Tanin wo Yosetsukenai Buaisouna Joshi ni Sekkyou shitara, Mechakucha Natsukareta SS3

SS

SS3 The Ecology of the Science Club

TLed by: TanoshiKara

One example of misinformation that has taken root is that the staple food of a gorilla is the banana. In reality, the breeding regions for both the gorilla and banana are totally different and many other types of food are fed to the gorillas in zoos. The figure of Gorillas, that are bred, peeling bananas is interesting. However, whether it is because it is not wrong that they like sweet things, a rather exaggerated image accompanies this.

Pandas being called carnivores due to the image of them eating only bamboo grass and the lion, known as the king of animals, not being as strong are also the same. There is also the fact that people think that Apios fortunei1 equals Potato but it is a totally different type of plant and it is merely because a scholar, in the Edo period, called Ono, linked the two together by mistake.

Otakus are also similar in this regard or so I think.

Otakus love games and Anime, are uninterested in relationships with the opposite gender, and lack communication skills. Such an image is strong, right?

It is true that many Otakus are like that. Before I became an Otaku (or to be exact, when I was a delinquent), I thought that Otakus are as described by that image. There was the fact that I simply had no interest in those types of people, so I had thought that the figures of them, reflected in my eyes, were just like that image.

However, when I myself stepped into the world of Otaku, I was able to come to the realization that there are many types of people in that world. People who are fervent about arcade games, people who look for and read only Erotic books, there are even people who enter sports clubs while also reading all sorts of light novels on the side.

In the end, I think that the only way, for people to have the correct understanding of the matter, is to step into that very world themselves and have a feel for it using their own senses.

* * *

Even though the Science Club is filled with Otakus, it is filled with a myriad of personalities, so much so that people would go they even have someone with this personality?!. Though it is a given that the club president has a lover, not a single member does not have one.

"34, 35, 36......!"

Right now, the person doing squats eternally, with enthusiasm that borders on squalid, is a male in the same year called Hirazawa. There is an excessively black shine from the top of his head to his toe and his overly white teeth can be seen whenever he smiles. He has tasked himself with doing a hundred squats whenever he has gamed for an hour, thus, he stands up and exercises at fixed periods of time.

"42, 43, 44......!"

I do think that his willpower is admirable. This can be seen quite clearly when looking at his muscles. It is also convincing that he is able to leave such overwhelming results during the physical test.

......That said, I wish he would stop letting out such a loud voice within arm's length. It is really distracting......

"Hey, Hirazawa, some sweat just flew in my direction" The one who angrily lifted his head is Saitou. He wipes the screen with his sleeve and grimaces after going out of his way to smell it.

"49, 50, man, my bad, 51, 52......" Hirazawa responds as he continues doing his squats.

"Do that further away. At the back or something"

"I will consider that in the future. 53, 54, 55"

After receiving a response without any outlook, Saitou places a game on the laboratory table and proceeds to take out a notebook and writing materials from his bag. After scribbling something, he shows it to Hirazawa.

"Try calculating this while doing your squats"

"56......, Erm, 8 × 2 + 1200 ÷ 40 huh...... 57, haha, I see this quite often online, looks like a question to make fun of people who cannot do multiplication and division. The answer is 46"

"Correct"

"Of course. 47, 48......"

Say hello to Tokiudon2, playing around by messing with Hirazawa's counter might just be one of the farces that is done daily. Hirazawa is actually an idiot so he gets tricked by these pretty easily. Saitou, who has let off some steam, begins to play his game once again while holding back his laughter.

"50, 51, 52, huh......?" It seems like he feels that something is off but continues counting anyway. I do not mind Hirazawa having to put in more effort but the thought of having an extension to this annoying situation is not at all a good one.

I resume the game from the pause menu.

Then, I hear a rambunctious voice, this time coming from the front of the laboratory. When I shifted my gaze there as I pressed the appropriate buttons, I saw a figure of a male, playing a game beside the club president. He is an upperclassman known as Kurahashi who is one school year ahead of me and is in the same year as the club president.

Unlike the club president, he is good-looking and is maxed out in sociability. I do think that it is quite weird that he is a member of a club like the Science Club.

And he too is yet another person, who despite being an examinee, has way too much composure. He still shows up frequently for club activities even though the Center Exams are about to begin.

"Playing games with you is seriously boring huh!?"

"That play you made just now is too lazy. Doing a strong uppercut when I still have some guard gauge left is surely a no-go. There would have been a chance if you executed a combination of weak attacks while aiming for an opening but you merely threw the match on your own just like some brainless rookie who only aims to win by executing 'Hammer'"

"You're talking so fast that I don't understand what you're saying!"

Come to think of it, they were playing games even before we entered the club room. Due to the exams, the number of days that the third years attend school is dropping. Even if there are classes, they do not go on for long so how long the two have been in the club room is a mystery.

"No choice huh, another round!"

"I'll play as many rounds as yer want"

There are figures of spectating club members around the club president. Although the skills of the club president are a given, Kurahashi-senpai is also quite skilled. There is much value in watching their match.

The game has just been on sale since spring this year so where they could have gotten the time to practice is a mystery.

"Ahh, damn......!" After a while, I heard a seemingly frustrated-sounding voice coming from Kurahashi-senpai. As I thought, it seems like he got beaten hands down by the club president once again.

Thinking back, Kurahashi-senpai is the battle opponent of the club president on many occasions. As such, I think that he is a kind person.

"Another round!"

"Sure"

That said, Kurahashi-senpai sure knows how to persevere......Assuming that they began when we arrived, that would mean that they would have been playing for two hours.

......Do not tell me they are playing games to escape from reality?

I became worried. However, this is not something that I am able to do anything about so I convinced myself by telling myself that everything will be fine.

Kurahashi-senpai, although not on the level of the club president, should be quite intelligent as well......

As I was observing the happenings at the front, my plays became sloppy. Therefore, I decided to open the options screen to restart the game from the beginning. My eyes began to hurt likely due to the long hours I have spent playing the game. I usually look quite closely at the materials when I study as well so my vision probably got worse once again. I relaxed my eyes by looking at my surroundings and, as I dripped some eye drops into my eyes, I now hear a voice coming from the back of the lab.

"Hehe, ehehe......" The person who is letting out such a disturbing voice is sitting at the furthermost table, a male who is grinning as he clicks with his mouse. He is a first-year called Meguro. He rarely hangs out with anyone in the Science Club and is always playing games alone.

His favorite genre is Romance so I deduce that he is probably playing a Galge right now. He is short and, on top of that, has a child-like face so in terms of looks alone, he is quite charming. However, once his helpless real nature comes to light, he is not cute even by a mile.

"Soooo cute, hehe, Moe, Moee~" The way he uses a wheedling voice, which makes it doubtful that his voice already broke, to talk to the heroine on the screen leaves even us Otakus turned off. His results and athletic abilities are not bad; I have also heard stories that he is quite popular in his class. However, only seeing him in this state makes it unbelievable.

"Alice-tan, guhe, guhehe"

I would have at least liked him to stop monologuing but he still remains like this even after countless times of cautioning so there is no choice but to give up. Meguro may just be similar to Sayaka. That is the fact that they are able to keep up with appearances but they are helpless on the inside.

"That guy is gross as always huh" Saitou says while he lets out a burp after drinking some Cola.

"Indeed, it becomes scary if it is to this extent. I wonder what he is like at home" Shindou responds as he reads a book.

"I wonder what his parents think about him if he's like that even at home"

"Well, it's not something we would know"

That is also true, or so Saitou replies. Seemingly bored of playing games, he, just like Shindou, takes out a book from his bag and begins to read it after sitting beside Shindou.

I know. That book which is covered by the book cover from the Ki--kuniya book store is an Erotic novel.

They themselves have not moved on from the Erotic novel boom and they spend most of their allowance on indulging in reading Erotic novels on almost a daily basis. Recently, I recall that they were enthusiastically going on about how they have laid their hands on No--tan, a web novel site dedicated to Erotic novels.

Saitou and Shindou too, their eyes were serious. Even if it is not like the case with Meguro where one will be put off immediately, those who know the actual situation will think that they are on the same level.

......You guys sure have the galls to say those things about Meguro when you are like that......

I think the Japanese idiom "Observe the action of others and rectify one's action" is a good fit for them. I cannot help but wonder how they are able to be put off by Meguro but think nothing at all of their own actions.

Realizing that I was staring at them, Shindou raises his head.

"Hm? Something wrong Ookusu?"

"No, nothing......" I quickly avert my eyes.

After showing a somewhat puzzled expression appears, his eyes became bloodshot once again as he goes back to gaze at the page.

Phew, I say as I let out a sigh of relief.

This is a den for the strange. There is no mistaking that. Or so I thought once again.

I had a huge culture shock when I first came here. There were tons of people here that made me go as if there was such a person in this world. I have now gotten somewhat used to it but when I come to my senses, I did think that this place is 

Well, it is not like I can say that about others.

I would have no rebuttals if I am ever called a swot. I would lose confidence in myself if I was ever asked relentlessly about whether I fall under the category of 'Normal'. Just like how Shindou and Saitou view themselves as compared to Meguro, I too would stray away from society if I do not live while rectifying my actions by observing others.

That said, if I was asked whether straying away is a bad thing, then, in the first place, I think that, that is a different matter altogether. I like this Science Club and, there are even times when, as I observe the quirkiness of each and every one of its club members, I have the thought that there is no need to fret over the details and this helps to lift my spirit.

I think that, that is one of the good things about entering this club.

It was one of the worlds that I had no interest in, in the past but entering it brought more enjoyment than I expected. As expected, it is not a mistake to say that you will not know unless you experience it for yourself.

As a sudden sweet scent wafts from a place unknown, I trace the source to find the figure of Hirazawa who has finished his muscle training. Eating a banana he took out from his Tupperware with one hand, he uses the other to wipe off his sweat.

As if he noticed my gaze, he puts down his towel and holds up his gaming device.

"Ookusu, if you're free, wanna play this game?"

The screen displays a game that has just been released recently. Yea, I replied, as I saw no reason to refuse, and I shifted close to the Hirazawa who still smells of sweat.

However, Gorillas eating only bananas might just be true.

1 - The context cannot be translated into English but there is a theory that Potato (馬鈴薯 in Kanji, often read as Jyagaimo, actual reading Bareisho might instead be the Apios fortunei. This is because the “Bareisho” mentioned in the book that the aforementioned Ono referred to might have been referring to the Apios fortunei (Groundnut) instead.   

2 - A Rakugo (Traditional Japanese Comical Storytelling) Story about how a person tries to fool the soba store when paying by asking the time but ends up paying more as they counted wrong.

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Feel free to comment/pm me if you find any mistakes. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed yourself!