Gakuen Kino Vol 4 Chapter 7.6

Chapter 7 - Finale: Demon

~Elias~

The days pa.s.sed by in tranquil peace.

Finally, it was the first weekend after Culture Day.

Special features on the Anete Harami scandal were being broadcast today, and the deeds of the evil company president who was behind all of this were being exposed one by one.

Also on the news was the fact that the Anete Harami face—who had been so troubled by having to fool people through her work that she was hospitalized with a stomach ulcer—had recovered and returned to England for the time being to join her family.

[This incident highlights the fact that we j.a.panese are much too trusting! These poor girls have helped us understand the fact of our own weakness. Of course, I’ve always suspected that something was off about Anete Harami’s singing.]

Well, it’s not like anyone can prove this guy’s claim one way or another. Hindsight is 20/20.

The talk show host was speaking on behalf of the viewers. And of course, viewers would naturally want to say, ‘that’s what I was thinking the whole time’.

And the one person who really did notice ahead of time, our hero in the gym uniform, pa.s.sed by the big TV and went from the common room to the entrance hall.

It was just before noon.

When Kino walked out, she happened to see a large black car parked just outside the doors.

The car was a super-luxurious Mercedes Benz S-Cla.s.s sedan. Disembarking from it were several bodyguards. They looked quite similar to the men who had been turned into demons a few days ago.

Kino approached the car.

“Excuse us.”

The men gently pushed her aside.

“Kino-senpai!”

They suddenly stopped at the sound of the voice that came from the car.

Sara stepped out of the sedan, wearing her school uniform.

Although she had become a household name overnight, Sara was still young. So she declined the many interview requests from the media, and had taken the first steps towards becoming a normal singer.

“Hey, Sara! Fancy meeting you here.”

Sara was still the same as ever, with her hair in pigtails and freckles all over her face.

“Kino-senpai! I’m moving into the dorms today. Let’s get along!”

“All right! If you ever need any help, just ask!” Kino said, putting her fist over her chest. “Your stuff isn’t here yet, is it? Wanna go have lunch while you wait?”

“Yes!” Sara smiled. “Would you mind if I brought someone along?”

“Huh?”

Kino tilted her head. Sara turned and pointed at someone hiding behind a lamppost a slight distance away.

There was no mistaking that head of golden hair. Elias shrank back slightly from his hiding place.

“Sure! But if he’s not living in the dorms, he’s gonna have to pay for his meal.” Kino said jokingly, but Sara grinned.

“It’s all right. I’m buying!”

Kino had heard everything from Chako-sensei several days earlier: Sara had gotten back all of the money that had been taken away from her. She had initially declined the sum, saying that she was also responsible as a part of the Anete Harami charade. However...

“You might as well take the money. Think of it as all of your fans’ encouragement to you!” Chako-sensei had said, eventually convincing Sara to accept it. And so, Sara was now very rich.

“Then let’s call him over. Hey, Elias! Let’s have lunch together!” Kino bellowed. Elias flinched for a moment.

“...”

He sheepishly emerged from behind the lamppost, not looking any different from the way he was before the demonic transformation. His hair was messy, and he was wearing a normal pair of jeans and a simple checkered s.h.i.+rt.

“Huh? He doesn’t look any different.” Kino said.

“That’s because Elias is always himself!” Sara replied with a smile.

Kino had thought that Elias’s experiences as a demon might have perhaps helped him grow more confident. But this was reality.

“Um... Sorry, Kino-senpai... were you talking to me?” Elias said feebly, approaching them.

‘Huh. So that transformation didn’t help him out at all.’ Kino thought, deflating.

“Yeah! I was! Elias, Sara and I are going to have lunch together at the cafeteria. Come eat with us! Sara’s buying, you know?”

“What? But I-”

“It’s okay, Elias! I’m buying today! Let’s go!”

Sara pushed him along.

“Whoa, wait! Okay! You don’t have to pus.h.!.+”

Elias entered the dormitory building. Kino nodded towards the bodyguards in a simple greeting and followed after her undercla.s.smen. The bodyguards weren’t so rude that they would follow Sara into the building.

“All right! Time for a peaceful meal!”

Several minutes later.

“Thanks for the meal!”

“Thanks for the meal.”

“Thanks for the meal.”

The three students clasped their hands in prayer, sitting at a table in the still-empty cafeteria.

In front of Sara was an ordinary bowl of tempura udon.

In front of Elias and Kino were extra-large helpings of today’s meat-n’-veggies stir-fry combo.

Plus plates of Neapolitan Spaghetti.

And bowls of egg udon.

Sara the celebrity was quite the eye-catching sight in the cafeteria today. But standing out more than her was the amount of food piled before Kino and Elias.

“Come on! Dig in.” Kino said, reaching for her udon with her chopsticks.

“Elias, are you all right?” Sara asked Elias worriedly.

Sara’s concern was quite well-founded. When they were standing in line to place their orders earlier, Elias had, one by one, ordered the same foods as Kino.

For a moment, Elias held back the urge to dive into his food like his uppercla.s.sman.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine. Actually, ever since the concert, I’ve been really hungry all the time. So... I’ve started eating more and more. Don’t worry. I... I’ll make sure to finish it all.” He answered honestly.

“Hm...”

Sara did not pry any further. Kino’s chopsticks froze mid-reach.

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo. You’re still young! You’re still growing! This much isn’t even breakfast for you, right? So I bet you’re going to start getting taller and taller!” She said, before returning to her battle with the bowl of udon.

Sara giggled at Kino’s fervent pace.

“Let’s eat, Elias!”

“Yeah.”

Elias nodded.

And so, he began to stuff food into his mouth almost quickly enough to shock Kino. It was starting to look like an eating contest.

Sara sat there in awe of their appet.i.te for some time, before slowly starting on her own meal.

From Kino’s belt—in other words, under the table:

‘C’mon, Kino. Looks like you still need more training.’

Hermes was astonished. It was clear to him why Elias’s appet.i.te had suddenly grown tremendously.

‘Of course someone with superhuman abilities would eat superhuman amounts of food.’ He thought.

“This udon hits the spot!”

Kino, however, seemed to be completely ignorant of the implications of this new development.

‘I guess there’s no rush for now.’ Hermes thought, ‘And it looks like I won’t be doing much for a while, so I guess I’ll take a nap.’

With that, he closed his eyes. (Editorial Dept.: Again with the eyes!)

Chapter 7 End