Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu‎

Volume 7.5, Author's Notes

I’m grateful that you bought this book. This is the author of this series, Inoue Kenji.

Because of this volume, this series has reached a memorable 10th volume! It’s because of everyone accompanying me along the way that I felt really blessed. I don’t know how long this story will last, but if possible, I hope that everyone could continue to follow this story.

Alright, it’s now time for a change in topic. Recently, I would occasionally get questions like ‘may I know what sort of environment you work in’, so I would like to use this chance to talk about it.

Basically, I would write at home, but I would often use the library on the weekends. As the library near my house had a PC area, it’s comfortable to work there. They had power sources and wireless internet, the surroundings are quiet, and there was lots of data. It was really the best writing environment.

As it was such a good environment, there were many other users here other than me like the working-class people who’re busy with their work research or some old uncles learning how to use a computer. Also, there’s also some college students who’re in the library writing their reports for their assignments.

Every seat in the library was open, and there was no separated zone, so I could see what others were doing if I moved slightly. On seeing that the people around me were working hard in their projects, I’ll spur myself to work hard.

I would concentrate and write my story and rest in a café inside the library, drink some coffee, have some sweets, wait till I recover before I head back to my seat to work hard. That’s how I work in such a comfortable environment during the weekend.

It was until a certain day. I went back to my seat after resting at the café, and found that what looked like a college student was glancing at my computer.

Ahh…that was a failure. I forgot to cover my PC when I left my seat. Basically, I hid my real identity as I wrote this novel, so it’s not really good if someone saw the story I wrote. It’ll be great if nobody noticed that I was writing Baka Test…

Though worried, I couldn’t help but have some expectation deep inside my heart.

If that girl was a reader of Baka Test…would she suspect anything after seeing the names ‘Akihisa’ or ‘Yuuji’ on that PC screen? If that’s really the case, I’ll definitely be happy. But even though I’m happy, it’s not good to a certain extent that a half-written script was seen.

I apologized deep inside my heart ‘sorry, but please don’t read too hard into it’, went back to my seat, looked at the screen, and wanted to finish the story.

At this moment, I found out what was typed onto the screen.

The moment I realized it,

I was always chasing you.

The moment I started remembering,

I was always chasing your smile.

Kinosheeta Hideyoshi.

If I’m the sunflower.

You’re the sun shining on me. [1]

DON'T READ IT!!!

No, that’s not right! I wasn’t using a commanding tone! Please don’t look, just leave it as me begging you! No, please erase what you just saw from your brain! Whether it’s those words you saw or my existence, just erase them off!!

That’s already past being ashamed. Anyone who sees this part will treat me as a super disgusting guy with a weird brain. Thinking about the person I like and writing this poem, and the other guy’s called ‘Kinosheeta Hideyoshi’. That’s a guy’s name no matter how you look at it. No wonder she was so bothered! She must be wondering ‘what the hell did that guy type in’…

I hurriedly covered my PC to prevent more things from being seen. At this moment, I suddenly noticed the reference material I placed there a while back.

‘Easy to understand Modern Poems (with reciting CD)’

That’s not how it’s like! Don’t look, forget about it. Well, I was really idiotic for praying like this deep inside my heart. It’s true that it’s my fault for leaving my fault with my PC opened, bu, but…at least let for explain! I’m writing a story called Baka Test! The things you see here are all supposed to be used for the plot! Please let me explain!

In the past, I blurted out the word ‘sou-uke’ in front of my superior, but the shame this time was way more powerful than that! Even after reaching home, I was blushing in shame, and my body was completely hot. I would definitely close my PC whenever I was working at a family restaurant, but I was careless about forgetting to do that at the library. As the library was peaceful and quiet, it was inevitable that I would let my guard down once. I hope that no matter where I am in the future, I can work cautiously and avoid making this mistake again. But I guess I won’t be at that library for quite a while.

Oh yeah, as for the Tsunemura poem I just remembered, it was born as a prototype written by Sekine Ayumi-san, one of the animators of Baka Test. To match the number of pages, I had to edit a lot. Actually, the ‘Sun and the Sunflower’ poem Sekine-san wrote was a brilliant one. When I mentioned that ‘I needed a poem that the readers will be so hurt and painful that they couldn’t take it’, Sekine-san really wrote a painful and humiliating piece of work for me. I hope that I can show the original to everyone…but will this be good for Sekine-san? I really can’t tell.

And now, it’s time to change topics. It’s a collection of short stories again, so allow me to explain the backstory behind all these stories to everyone. There may be some spoilers in this, so to the readers who haven’t read this book, we’ll part here for now.

Me and Doubt and a Man's Pride

This was a happy strip poker story with the girls, and the timeframe should be between the 6th and 7th volume.

It was supposed to be a story of ‘fanservice’, but for some reason, it ended up in a unique situation where the guys having to strip. Recently, I’ve been thinking that the girls in Baka Test are more manly that the guys in it. Most notably, Mizuki’s statement when she said “Even if I have to take off my last piece of clothing, I don’t intend to end this game halfway through~” isn’t something anyone will dare say randomly. What happened to the ‘traditional pure heroine’ when I started writing Baka Test!? Like Kubo-kun, she probably went off far away. When I started off, I designated her as a girl ‘who’s weak and can’t cook’, but now she became a strong heroine who didn’t need to think too much. That’s way too scary…

On a side note, in this story, the fools were all done by Mizuki, Shouko and Kubo. Dear readers, please widen your eyes and pay attention. THESE THREE ARE THE TOP THREE STUDENTS OF THE SECOND-YEAR BATCH OF THE HIGH-TECH FAMOUS SCHOOL ‘FUMITZUKI GAKUEN’!

Me and Real Motive and Summoned Beast

This was a comedy I always wanted to try out. This was another story that happened during summer vacation, after the doubt incident. Class E’s rep Nakabayashi-san debuted here, but unfortunately, she was rejected because of that tragic reason the moment she debuted. It seems that she hates Akihisa because of this, but who could blame him.

It’s good that good friends can say their true thoughts out, as it shows how good their relationship. It’s something worth celebrating over…but things just won’t be that smooth sailing. Some things are only ‘good’ once they’re hidden. Once others know of the truth, what’s left in the heart may only be regret. It’s possible anyway. No, wait, I’m not self-depreciating. It’s just that I hope that everyone understand something. Not all perverts are bishounen!

Me and Lottery and The Pot of Darkness

This was a short story that could be guessed from the title. It happened after the 7th volume.

Actually, this was a short story I used to practice when I was writing volume 2 and refined. I added some characters to reflect the current situation, and changed the timeframe. In the end—the only similarity with the original was the ‘hotpot’. If I had known that, I might as well rewrite everything else. It may be even more relaxing…

Speaking of which, it’s interesting to read the original script I wrote. The scenario I wrote at that time had Minami as a girl who couldn’t cook. In the original script, Minami even added cat litter into the dark hotpot. The me then should have been more careful. I wouldn’t be able to comment about this if even Minami became like that.

Me and Japan and the Language I'm Unfamiliar With

This happened when Akihisa and the gang first entered school. It’s a story 1 and half years back from the main storyline. At that time, Akihisa was still calling Yuuji ‘Sakamoto-kun’, and it sort of felt weird.

Not only Minami, everyone including Akihisa met for the first time. After a while, it linked to Hazuki’s story in volume 3.5, and then back to the main storyline in volume 1. Speaking of which, past, Mizuki and Shouko didn’t appear then, which I found was a rather lonely thing. However, Minami didn’t appear in the doubt game story.

As for the foreign languages that appeared in the story, there may be errors like the usual test questions. If there’s a chance to use those words again, I strongly recommend that everyone should verify it through. It’ll be cool if I can straight my back and declare loudly ‘no problems at all! I can use this sentence whenever I want to!’ but unfortunately…I’m really sorry.

As I explain these stories, there’s not many pages left for the afterword, so let’s begin with the usual thanks.

Haga-sensei, who’s in charge of the covers and illustrations; We’ve continued to push for a male character cover, and we finally succeeded! How touching! No, I wasn’t especially happy about that, it’s just that the readers were all hoping for it ‘YAAAHHHOOOOOO!!!’

K-sama, who’s in charge of editing. I’m really grateful that you’ll grant my passionate wish for a ‘male character to appear on the cover page’. On a side note, do you know that Baka Test has a lot of male characters…no, please don’t give me that irritated look, I was merely half-joking. Also, I’m sorry for pressing you so hard. It’s thanks to K-sama’s help that this volume could publish. Allow me to show my thanks and appreciations.

Kagaya-san, who’s in charge of edits. I would add some unique wording in every page, and you had to spend time correcting time, but you helped make up for my lack of writing ability. I’m really grateful to you, and I hope to learn more from you in the future.

To everyone involved in the anime and manga, I killed off a lot of my brain cells writing this novel, so I’m bothered that I couldn’t help much. Also, I’ve become one of your loyal readers (viewers). Every episode was interesting, and I would look forward to it. Maybe it might be even more interesting if it doesn’t involve me…

Of course, most important, the readers. With everyone’s support, this series has reached the 10th volume. I’m really grateful to everyone. To the mails and emails and all sorts of stuff, I couldn’t reply to them, but I read through them happily. I don’t know whether I can meet every reader’s expectations, but I’ll work hard to write more stories. I hope that the readers will continue to guide me through and follow through this work.

Finally, a little preview for the next volume. In volume 8, the next main story, it will likely continue off from the dark hotpot ending—where Mizuki and Akihisa ended up living with each other. It’s about time to change the direction of the story and the characters, but how will it end up…I haven’t really thought of what to write, so I couldn’t say much. Anyone, everyone, please look forward to Akihisa’s pitiful side when he’s attacked for living together with Mizuki! The ‘fanservice’ illustrations in the next volume seem like it will increase (regardless of gender), and I’m looking forward to it personally.

Then, let’s meet again on the stage of Baka Test.