Daily Lives of High School Boys: Sanada North Scramble
Tadakuni just wanted a normal after-school life. Instead, he's stuck between Yoshitake's bizarre "carbonation divides humanity" theories and Hidenori's deadpan nonsense—and that's before his little sister texts him that she's stocked the school vending machine with his underwear.
Now Tadakuni is sprinting for the school gate, his two idiot friends tagging along for the show, only to find the legendary Jaw Guy conducting "probability manipulation research" on the very machine dispensing his brie
Daily Lives of High School Boys: Sanada North Scramble - Counterattack strategy meeting, heading to the school at night
The sky was still heavy with clouds.
Tadakuni passed through the gates of Sanada North High. The old vending machine stood in front of the gate, just as it always did. The culprit behind all that chaos. This morning, nobody was lining up to buy a drink.
"Oh, Tadakuni. Mornin'."
Yoshitake, blond hair and all, came running over with an exaggerated wave. Behind him walked Hidenori, brown-haired and bespectacled.
"Tadakuni, you got a call from Karasawa today, didn't you."
Hidenori pushed up his glasses, his face more serious than usual. A guy with perfect vision who wore glasses anyway, for some reason.
"Yeah. He told me to come to the student council room after school."
"You're going, right?"
"Of course I am."
Tadakuni answered shortly. The words he'd sworn last night in front of his sister's door still burned in his chest.
"I'm going too. Call it chivalry."
Yoshitake puffed out his chest. At the exaggerated gesture, Tadakuni couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"You just learned the word 'chivalry' yesterday."
"How'd you know!?"
"It's written all over your face."
"Seriously!? Where!?"
Yoshitake patted at his own face. Hidenori burst out laughing.
"Yoshitake, that's so you."
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"That's so you."
The three of them walked toward the school building, trading their usual idle banter.
But Tadakuni's heart was not the same as usual.
(My sister's diary. Tonight, it goes public.)
The words of yesterday's threat wouldn't leave his head.
"The Shame of Sanada North."
When he'd seen that post, his sister had been curled up under her blanket, crying without a sound.
(I'll stop it. No matter what.)
Tadakuni clenched his fist.
After school.
The moment the chime rang, Tadakuni bolted from the classroom. Hidenori and Yoshitake followed in silence.
He strode down the hallway and took the stairs two at a time. The student council room was at the far end of the second floor.
Standing before the door, Tadakuni took one deep breath.
"I'm coming in."
He opened the door.
Everyone was already gathered in the student council room.
Karasawa Toshiyuki stood leaning against the wall, black cap pulled low, eyes sharp. Beneath the cap, the scar on his forehead was hidden as always. A body marked with old wounds here and there — the sharpest mind on the student council.
"You came."
Karasawa spoke in a flat voice.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Tadakuni looked Karasawa straight in the eye and asked.
Karasawa let a beat pass before opening his mouth.
"It's about your sister. And about Yanagin and Ikushima."
"So it really is them."
"Yeah. First, sit down. This is going to take a while."
The three of them lowered themselves onto folding chairs.
Karasawa turned his eyes to the window. Under the overcast sky, the soccer club was practicing on the field. The sound of a ball being kicked drifted in from far away.
"The scar on my forehead. I got it in elementary school."
Karasawa began to speak, quietly.
"Did something happen with Yanagin?"
Hidenori leaned forward.
"A long time ago, I took something precious from Yanagin."
"What?"
Yoshitake's eyes went wide.
"I didn't do it directly. But because of me, Yanagin lost something precious back then. Ever since, Yanagin has hated me."
"What did you take?"
Tadakuni asked in a low voice.
Karasawa faltered for just a moment.
"...I can't say. No — I don't have the right to say it. All I know is that I deserve to be hated. It's only natural that Yanagin won't forgive me."
"But that doesn't make it okay to drag my sister into this!"
Tadakuni's voice rose.
"Yeah. That's why I want to protect your sister. Yanagin's goal is to make me suffer. Your sister was used as a tool for that."
"A tool...?"
"To plant guilt in me. If your sister cries, you suffer. If you suffer, I suffer too. That's how it works."
Karasawa continued, matter-of-fact.
"I took something precious from Yanagin in the past. So it's only natural that I'm hated. But your sister did nothing wrong. She has nothing to do with it. And yet they hurt her."
Karasawa's voice seemed to tremble, just slightly.
"I don't understand your past."
Tadakuni rose slowly to his feet.
"But I have no intention of forgiving anyone who makes my sister cry. Whether it's Yanagin or anyone else."
Tadakuni's voice was stronger than even he expected.
Karasawa stared at Tadakuni's face.
And then, faintly, he nodded.
"I see."
At that moment, the door of the student council room flew open.
"All right, I heard everything!"
A flashy guy who seemed to live on nothing but momentum and vibes came bursting in. The student council president of Sanada North High.
"Full student council mobilization! Time to show you what the Jack-of-All-Trades can really do!"
The president thrust his fist into the air and shouted.
"President, you're too loud. They can hear you down the hall."
Behind him came the vice president — scary face, polite speech. He looked about twenty-eight, but was actually seventeen.
"Vice president, do you have a plan?"
When Karasawa asked, the vice president cleared his throat.
"The school's internal message board is under student council administrative authority. If we stop the post before it goes live, no evidence remains. Cancel the scheduled post and delete the diary data, and the situation is contained."
The vice president spoke calmly.
"Seriously!? You can do that!?"
"Yes. The student council is a school-sanctioned self-governing body. Managing the board is part of our job."
"But Yanagin said the post is scheduled. For tonight at nine."
"Then we access the admin panel before then and cancel the schedule. However, to access the admin panel, we need to get into the school's server room."
"The server room's locked at night, isn't it?"
"Yes. Which is why we'll need to sneak into the school tonight."
The vice president said it as if it were nothing.
"Sneak in!? Whoa, whoa, isn't that a crime!?"
Yoshitake recoiled dramatically.
"If we don't, your sister's diary goes public. Which is preferable hardly requires thought."
"...Got it. Let's do it."
Tadakuni answered immediately.
"Oh, Tadakuni, that's pretty manly of you."
Hidenori grinned.
"Of course. It's for my sister."
"Now then, about Yanagin and Ikushima's movement patterns."
Motoharu spoke up, black hair slicked back. A student council officer and a classmate of Tadakuni's. He was also a delicate sort who let his bangs down whenever his skin broke out.
"Those two hang around behind the gym at Central High at night. And two or three times a week, I've spotted them lurking around Sanada North. Seen it more than once."
"Motoharu, you investigated all that?"
"Not investigated, exactly. I just happened to see them. But I've got a rough grasp of their patterns."
"That helps. Then we can predict to some degree where they'll be tonight."
"Yeah. And this is just my guess, but Yanagin might be expecting you guys to come to the school at night."
"Why would you think that?"
"Those two have been watching Karasawa all along. If Karasawa moves, you move. There's a good chance they've read it that way."
"...I see. Annoying, but we've got no choice."
Karasawa pulled the brim of his cap down, just slightly.
"Tadakuni."
Hidenori put a hand on Tadakuni's shoulder, his face serious.
"Your sister is like our sister too. So I'm going."
Hidenori smiled.
"No surreal stuff. This is for real."
Yoshitake said it with a straight face — rare for him.
"You guys..."
Tadakuni looked at each of them in turn.
(These guys really are idiots.)
But that idiocy, right now, was a blessing from the bottom of his heart.
Then a scene surfaced in Tadakuni's mind.
An old memory.
Elementary school.
Hidenori was being bullied.
Surrounded by several boys, being beaten.
Hidenori was crying.
His glasses had been torn off and thrown to the ground.
I watched it from a distance.
(I have to help.)
That's what I thought.
But my body wouldn't move.
(I'm scared.)
(They might bully me too.)
(But Hidenori is crying.)
(Hidenori is my friend.)
(Am I going to abandon my friend?)
I started running.
I made a finger gun and fired rubber bands at the bullies.
Snap, snap, snap.
The rubber bands hit the bullies in the face.
"What the hell, you!"
The bullies came at me.
But I didn't run.
Wearing a hero's mask and scarf, humming Pachelbel's Canon, I kept firing rubber bands.
I was a rubber shooter.
A hero, protecting Hidenori.
The courage from that day came surging back.
(I really was a hero, back then.)
(Now it's my turn to protect my sister.)
Tadakuni lifted his head.
"We sneak into the school tonight. Here's the plan."
Tadakuni spread a map of the school grounds across the desk.
"The vice president checks the security camera blind spots and decides the route. Karasawa and Motoharu keep watch outside. Hidenori, Yoshitake, and I head for the server room."
"Whoa, Tadakuni, when did you get so detailed?"
"I looked into it last night. The school map was in the student council room, so I borrowed it."
"Nice work, Tadakuni!"
"I don't want to put you guys in danger. But I can't do this alone. So — please."
Tadakuni bowed his head.
"Cut that out, Tadakuni. Don't bow to your friends."
Hidenori clapped him on the shoulder.
"Yeah. We're friends, aren't we? A friend's sister is in trouble. Helping out is a given."
Yoshitake flashed a grin.
"...You guys really are good friends."
Tadakuni smiled faintly.
Soft light filtered into the student council room at dusk.
Everyone put their heads together and worked out the night's operation.
Camera positions, locked areas, emergency exit locations, the shortest route to the server room.
The vice president carefully explained how to operate the school network's admin panel.
"From the terminal in the server room, we access the admin panel. Delete the relevant post from the scheduled posts list, and it won't go public."
"What if it's already been published?"
"In that case, we delete it immediately. We should be able to stop it before it spreads."
"All right. We move tonight at eight. Meet at the school gate."
Karasawa said quietly.
"Yeah."
Tadakuni nodded firmly.
"All right, let's do this! Time to show you what the Jack-of-All-Trades can really do!"
The president shouted again.
"President, you're too loud. You're disturbing the neighbors."
"Aww..."
The president deflated.
"Same as ever, you guys."
Yoshitake laughed.
"But seriously — thank you. All of you."
Tadakuni bowed his head once more.
That night.
Eight p.m.
In front of the Sanada North High gates gathered seven people: Tadakuni, Hidenori, Yoshitake, Karasawa, and Motoharu — plus the vice president and the student council president.
The sky was covered in thick clouds, and there was almost no moonlight.
The wind blew lukewarm.
"The camera blind spot is the route from behind the gym through the back of the school building. The emergency exit is already unlocked."
The vice president spoke in a hushed voice.
"Right. Motoharu and I will keep watch outside. Contact us immediately if anything happens."
Karasawa pulled out his phone.
"Got it. Let's go."
Tadakuni took a small breath.
The seven of them circled around to the back of the school building, careful not to make a sound.
They eased the emergency exit door open.
It creaked, just barely.
"Crap, it made a noise."
"It's fine. Nobody's here."
Tadakuni stepped into the dark hallway.
The corridor was pitch black.
Only the green glow of the emergency lights faintly illuminated the floor at their feet.
"The server room is at the far end of the second floor. Let's hurry."
Tadakuni took the lead and started walking.
Behind him came Hidenori, Yoshitake, the vice president, and the student council president.
In the dead-silent school building, their own footsteps echoed unnaturally loud.
His heartbeat pounded in
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