Mission 1

The grip of the mop perfectly caught the dust cloth’s centre. The soaked mop had just the right weight, became an airliner, went through the cla.s.sroom’s door in a straight line and stuck to the doorway’s window.

“Yeaaaaaahhh! Fourth pitcher Yata, the batted ball went past the third-base outfield, in front of the left field———-”

Yata loudly did a commentary to himself and swung the mop in his hands.

“Hi……t……”

In the cla.s.sroom’s subdued atmosphere it was only his high spirited voice that floated around and so his smile got narrower; sullen, he put down the mop. With his expression growing less enthusiastic, he looked at his cla.s.smates who averted their eyes, and he began to get back to chatting with his friends who had their eyes lowered on their PDAs.

“What’s up, are you not in the mood to play?”

Balancing the mop properly on his shoulder Yata snorted roughly,

“Yata-team, you’re the defense. With four people we can play three bases!”

Was what he said to the three boys who had gathered at one desk and peered at their PDAs. The three exchanged looks, made a movement like shrugging their shoulders and turned their faces to Yata.

“What’s ‘three bases’?”

He did not believe his ears. “You mean you don’t know what three bases is!? How in the world did you guys grow up until 7th grade?”

“How, he says.”

“Yata-kun isn’t the most grown up either, right…?” One of them muttered and the other two started to snort.

“Did you say something!?” Yata yelled, and the three immediately stopped laughing.

“It can’t be helped then, I’ll give you a lecture, so listen! Okay, three bases has a guarding position with the pitcher and two bas.e.m.e.n, so that’s why three bases…”

As soon as he did his explanation, the jingling noise of a missed message’s tone was audible, the three simultaneously went “Ah” and each of them lowered their eyes to their PDAs. Yata felt extremely deplorable that he had been interrupted.

“It’s «jungle»’s e-zine!” his friends said and held their PDAs up.

Yata walked with big steps towards the place where his friends he had started to talk to with excitement were and s.n.a.t.c.hed the PDA from one’s hands.

“What’s that, what kinda e-zine?”

“Ah, Yata-kun, don’t touch it with your hands that have touched the dust cloth before!”

“Don’t say sensitive things, are you a woman or what.”

While looking at the PDA where the screen of an app he had never seen before was shown, he mercilessly kept the friend who tried to take back his PDA at a distance with the mop.

“What’s this?”

“Yata-kun you don’t know «jungle»? Everybody uses it right now! It has many different games and gimmicks.”

“The design is also cool.”

“I don’t really understand, but games?”

“There are not only games. It can also do group messages which is practical.”

“Ah!” when the conversation had gotten lively for the first time, one person abruptly raised his voice and put his index finger on his lips as if to silence them. The remaining two seemed to realize something and with a mumble hesitated to continue what they had talked about. Yata who tilted his head pulled out his own PDA from his pocket.

“Heh? Then I wonder if I should also join in,”

Because the PDAs were reserved for school everybody had the same model; the students, particularly the girls, decorated them with covers and straps as they pleased. Yata was a young “No Strap!” tough (1). His was one with normal phone call, internet and other functions, equipped with a no touch style IC card function, and combined with the student card.

“What was it, "jungle’?”

It was his first time working with his PDA.

With a rough step rushed in from the cla.s.sroom’s back door and “Yata Misaki! And that group!” was shouted.

“Don’t call me by my full name!” Growled Yata almost like a reflex and turned around.

The home room teacher had shown up and ordered with a thunderous voice: “All of you, come to the staff room.”

“Huh? What have we done? Hey…”, said Yata rebelliously at the teacher’s order, but as Yata looked at his friends’ expression, he blinked in surprise.

It was obvious that the faces of those three had become pale.

In front of the long desk in the student guidance room stood four persons in a row.

On top of the desk were unfold the answer sheets of the proficiency test from the other day. The teacher tapped those with a bothersome sound that got on Yata’s nerves and made him more irritated with the minute.

“Like-I-said, in what way should we have cheated? Is that the evidence?”

“Several questions have the complete same answers. The mistakes are also the same. Here too. And here.”

“That’s just coincidence? How should we have finished our answers together? Our seats are all scattered about, directly looking at each other is not possible and it’s not like we can use our PDAs during tests!”

Yata was objecting by himself and when he peeked to his friends who were standing on his left hand side in a line the three were completely disheartened and had their heads hung down.

Ah-a, they really did it, these guys…that much I understand. If you don’t have the guts to cheat, then don’t do it in the first place, as for Yata, he felt kind of disappointed.

In that moment, the teacher turned towards Yata with especially hateful eyes. “Yata, it was you who did it, wasn’t it?”

“Haa!?” His voice betrayed him at the unexpected question. “Why has it come like this? I don’t get it at all…”

“Well, for you it certainly is this score.”

The teacher flipped Yata’s answer sheet roughly, who, compared to the other three, had written a fairly sorry score. It was nothing to be proud of but it was a score not produced by cheating.

“And yet you understand yourself why I called all of you together, right? This is just like you, last month already you tempted these three to go outside during cla.s.ses. You probably forced them this time, too.”

“We-well that is, last month I invited them, but…”

“Tell the truth. This time I only have a talk with you because this hasn’t happened regularly during tests. However, if you shouldn’t tell the truth, I will have your parents come here.”

At the threat the shoulders of the lined up friends on the side quivered with a twitch. With a sob one of them snuffled his nose.

“Ya- Yata-kun did it…”

“Y-Yeah, Yata-kun told us to do it, even though he forced us to cheat, he himself didn’t do it…”

“Wha-…!? You guys….”

Yata raised his fist unintentionally and the three crouched. Sobbing from all three started to be audible. It was no use so Yata lowered his fist.

Can’t be helped, d.a.m.n, just remember that something like this happens when you do things as you please while I’m not around. If you can’t wipe your own a.s.s, then don’t do s.h.i.tty things.

“….Yeah, it’s true. I had snuck in the staff room and looked at the answers in secret. Then I told these guys about them, but on the actual test’s day only I had forgotten to cheat.”

The three raised their heads and their reddened eyes became big. Letting out a deep sigh, Yata accepted his fate. Apologizing to the teacher angered him, but abandoning his friends who relied on him as the leader of the Yata-team would be something to be ashamed of.

“We are sorry! We won’t do it again!”

The teacher leaned back and they lowered their heads with force.

———