Chapter 1: Accepting Denial【P1】
【言語に関するご注意 / Language Notice】本作はすべて、英語と英語の表現で書かれています。翻訳作品ではなく、オリジナルの英語ライトノベルです。あらかじめご了承の上、作品をお楽しみください。
Author’s Note:
It is great that you are considering this light novel! Feel free to dive straight into the world—you will not miss out on anything important here.
This series takes on the high school genre by capitalizing on the rarely seen theme of city-scale campus life and anchoring it with a reasonable premise. Created with an anime aesthetic in mind, the narrative offers an intimate experience through multiple first-person perspectives and by being written in the present tense.
The story takes place on a secluded island, allowing the world-building to explore all sorts of ideas a student-led democracy would face. Troublemakers? Send them to the House of Judgment for the hungry student prosecution to feast. Clubhouses? More like headquarters for operations. Student president? Ministries and all, like finance and housing.
Strap in for the ride—this journey is set to easily surpass one hundred chapters.
The first volume of the Kawaii Kowai series is published. It is being edited, and you can track its progress in the latest chapter titled “Volume 1 Worktable: Editing Progress Tracker”. Keep in mind that later chapters are not yet up to standard as they are still being worked on.
To support this series, you can engage with it and rate it. Extras, official publishing platforms and updates are publicly available only on the Patreon page “Limited_Infinity”.
Below you can find details about the series.
• Release Schedule:
New chapters are posted on Saturdays, whenever one is ready. Deviations are communicated on the Patreon page.
• Expectations Guide:
A multi-POV mystery set on an isolated island city-sized high school campus, packed with slice-of-life comedy, action, philosophical undercurrents, and more best-boy and best-girl contenders than you can healthfully root for.
Prepare for subverted tropes (wait... no beach chapter?) in a reality where actions actually have consequences. Characters simply sprain their ankle when falling off an office chair as gravity remains undefeated. The Chosen One position was terminated long ago, and you will not find any wizards or overpowered heroes to save the day. Step onto the school grounds filled with hidden secrets to uncover and explore the many eccentric clubhouses. Because in a world where office chairs remain public enemy number one, anything can happen.
• Title Linguistic Rationale:
This original English work features a title with two layers of wordplay. The English title, Minorities Rule, challenges readers’ views of who truly governs a democracy. Kawaii・Kowai is the series name, retaining the phonetically similar but semantically contrasting Japanese words kawaii (cute) and kowai (scary). This contrast hints at the series’ approach of examining its concepts from multiple angles.
The Japanese title, マイノリティ・ルール | カワイイ・コワイ (Mainoriti Ruuru | Kawaii・Kowai), is a localized rendering of the English original, not a separate work or alternative title.
• Patreon Page:
The publicly available Patreon page serves as the central hub for extras, communications, and community. It features world-building material, including series lore, a complete character list, and a glossary. Becoming a Free Member unlocks additional complimentary content, such as preliminary visual concepts and Patreon-exclusive chapters, including the backstories of Jiro (“Progressive Stagnation”), Sayoko (“Silent Click.”), Anza (“Fluid Foundation”), and Masaki (“Calculated Impulse”). (Coming Soon)
Thank you for reading and supporting the series.
Limited_Infinity
Jiro
When we are pushed, why do we instinctively resist?
Is it a survival mechanism meant to protect us from harm, or simply a prideful defiance? The deep-seated belief that we are superior to whatever force opposes us.
I shove back against the stray palm grinding into my cheek, wrenching the stranger’s sweaty fingers away.
Just to feel free, would be my guess.
Their parting gift of a slick film tries to marry my sweat. Where do I file for divorce.
The surge of students presses tighter, pinning me down. I force elbows out, wedging open just enough space to barely exist in.
I am not even sure if this is the right direction anymore… is everyone just going blindly with the flow?
A wave slams against the dock, throwing mist over the crowd and sending cold brine to join the party on my face. Its violence already eclipsed by the encroaching human tide.
Fate, was that really necessary?
A stubbornly sun-drenched sky stares back.
My head sags. I shoulder into a small gap, wrestling through it just to take another step forward.
“Jiro!” Renji wheezes from somewhere behind. “Wait—hey! At least let me catch up!”
I do not stop, but glance back anyway. Sinking in the current of uniforms, he reaches an arm out toward me like a desperate car salesman.
“Railings! Head for the edge!” I thrust an arm overhead, pointing the way.
Pivoting my shoulders, I angle out of the center. Renji keeps dipping out of sight behind a forest of heads, resurfacing closer to the boundary each time.
With a shove, the pressure relents as I break through to the perimeter railings.
At the slips, ferries churn the water and shuttle in and out to funnel even more people ashore.
Renji finally spills out beside me, collapsing over the steel like wet seaweed.
“Air!” he gasps, hanging his head toward the sea and snorting the breeze like a powdered narcotic. “My beautiful, I missed you so much…”
“I knew it. We should have just waited on the boat.”
Looking at the decomposed human plant almost sliding over the railing, a gut warning takes root.
This guy is definitely going to derail the next three years of my life.
Trading my breakfast for the sketchy wrap he pestered me into accepting during the crossing is proving to be a critical error—I want my perfect ham sandwich back.
My days of running a charity are officially over.
Stopping offers no relief. Without forward momentum, the fake breeze disappears, allowing the stifling humidity to glue fabric to skin. At this rate, we will melt straight into the stone.
“How about you carry me on your shoulders?” He slowly reinflates like an air dancer, flashing a broken smile. “I’ll be our periscope, navigating the high se—“
“No.”
“Then maybe we could tightrope over the railings… without shoes you can easily—“
I blink away the sweat stinging my eyes, letting the infomercial ramble in the background.
The terminal ahead is built like an international airport gate. A nightmare line snakes all the way out of its glass doors, spilling the new arrivals into the scorching morning sun.
“Checkpoint bottleneck,” I mutter. “Must be holding us hostage until we are all—”
“Have faith, my pessimistic friend!” Renji throws an arm over my shoulder, claiming my hard-won breathing room. “For this team is destined for greatness.”
“Team?” I try to shrug him off, but his grip is iron. “This is the first time I’ve seen you on land”
“Exactly!” He tightens his hold. “A blank slate! We are the rock-solid foundation this place demands.”
He drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Besides, rumor has it you need immense social capital if you really want to make it here.”
Before I can open my mouth, he grips my shoulder and shakes me like he is trying to exorcise a ghost. “And we are already ahead of the curve!”
My vision blurs until he finally lets go.
“Right, ‘the rumors’,” I drawl, steadying my head. “Just people coping with the lack of reliable information—like that one about the dormitories having gold-woven sheets. Please.”
“Ah, the legendary sheets... Clearly a red herring for the masses.“
He taps his temple with a grin. “My facts come straight from the source—the people. See, I have this knack for reading a room.”
“But we are outsi—”
“Hold that thought, then discard it!” His eyes lock onto something past my shoulder. He pinches my chin, ratcheting my head like a lawn sprinkler toward a pop-up tent. “That line barely exists, and they are handing out drinks!”
He hooks a finger into my backpack strap and dives into crowd, towing me behind him without looking back.
“Whoa, wait—” I sputter, scrambling into a clumsy run just to keep my balance.
Bodies collide with mine as his momentum yanks me forward. At the mercy of his pace, we plow through the crowd until the final line of resistance gives way, allowing us to duck into the shade.
“Phew.” He wipes the sweat from his forehead with a grin. “I could use a drink right about now.”
Thankfully, the canopy cuts off the direct sun, providing a brief reprieve as the line shuffles forward.
At least he did not leave me behind to catch up. Perhaps—
Ice-cold plastic smacks into my palm.
“Here you go.” A woman behind a folding table gives me a quick nod, already reaching for a second bottle. “And one for you.” She hands it off to Renji.
I return the nod and step aside toward a support pole, the chilled drink sweating against my fingers.
Before I can even bring the rim to my lips, Renji throws his head back, inhaling half his drink. With a sharp gasp, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Ah, refreshing.”
Without warning, he tips the rest over his head, tossing his hair as if starring in a shampoo commercial.
I tighten the grip on my bottle, taking a slow, measured sip.
Sparing myself the sight, I look past him, deeper into the island. High on the hill, a large silhouette sits against the horizon.
“So... that must be the school, right?” I address Neptune mid-transformation.
“Hm?” he grunts, wiping his eyes with a sleeve.
“It looks less like the modern school I imagined and more like… an ancient citadel?”
“Try a mythological temple,” he counters, nodding toward the summit. “It definitely has that old Roman Empire vibe going on. You know, the ones where they do their crazy sacrifices.”
A dry chuckle escapes me. “Then let’s just hope we aren’t the ones on the altar.”
Silence settles between us as we stare at the grand structure. The clean lines of the architecture come together in perfect harmony, striking a note of awe and dissolving the crowd into background noise.
For a moment, the rest of the world feels distant...
“Get that thing out of my face!” A voice behind us punctures our bubble, revoking my free trial of inner peace.
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Discover what happens next in: Chapter 1: Accepting Denial【P2】
Written by Limited_Infinity. Extras, official publishing platforms and updates are publicly available only on the Patreon page “_Limited_Infinity_”
To support this series, you can engage with it and rate it
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