If you keep upgrading your initial equipment, they’ll usually become your most powerful weapon

Several days passed. Thanks to Tama-chan's scolding, the

negative feelings toward Konno gradually faded, and while

she didn't return to her former top position, she did regain

some of her standing in the cool-girl group. Of course, the

incident with Hinami meant she couldn't flaunt her control

anymore, but she was still accepted. Gradually, she pulled

herself back up to a powerful position in the class hierarchy.

Her own political savvy and sense of balance were partly

to thank, but I think Izumi's support played an even bigger

role. Right after the incident, people didn't exactly victimize

her, but they did treat her kind of distantly. Izumi was the

only one who consistently stayed by her side.

Of course, the harassment stopped. Not just toward

Tama-chan, but the others, too, including Konno. And as for

Tama-chan herself…

"Tama-chan, want to come do karaoke with us?"

"Well, okay, if everyone's going!"

"What's that supposed to mean? Feel the love!"

"Shut up! I said I'm going!"

"Ah-ha-ha. You guys are playing around again!"

"Hey, wait! That wasn't playing around!"

"At it again, huh?"

To put it simply, she had way more friends. Ever since

the charm-school strategy, people had started to accept her,

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and then when she scolded the whole class, that cemented

her status. She'd gained a stable position as a really good,

really solid person.

In other words, the class came to define her character as

the essence of her personality. When we had talked about

people getting used to her character, I think this was it.

It went without saying that her charm, developed

through training and some help from all of us, played a big

role in all that.

And me? I was at a restaurant on the way home from

school with some people. The group included Mizusawa,

Nakamura, Takei, Hinami, Mimimi, Izumi, and Tama-chan.

"Shut up, Nakamura! I'd never do that!"

"Shit, you really are stubborn…"

Believe it or not, Nakamura and Tama-chan were joking

around. The charm-school strategy wasn't enough to make

the two of them friends, but after she defended Konno, the

tension softened. According to Mizusawa, "he probably just

needed a reason to forgive her."

If Nakamura gave in when Tama-chan didn't, he would

have felt like he'd lost. Given his position at the top of the

hierarchy, that wasn't acceptable. So he needed some kind of

"story" that would convince the rest of the class that it was

okay for him to give in. The Konno incident was more than

enough to serve that role. It's a real pain to have a higher

position than everyone else.

"Okay! Everyone, listen up!" Mimimi said, clapping her

hands. Once the whole group was looking at her, she

coughed. "We've gathered here today for one reason…"

After that overly formal introduction, she pulled a paper

bag from her school bag.

"Reinforcements!!!"

This mysterious military reference was followed by her

dumping the contents of the bag onto the table. Colorful

items rolled out, covering the whole surface. There were

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enough striped haniwa charms for everyone at the table to

have one.

"Oh wow…," Tama-chan said in surprise.

Everyone else grinned. We were all in on this one.

"Hee-hee-hee. Tama, look at this."

Mimimi flipped each of the charms over so that their

back sides showed. When she was done, she smiled wide.

"Now there won't be any more problems!" she said,

giving a thumbs-up. Tama-chan looked at the charms with

an astonished smile. Of course she did. I'd probably react the

same way.

"…So was Tomozaki the one who came up with this

idea?"

"How'd you know?"

My heart skipped a beat; she saw right through me. I did

come up with this plan.

The eight haniwa charms on the table in front of us each

had a red line of stitches down its back. I got the idea when

Konno destroyed Tama's charm. If the rip on that charm

made it not special anymore, why not rip all the others and

sew their backs up, too? Then they'd all be the same again.

"You're an idiot, Tomozaki…but thanks."

Tama-chan smiled happily, looking just a little more

grown-up than usual. In addition to the charms that

Mimimi, Hinami, and I already had, we'd bought new ones

for Mizusawa, Nakamura, Takei, and Izumi, too. We tore

them, then sewed them back up. Yeah, I'll admit it was a

little silly.

"I worked hard to sew those!" Izumi said proudly. Eight

of them must have been a slog; no wonder she felt like

boasting.

"Mine's coming unraveled already!" Nakamura said

teasingly.

"You're lying!" Izumi anxiously inspected the spot he

was pointing at. Glad to see they're getting along.

"Yeah, I was."

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"What?! …Hey!"

That was when Hinami smoothly jumped in. "Okay,

okay, enough flirting."

"We're not flirting."

"Y-yeah!"

Nakamura's denial was resolute, Izumi's less so.

"Man, which one should I choose?!" Takei butted in,

looking excitedly at the pile of bright charms.

"Calm down, everyone! I'll flip them over again, and

everyone can choose the Haniwa-chan they like!"

Mizusawa rolled his eyes and smiled. "All their faces are

the same, but anyway…"

"Stop being so picky! They all look different to me!"

Mimimi said, flipping them all faceup and arranging them in

a circle. "See? They're all different!"

"Really, now? Your eyesight must be great, Mimimi."

"You're asking for a fight, buddy."

The two of them glared at each other playfully.

Mizusawa's got a good touch with Mimimi.

Suddenly, Hinami mumbled something. "Huh…when

you line them up like that, they really are beautiful."

Her hushed words brought everyone's eyes to the table.

True enough, the striped charms lined up in a circle, each its

own color, made a vivid picture.

"…You're right. They are," I said softly.

Mimimi nodded with emotion. "Yeah! They're so round

and colorful, like fireworks!" Then she realized what she'd

just said—Tama-chan's real name meant fireworks . "Just

like you!"

Tama-chan pointed at her with a smirk on her face. "The

fireworks might be gone for the summer, but I'll still be

here…tama rrow!"

"Nooo, don't take my joke!"

"Come on, guys, can we choose already?" Takei

interrupted impatiently. Why was he so motivated when it

came to these charms?

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"Wait a second! Those of you who had a Haniwa-chan to

start with, please pick it up!" Mimimi said, making her

hands into a megaphone. What was she imagining now, a

sound truck or something?

"Damn!! I liked that one, but I guess it's Tomozaki's!!"

"Sorry, man."

Honestly, I couldn't care less what color I had. But Takei

always did have strong preferences.

"All right, now the remaining individuals may choose

which one they want! And no pushing!"

Mizusawa, Nakamura, Takei, and Izumi followed her

instructions and chose their charms. Incidentally, I think

Mimimi was envisioning herself as a lifeguard, not a soundtruck driver.

The four of them stared at their new charms, as

bewildered as the rest of us had been. Who'd have guessed

we'd end up in this situation again? Mizusawa broke the

silence.

"This thing is…," he mumbled. Nakamura, Izumi, and

Takei nodded.

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh, I thought so."

"You're right!"

Here it was again—the test of normie-ness. When I got

my charm, I was the only one who had said the wrong thing,

which made me feel horribly isolated. But since then, I'd

been gradually developing my social sensibilities, and my

feelings toward these charms had slowly changed as well!

"Yeah," I chimed in, hoping to make up for last time. A

second later, Mizusawa, Nakamura, Takei, Izumi, and I all

spoke at once.

"""So ugly!"""

""Cute!""

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Mizusawa, Nakamura, and Izumi weighed in for ugly ,

while Takei and I were on the cute side. Mizusawa burst out

laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha! Fumiya and Takei are two of a kind!"

I had nothing to say. All I could do was suffer through

my humiliation. Okay, maybe we're a little similar, but

something about that comparison just doesn't feel right!