manga artist Kirito

Page 171

Kiritani glared at Shizuka, who seemed to want to stand up and say something, and made her sit down reluctantly. He continued, "At the very least, one should have self-awareness. Do what you are capable of. If you can't do it, you can't do it. Inspirational quotes are just that—quotes. If you want to gain honor, you must make the corresponding sacrifices."

Then, Kiritani tidied up his desktop, pushing the mountain of files to the side, to the spot where Sagami Minami, the executive chairman, would sit.

"These are the tasks that have piled up over the past three days. I've handled everything I could, and the rest... these are the ones that shouldn't be my responsibility."

Kiritani looked at Sagami Minami, who seemed to have stepped in dog poop, found no toilet paper, and realized she was eating curry again today. He tapped the stack of documents. "Well then, please finish these by today. If you don't have enough time... well, the progress of each project will drop by at least 20%, which means..."

"The school festival was a failure!"

Kiritani smiled serenely, a serene smile that made one want to give him a set of seventy-three moves.

"Huh? How did it suddenly turn out like this?"

Yukino Yukinoshita, representing the volunteer group, suddenly spoke up, and her voice was quite loud.

Sagami Minami was heartbroken, losing all her usual smiles and her initial desire to announce a slowdown in progress.

She disliked Yukinoshita, but still asked her for help. However, Yukinoshita attracted everyone's attention, and no one paid any attention to her.

However, Yukinoshita fell ill, and Hiratsuka-sensei brought in a junior student. This junior student was very skilled at handling affairs, even more so than Yukinoshita. However, just like Yukinoshita, Sagami Minami disliked the junior student named Kiritani Kazuto even more.

He had embarrassed her many times, and now he had... openly revealed everything without any attempt to hide it.

...Sagami Minami also forgot that Kirito Kazuto is not Yukinoshita, nor did he receive her request, and he wouldn't help do everything alone like Yukinoshita did.

Kiritani-kun smiled and pushed up his glasses, which made Sagami Minami feel very uneasy.

"I can't wait for tomorrow..."

With that, Kiritani Kazuto walked out of the conference room.

"Oh my, it really is..."

Yukino Yukinoshita walked over, patted Sagami Minami on the shoulder with a big smile, and encouraged her, "Good luck! I'm really looking forward to this school festival, so please don't let this little bit of work cause any problems with the festival. Please... finish all the unfinished work today!"

So, in Sagami Minami's terrible and explosive mood, Haruno waved and walked out of the conference room, leaving behind only the words that Kirito had said earlier.

"I'm really... looking forward to tomorrow!"

…………

"The teacher really doesn't hold back when she speaks."

With her arms crossed and leaning against the stairwell, Kasumigaoka Utaha watched Kirito walk slowly towards her. "But is this really okay? This is attracting a huge amount of hatred, you know."

"Will there be any problem?"

Kiritani pondered for a moment, then looked up at the girl who had just overheard the conversation and then rushed over to pose for a photo. "Besides, what I said is true. Sagami Minami's inaction and desire for honor, coupled with her lack of ability and effort... tell me, aside from those who are mentally unstable, is there really anyone who would protect her?"

"Honestly, I can't believe it! Where does this guy get his confidence from, thinking about how to give his acceptance speech before the competition has even started?"

"But teacher, don't you think this is a bit too much for a girl?"

"Is that so? That's going too far..."

Kiritani curled his lip in disdain, "She's not my friend, why should I spoil her?"

"Hmm, that makes a lot of sense."

Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled and nodded, then took out what she was holding. "Want to come along?"

"Asuna prepared a bento for me today."

Kiritani looked at Haruno walking down the corridor and said, "If you put some effort into making me a bento box, I might consider having lunch with you."

"...Do it yourself?"

Holding the fried noodles, bread, and coffee, Kasumigaoka Utaha's lips twitched slightly. This was really putting others in a difficult position.

"Okay, I shouldn't have trusted your cooking skills."

Kiritani shook his head slightly, then reached out and took the things from Kasumigaoka's hand, deciding to treat them as lunch.

I hope Asuna makes a little less bento today... Hmm, it would be even better if Kato Megumi doesn't come over later.

"That's going too far!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha shook her long, black-stockinged legs, clearly displeased, but after Kiritani-kun accepted the things prepared for her, Kasumigaoka couldn't help but smile.

"By the way, the teacher is free after the school festival, right?"

"Maybe, but do you mean you want to go to a hotel?"

"..."

P.S.: Lying there like a corpse...

I heard there will be an event later, probably on the 8th. Hmm, do you guys remember that FFF group's avatar?

377

[NO.373 I burst out laughing]

In the end, Minami Sagami managed to handle the job well.

However, this is not surprising. After all, the school festival is very important. Such a large-scale event is even related to many large areas in the surrounding area. Perhaps in the eyes of students like Kirigaya, it doesn't matter whether it is a failure or a great success. But for the school, they cannot let the school festival fail.

In short, following the school's instructions, the teacher personally arranged for several students to help Sagami Minami deal with the incidents that had piled up because of her; well, most of them were handled by Hayama-kun.

According to Hachiman Hikigaya's explanation, Hayama is an extremely high-level "normie" (a person who enjoys creating happy endings for everyone).

In the end, it could be said that everyone was happy.

Although, it seems that Sagami Minami is starting to give up on herself.

After all, when Hayama-kun appeared, everyone on the committee seemed to have found their pillar of support and breathed a sigh of relief, while Sagami Minami... had a slight smile on her face.

Furthermore, the look in her eyes when she looked at Kiritani-kun was filled with deep hatred, but even so, Sagami Minami didn't dare to say too much nonsense to Kiritani-kun. After all, Kiritani Kazuto was not Yukinoshita or Hayama.

Friendship, Teamwork, Effort

These are the three slogans proposed by the committee. The moment I saw them, I thought this was the editorial department of JUMP. These slogans are unoriginal and even a bit old-fashioned. Isn't this the same as JUMP's usual approach?

To be honest, I really can't understand what kind of mentality these committee members had when they came up with this slogan. Don't they feel any shame at all?

Well, on the surface, this slogan is indeed very good and particularly in line with the school's philosophy of educating people—wait, not in that sense of educating people. Although there is nothing wrong with it in fact, it cannot be used here.

However, Ms. Xiaojing surprisingly liked it; perhaps that's what makes her a hot-blooded idiot.

However, Kiritani-kun did not hesitate to consider this slogan as a backup option and then reconsidered the matter.

In his view, this so-called committee had absolutely no friendship, teamwork, or effort. If a teacher hadn't stepped forward and assigned a new candidate to help, the school festival would probably have been aborted.

"So, how about this slogan: 'Bound by mutual effort and help'?"

After briefly discussing it with her friend sitting next to her and Hayama, Sagami Minami stood up and wrote her slogan on the blackboard.

Seriously! I can't believe Sagami Minami would come up with a slogan like this... But how is this any different from her previous slogans?

puff!

Hold it in, don't laugh!

Kiritani quickly took off his glasses, covered his face with one hand, and his shoulders trembled slightly involuntarily, immediately attracting the attention of most people in the conference room.

However, even more outrageous than Kiritani-kun were Yukinoshita Haruno and Eriri, who went beyond just almost laughing out loud, and actually chuckled.

Eriri, sitting next to Asuna, was holding her stomach and burying her head in Asuna's arms. If Asuna hadn't been there, she probably would have been laughing so hard she was rolling on the floor.

Compared to Kiritani-kun and Eriri's loss of composure, Yukinoshita Haruno maintained her elegance as a young lady, simply resting one hand on her forehead with a smile. However, the mockery seemed a bit obvious, and it subsequently provoked Sagami Minami, causing her to look over with a forced expression, gritting her teeth but still maintaining a smile as she looked at Haruno.

"...What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

His words were laced with anger.

"No, it's nothing. I think this slogan is great."

"Pfft... Excuse me, I'm going to the restroom. You guys decide on the slogans."

He really couldn't hold back anymore. Kiritani wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, grabbed his glasses from the table, and quickly walked past Sagami Minami out.

Actually, it wasn't as funny as I imagined.

There's actually a reason why Kiritani-kun is laughing like that. Just imagine: initially, almost all the affairs of the school festival were handled by Yukinoshita. After Yukinoshita fell ill, the work was handed over to Kiritani-kun. However, Kiritani-kun, under the pretext of job restrictions, put aside all the work belonging to Sagami Minami and handed it back to her, the class representative... The guy who almost killed such a large event as the school festival is now talking about teamwork.

...Hmm, it does seem to be a team. If it weren't for the help from Hayama and the people assigned by the teacher, Sagami Minami would probably be wishing she were dead right now.

In short, Sagami Minami is a very interesting person, and this school festival would definitely be much less fun without her.

At least, that's what Kirito Kazuto thinks.

After washing his face in the restroom, Kiritani-kun's smile was still so bright it made you want to punch him. He calmly returned to the classroom, where his classmates, whom he wasn't very familiar with, were busy decorating. However, the decorations were almost finished. It seemed that the untapped resources of the Kemono Friends Cafe would attract the attention of most people at the school festival.

But speaking of which, right now... it seems like we're practicing?

The café-like decor is quite anime-inspired, with colorful tablecloths covering the makeshift desks, and the wall decorations are also very well done. The drawings on the blackboard have a touch of wildness; they were created by Kiritani-kun, Eriri, and Shiina Mashiro over an hour. To prevent the blackboard from being damaged, the class representative strictly forbids students from approaching it.

Just as Kiritani stepped into the classroom... or rather, the kemonomimi café, he heard the girl standing by the door say—Welcome!

Clearly, this was a rehearsal.

"Human, please come this way."

This is the class monitor. Although she hasn't put on her formal beast girl outfit yet, the deer antlers on her head make her look somewhat cute.

But is this way of speaking meant to make the kemonomimi café more fitting?

Surprisingly good!

With a slightly arrogant air, the class monitor tilted his head and asked, "Would you like some tail meat today?"

Wait a minute, tail meat?

Kiritani-kun's eyes widened slightly. "Aren't you a deer?"

"I am a dragon!"

The class monitor pointed disapprovingly at the deer... dragon horns on his forehead, looking at Kiritani-kun with a hint of disgust, "Do you want to try dying? You can't even recognize my true form?"

...Well, compared to deer, dragons do have things they can be proud of.

But you're getting a little too into character, aren't you? Even though it's supposed to be a rehearsal, it's still a bit awkward!

However, unlike Kiritani's innocent expression, Aki Tomoya, who was standing on the side helping out, stared wide-eyed at the class president's posture, seemingly... quite pleased with it?

P.S.: I feel sorry for Brother Li.

378

【NO.374 Eve】

The final slogan for the school festival—"Chiba Special Edition: Family and Festival! If you believe, there will be no distance!"—is as follows.

Although I don't know exactly what it means, it seems rather difficult to be impressive.

Asuna looked at Yukinoshita Haruno's presentation with a strange expression, and then at the slogan that was confirmed, and worked with a complicated feeling.

Thanks to the snow, the meeting room finally quieted down. Since the slogan had been finalized, most of the committee members focused their attention back on their work, and Sagami Minami was no longer involved.

Of course, as a teacher, Shizuka wouldn't let her students remain in awkward situations, like now, when Sagami Minami is at a loss...

"Hey, Sagami, now that the slogans have been decided, let's get on board and replace all the previous ones."

"Huh?... Okay, sure."

So, Minami Sagami turned to the committee member in charge of publicity and said, "Then, then I'd like to ask you to replace all the previous slogans."

"Oh, but... if we change it now, the progress might be..."

The propaganda officer looked at Sagami Minami, her lips twitching slightly, and knew that nothing good was going to happen.

"Wait a minute, doesn't that mean we'll be going over budget?"

The accounting committee members immediately realized the key issue: "This won't do, Chairman?"

"I don't care, I'll just replace it as the chairman said."

The propaganda committee member sneered, "Moreover, the vice chairman hasn't given me much time to catch up... What a terrible situation!"

"Uh, well... I..."

Seeing the two groups of committee members practically arguing, Sagami Minami's face turned extremely ugly, even... a little embarrassed.

"In that case, go find him! Find your vice chairman!"

"That makes sense. Let's go find him now. I heard... the vice chairman is supposedly over at the classroom, right?"

The two groups of committee members exchanged a knowing smile and reached a temporary consensus.