Kenkyo, Kenjitsu o Motto ni Ikite Orimasu

A rumour had formed around the fact that I was seen constantly getting into Kaburagi’s car .

‘Kaburagi-sama and Reiksama went home together today . ’

‘This morning, Kaburagi-sama told Reiksama not to forget about their promise after school . ’

This was horrible .

Since this was all Kaburagi’s fault, even if by some chance he came to blame me for it this time I was going to bite him back .

Seriously though, it was actually so depressing having these unfounded love stories being told about yourself .

“Gosh, Reiksama . When did this happen?”

“I’ve always thought that you’d be a great match for Kaburagi-sama . ”

“Say, Reiksama, won’t you tell us what kind of chats you’ve been having with him?”

“Waah! Me too, me too!”

At lunch, the girls pestered me for love stories with stars in their eyes .

What kind of chats, you ask? Mostly about Kaburagi’s ridiculous romance, and lectures on how commoners live .

Did you know, girls~? Kaburagi wanted to light up fireworks for his confession, and he gave a girl he wasn’t even dating yet a handmade ring with their initials carved into it~

“We shared a car because I had some business with him, but nothing like what you girls are imagining, all right?”

“Ehh? But people saw him take your hand too . ”

Probably that time I really didn’t want to go, he got tired of my trudging, and then dragged me away by the arm .

“Perhaps it was the time he pulled me forward because I was walking too slowly . I doubt it was more than that . ”

“I heard that the two of you seemed to be talking quite cordially with each other . ”

“About studies, I suspect . ”

Like that time I suggested textbooks and workbooks as a present, or the time Kaburagi told me about his library date .

The girls seemed put out by my boring explanations, but who was going to take responsibility if these baseless rumours drove the boys even further away from me?

Right now I still had the faint hope that somewhere in this school at least one boy secretly had a crush on me .

Since I recently rid myself of that unlucky poem anthology my love life was definitely going to get better from here .

“Kisshouin-san, I’ve gathered the free time plans from the boys . ”

Satomi-kun came my way with the papers for the cla.s.s trip . I had already collected the same forms from the girls .

“Shall we hand them in then?”

“I can go by myself, you know?” he suggested, being considerate of the fact that I was chatting with my group .

“No, that is fine . Let us go together . ”

And so we left for the Student Council in order to hand in the plans that everyone had for their free day .

Most people were going to the same places anyway, though .

Serikchan and the others waved us goodbye .

“Where are you girls going on your free day?” Satomi-kun asked me

.

“We plan on seeing a musical . ”

“Oh? Quite a few people are doing that . Which one you watching?”

“The Phantom of the Opera,” I replied .

“The one with the falling chandelier?”

“Yes . And where might you going?”

“We’re gunna watch a soccer match . ”

I see . So that was what the boys were interested in .

We were going to Europe after all .

Where else would the Kemari Dainagon and his friends go?

“My mum wants me to buy some stuff for her though . It’s pretty bad . ”

“My . ”

“I mean I looked at the shopping list but didn’t really get it, so some girls agreed to let me tag along when they’re going to each brand’s shops . ”

Oh my G.o.d, this guy already had a plan to spend time with girls on his free day…!

d.a.m.ned Satomi, I’m so envious .

This was an overseas cla.s.s trip, okay?

Moriyamsan said there was this boy in her own cla.s.s trip, and after visiting temples and shrines, and eating dango and just hanging out together they ended up dating .

As for me, far from having a boy in my own group, none of them would even talk to me .

So lonely .

I was supposed to be in a co-ed school, so how come I had been surrounded by girls since primary school?

It’s not like I was wearing a t-shirt telling the boys to keep a polite distance or anything .

“By the way, Kisshouin-san, have you heard of the ghost of the London Tower?”

“That sounds scary, so please stop talking . ”

Talking about ghosts was liable to attract them, you know .

“Ehhh~ Doesn’t it get you excited though? Apparently Anne Boleyn appears with both her head and without it . ”

“It does not . Let us change the subject . How many coins are you planning to toss into the Trevi Fountain?”

Satomi-kun was definitely the sort to go look at the blood ceilings of Kyoto, wasn’t he?

Hiiee~ Scaryy .

As we made our way to the Student Council room, the two of us continued chatting about what sights we wanted to see or what foods we wanted to try .

“Excuse me, we are here to submit the plans for the free day . ”

“Thanks for your work . ”

Besides Fellow Stalking Horse, today there were also two other boys and Wakabchan present .

It must have been rough having to come here even during their lunch breaks .

“You working hard, Mizusaki?”

“So-so . You doing your job as cla.s.s rep properly?”

“Obviously, bro . Look, I’m even running errands at lunch time, right in front of your eyes . Show a bit more appreciation why dontcha . ”

“As if . ”

The two of them seemed to be good friends from the way they bantered .

“Oh? What are those cookies?” Satomi-kun gestured towards a clear bag filled with cookies atop the President’s desk .

“Takamichi brought them in . ”

“Takamichi-san did?”

Wakabchan’s handmade cookies!?

“I baked some

some cookies yesterday, so I thought I’d bring them in for everyone~” Wakabchan explained with a cheery smile .

“Ah, so that’s how it is . Can I have one too? I’ll keep quite about you guys snacking in the Student Council Room . ”

“Ahaha, help yourself~”

He picked one up and took a bite .

“It’s great . You’re really good at this, Takamichi-san . ”

That was the daughter of a cake shop for you .

“Would you like one too, Kisshouin-san?” she offered without worry, so I accepted without hesitating .

“Thank you . I think I would . ”

They were chocolate cookies, delicious and sweet with just a hint of bitterness .

Maybe I could learn to bake cookies next .

Putting that aside though, the people in the room seemed a bit taken aback by my casual show of eating one .

Oh, so that’s what it was .

n.o.body else here was aware that Wabakchan had already won over my stomach .

“That was delicious . Thank you . ”

I wanted another one but I thought better of it .

Afterwards we were given some things to look out for during the free day and then we left the room .

Hmmm~

Judging by what I’d seen, it didn’t seem like her first time bringing her homemade food to the Student Council .

If Kaburagi knew, he’d definitely be jealous~

In terms of time spent with her, Fellow Stalking Horse was overwhelmingly in the lead .

Can you turn this around, Kaburagi!?

That night I called Wakabchan, which made for a good chance to thank her for the cookie too .

“It was crunchy and amazing . Would it be all right if I came over again to learn how to make them?”

“Of course . You’re welcome any time . The other day with the teppanyaki was fun, wasn’t it? The meat you brought over was delicious!”

“Huhu, it was . ”

That was a fun day~

I even got so relaxed that I called her Wakabchan a few times .

“Do you often bring snacks to the Student Council Room?”

“Sometimes . Everyone’s so busy after school that we often run late enough to get peckish . ”

Tomoe-senpai used to eat quite a few snacks too .

How nostalgic . Back then he was still growing after all .

“A special privilege of the Student Council, I see . ”

“Ahaha . Oh, that reminds me . The manual from the other day is finished now . ”

“Oh! How was it?”

“Apparently it’s been quite useful to new students . We guessed right about there being a lot they didn’t know . ”

“I see . That is good news then . ”

“A few of them had already brought convenience store lunches to school though . After all, it’s normal in other schools . ”

“Quite . ”

Everyone did it in my old life .

“I’ve been wondering if the students at Suiran have

Suiran have even ever tried a convenience store bentou before . ”

“Hmmm~ I wonder . ”

At the very least I don’t think the Internals had .

I often bought onigiri though . There were lots of types, but in the end I’d just choose salmon~

“Ah, but the other day I went to a fast food joint with Kaburagi-kun!”

Oh!? We were talking about this now!?

“My, with Kaburagi-sama?”

“Yeah . We were studying at a library, right? And then we went out for a little break but there weren’t any restaurants that suited Kaburagi-kun .

“I was wondering what to do when suddenly he asked me, ‘Is this place fine?’ and suddenly walked right into a fast food shop . I was sooo shocked . I was sure that people from the Pivoine had never even step foot in one before!”

Mn, you’d be right .

Kaburagi had only had his first time a little while ago .

“It seems like he goes there quite often . Apparently he normally orders the burgers, but goes for seasonal items when they appear . ”

“Ohh~?”

“I thought Kaburagi-kun only ate at like 3-star restaurants . Who would’ve thought he ate fast food . I was really surprised . Apparently he started because he wanted to see what the rest of society was like . ”

Ah, he stole my line about “life experiences” didn’t he . d.a.m.ned Kaburagi .

“I mean I know we’ve been going to the same school, but I always thought of him as living in another world . I didn’t think he was so normal . I feel a little closer to him now . ”

“I see . ”

Oohh, so the plan to raise her familiarity worked then . Go me . Good advice, me!

“Anyway, Kaburagi-kun called me a little while ago to talk about the cla.s.s trip . I mentioned that I wanted to go to some famous sweets stores, and he offered to take me . We ended up planning to go together . What do you think, Kisshouin-san…?”

“Haah!?”

Kaburag! What the heck was he doing this time!?

I know I told him to research her likes but I never told him to force his way into her free day!

“I… You must have your own plans as well . If he is bothering you, then I think you should turn him down clearly . ”

Ahh, that idiot, that idiot…

If he got himself hated it was nothing to do with me .

“Mmmm, he’s not botheirng me at all . I’m actually glad that he offered . ”

“Eh!?”

Now that was a surprise!

I mean, Wabakchan had to have had her own plans with her friends, right?

“What about your friends, Takamichi-san?”

“Ah, well you see, my other friends are all going to go shopping . I’m not really that interested in brand clothing, so I was planning on going to the famous confectioners and cake shops instead .

“I had actually planned to go on my own, but since it’s going to be my first time overseas, walking on mywalking on my own is going to be a bit scary, right? I mean I don’t really understand the tip system, and…”

“I see . ”

“I told Kaburagi-kun, so he suggested that he come along . I know he offered, but I’d feel bad about making him spend his free day accompanying me . He has to have places he wants to visit too, after all…”

Places that Kaburagi wants to visit?

As if that stupid disciple of mine had anywhere he’d want to see more than spending his free day with Wakabchan .

“…I truly wonder about that . Kaburagi-sama has been to Europe countless times before, so I doubt he has anywhere left he really wants to go . ”

“You think so?”

“Quite . Besides, Kaburagi-sama has quite a sweet tooth, so he perhaps he wanted to go as well . ”

“I see . Then do you think it’d be okay to accept…? You know, Kaburagi-kun said that there was a dolce shop in Rome that he recommended . When I heard him say that I honestly really wanted to go!”

“Eh-, dolce…!?”

My heart skipped a beat .

The protagonist of ‘You Are My Dolce’ suddenly using that word?

I almost dropped my phone .

Being a sweet-tooth, in the manga the Emperor had compared his love to sweets(dolce) .

And now the real-life Emperor was inviting Wakabchan to go try some together .

Was this a sign that things between these two were about to pick up their pace!?

Uhyohh!

I didn’t really understand why, but I was just so excited right now!

“If you want to go, then by all means go! Dolce! What a great idea! Dolce!”

“Y-Yeah, thank you…”

I was still in high spirits after we hung up, when a message from Kaburagi arrived .

‘We’re going to be spending our free time in Paris and Rome together!’

‘I wish you luck!’ I replied .

Are you going to say ‘You are my dolce’ to her one day!?

Are you!?

Kaburagi!

After sleeping on it and coming back to my senses, I sent him some advice .

‘Do not do anything too ostentatious . Do not draw attention from other Suiran students . Do not try to keep her with you longer than she wants to stay . ’

I hoped this trip went well .

We have a new manga project .

From back alley brawls to bashful bonds, two former-delinquents face their next fight: long-term relationships .

During her high school years, Takebe was the top dog at her school . But with her old friends now living as happy riajuu, Takebe was faced with an impending sense of crisis .

Takebe thus resolved herself to quit delinquency, but the result of that was a fated meeting with her old rival, Soramori . Losing a fist-fight against Soramori, for some reason or other Takebe was now dating her .

What kind of relationship did the two of them have back in high school? And would Takebe ever manage to graduate from delinquency…!?