400 Year Old Virgin Demon King
Chapter 10 Suzushiro Suzuna is a big girl (Side story)
Having finished my lunch bento, I stood up from my seat and headed for the door of the classroom, thinking I would go and pick some flowers. Sakata, who was standing at the door, called out to me.
"Oii, biiig turnip~"
I immediately reacted with a high kick. Of course, I stopped before actually hitting him. That too in front of the most tough-looking portion of his chest as it would be bad if I hit him in the head by chance. Admiring the heroine of a certain detective manga called 'Looks like a boy but brains of an adult', I started learning karate about 10 years ago. I just got to 2nd dan so I could do this much. Also, of course, I was wearing tights underneath the skirt.
"Next time you call me that, it will hit."
"So-sorry, Suzushiro."
Getting teary-eyed, Sakata apologized. He is in the same class as me but I am not that close to him. He is not a guy I would allow to call me by a nickname I do not approve of.
"So, what do you want?"
"Oone is calling you."
He said while pointing sideways, towards the corridor. When I looked the way he pointed, I spotted Oone Yukari. My childhood friend and still my best friend. We have been together since kindergarten and went to the same school for elementary, middle and high school. We normally fall into the same class every two years but this time we were in different classes. My name's pronunciation is Suzushiro which could also mean daikon and her name's kanji can be pronounced as daikon too, so we were often called 'daikon combi' or 'the daikon sisters'. Moreover, my first name Suzuna can also be pronounced kabu (turnip) and her Yukari–shiso so we are also the food combi.
Yukari is still better because I think my name Suzuna is made fun of quite a lot. I mean, my family name is Suzushiro and my name is Suzuna, you know? That's two of spring's seven flowers, isn't it? Even still, I don't hate my parents for it. After all, they are one of the spring flowers as well. In fact, as a family, we make the complete Seven Herbs.
My father's name is Gogyou and my mother's name is Hakobe. In the first place, the person who named my father that, my grandmother, is called Seri. My grandfather, who died before I was born, was a carpenter named Zaichirou. It seems he was such a gentle and helping person that among his friends, he was called Hotoke no Za-san (The Buddha, Za)(hotokenoza). I did wonder why their wives, my mother and my grandmother's names were also of the Seven Herbs but when all these names gather like this, of course you would naturally want a complete set.
And so, the moment they named my elder sister 'Nazuna', only one remained. It seems like my name was decided before I was born. That if I was a boy, it would be Kabu and if I was a girl, it would be Suzuna. I still firmly believe that me being a girl is more preferable. Besides, my two year older sister who just entered university this year, always kept telling me 'You are still better off! I am penpengusa (spanking)(another name of the nazuna flower)!!
(TL note: for more details- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanakusa-no-sekku)
While I was thinking all that, Yukari came close. We have been together for a long time but when we stand together like this, we stand out quite a lot by comparison. A lot. Our heights are really different. Compared to my 190 cm, her 140 cm body seems like a child's. It is quite natural as most girls look like children compared to me… No, even boys look small. Because of this height and my name, I got the nickname 'Big Kabu'. It is too embarrassing a name for a 17 year old highschool girl. I won't be cursed if I kick one of those insensible boys who call me that like it's nothing, right?
By the way, Yukari's nickname is 'Twenty days daikon' and 'Small daikon'. I shall land a kick or two on the ones calling her that too. She is my best friend, after all.
………Or so I was thinking, but she came in with a retort,
"Quite a refreshing kick, as always, but if you don't keep it down a little, you won't get a boyfriend, you know?"
She came poking where it hurts. Well, it does not seem like she will be getting a boyfriend anytime soon either. It is not surprising that people would try to avoid such a big girl like me but Yukari isn't quite normal either. With a really small body and a child-like face, because she even gets mistaken for a child while riding a bus, probably only guys who like lolitas would like her. Meaning she probably won't get a boyfriend anytime soon. Well, if I were to say something like that out loud, it would just turn into an unproductive conversation so I won't though.
Even still, compared to Yukari, who might grow in the future (<–that might is important), my case is pretty hopeless. Because there are no pills which would make me small.
"Enough of that. So? I told you I had stuff to do today so we can't have lunch together."
"So in my class, everyone was talking about doing the summer vacation homework together by gathering for independent supplement classes. And the date fell just on the day for the 'Pilgrimage'…."
"Seriously?!"
We had promised to go on a trip on summer vacation. A certain anime called 'Holy Land' will have a story-related promotional event and the place is quite far, so we planned on staying for a few days. Yukari is quite the otaku and so being together with her for so long, I also got influenced by her into watching anime a lot. Well, I am not as much of an otaku as her though.
"Seriously. And so I tried asking if I could skip it because I have plans on that day but they desperately requested me to stay since I am kinda one of the main figures."
"Ahh, I kinda understand that."
Yukari's grades were always within the top 5 of the school. We spend time with literary work in the literature club… or rather, watch anime together… but even with all that, she is a honors student. I am also within top 15 but I still lose to Yukari.
"I am really sorry!"
"It's fine. It would be bad if you were to get disconnected from the class because of that."
And I actually do think that. Since I do have an experience like that from middle school.
Being over 180cm in middle school, I was passionately invited to the volleyball club by the advisor. At that time, I looked up to team plays where players would support each other and aim for the victory. I did have teams in karate but since it's an individual contest, rather than fellow feeling, I felt rivalry even more. And so, I entered the club as I was invited and suddenly got selected for a regular spot.
The advisor of the club had gone to the nationals in his time and was unfortunately not selected for the olympics. And so, he was very passionate about reaching that goal as a coach this time…. Or so I got to know later on. Anyway, he really wanted to win and was aiming for the nationals.
And as such, being really tall and athletic, I got promoted to the regular spot and was chosen for a match as well. And I was also able to do pretty well. And that made the coach focus on me more and made me practice really hard.
But that was seen as partiality by the upperclassman. Well, it was in fact partiality, though.
And so, naturally, I was bullied. That, too, not directly. I guess they wouldn't do that since I was that tall and had been doing karate for so long.
I was always ignored and my belongings kept disappearing frequently. They didn't make my stuff dirty or do graffiti on them, though. Since that would leave physical evidence. I also face a lot of backbiting. The worst of them all was that I slept with the coach to get the regular position. How could they even think that of a middle school first year student?! Or so I thought but it seems like a teacher was suspended for trying to lay their hands on a student in the neighboring city… I didn't do any of that and was favoured a lot anyway.
They behaved normally in front of the coach, so I thought no one would believe me even if I said I was being bullied. Also, if I had told the coach and he believed me, I think that would have had the opposite effect.
And so I wanted to quit the volleyball club but the coach wouldn't let me. I couldn't say that my reason for quitting was bullying and I did like volleyball too, so I ended up continuing. Fortunately, it was only at the club and not in the class. But, it is certainly true that I was depressed and Yukari was there to support me.
By the way, even after trying that hard, we only made it to the best four of the inter. Well, it is actually quite a miracle that we made it that far with the club environment being that bad.
After experiencing all that, I was disillusioned by the sports clubs. And so, I declined all the basketball and volleyball invites and entered the literary club with Yukari. Only because I was interested in writing a novel since even before entering, though.
Actually, after being depressed by the volleyball club, Yukari recommended web novels to me. And at that time, I read this novel about a boy being bullied and then transferring to a different world with the whole class and rising to the top. I kinda felt empathy towards him.
And so, being drawn in by that, I kept on reading web novels. I did read light novels and stuff before being influenced by Yukari. The site on which I read the novels was best for web novels and among the highest rated novels, most were of transported into another world genre so I read a lot of those. That made me want to write something like that as well.
But, writing right away and uploading it to the site like that kinda felt awkward and scary so when I thought I would try writing in the literary club, I found out Yukari had thought the same and we joined together.
And after joining, I found out the other members and upperclassmen also joined like that. And so I felt really comfortable in the literary club. Now, after becoming a second year student, in place of the upperclassmen who are studying for the entrance exams, we, the second years are writing manuscripts for the school festival. We have a training camp planned for summer vacation, so I am looking forward to that.
But I thought that just the training camp would be boring. Since we would have to prepare for exams next year and would not be able to enjoy, so I made various plans with Yukari. One of those was the pilgrimage but I guess I will have to go to that alone.
"I guess we will have to compensate for that with something else, huh?"
"If so, can I request you to be my alibi?"
"Alibi?"
"With you, they would permit me to go to the trip but I think they won't let me go alone. Let me come stay over at your house on the pilgrimage day."
"Ah, so that's what you mean. Okkayy. But won't you get exposed by the smartphone's GPS or something?"
"Ah, that's true… Alright, then I will let my battery drain out and pretend like I forgot it at home. I am counting on you when they contact you at your house phone. I will tell my sister too, just in case."
And so, that is how I went on the pilgrimage alone borrowing my sister's name and credit card to rent a hotel room. Well, even though I say hotel, it was nothing fancy.
With this, surely my mother won't think I am going on a trip as I am also wearing my school uniform. It wasn't weird for me to take clothes as I was 'going' to Yukari's house. I had heard there was a really nice public bath over there so I was planning on taking a bath there before checking into the hotel but..
At that time, I could not have the slightest clue that I, myself, would be transported to another world as the hero and meet that such a weird demon lord…