Chapter 87: A Sub-Heroine is Still a Heroine
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 87: A Sub-Heroine is Still a Heroine
After forcing down the rice balls, I remembered my original reason for coming to the student council room and asked the Vice President.
"Vice President, when are you planning on returning the manga I lent you?"
At that, the Vice President, who had been nagging me from the side, went, "Ah," his expression showing he'd just remembered.
"Er… could you give me a little more time? I've been busy with student council work, so I haven't finished it yet."
"It's already been a month since you borrowed it. If you don't plan on reading it, please return it."
"…Alright. I'll finish it and give it back to you by the end of this week."
Having finally secured a promise from the Vice President, I said my goodbyes to the President and Minami and stood up to return to my classroom.
Just then, Fuma-senpai shot up to follow me.
Seeing this, the President asked.
"Fuma-san, how long do you intend to follow Kim Yoo-Sung-kun around?"
Fuma-senpai replied with a shameless look on her face.
"Until he accepts my proposal."
"…Isn't that a bit shameless? It seems like he doesn't like it."
Fuma-senpai looked at me.
"You don't like it?"
"Yeah. It's a little annoying."
No matter how pretty the person following you is, it's obviously not great when it starts interfering with your daily life.
Fuma-senpai hummed thoughtfully, then spoke as if she'd had a brilliant idea.
"Then how about we do this?"
"Do what?"
"Come to my place after school. I'll explain why I've been clinging to you."
"If I listen, will you stop following me around?"
"Yes, I promise."
If that's all it is, then I guess I have no choice.
"Alright. Let's do that."
The President, who had been listening from the side, turned beet red and shouted.
"W-w-w-what! How dare you so brazenly speak of engaging in an impure relationship between the sexes in front of me, the Student Council President! I didn't raise Kim Yoo-Sung-kun to be like this!"
"Please calm down, milady. Not a single word about that has been said yet."
"No, the possibility is definitely there."
The Vice President cut into Minami's words.
"A young man and woman in their prime, in the same house, in the same room? That means the game is already over."
"The only thing that's over is your brain, Oppa…."
It was truly absurd nonsense, but it seemed to have sounded plausible enough to our President.
"Fuma-san! Is only Yoo-Sung-kun allowed to go to your house after school?"
"…Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"You ask the obvious. It's because I intend to go along as well."
For a rare moment, Fuma-senpai's expression soured.
"That would be… a bit problematic."
"Of course, I don't intend to go empty-handed. I will provide appropriate compensation."
As the President said that and clapped her hands, the Vice President took a check out of his wallet.
"Will this suffice?"
Without a second glance, Fuma-senpai snatched the check and said,
"You can come as much as you like. In fact, I'd prefer it if you came every day."
At her fickle change of heart, which showed not a shred of pride, the President covered her mouth with her fan and laughed, "Ohohoho! How easy!"
Money can't solve everything, but it can solve most things.
*
After school.
I met up with Fuma-senpai, who was waiting at the school gate.
Rika saw us and gave me a pouting look, but when I explained it was to get Fuma-senpai off my back, she reluctantly agreed.
After sending Rika off first, I waited a little longer, and a long limousine slowly pulled up to the gate.
It was the President's usual limousine.
Click!
The door of the black vehicle opened, and the President greeted us from inside.
"Have you been waiting long?"
"No, we just got here."
I replied naturally and got into the limousine, but Fuma-senpai, who was behind me, hesitated to get in.
When I asked her what was wrong, Fuma-senpai swallowed hard and answered.
"This is my first time riding in a car like this. To be honest, I feel a bit… overwhelmed."
At that, the President covered her mouth with her fan and let out an "Ohohoho!"
"A commoner like you, Fuma-san, would never have had the chance to ride in a limousine. However, I am giving you this special experience, so you should get in with gratitude."
Fuma-senpai swallowed hard again and got into the limousine with a tense expression.
Then she sat down right next to me, across from the President.
Seeing this, the President's ladylike smile cracked.
"Fuma-san, why are you sitting there so naturally?"
"That side is too intimidating."
Fuma-senpai said, placing her bag on her lap.
A back-and-forth.
The battle of pride between the two girls, with neither willing to yield an inch, looked brutal even to my oblivious eyes.
Is this what they mean when they say 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'...?
*
After about a twenty-minute ride in the President's limousine, we arrived at the apartment where Fuma-senpai lived alone... though to call it an apartment was a stretch. It was a very old row house.
It seemed I wasn't the only one taken aback by the old wooden apartment, which looked like something straight out of a manga. The President muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
"I didn't know buildings like this still existed in Tokyo."
As if used to such reactions, Fuma-senpai replied nonchalantly as she climbed the stairs.
"Sorry for living in a building like this."
Realizing too late that she had misspoken, the President made a series of strange noises—"Ah! Hmph! Heck!"—before following Fuma-senpai up the stairs, just like me.
The third door down on the second floor.
Room 203 was where Fuma-senpai lived.
She opened the door—not with a digital lock, but with a key—and stepped inside. A small, six-tatami-mat room that felt far too bleak to be the home of a high school girl in her prime came into view.
It was a typical studio apartment, probably around 350 square feet.
"E-Excuse me for intruding."
It was probably her first time in a place like this; the President looked flustered as she spoke and took off her shoes.
The President and I followed Fuma-senpai inside.
Fuma-senpai hung her school uniform on a hanger, then set her bag on the desk and asked,
"For drinks, I have green tea and coffee. Which would you like? They're both instant, by the way."
The President, sitting bolt upright like a tense meerkat, replied,
"I shall have coffee, please."
"How much sugar?"
"Two spoons."
"Got it. Kim Yoo-Sung, what about you?"
"I'll have the same as the President, please."
With practiced movements, Fuma-senpai filled an electric kettle with water from the sink.
While the water boiled, Fuma-senpai brought over some cushions that were stacked in a corner.
A strange silence fell after we sat down on the cushions.
None of us seemed to know how to start the conversation.
The President, who had paid her way here, seemed to be in the same boat, glancing hesitantly at Fuma-senpai.
Finally, Fuma-senpai, who was sitting in seiza on her cushion, placed a hand on the tatami mat and began to speak.
"First off, I already explained things to you, Kim Yoo-Sung, so I can skip the beginning, right?"
"Ah, yes."
"And Saionji-san, since you have a ninja clan under your command, you should be aware of the basic workings of the underworld."
The President, sensing this was something serious, nodded with a tense expression.
"I know a certain amount, yes."
"Then this will be quick."
Saying that, Fuma-senpai lifted a tatami mat beside her.
Underneath was a single old book.
"What's that?"
"This is why I invited you today. It's the Fuma Ninjutsu Manual, a secret text passed down through the Fuma clan for generations."
Fuma-senpai quickly flipped through the book, stopping at a specific page.
"And this is Hayate, or Gale—one of the two martial arts I told you about that can only be learned by the direct Fuma bloodline."
She turned the book around to show me the contents.
On its pages, various movements were illustrated with a brush in a dynamic style that made them seem alive and moving.
Reading the short annotations, I saw many instructions for movements that could never be performed with ordinary strength.
Using one's hand like a sword... a normal person definitely couldn't imitate this just by looking at it.
"As you can see, this martial art was created with the premise that it would be used by a superhuman. And now that my father, the 17th Fuma Kotaro, has left the village, there is no one left who can learn it. This means the clan's secret techniques, passed down for hundreds of years, could be lost in my generation. As the Acting Clan Head, I cannot allow that to happen."
At that, the President, who had been listening quietly, asked with a confused expression.
"W-Wait a moment. Fuma Kotaro this, Fuma Kotaro that... you've been saying things I can't understand. Are you saying that you, Fuma-san, are a descendant of the Fuma Kotaro from the history books?"
"Exactly that, President."
"I never knew! Anything about that!"
"Of course. I've kept it thoroughly hidden until now. Even if your subordinates are ninja, their experience and mine are on different levels."
As Fuma-senpai nodded as if stating the obvious, the President let out a frustrated "Kuh!"
She didn't seem to care about the other things, but she was clearly upset at the implication that the Vice President and Minami were inferior.