A few minutes after reuniting with the sisters, we suddenly spotted Saionji in the hallway.
"(Ah, Ken-san, hello! Sorry for being late to the student council!)"
"Oh, hey, Saionji. Don't worry about being late; this is pretty much as expected from you anyway. In fact, it would be weirder if you got here on time."
"(That's a relief... although I have some other complicated feelings as well right now.)"
"By the way, it's a little hard to hear what you're saying, so could you try speaking up a bit?"
"All right. Ah, are these people from last year's student council?"
"......"
"Nice to meet you, I apologize for being in this state for our first meeting. I'm Saionji Tsukushi, the current president of the Hekiyou Academy student council. I understand that you've all gone out of your way to make it here today, so I sincerely apologize for being late even though I hold the position of president. I still have much to learn from my seniors."
"......"
Saionji greeted us politely, but the two sisters didn't react at all.
They just stared blankly... they stared at Saionji with their mouths wide open.
"Hey, Minatsu, Mafuyu-chan. This is Saionji, the current student council president. OK?"
"......"
Without answering me, the two of them slowly turned their faces towards me, and, while pointing at Saionji, started silently trembling their lips in unison. Well, not like I needed to hear them to understand.
Even so, I replied matter-of-factly.
"Ahh, you don't need to worry about that. That's pretty much normal, right, Saionji?"
"Hm? Ahh, that's right. Actually, today could be considered a good day."
"You might be right."
I nodded my head and smiled at the sisters.
"So like I said, there's nothing to worry about here."
"N-nothing to worry about!?"
Minase suddenly raised her voice. She quickly glanced back and forth between me and Saionji, and the next moment shouted with all her strength.
"Why is this girl inside of this giant ball!?"
"Ah..."
It's just as Minatsu said. Taking a closer look at Saionji, I could see that she was trapped inside a huge sphere made of clear plastic, which looked almost like a huge bowling ball. It seems that she can walk inside the ball and thus move with it, but Saionji doesn't seem too experienced with it yet.
Seeing my mild reaction, even Mafuyu-chan, unusually, had some panic in her voice.
"Why are you so calm and collected, Senpai? This is definitely strange, right? A student being enveloped inside a giant plastic ball is definitely strange, isn't it?"
"...Really? Maybe you're right...hmm... Ah, hey, you there!"
"Me?"
I stopped a passing student, and pointed to Saionji inside the giant ball.
"Is there something wrong with this scene?"
"Huh? Ah, it's just president Saionji again, that's just business as usual."
"Of course. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Ah, I have to go to my club now."
With that, the boy left without much of a reaction at all. The Shiina sisters watched him go silently, and then bellowed in unison.
"There's something wrong with Hekiyou Academy!"
"We were always like that."
"That's true."
Saionji and I responded with an attitude of "What, you just noticed now?", but the Shiina sisters wouldn't budge.
"Nonono, this kind of stuff was definitely not a daily occurrence last year!"
"That's right! Why did it become like this after only a few months!?"
"Even if you ask why... you know?"
"Even if you ask... right?"
Saionji and I exchanged troubled gazes.
"If you're asking about how this became a daily occurrence... Then... ah, Saionji, what exactly is this?"
"This? This is an activity called zorbing, invented in New Zealand. My classmate Tatsumi-san made this ball for it."
"There you have it."
"That's not what we wanted to ask about!"
The sisters shouted back. I have no idea what they've been so hung up about for the past few minutes. Minatsu finally seemed to give up with a sigh of "Whatever... Hekiyou's cultural values sure are fluid..." Mafuyu-chan followed suit with her own sigh.
When the two finally calmed down, I placed my hands on the ball and questioned Saionji.
"So, you can't get out, is that right? And the ball just rolls in random directions?"
"Of course, it is me after all."
"I thought so."
"What is this conversation!?"
The sisters started with their annoying reactions again. Were they always like this? Did their new school change them?
Ignoring them for now, I started to fiddle with the plastic ball, although it didn't look like it would open, at the very least I found the part that seemed like it would be the door.
"It's like that, right? The door broke, didn't it?"
"Good observation. Tatsumi-san said 'There's no way it'll break!', but the door broke three seconds after her explanation."
"Even that genius Tatsumi's predictions were so easily defied... she must've been shocked."
"Actually, she seemed overjoyed. She ran off somewhere while yelling 'Hekiyou really is the best!' and left me by myself."
"That seems about right."
Well, putting that aside. Hm, no way it'll break, huh...? It's made of some really soft and flexible material, but that actually makes it incredibly resistant to impact. Let's try some scissors I borrowed from the nearby classroom! But in the end it was bounced back.
"Tatsumi-san said that 'Even the Zankantou couldn't hurt it during tests!'"
"Did she put konjac in this...?"
Resistant to impact and impervious to cuts... hey now, this would put Spice Girl to shame as a stand.
It can't be helped. An abnormal problem demands an abnormal solution. I don't want to trouble our guests so quickly, but we won't make any progress otherwise...
I turned towards the sisters who were watching blankly from behind my back.
"Hey Minatsu. Try hitting this ball as hard as you can."
"Huh!? No, I shouldn't really..."
Minatsu looked at her own fist, then at the gentle girl inside the ball with a troubled face.
Saionji also seemed unconvinced.
"That's right, what are you saying, Ken-san? How could you ask such a cute girl like her to do something so crude? What if she hurt her hand?"
"What?"
"Hm?"
We looked at Saionji... Ah, that's right. Saionji doesn't know anything about Minatsu. Just as the sisters don't understand Saionji's circumstances, Saionji is also unaware of last year's "common sense".
Even though they don't understand anything about each other, it would be faster to just show them instead of explaining, so I tried to convince Minatsu.
"It's fine, you can hit it as hard as you want, don't worry about Saionji. You know Tatsumi, right? The stuff she makes definitely won't be damaged just with this."
"That's true, but..."
"You too, Saionji. Don't worry about Minatsu's hands. She's a pro."
"Pro? ...Is she a boxer or something?"
"Well, something like that. Anyway, Minatsu, I'll leave it to you."
"Sure... If you say so."
Although she still seemed to have some reservations, Minatsu stepped forward seeing my confidence. Mafuyu-chan watched from the side, anxious. Minatsu took her stance with her right fist below her waist.
"Alright, then prepare yourself, uh, Saionji."
"Prepare for what? I should be fine without doing anything... If anything I should be wishing you good luck."
After their mismatched conversation, Minatsu started to put strength into her first.
"This hand of mine is burning red! Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory!"
"Huh!? W-wait, Minatsu-sama!? Y-y-your fist is on fire...!"
"God Fin-Knuckleeeeeeeeee!"
"Be more careful with your attack naming!"
Even before Saionji had time to be surprised, the ball flew away at the speed of light. It bounced off of the walls of the hallway, deflecting in all sorts of strange directions.
"Ah."
We all made the same noise, but it was too late, the Saionji Ball had already turned the corner. We could now hear the sounds of it bouncing everywhere in a hallway we couldn't see. Mafuyu-chan pulled at my sleeve in a panic.
"Hey, Senpai! That's going to hit someone!"
"Ah, it should be fine. It's Minatsu and Saionji, you know?"
"What kind of logic is that supposed to be!?"
"Well, you know. Minatsu's attacks have this comedic property of 'causing pain, but never injury', and as for Saionji..."
"As for Saionji-san?"
As we were having that conversation, the sound of bouncing became louder and louder. It seemed to be heading closer to us, so I had Minatsu get ready.
"Alright, it's coming back our way, Minatsu!"
"Yeah! I'll catch it—"
"One last hit!"
"One last hit!?"
The sisters were confused, but I didn't change my orders. In the meanwhile, the Saionji Ball appeared from around the corner. Inside, Saionji was...
"Guh..."
"Hey Ken! Her eyes are spinning! Are you sure this is ok!?"
"It's fine, so for now just... finish it, Minatsu!"
I yelled in the direction of the coming ball. Minatsu got ready and into her stance.
"Ahhh, damn it! Let's go, uwooooooooooooooh!"
Minatsu sent out a chop with all her strength, landing directly onto the Saionji Ball.
In that instant.
*Pop!*
With a satisfying sound, the ball popped open, and then—
"Ah, watch out!"
Minatsu yelled out. Saionji was now falling from the air as she flew down the hallway. Minatsu, who had put too much strength into her chop, couldn't move in time. In place of her, I started running to catch Saionji.
"It's ok! It always ends up—"
I ran to Saionji's landing spot, and positioned myself to catch her. However, Saionji began tumbling while in the air as she slammed into me. In the end—
"Mmphf!"
Saionji ended up landing with her butt on my face as I fell over. It's soft... There's some warmth inside her skirt, too... hmm.
"W...what is this To Love Ru like landing!?"
"So this kind of thing happens in real life too!"
The sisters seemed to be startled by the overly stimulating event. Not that I could see.
I was about to slowly turn my head, but Saionji instantly leapt away with an "Eeek!" ...Tch, she moved away so fast that I didn't even get to see underneath! What a shame! But at the very least I'll treasure that sensation in my heart forever!
I stood up slowly, and saw that Saionji was staring at Minatsu silently with a blush across her face. The sisters did the same, quietly eyeing Saionji and me without a word... hm.
After I checked to make sure neither Saionji nor I were injured, I smiled and turned to the three with a "You see?"
"Basically, this is how it always turns out."
"......"
I explained Saionji and Minatsu's peculiar traits to each other in an easy to understand manner alongside a live demonstration.
The sisters and Saionji looked at each other... then, in the next instant, firmly stated their response.
"What just happened!?"
"Huh?"
Looks like their peculiarities are harder to accept than I had thought.
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