NOVEL NEXT UBS24 – Servings of Cringes and Challenges
"I believe the introductions are due," Gojima said, "These are my colleagues Okada sensei and Isshiki sensei. Okada sensei, Isshiki sensei, I intoduce you to my neighbors. This is Hanazono san, Ruri chan, Miki chan, Takeshi kun and... uh..."
"Sunohara." Uncle long bangs said.
"Right, Sunohara san."
The two groups greeted each other.
"My, such cute children. Are they all yours, Hanazono san?" Isshiki asked Sayuri with a friendly smile on his face.
"Eh? No..." Sayuri waved her hands, "Ruri is actually Sunohara san's niece. As for the other two, their mother was not able to come with them due to work so I came in her stead. I hope we're not interrupting you with your work?"
"No, not at all." Okada replied, "we are glad to have you all here. So, children, are you liking this school?"
"Hm! The shows are fun!" Miki replied smilingly.
"The foods are tasty!" Takeshi did the same.
"There are a lot of pretty oni sans and onee sans here! And teachers too! You are also really pretty! Why are you not a model?" Ruri asked her in turn.
"Eh? Ah... I wanted to be a teacher here ever since my time here as a student."
"Eh? Sensei was a student here too?!" Ruri exclaimed, "had this school always have pretty people as students?!"
"Yes!" Isshiki replied, "and will also have them in the future! Especially if you children also attend here in the future!"
"Eh? Ah—t-thank you!" Ruri and Miki blushed.
Gojima noticed Sayuri squinting at Sunohara, as if to warn him not told act rude. Wow.
Gojima took a look at his watch. "Well then, we will be carrying on with our visits. Satou."
"Yes, Sensei?"
"Has there been any issues?"
"No, none at all."
"Hm. If you guys need anything, have someone inform me. I am counting on you for everything."
"I will do my best to not disappoint you." Gojima appreciatingly clapped his shoulder, then turned to his neighbors.
"Okay then. I will see you all later if the time allows. Feel free to enjoy yourselves."
"See you later then."
"See ya."
"Bye Ogre!"
Takeshi looked troubled. He felt like he had to ask it now, or his curiosity will kill him.
"But why do they call you Godspeed?"
Gojima stopped on his track. Okada and Isshiki looked at him amusedly.
Even some customers changed their posture a little.
"There is no parti—"
"Because Gojima sensei has shown speed thought to be humanly extremely difficult, if not impossible." Okada cut him off. "He dashed a 50 meter distance within only three seconds with a speed reaching almost 15 m/s, if the analysis of the video recording was done correctly."
There was a murmur in the cafe.
"Yep! After all the tests are done, he will probably get his name on the Guinness book of world records as the fastest man!"
"THAT'S SOOO COOOOLLLLLL!!!" Takeshi looked like he had stars in his eyes. Gojima grimaced.
"Wow... that's..." Sayuri was dumbfounded. She did hear that he saved a cat by running fast enough to injure himself, but she just attributed it to his aging body. But this was beyond her wildest imaginations!
No wonder he was that much injured!
"Not only that, his acceleration actually cracked the soil beneath his feet, that is a feat on its own," Okada continued, "people have also taken photos of it." The murmurs increased.
"Principal's orders." Isshiki whispered into his ears. Damn that old fart!
Takeshi's eyes looked like they will come out of his eye sockets. It was just like that manga!
Gojima didn't know that he gained an avid fan that day.
"A-anyway, I think we are getting late, Senseis. See you all later, Hanazono san."
"Ah—yes!"
"And also..." Gojima paused while turning and looked at Ruri. She tilted her head.
"On the corner of third floor if this building, there is a fun challenge created by the female track and field club. Make sure to visit that, you will like it." He informed her and then walked away.
"Hmm??? What is it—hey! Where are you going without telling me! Hey! Ogre!!!"
The last thing Gojima heard before going outside was Sayuri trying to reign Ruri in control.
Okada looked at Gojima, who was grumbling and Isshiki, who was trying to tease him even more.
She narrowed her eyes.
She might not be the most knowledgable about sprinting, but she was confident that it was physically not possible to do what this person did. There is no way it is possible to accelerate that fast—definitely not without crouching and gripping something. But some could attribute the counter force to the crack and dent he made on the earth. Maybe it was possible? She did not work out the equations. But how much force would you need to crack the earth like that?! How did not not turn into a cripple and sprung right back into action after just one day?!! Was he simply that strong?!! What was she missing?
There was definitely something going on, and she was going to find it.
Ruri was grinning standing in front of the place that Ogre mentioned.
THE MYSTERY ROOM
SOLVE ALL THE PUZZLES!
TRAVERSE THROUGH THE MAZE!!
WIN EXCITING PRIZES!!!
Yesssssssss..........
She grabbed Miki and Takeshi's hands and dragged them.
"Eek! Ruri! What are you—"
"With me, Watson! We have mysteries to solve!!!"
"I am going with—"
"No need! I can do it myself!!!" She cut off her uncle.
She did not need an adult to help her! After that humiliating defeat, she had practiced a lot!!! It was time to show everyone the fruits of her hard work!!!
The first room—which was basically a small place surrounded by boards, had a small smartphone embedded in a wall, with only the screen sticking out. Wow, they went even as far as to make things digital! Are they really the track and field club?
Ah well, Ruri didn't care as long as it was fun. She read the instructions written, and then laughed.
"Connect the nine dots with only four lines? 3 tries and 5 minutes left? Hah! As if I need those things!"
Jokes on them, she already knew the answer. She dramatically made four swipes on the screen.
The screen showed a green circle.
"Wow! Ruri chan! You are amazing!!!" Miki clapped. Ruri puffed her chest and rubbed her nose.
"Heh. This much is nothing! Bring it on!" But then they all got spooked hearing a sound.
The door that was locked opened from the other side. It was not an automatic lock, much to their disappointment. Someone did that manually. But then again, it would be really expensive to set digital locks.
The second room also had the same kind of setup.
"A japanese ship—"
Ruri instantly clicked on the person who was on the mast.
The screen showed another green circle.
"Ruri chan! Wow! That was fast!!!" Miki was jumping on her feet. Takeshi squinted his eyes.
This girl definitely had the answers memorized!
Then they went to the next room.
Now the screen showed a cube with different color on each face. The screen only showed three different orientations of the cube. There was an unfolded cube that looked like a cross with no coloring, with six colored boxes below. They had to put the correct coloring on the unfolded cube! All of this within only 10 minutes!!!
There was no way she could answer that without the help of pen and paper! It was too hard to just imagine it otherwise!!! She turned to the others.
"Pen and papers! Do you two have them?!"
"No."
"Why would we bring pen and papers in a school festival?"
"Aaaarrrghhhh!" Ruri felt like pulling her hairs off. This was not fair!!!
What was she going to do now?!!
Only if she had pape—
She turned to Takeshi.
"Hey. Takeshi kun. You were given that free coupon from that maid oneesan, right? You still have it with you, right?"
Takeshi blankly looked at Ruri. Then he paled and clutched his right pocket.
"N-no? I g-gave it to...yeah! Sayuri san! I gave it to her!"
Ruri did not look him in his eyes. She was staring down at his pant—at the pocket his right hand was clutching.
"...What have you got in your pocket?"
Takeshi paled even more. "N-nothing?! Nothing at all!!!"
"Then remove your hand."
"W-why? I said I—"
"Just remove your hand and let me see what you are hiding in there!"
"No!"
Ruri this time decided to be forceful. Two minutes were already gone!!!
"H-hey! R-R-R-R-Ruri?!!!?!!! Don't pull my pants!!!"
"R-Ruri chan?!!"
"Remove your hands or I take your pants off and see for myself what you are hiding!"
"No please, Ruri! RURI?!!!"
The track and field club members, who were hiding in the hidden compartments, all had reddened cheeks. And that was not due to just heat.
Kids these days are really aggressive, aren't they?