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Table of Contents   Cover  Who Killed Cock Robin (of the Rocky Shores)?  The Innocent of Remembrance (Part 1)  The Innocent of Remembrance (Part 2)  An Adult Sneaking Mission  Engage, Six, Seven  Afterword  Color Illustrations  About J-Novel Club  Copyright   Landmarks   Table of Contents  Color Images       Sign up for our mailing list at J-Novel Club to hear about new releases!  Newsletter  And you can read the latest chapters (like Vol. 5 of this series!) by becoming a J-Novel Club Member:  J-Novel Club Membership   Copyright  Full Metal Panic! Short Stories Volume 4  by Shouji Gatou  Translated by Elizabeth Ellis  Edited by Dana Allen  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.  Copyright © Shouji Gatou, Shikidouji 2000  Vol.4: 2000 DOJO DEKINAI SHIMENSOKA?  First published in Japan in 2000 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo  English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo  All rights reserved.  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.  J-Novel Club LLC  j-novel.club  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.  Ebook edition 1.0: February 2023  Premium E-Book                                            Afterword  This volume contains the edited and revamped short stories that ran in Monthly Dragon Magazine between October 1999 and January through March of 2000, as well as one brand new short (medium?) story. I’m putting off the stories with the new regular character, Tsubaki-kun, and there are only four stories from the magazine here. The reasons why are a bit complicated... but I think we’ll be back to normal next volume. I hope you’ll be sympathetic. You can also try to figure out the reasons if you want, but you’ll probably be wrong.  Anyway, time to do the afterword.  When I reread the afterword for Into the Blue, which just came out, I felt awful. “Guh. Why did I write so many strange things? Am I going nuts?!” I really felt like I’d lost my mind. Thanks again to Shinjo-sensei who acted like my psychologist after I’d gone off the deep end. And I’m sorry to people involved in Japanese rap. It’s not really icky. I just get annoyed at the amateurish lyrics of the stuff that sometimes plays on the radio. I think you guys know what I mean.  I should probably admit that when I’m really pouring everything I’ve got into a story, the afterwords get sloppy. I feel neglectful of my fans. Sorry. I’ll do my best next time.  Well, goodbye! Oh, I’ve got a page and a bit left... Let’s have a few words on each story, then.  “Who Killed Cock Robin (of the Rocky Shores)?”  I really loved the picture of Kaname drooling that Shiki-sensei did for the magazine edition. The images in the magazine are different from the published ones, so there’s quite a few rare pictures there. We have no plans to reprint these at the moment, so make sure you get the magazines too. There’s lots of depictions of side characters that don’t appear in the novels either, like Akutsu Mari and Shoji Mia and Nishino Kozue (does anyone remember these minor characters?).  By the way, I heard about the sake called Kuroushi from an alcohol specialty shop I go to. It should be in season when this volume goes on sale.  “The Innocent of Remembrance (Parts 1 & 2)”  A rare serious short story. While I was writing this, I was doing a lot of experimenting. Did you like it? I feel like Hayashimizu and Kusakabe represent two aspects of a way I felt a long time ago. I’m sorry if that makes parts of it hard to understand. I sometimes think those relationships and breakups with members of the opposite sex really can shake your sense of values and humanity. So if you’re feeling the same way as you read this volume, Hayashimizu’s final line is my gift to you.  Ah, that was super pretentious. I’m sorry. But seriously.  “An Adult Sneaking Mission”  The previous story was serious, so this one’s light and silly. But as comical as it is, I think men really are like that. Maybe they’re not. Or are they? Maybe they’re like Mizuki said. Or are they? What do you think?  I do think Kaname’s idea about separate men’s and women’s cars is a good one. Women won’t have to be groped, and men won’t be suspected unjustifiably. One time on a packed train car, this office worker lady was squished up against me and glared at me even though I didn’t do anything. It was so traumatic for me, ah, yes...  Also, that stuff Gotou said about writers was a joke, of course. Don’t get the wrong idea, please. Thanks.  “Engage, Six, Seven”  The extra story this time is about the past, a comical look at the circumstances that brought Sousuke, Kurz, and Mao together. I didn’t intend it, but I guess this volume in general is very concerned with the past.  The truth is, there are a lot of stories I could tell about FMP! characters’ pasts, but it would get in the way of the