Chapter 2

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Professor Daimon wore black slacks which mostly matched and highlighted the contours of his body. While lifting the bridge of his glasses with his forefinger, he began to speak with an unconcerned tone.

“If you keep this up Hanashima, you won’t be entitled to the scholarship for the next semester.”

“Huh?”

A sound similar to a frog being crushed escaped from the back of Shouma’s throat.

As soon as the professor said “That’s all” he tossed the paper which probably had Souma’s result on it to the edge of the desk. Then, as if it was some trivial matter, he announced the end of the lecture with a “You can go home …”

Shouma was hot on his professor’s heels.

“Could you wait a little, professor? Couldn’t you do something about it?”

“Something that could be done, you say. What else do you want me to say about this little test?” asked the professor poking at the rolled paper sheets.

Spreading the paper, Shouma could see the answer sheet from yesterday’s test. His name ‘Shouma Hanashima’ was at the top of the paper. When he saw the score written on it, Shouma felt his blood freezing.

“38 points really is something, especially if you compare it to last month, when your average grade was 90.”

“Oh, this is …. I accidently fell asleep during this test.”

“You shouldn’t think so highly of yourself as to think that you can afford to sleep in a test,” said the professor in dismay.

In the bottom half of the answer sheet little earth-worms crawled that had almost turned into letters on the paper.

“Anyway, it’s just that I don’t like the way things are going. It’s only a small quiz. The one which will have a greater impact on your grade are the fixed examinations. Do something about it before then. If you don’t get at least a B, I can’t write a recommendation letter for you to get the scholarship.”

As if to tell him, “Now you should go.” the professor shooed away Shouma with his hand.

Shouma reluctantly left the professor’s office.

The University he attends grades the students on an A to D scale. A grade of B and C are quite average, with a D being a non-credit.

The scholarship which he received was a very generous one, it would exempt him from the need to pay the full tuition. Because of this, there were two rounds of examinations every year. It was a very serious process, if a student got a grade less than B three times or more his application would not be approved.

All in all, it means that in most of his lectures he needed to get an A grade. If he didn’t get a scholarship, his financial condition won’t be able to cover the costs of the University expenses. Of course there was a government scholarship available but those didn’t really cover all the tuition fees. Also, it was impossible and impractical to increase the number of his part-time jobs.

If he didn’t find a solution to put an end to his lack of sleep and restore his grades before his regular examination, or raise enough money, Shouma won’t be able to pay his student loan and he would be one of those students who dropped out during a term.

“If that happens, I won’t be able to face my grandma again …”

Holding his head in his hands, Shouma trudged down the hallway.

His grandmother, who passed away last year, was the one who raised Shouma all by herself. For him she was like a mother, a father and a sister alike. His parents had died long ago in a plane crash, since then his grandmother had been his only family.

He didn’t want to cause any trouble even for his deceased grandmother.

“I have to do something about it … somehow.”

However, it was unlikely that he would be able to find a way that would help his problem.

Shouma’s aimless walk carried him to the backyard of his University. According to his watch, it was exactly 12 o’clock.

There was only one lecture which he had to attend this afternoon, and after that he was scheduled to work part-time.

“Let’s get some lunch.”

Despite that he was worried, he couldn’t do anything about it at the moment, so he sat down on a bench and took out his bento-box from his bag. There sat two oversized onigiris in the box, along with some leftovers from last night. The filling was umeboshi [1], which was even pickled by himself.

The University had a cafeteria but Shouma rarely used it.

The cafeteria, as a way of showing support for the students, wasn’t expensive, but it was still more economical to make his own food. Besides, he didn’t hate cooking for himself.

“If my scholarship gets terminated, maybe I can take a loan …I wonder where I could find a place that would lend me money without a guarantor? Maybe an illegal loan? Or the black-market?”

His mind could only come up with bad suggestions.

While putting his lunch box on his thighs, the apparitions began to gather and bustle around his legs. Today there were a lot of children with eyes like a ginkgo nut.

Depending on the place, different kinds of apparitions showed up.

There were also creatures which bambled nonsense near to his ear, as if they were some spoiled kids. They were annoying, so he shooed them off, but this time the phantoms clinged on his hands.

“It’s your fault, you know.”

Even though he said it a little grudgingly, he knew violence never pays off.

They were apparitions but they really seemed like living beings. At the same time, it was their fault that he couldn’t live his daily life. He had to do something about them.

“Thus, I have no choice but to cure it somehow, but where should I go… Maybe a hospital? A psychiatry? Or perhaps a neurosurgery?”

Either way, it’s going to cost a lot of money.

Shouma exhaled deeply.

This time a rock-like creature fell on top of his lowered head. His head stooped even more.

“I guess I’ve been under a lot of stress lately without realizing it …” thought Shouma while brushing off the rock-like apparition from himself.

Shouma was poking at his bento while trying to avoid the bustling and rallied apparitions.

Then suddenly the creatures’ gaze were drawn to something that was behind Shouma’s back. The hair on some of them began to bristle up as well.

As if prompted by their gaze, Shouma turned around.

A few meters away from him, there was a cat.

The cat’s fur was white with bright brown spots scattered on its body and covering its eyes and ears.

The cat raised its tail, and while wiggling its body, it began to walk towards Shouma’s direction.

It was just like a fashion model walking on a runway. Perhaps it was a weird deformity, but the cat’s tail was split into two parts at the base.

“Nyaa”

The cat purred majestically as if to say “get out of the way”. By doing this, the apparitions scattered like wind-driven chaff, scrambled over each-other then disappeared from the spot.

All that remained was Shouma and the cat, along with a silence he hadn’t heard for a long time.

—–

Translator’s Note:

[1] Japanese pickled plum, it’s mostly sour and salty but there are sweeter versions as well.

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