missions, a hero dedicated to victory. And yet, you've turned into such a pussy!"

  "What are you talking about, you asshole!"

  "About two months ago. On the day before the release of 'Saint ☆ Little Sister Academy,' you fought to see all endings of 'Together with Onii-chan,' where you have to clear four little sisters, and 'Imohare!', where you have to marry seven little sisters. All that while suffering from a 38° fever and diarrhea..."

  "Tsk. You remember some unpleasant things."

  Sorimachi looked away from Nanami who was talking about old times.

  "Back then I said, 'Stop already. Just shelve it as crap. Your body's at its limits.' But then you replied..."

  "Yeah. 'I'm a man with 108 little sisters. I'm no useless brother who will abandon a little sister once he's started capturing her.' On that one day I conquered all the endings, and on the next, I devoted all my power to 'Saint ☆ Little Sister Academy'..."

  Flames were lit in the two boys' eyes.

  Flames inside their hearts that only lit up when two comrades with burning spirits understood each other.

  "Looks like I forgot my guts from that time. Thank you for reminding me.... This is my thanks!"

  "Guh!"

  "Heh. How is it. Did you feel it?"

  This time Sorimachi did the striking. But Nanami smiled even as he was sent flying.

  His smile seemed to say, 'Have you finally awoken, you stupid idiot?' Just now, between the two of them, their fists had been words.

  "That was a nice punch. It held your spirit. You've got a hot fist..."

  "Shut it. I'm done hesitating. Let's fight together."

  Sorimachi stretched out his hand and took Nanami's. Like that he pulled him up. It was an emotional scene of two men deeply understanding each other after a clash. However, finally getting fed up with it all, Godou said with a sober voice.

  "Hey, guys"

  The two comedians directed their stares full of enmity at him.

  But Godou kept going, not losing to the pressure.

  "There's so much I want to say right now, but first of all, can you not peek? You know that's like a crime."

  Foop (The sound of heaving a gymnastic mat)

  "H-hey, what are you—"

  Bam (The sound of said mat being dropped on Godou)

  WupWupWup (The sound of male students A, B and C jumping onto the mat)

  "Guha. H-hey, wait a sec, are you trying to crush me?"

  Squashed under the bulky, stinking mats, Godou complained.

  The weight of the three students weighed down on him, so it was quite painful. He barely managed to stick his head out from under the mat and secure some oxygen.

  "Dammit, he's alive. Well, killing him would be bad, too."

  "If you like, I can finish him."

  "Calm down. If we do it, we must do it carefully from where his legs can't reach."

  The three idiots Nanami, Takagi and Sorimachi said some dangerous things.

  Godou loudly asked the other boys surrounding them.

  "Do you guys resent me or what? Why the heck do you do this to me?"

  "You ask why?"

  Nanami glanced down with a cold look.

  "Let me ask you then. Kusanagi, why can you say things like 'Don't peek'?"

  "Hiding at the school pool and peeking is a hair's width away from committing a crime. Most of all, don't you feel bad for the girls? Don't ask me such obvious questions..."

  Godou made sound arguments while silently praying for everyone to quickly regain their senses. If they lost their way over a momentary whim, in all likelihood they would come to regret it in the future. But that question made most of the students in class five and six go even wilder. Some were even crying tears of frustration.

  "You damn hypocrite..."

  "Damn it all. You're looking down on us because you have no problems getting girls..."

  "Anzai-sensei, we want to see girls in swimsuits!"

  "Everyone, calm down. Together with everyone's anger and suffering, I will do the talking. I'll teach this harem bastard who thinks it's normal to capture several girls at the same time about our pure hearts!"

  Nanami took control of everyone present and looked down on Godou once again.

  "Hey, Kusanagi, I like girls in swimsuits. It's no exaggeration to say I love them."

  "Well, I won't criticize your personal hobbies."

  "Just shut it and listen. I like girls in swimsuits... that's right. In year one, class five and six, Arakawa-san stands out for having a great body, doesn't she? And obviously the appeal of Miyama-san's small build and flat chest strikes home with those enthusiasts. We can expect the swimsuit to bring forth another kind of charm in the bespectacled Sawa-san, too. And Nagasato's plumpness should turn into the characteristic soothing aura that slender girls don't have. But, even so."

  Nanami strongly clenched his fist. He probably was about to present his good-for-nothing pet theory.

  "Even if those girls are so fascinating, in terms of idol groups, they wouldn't be in the front row. They are the second row, so to speak, reserve members. So, who's the crème de la crème?"

  "Hmm... I don't know."

  He had an idea of the other's emotions, but Godou dared playing dumb.

  "Erica-sama with her supremely gorgeous body. Mariya-san who makes you wonder if she's hiding splendid sizes somewhere. And then there is Liliana-san who became the 'Number One girl I want to put in a leotard' with her fairy body... You asshole who monopolizes those celebrated flowers will never understand what makes our blood boil. No, like you'd be allowed to know!"

  "I've got a proposal! Let's lock Kusanagi-san into the equipment room like this!"

  "That's a great idea! Alright, someone go find the key!"

  "Okay, now it's time to pay the piper, you bastard. Muahahahaa!"

  In response to Nanami's fervent speech, the boys' voices strangely start
ed to well up here and there.

  Thus the union of boys from class five and six had locked Kusanagi Godou into the equipment room and started marching toward the paradise of maidens frolicking in water.

  Part 4

  "If you think about it, this might be a good chance. Erica, let us finally find out who is better through swimming."

  "A swimming competition? With you? No thanks."

  Classes five and six were having lessons together.

  By the poolside, two girls were having a conversation like that.

  Of course, they were Liliana Kranjcar and Erica Blandelli. Jounan Academy's swimming uniform was a one-piece with a daring hole in the back.

  The ones wearing it the most splendidly were these girls.

  The girls were creating the illusion of the commonplace school pool being an overseas resort. With their blond and silver hair fluttering in the wind, they were attracting everyone's stares.

  "Heheh. Running from a battle is unlike you."

  "But in swimming I've never been a match for you. Our reflexes and strength are almost the same, and yet... is it because the water resistance is too different, as I thought?"

  "W-what!?"

  Liliana in her swimsuit was truly slender.

  But being delicate alone should not lead to such results. The Eastern European girl was so slender it seemed she would break if held too strongly. And though she was so slim, she had wonderfully long limbs. Her nape like a swan. Her well-arranged features like a fairy.

  Her slenderness, fleetingness, all merged to make Liliana shine.

  However...

  Her artistic beauty might be of an Eastern European fairy.

  But in terms of physical beauty in swimsuits, in sensual charm, Erica came out on top after all. Skin toned light-brown on Sardinia. The swellings of her breasts looking like large fruits. Her hip, inviting the sighs of onlookers. The perfect curve of her ass.

  And the elegance that naturally showed off all of that.

  There was no forced appeal. On the other hand, she did not hide it from inquisitive eyes either.

  Shining just by being there.

  Erica Blandelli was that kind of girl. Seeing her standing there was dazzling even for Yuri.

  "Certainly, you have always been better developed than me! But that does not mean I will take you calling me almost flat hands down!"