Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e

A lot of the time, I think j.a.panese people are very tolerant in regards to religion. Of course, leaving aside what it was like in the past, in modern times, n.o.body cares what religion you choose to practice and you are free to do so. Even if you choose to have no faith, that in itself is no problem too. However, even though they do not care about religion, in regards to certain events like birthdays or Christmas, there is no denying that they are influenced by the faith of Christianity.

Of course, you could say it derives from the faith of those people, but one can also say that the success of companies also depends on those events. In recent years, the rising trend of celebrating Halloween can also be attributed to that flow.

What I mean by all this is---for this school, birthdays are also a huge event. In shopping malls and convenience stores on school grounds, there are surely corners being set up for all these events.

The thing is, this particular incident happened a week before Ibuki and I would be stuck in an elevator together. It was a chat I received from Kus.h.i.+da, the healer of our cla.s.s.

"Actually, next week Wednesday is Inokas.h.i.+rsan"s birthday it seems. If you"re ok with it, would you celebrate it with us?" she texted me.

That sort of message had been sent to our chat group, in fact. Inokas.h.i.+ra, by the way, is plain and quiet girl from Cla.s.s D. A type similar to Sakura. She doesn"t have many friends, so the story here is to make friends with her for her birthday event. Of course, for Ike who received the same message, there was no reason to refuse. Because it"s blatantly obvious he has taken a liking to Kus.h.i.+da.

He must want to use this event to get even slightly closer to Kus.h.i.+da.

"You got a message from Kikyo-chan too, right? Let"s prepare some presents for Kokoro-chan!". Ike did everything he could to get us to give our consent, but Yamauchi"s response was slow.

"But even if you say that, I don"t have money.....I should be getting more next month though" Yamauchi said.

That"s right, the students of Cla.s.s D are basically broke right now. In the special exams that took place a while ago, certain results were achieved and certain students were promised a large amount of private points but sadly those points will only be handed out on the 1st of September. I had used up most of my points and so currently I have almost no remaining balance.

In other words, I will have to overcome the summer vacation using this current poor man"s lifestyle. In that case, inevitably I would have no room to spare points for someone"s birthday.

Or rather, on that premise, these guys were individually planning out their birthday presents. If it"s a close friend that would be another matter but I don"t have any male acquaintances that also get along with Inokas.h.i.+ra.

But even if it happens to be a cheap present, Inokas.h.i.+ra should still be able to accept it if the presents come in large numbers.

"Isn"t it ok if the guys pool their points to buy one present? In that case, even if it"s for 500 points we should be able to buy something proper for her".

I proposed that to them.

If so, even Yamauchi should be able to accept that too but it seems his financial situation is just the bare minimum. It seems to be truly cut short and he himself is being forced to live a life of poverty. The points awarded at the start of August is 8700 private points. Even using j.a.panese yen as a standard, it still amounts to 8700 yen.

Even though from the perspective of high school students, it may be somewhat lacking, even so, if one does not become wasteful there is still room to work with it. Fortunately enough, the school provides free meals and drinking water is also free. In other words, if one does not waste anything, it"s possible to survive without using a single yen.

However, most of the students often run out of money as the end of the month approaches. It"s no different from when we received 100,000 points every month at the time of our enrollment. What I mean by all this is, people desire to spend as much as they have.

In the end, the three of them ended up agreeing with my proposition and we decided to buy the present at a later date.

1

I wiped the sweat off my forehead, feeling the intense heat.

"And---why is the actually crucial Kikyo-chan not here? Huh, Ayanokouji?!". And the first thing Ike asked me when I met up with him was asking me about the absence of Kus.h.i.+da.

But I"d like him to not ask me that. Both Horikita and Kus.h.i.+da, it"s not like I"m monitoring both their schedules. I think it"s only probably because I"m an easy target for them to vent their frustrations on, but I"m also rather sick of this kind of interaction.

"Think about it calmly, Kus.h.i.+da never said she"d go along with us. It"s probably just that" I replied to him.

"I"m not going to be satisfied with just that excuse! If Kikyo-chan is not here, there"s no meaning to this" Ike said.

That"s going too far. I"d like him to stop rejecting this gathering. Leaving aside Ike and the others who were getting overly excited on their own, it seems Kus.h.i.+da invited her other girl friends and went out shopping.

"So I have no choice but to go pre-shopping with a bunch of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that I"m not even interested in, that"s sad!" Ike continued.

I can understand his feelings in wanting to scream out, but I too, don"t wish to go out together with a bunch of sad men like this...and although I am saying this, I found myself enjoying it just a little bit too.

Over the course of the summer vacation, other than the school lesson (examination), it was my first time hanging out with other men. But it seems they consider it normal to go shopping with friends and watching movies with them.

"Screw going out shopping sadly with these three b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Haruki, I"m leaving the rest up to you. Choose an item that Kokoro-chan would love" Ike said.

"Don"t joke around. You were the one who suggested this, live up to your own words" Yamauchi retorted to him.

Those two exchanging complaints. I got in between Ike and Yamauchi who were in the middle of their conflict.

"Calm down a bit. It"ll be fine if the three of us just go and buy it. Sudou"s already entrusted us with his portion of the points too" I told them.

"That"s true, but I feel like we don"t need all three of us to do it".

"We"ve already come this far. We can just quickly buy it and go back".

Since if we disband now I"d feel slightly lonely, I tried persuading them with those words.

"It"ll be more of a waste of time and energy if we keep arguing in this scorching heat" I told them.

"Ahhhh---fine, I got it. Let"s just quickly buy and go back. Ahh---this is boring.

Contrary to those two who had completely lost their excitement, I headed towards the shop with a slight excitement.

Even among the shops one does not normally enter alone, we came in particular to a shop where girls frequently spend their time. The clerk was a high-level, older beauty. And furthermore, the interior of the shop was colored all pink. It exudes an aura that would normally prevent a man from coming here alone. It seems ranging from stuffed toys to cell phone accessories, all things unnecessary for studies are on display here. I suppose this can be considered as exploiting private points from the students.

"I suppose since those points are also being issued to us from the school there"s no real loss" I muttered.

"What are you going on about? Help us decide what to buy too".

What I"m thinking is that the two of you should feel ashamed, looking at the beautiful clerk and the other female customers in the shop. Even though you both claimed to hate doing this, you sure changed your opinions quickly.

After that we split up and circled the shop to find a good birthday present to buy. But of course, from the start I had no intention of choosing the birthday present. It was because I had no idea what would make a good present or not to choose from.

"What would she like...I have no idea".

This is my first time giving someone a birthday present. But since the three of us were collectively buying this present, it"s a blurry line when it comes to whether or not it fits in the category of a "first" for me.

In any case, I am inexperienced in regards to this. In addition to that, my knowledge of the matter is shallow, and the only things I could think of as appropriate gifts were "bonquet of roses" and "ring". Things that are far separated from common sense. But that was no longer just a birthday present but a proposal to the girl. After circling the shop once, I rendezvoused with Yamauchi. In Yamauchi"s hands was a small, white stuffed bear. On the other hand, I was holding a cell phone cover in my hands.

And upon seeing that, Yamauchi scowls at me.

"You know, drop that cell phone cover stuff. First of all, Kokoro-chan already absolutely has one and the level of preference between those covers is huge so it"d be troublesome for her too" I received such a warning from Yamauchi.

"...I see. Then how about this protective film?" I asked him.

As a backup measure, I brought out something else I had chosen. But when I did, Yamauchi"s facial expression turned into a frown.

"No, no, no. That"s something she doesn"t need. Ayanokouji, you really don"t have a sense for this kind of thing".

"But things like stuffed animals, wouldn"t that be a real problem for her?" I asked Yamauchi.

Even if she gets a stuffed animal it does not fulfill any purpose. It simply takes up s.p.a.ce in her room.

"Sure it may be a problem for her, but she can use it to decorate her room"s interior. Kokoro-chan likes this white bear series of stuffed animals so I think she"ll be happy with this. More like, I don"t want to hear that from a man who bought a cell phone cover and a protective film" Yamauchi retorted.

When I was mocked by Yamauchi like that I don"t know why but...it was really a shock. But I was honestly impressed that Yamauchi had thoroughly researched the tastes of the person we were buying a gift for. As for me, I had enough trouble matching Inokas.h.i.+ra"s name to her face, and I could clearly feel the difference in the level of friends.h.i.+p between us.

"So where"s Kanji?".

"I wonder---".

When the two of us looked through the shop for him, we found Ike standing by the keychain corner. He seemed to be strangely serious, so without calling out to him we approached him in silence.

It seems Ike is holding in his hands so-called character goods with an orange motif on it. But in his hands, Ike was already holding something else, a cloth with the white bear that Yamauchi had printed on it.

"Oi, Kanji".

"Uwaaa?! D-don"t surprise me like that" Ike said.

Having heard us call out to him, the surprised Ike panicked and almost dropped the keychain he was holding. And then, for some reason almost as if to hide it, he immediately returns it to the shelf.

"H-have you already decided?" he asks us.

"Ahh, I thought we"d go with this. A white bear towel. Hahaha...".

"That"s not it. Why were you looking at keychains?".

"Ehh? It"s not like I have any secret motives or anything. More importantly, let"s go see what"s over there" Ike replied.

In response to the Ike who tried to change the subject like that, Yamauchi turned his eyes in suspicion.

"Hey...if I remember right, the one who liked that orange character. Wasn"t it s.h.i.+nohara?" he asked Ike.

Once again, s.h.i.+nohara was an unexpected name to hear here. She"s a girl from Cla.s.s D too and during the island test, I recall she fought frequently with Ike regarding their opinions.

"R-really? No, I was just thinking about Kikyo-chan is all. That"s really all there is to it" Ike replied to Yamauchi. He did say that, but I could clearly see Ike"s unrest as he said that.

"You, it can"t be but are you thinking about s.h.i.+nohara?" Yamauchi again asked Ike.

"Huuuuuh? Definitely not, that ugly girl! I"m absolutely not thinking about her!" Ike quickly retorted.

Indeed, if compared to someone like Kus.h.i.+da, it might be the case but s.h.i.+nohara is also a girl who"s plenty cute. Her personality surely isn"t the best but that too could be counted as part of her charm.

"Are you telling the truth? Something seems fishy here, right Ayanokouji?" Yamauchi turned to ask me.

"I wonder.....it certainly wasn"t a very Ike-like response" I told him.

Even though he had a welcoming att.i.tude towards all the other girls, Ike seemed to blatantly dislike s.h.i.+nohara. In a sense, that means it can be taken as proof that he is conscious about s.h.i.+nohara. But it doesn"t seem like Ike is keen on admitting that, he was vehemently denying it.

"You guys, don"t misunderstand this. Listen up, about s.h.i.+nohara. If I go out with a girl with an att.i.tude as bad as she has and as ugly as she is, I would be so embarra.s.sed I wouldn"t be able to go outside anymore. I absolutely refuse" Ike denied it.

"Ahh---".

Yamauchi and I both realized a certain presence at the same time and panickedly tried to change the subject.

"I got it, I got it. We already get it. Let"s choose Kokoro-chan"s present".

"No, you still don"t understand. The degree to which I think s.h.i.+nohara is ugly. Please listen. Firstly, it"s not just her face that"s ugly but also her personality. And on top of it all, her body is also lacking. In any case, it"s like she"s the ugliest among the uglies---" Ike continued.

"W-we understand that. Cut it out already, Kanji. Because, behind you---" Yamauchi trailed off.

"Huh? Behind?".

The Ike who had been going on about how much he hated s.h.i.+nohara pa.s.sionately, slowly turned around. When he did, he saw the form of s.h.i.+nohara who seemed to almost be breathing fire as well as her group of friends. And amongst them, there was also Kus.h.i.+da.

I suppose it was only natural. If they were intending on picking a birthday present for Inokas.h.i.+ra, it would be no surprise if they also happened to pick the same place.

"Ike should just go and die!".

Leaving behind those violent words, s.h.i.+nohara angrily left the shop. It seems Ike, who was left behind, didn"t even have the words to reply to her since he only absentmindedly stared at the leaving back of s.h.i.+nohara.

"W-w-what does she mean by die? s.h.i.+t, she"s saying too much for being just someone ugly. R-right?" Ike said that while trying to project a calm image to us despite having received a shock.

We couldn"t interject strongly here, so all we could do was slightly agree with him.

"O-oi. Ayanokouji look at this, there"s a baldie here!".

Yamauchi, who had been attempting to lighten the mood up by changing the subject, suddenly said that while shrugging his shoulders. He did say there was someone bald here, but as soon as I thought that I was convinced of it. In this cute shop, an incongruous giant of man was looking at a shelf stacked with goods with his back faced towards us.

It was Katsuragi of Cla.s.s A. He was wandering through the shop with a sharp and angry expression.

"Think he"s here to shoplift?".

Whatever happens, I doubt he"ll do something like that. But without thinking, I ended up hiding myself along with Ike and the others to watch the situation. The reason I took this action was because I was also curious partly because of his appearance.

"Perhaps that"s the case". If you think of it that way, perhaps you might be convinced. It seems Katsuragi is buying a present for someone as he came here after all. And it seems like he"s attempting to purchase something now. It seems he"s being cautious of his surroundings because he doesn"t wish for others to realize this fact. Eventually, Katsuragi chose one box and then started to head for the counter. Ike and the others finally leaped out of the shadows and gathered in front of the shelf from which Katsuragi chose his present.

It seemed to be something with the shape of a thin board stacked up one over another. Ike and the others took it into their hands and turned it around to read the product information on the back.

"This is...chocolate, right?".

It"s safe to a.s.sume it"s a present Katsuragi bought with the intention of giving it to someone. It was supposed to have only been that, but Ike and the others trembled as if mesmerized by something.

"I-it can"t be. That baldie already has a girlfriend?"

"Seriously? So this is the power of Cla.s.s A!".

It seems from something this trivial, they were both mesmerized and jealous and those feelings were laid bare here.

"That"s not really the case though. It might just be a present to a friend"

"You normally won"t give a friend a present with a wrapping this cute. Would you? Would you!? You wouldn"t".

"...I suppose".

Indeed it is a cute little box, the ribbon that"s on the package isn"t really something you would hand to a friend...

At the very least, it"s not something you would hand to a member of the same s.e.x. So going from that, it would have to be an intimate girl he"s giving it to. If I think of it that way, the idea of him having a lover that was suggested to me, I would inevitably be drawn to think of that as a possibility. Ike and the others once again glance at the Katsuragi who was still advancing towards the counter, and from the shadows of the shelves, continue their information collecting.

"Is it a birthday present?".

"Yes".

"Will you be attaching a birthday card to this?".

"Please. The birthday is August 29".

Katsuragi answered the clerk"s questions. I wonder whose present it is? In any case, it seems the product itself is meant to be a birthday present. Having overheard that too, Ike and the others began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Did you hear that? Which girl has her birthday on the 29th?".

"I-I don"t know...today is the 21st and it"s a Sunday so...it"ll be the Monday of the week after the next. Do you know anything, Ayanokouji?".

"I wonder. I have entirely no idea" I replied.

If even those two, who have completely familiarized themselves with the girls don"t know, there is no way I could possibly know of it too.

2

"Hey...I"ve already given up since I"ve been saying this over and over but why is it my room?".

At night, for some reason, after eating dinner each individual member of the usual group gathered in my room. Ike and Yamauchi were naturally here as promised, but also Kus.h.i.+da and Sudou who had finished his club activities were also here.

It would be perfect if Horikita were also here.

"Kikyo-chan, do you know the birthdays of any other girl?".

"Yeah. I"ve pretty much memorized it from all the girls I"ve heard from so I know more or less. Whose birthday do you want to know?".

"The thing is, it might not be someone from Cla.s.s D".

"Umm, if it"s about senior students then I really don"t know much but if it"s only about the 1st years I might know" Kus.h.i.+da answered him.

As expected of Kus.h.i.+da, who has mastered the art of worldly wisdom. She seems to have recorded the birthday dates as to not forget them.

"Then tell me one thing, which girls have their birthday on the 29th of this month?".

"A girl with a birthday on the 29th? Give me a moment".

Having brought out her phone, it seems Kus.h.i.+da is going through what is probably a birthday list. And after that, she scrolled across the screen for a while but after a while, she raised her head.

"Sorry. It doesn"t seem to be anyone I know of" she said.

"I think it"s probably a girl from Cla.s.s A".

"Cla.s.s A? Hmm, I"ve already heard all their birthdays though".

Even so, she doesn"t seem to know the birthday of the girl that would be taking place the day after tomorrow.

"If it"s a 1st year girl I thought I"d know though, I can"t think of anyone". If even Kus.h.i.+da"s overwhelming social network could not place a name to that person it probably means the person receiving the gift would have to be from a different school year.

If that is the case, even Kus.h.i.+da won"t know and we were unable to get the answer we were looking for.

"Does that mean the chances of it being a senior student are high?".

Ike threw up his arms helplessly with that statement and fell on his back.

"Is there something wrong with that person born on the 29th?" Kus.h.i.+da asked Ike. And in response to her simple question, Ike replied to her in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Listen to this~. You know the baldie from Cla.s.s A Katsuragi right?".

"Yep. Katsuragi-kun is the one who"s responsible for organizing everyone in his cla.s.s so he"s quite famous. In the test earlier I was in the same group as him" Kus.h.i.+da replied.

"The thing is, that baldie"s going to be giving someone a birthday present on the 29th. For a baldie that"s not too shabby".

After hearing Ike repeat the keyword "baldie" many times over, Kus.h.i.+da gave him a warning to be careful---

"Katsuragi-kun suffered from a sickness when he was little leaving him with complete hair loss. You better not tease him" Kus.h.i.+da warned.

"Uuuuu...."

Having been scolded by Kus.h.i.+da like that, Ike who was elated just a while ago quickly backed down and went silent. Indeed, we were too excited to notice that the lack of hair, aside from being a fas.h.i.+on statement, could only have been a result of sickness.

The act of mocking the sick is a shameful one, and Ike himself should have realized this. Just playing it up for cheap laughs because it was an easy point to mock seems to have backfired and lowered his likability.

"Right? From now on, let"s call him properly by his name ok?".

"O-of course, sorry Kikyo-chan. I made you feel uncomfortable".

"It"s ok, as long as you understand. If you"re going to fix that att.i.tude from now on I"d be glad".

But after that conversation had ended, it seems she still has something to say to us since Kus.h.i.+da, without wasting any time, continued to talk.

"And also, about what happened today with s.h.i.+noharsan---".

"Uuuuu....".

It seems Ike who have preferred to forget that ever happened, but since Kus.h.i.+da was bringing up the subject, he could not stop her either.

"I don"t even have to tell you, right?" she asked him. And without delving into the subject itself, she simply said that kindly.

"...I"ll apologize" Ike said.

"Right. If you do that, I"m sure s.h.i.+noharsan will also forgive you".

Although he seemed dissatisfied with it, Ike still honestly said that in front of Kus.h.i.+da. And towards Yamauchi, who was giggling at him, Ike sent a hateful glare. But leaving that aside, thanks to Kus.h.i.+da, it seems Ike was able to mature slightly.

"And? You were talking about Katsuragi-kun giving someone a birthday present, right?".

"Yeah, yeah. I was wondering if Kikyo-chan would know anything about it".

It seems Kus.h.i.+da is utilizing her social network and searching for any clues inside her head, but it seems she wasn"t able to find anything since after a while, she simply shook her head.

"I wonder, I don"t really think Katsuragi-kun has that sort of image about him".

At least not yet, she added.

"Is there a chance that it could be a senior student?".

"That"s right, there are still a lot that I don"t know about after all".

It would be amazing if he was able to go out with a senior student not too long after enrolling, or giving them a birthday present. I honestly wish to offer my respects to the Cla.s.s A leader.

However, I wonder if it would be ok if we narrowed down the search to only senior students at this stage. It seems approaching this matter from a different perspective is necessary, but the mood has already switched to finding his girlfriend.

"Since it"s come to this, let"s find out who"s Katsuragi"s girlfriend!".

I feel bad for interrupting them while they"re in high spirits but it would be prudent to point out that there is still another possibility.

"Is it really ok to conclude that it"s a senior student?".

"But Kikyo-chan already said she doesn"t know any girl whose birthday is the 29th so there"s really no other option besides that, right? Or is it that? By any chance, could it be Horikitsan?".

It was only Ike"s uneducated guess, but I cannot rule out that possibility either.

"I suppose that"s also a possibility...".

"Huh? Don"t f.u.c.k around" Sudou said. Sudou, who had been quietly listening to our conversation until now, said those words while glaring at me and Ike.

"Guuu! I-I just said that was a possibility, that"s all!" Ike replied to Sudou.

"Oi Ayanokouji, when is Suzune"s birthday" Sudou asked me.

"I don"t know" I replied.

"What the h.e.l.l you"re useless" Sudou told me.

But even if he says that, there"s no way I would know when Horikita"s birthday is.

"If you think about it logically, I don"t think anyone in this school knows when Horikita"s birthday is".

The only one who would likely know would have to be the student council president who also happens to be her older brother.

"I see. I suppose that"s also true, so even though Ayanokouji and I don"t know, he knows huh---".

"I know too. Horikitsan"s birthday is on the 15th of February. I don"t think that has anything to do with this case" Kus.h.i.+da piped in.

"...as expected of Kus.h.i.+da".

I unexpectedly praised her without thinking. I never expected she"d even know Horikita"s birthday. I thought even Kus.h.i.+da would not be able to find out the personal information of loners like Horikita and Ibuki. Especially when it came to Horikita. This is something only I and the concerned party know, but apparently Kus.h.i.+da hates Horikita and in turn, Horikita also dislikes Kus.h.i.+da. That"s why I never thought they would be the type to tell each other of their birthdays. She could have learned from a third party, but it"s not like Horikita normally talks to other people as well. That"s why I was impressed with Kus.h.i.+da.

"So it"s the 15th of February, huh? I"ve heard something really good" Sudou says while grinning and laughing. Ike, whose neck was trapped under Sudou"s arm, tapped the ground while his face slowly turned pale.

"Oh---sorry, I forgot about you" Sudou tells Ike.

"Zeze, Ken you should be more careful since you have monstrous strength!".

"It"s because you were saying some confusing stuff".

"Then do it to Ayanokouji too, why are you only picking on me?!".

"It"s because you"re the closest".

"You single-celled organism!" Ike shouted back at Sudou.

"Huh?".

When Sudou moved to grab him by the chest again, Ike panicked and quickly took his distance from Sudou. I"d like him to stop rampaging around in someone else"s room. Sooner or later I think there will be a complaint.

"The conversation drifted a bit, but what I wanted to say is different. I wanted to say that there are also other possible candidates. It could also be for a teacher or for one of the clerks at Keyaki Mall. The people we saw during shopping today were all beauties, right?" I said.

"I-I see. When you put it that way, it seems like that"s also possible".

Of course, that is leaving aside whether or not a grown-up would actually attempt to date a 1st year student. Considering rules and morals, and the ma.s.sive problem it would entail, I cannot imagine such a couple relations.h.i.+p being established. I"m sure Katsuragi also understands that. It"s just that it"s too soon to exclude that as one of the possibilities.

In any case, what we have to be mindful of right now is, to not arbitrarily decide that it must be a senior student. Basically, it"s quite difficult to narrow down the person in question, so I"d like them to quickly understand that it"s best to just leave it alone.

"Let"s stop beig overly excited by ourselves here and stop trying to find out who"s Katsuragi"s girlfriend, how about that?"

"Are you fine with that?! Even if that baldie has an older girlfriend who"s both tolerant of him and with extremely large b.r.e.a.s.t.s?".

Even if he had that sort of ideal girlfriend, I wouldn"t feel the need to curse at him.

"If it"s someone from Cla.s.s A, it wouldn"t be strange even if they were popular with older girls".

But alas this is Cla.s.s D. Just having a handsome face or a good personality won"t be enough to make us popular...but that"s not really right either. Hirata is not only popular with the 1st year girls but also senior students as well, it seems like.

And also, a while ago, it seems Kouenji has been getting some attention from the senior students as well.

In the end, it seems the one thing Ike and the others share with me is our lack of popularity.

"I absolutely don"t want him to get ahead of me!" Ike said.

"But even if you say that, there"s nothing we can do about it".

"That"s not true. Just because it"s an opponent that we"re likely to lose to, doesn"t mean we have no chances of winning either" Sudou said as he glanced at us while hitting his thighs.

"In basketball, as long as it"s for victory, even barely legal plays can be done. No, if it"s for the sake of victory, as long as it"s needed even outright fouls will be committed. You need to be that serious and obsessed about winning. If him giving a girl a present would bring him closer to her, all we have to do is stop him from doing it" Sudou continued.

He seems rather aggressive. But if this were a crucial game to be won, Sudou"s idea is the perfect answer. If it were me, I would have done the same thing. But this time, this idea is not coming from a logical point of view but rather being done out of personal jealousy. It"s not something that should be praised. But even so, it"s not like the usual Sudou, he seems to be all fired up.

"Speaking of which, your tournament"s coming up soon".

It seems Yamauchi noticed that since he said that as he turned to look at Sudou.

"Yeah. It"s on Thursday. I still don"t know if I"ll get to play or not but I"m ready to head out onto the field anytime" Sudou said as he slammed his right fist into his opened left hand as if to show off his perfect condition.

"Yeah, that"s it! I"m going to mess with him". In response to Sudou"s reckless thoughts, Ike seems to have made a decision to interfere.

"Kus.h.i.+da, please say something to him".

"Kanji-kun, it"s no good if you interfere with him like that".

"Ehhh, no way...Kikyo-chan, you"re also interested to find out who"s Katsuragi"s girlfriend aren"t you?".

"Of course I"m also interested to know who he"s giving the present to, but intefering is no good".

In the end, Kus.h.i.+da doused Ike"s excitement from his intention to interfere, leaving him discontent.

"And that"s that".

Perhaps he"s dissatisfied from having his idea to interfere using Kus.h.i.+da be ruined, or from being reminded of the incident with s.h.i.+nohara, Ike turned to me and said this.

"Then Ayanokouji. You find out their ident.i.ty. Who exactly is it that Katsuragi is going to hand his present over to".

"That"s impossible".

"Even if it"s impossible, you must still do it. You"re free anyways, right?" Ike told me.

I certainly cannot deny that but...if he"s that curious I"d like him to investigate it himself.

"Finding out is fine and all but, I"m not in the same cla.s.s as him and we"re not even friends you know" I told him.

It"s going to be painful to research the contact number, the room number and names of people I don"t even know.

"If it"s Katsuragi-kun"s contact number then I know. Do you want me to tell you?" Kus.h.i.+da asked me.

".....".

That"s right...the one beside me right now is someone who even knows Horikita"s birthday, the beautiful girl with the largest social network in the school. It certainly wouldn"t be strange even if she were to know Katsuragi"s contact number.

"How do you know his contact number?".

"A while ago during the test we were in the same group. I asked him for it then".

I see. To be able to exchange contact numbers even in a situation like that is something amazing.

"So, I"ll tell you then".

"No. That"s fine. If I just suddenly happened to contact him, Katsuragi would also be surprised".

He might even ignore an incoming call from a number he doesn"t recognize.

"You stopped me from interfering with him so take responsibility" Ike told me.

"Even if you tell me to take responsibility...".

"I"m also curious so make sure to investigate it" Sudou gives me an order with a bullish att.i.tude.

"Don"t you think you should investigate it yourselves?" I asked.

"Huh? I"m not free until the tournament on Thursday. I only have a few more days to practice you know?" Sudou replies to me.

He"s using his club activities as an excuse to force this onto me. When I remained silent without answering him, Sudou starts to glare at me.

"Do you want me to make you listen to me with force?" Sudou asks me as he starts swinging his arms around. Depending on the situation, he may put me in a headlock. In this group, the one with the lowest communication ability, which is me, would be unable to escape if he decides to make an example out of me.

"...I got it. I"ll try looking into it tomorrow. Just don"t expect too much. I don"t know how it"s going to turn out" I told him. Let"s get this over with for now. I can just tell them later I tried to investigate it and couldn"t find out anything and that"ll be the end of that.

3

"It"s hot...it"s so hot I could die from this....".

The next day, in order to scout out Katsuragi"s outings, I found myself on a street lined with trees. This is the street that branches off to the dormitories of each grade and as such in order to meet with a senior student, one would inevitably need to pa.s.s through here. In addition, this street also leads to Keyaki Mall where there are a mult.i.tude of shops as well as leading to the school itself. Therefore, wherever Katsuragi decides to go, I will not miss him.

Normally I would wait in the lobby where it"s cool, however unfortunately a group of girls from another cla.s.s who I do not know have decided to have a tea party there and that option was suppressed.

There was a shop I could have entered but it seems there aren"t any seats left available, leaving him hesitant to actually enter, something like that. And my heart wasn"t brave enough to slip into whatever free s.p.a.ce I could find and relax there either. Occasionally, male and female students in their casual wear pa.s.s by peacefully, heading out to play for the day. Naturally all the students would be in their casual wear. Which was why I thought back to the Katsuragi who was wearing his uniform yesterday and asked myself a question. There is no rule stating that one cannot wear their uniform over the summer vacation. However, since the uniform itself stores heat and quickly heats up as such, even if one does not care much about being fas.h.i.+onable, it still wouldn"t be convincing enough for them to go out wearing their uniform.

But if he treats his uniform as his summer wear also that would be slightly more convincing. And instead of summer wear, Katsuragi was dressed sharply complete with long sleeves. It was something I had noticed recently, but there seems to be many variations of our uniform. Of course, the me who is constantly short on points was unaware of this, but it seems summer wear clothes are being sold at a rather expensive price as I had recently learned. The girls in our cla.s.s, despite wanting those clothes someday, are currently forced into a state where they have to bear with it. It"s part of the theory that one wears their casual wear when going out, but a reason to dare to wear one"s uniform.....

As I thought of such a thing, my mind immediately goes to a similar type of person. The Katsuragi from yesterday, and not just him, it seems there are quite a few people who prefer their uniforms. And from the dormitory where senior students live, a male and a female student walk out. When they noticed me, they diverted from their path and approached me.

"It"s been a while".

"I was wondering who would wear their uniform in this s.h.i.+tty hot weather, so it"s Horikita"s brother huh..." I replied.

Unlike Katsuragi, they were wearing a summer variation of the uniform, however seeing them wear their uniforms on a holiday made me recall feelings of incompatibility.

"Uwa, President, this boy has a "I just met with someone troublesome" face about him". Although I had only made such an easy-to-understand expression, the girl standing beside the elder Horikita, the 3rd year secretary Tachibana, said that in an exaggerated tone.

But even so, unlike the male uniforms, the uniform that the girls wear don"t seem to give off the feeling of being hot.

If I could feel such coolness, I wouldn"t be making complaints like that though.

"Even though it"s the summer vacation, it seems the student council is rather busy" I asked them. Secretary Tachibana seems to be holding something resembling a notebook. I almost thought for a moment that the second semester had already begun.

"We were simply using the summer vacation to renovate the student council room and that is the extent of this relations.h.i.+p" Secretary Tachibana explains that to me without even the need to bother the president.

"I see, see you then" I told her.

"Uwaaa, for someone that just heard something like that your reaction is awfully carefree. More importantly you, you should watch your mouth a little bit more too. Do you even know who this person is? This is the fearsome student council president of this school, you know" Tachibana told me.

I know that. I also know that he wields an unbelievable amount of influence too. At first I did think to show respect and deference towards him, and even speak formally, but I had stopped thinking that along the way.

The elder Horikita too, does not seem to wish for me to speak formally and so I chose to not hold back.

But even so, Secretary Tachibana too seemed to be different from how I had initially imagined her. I had thought her to be a more serious person than this, but it seems she"s quite a lenient person as well.

"Do you wish to impose a penalty on me befitting this school? Sorry but I"m completely out of points" I told her as if to shrug off her words. The elder Horikita too, I had thought, wouldn"t want anything to do with a person like me but rather than leaving he narrowed his eyes and said this to me.

"Ayanokouji, if you are currently free, I want you to accompany me for a while"

"P-President?".

It seems Secretary Tachibana is surprised at the president who had just invited me. I was surprised too. But---

"Sorry but my schedule"s already full" I told him.

"Ehh? You"re declining?".

And now Secretary Tachibana seems to be overwhelmed by my rejection of the student council president"s invitation.

"Then when are you free. I don"t mind changing my schedule for you. I don"t mind even if it"s after school resumes" he tells me. It seems the elder Horikita is showing no signs of giving up.

It usually doesn"t do much good to postpone the problem I guess. And besides, if we do this at a later date there"s the possibility that I would end up wasting more time. If that"s the case, it would be more convenient to do this now.

"Then let"s hear it now. I still have some time until my next task" I told him.

"But you said your schedule was full just now?". I deflected all of Secretary Tachibana"s interjections as she said them.

"Where were you planning on going from here? I don"t mind changing my schedule to accomodate you".

"Ahh---I"m waiting for someone. If we can help it, I don"t want to move from here" I replied to him.

"But it"s hot here, you know? It"s not a suitable place for a meeting".

"I"m well aware".

Even though it"s hot here, I thought myself an upstanding person for honorably carrying out this punishment game scenario. It was self-praise.

"I suppose sometimes talking while standing isn"t so bad either. If you feel uncomfortable here, I don"t mind if you return to the dormitory ahead of me".

"No. My antenna is telling me I cannot leave president alone with this boy here" Tachibana replied to him. And after saluting the student council president like that, Secretary Tachibana stuck to him almost like a bodyguard.

"Reports have come in to the student council. The uninhabited island test and the special examination on the s.h.i.+p. Were they hard?" he asks me.

"The student council really has a lot of influence, huh? To think they"d even be privy to those reports".

"Even though I say reports, we don"t know all the details. Individual actions and the degree thereof are unknown to us".

"I"m glad about that".

"Aren"t you glad? That the president doesn"t know about your failings" Tachibana said to me. It seems Secretary Tachibana never misses a chance to spit venom at me. It seems, at some point, she"s marked me as her enemy.

I suppose it was inevitable given I was casually talking back to the president.

"But information is something that always ends up leaking. The fact that you outsmarted the other cla.s.ses during the uninhabited island test, and the fact that you held the "target" on the cruise s.h.i.+p when you were a.s.signed to the (Rabbit) group is something that is known to us" he told me.

Despite saying it"s unknown, it seems a lot of it has been leaked. This is going to make me doubt their integrity.

"In addition, the name of Horikita Suzune came up after the uninhabited island test. That she became the center of her cla.s.s and outsmarted the other cla.s.ses. But in regards to that, I think the one truly responsible for that is you" he tells me and it seems the older Horikita has an absolute confidence in that. I softly murmured that to myself.

"You"re completely overestimating me though?".

"The name of the leader ultimately changed to you. How would you explain that?".

"...you even know about something like that, huh?"

"The only ones who know of this fact are me and the Special Examinations Committee only. And now Secretary Tachibana has overheard us. This is something not even the homeroom teachers know of, so relax" he said.

This isn"t a situation where I can just relax. Just how much influence does this man have? Normally, student councils are just decorations without any real power. For them to surpa.s.s even the teachers, what exactly is this?

"What exactly is this student council?" I asked him.

"The student council by itself has no power. It"s up to the talent of the person leading it".

"That"s again an impressive statement. I did hear about it earlier, but you"re really Cla.s.s A aren"t you?".

I never really needed to confirm it, but since I"m already here I asked him again.

"Isn"t that obvious? It"s natural!!!" Tachibana replied.

"But in that case I still don"t understand something. How large is the difference between me and Horikita? Actually, if you only look at our data, Horikita is far superior to me. I don"t understand the reason you"re bothering yourself with a D like me" I told him.

"You"re misunderstanding one thing. I don"t think the people of Cla.s.s D are stupid. It"s not like this school is sorting out exceptional people in order starting from Cla.s.s A or anything like that".

"Umm president...I think you"re saying too many unnecessary things, I think you may have said too much?".

"There"s no problem. This man naturally understands that already".

Just how far is he intending to go in overpraising me? Ever since our strange first meeting, this student council president-sama seems to be focusing on me to a troublesome extent.

"Then why did you reject Horikita? Isn"t it because she"s of Cla.s.s D?" I asked him.

"Regardless of the environment, as long as she"s my sister I understand everything about her capability. She"s a failure who was placed in Cla.s.s D because she deserved it. There"s nothing more and nothing less than that" he replied. This man sure views his sister very harshly.

"All of it was planned by Horikita. Your sister doesn"t have any friends besides me you see, so I was only given the necessary role" I told him.

"That"s wrong. This is not an idea she would think of".

Perhaps it"s because they spent a long time together as siblings, it seems he has a complete grasp on her way of thinking. But even so, I have reached a point of understanding.

One of the reasons this man has set his eyes on me is most likely the same reason as Chabas.h.i.+rsensei.

If he"s noticed my playful 50% test scores on the entrance examination, it wouldn"t be strange if he has also noticed the difference between my student report and my resume.

"Please stop fis.h.i.+ng for my personal information like a stalker. I want to lead a quiet school life".

I appealed to him like that but after he touched his gla.s.ses once he again said this crazy statement.

"I did offer you this a while ago but, won"t you join the student council?" he asks me.

Secretary Tachibana then panics with fluttering wide eyes. An extremely surprising statement had just been made.

"That"s quite a laidback student council you have there. Have the seats not yet been filled?" I asked.

"P-President? Just a few days ago, the student council accepted a 1st year girl already, hasn"t it? Isn"t that the end of it? We also took in some 2nd years and all the seats should already be filled".

And that"s apparently that. I said that to that man with eye contact but he proceeded to say something unprecedented.

"There is still one empty seat left" he said.

"One...it can"t be!?".

"Ayanokouji. If you wish, I will use my influence to make you vice president" he told me.

"W-wait".

Secretary Tachibana seems to be back to her energetic self. I thought she was an interesting person from watching her.

"This is unprecedented! It"s a 1st year and also from Cla.s.s D. It can"t be that this rude boy can suddenly become vice president!".

"I"ve said this many times over but I refuse" I told him.

"And in addition to that, I refuse without any more questions asked" I added.

But even so, this is strange. He doesn"t seem to be saying this in jest, but the evaluation and the way he seems to be treating me is not normal. Indeed, to a certain extent, the elder Horikita has access to information.

Compared to Ike and Yamauchi (no offense to them), I can understand why he would choose me. But if we go by potential alone, starting with Katsuragi and Ichinose, including Hirata and even Kouenji. There should be plenty of students like that that exist. There should be no reason he would go to such lengths to elect me. That means there is a reason why it has to be me, in other words.

"It may not be for me to say as the student council president. But starting from next year, this school will undergo a ma.s.sive change. And it"s not going to be a desirable change at that. And when that time comes, in order to protect the rules of this school, I need to create a force capable of countering it from this current stage. It might already be too late though. I feel the necessity for that growing stronger every day" he told me.

"President, you"re talking about that in the scenario where Nagumo-kun becomes the student council president, right? I don"t quite believe he would end up making a bad school...".

I"ve never heard of the name Nagumo from amongst the 1st years. Changing starting from next year would mean he is from among the 2nd years.

"Normally, there can be up to two vice presidents at a time in the student council. Starting next year it seems it"ll be just one, but if you change your mind, it"s still not an impossible thing to do" he tells me.

"No, no, no President. Surely that"s impossible...there"s no way Nagumo-kun would give his permission for something like that".

"I don"t know anything about vice presidents or any Nagumos but I won"t do it. You"re going to graduate and leave this school, that"s all right? There"s no need for you to worry about the students left behind. Or is it---". I slightly paused so that it would lend more weight to my next words.

"If it"s because you"re worried about your sister and want my help, then there might be room for you to consult me on the matter" I told him.

"...I see".

If I say that, then this man too, will not be able to depend on me too much. As a matter of fact, he seems to have given up completely, since after that he stopped touching on the subject of the student council.

"Sorry for taking up your time. That"s all the business I have with you. But feel free to drop by the student council any time, I"d be happy to treat you to tea" he told me.

So even this man who"s built up a firm foundation for this school has his own anxieties, huh? While feeling such an unexpected thing, I decided to return---but I can"t go back. It was the perfect timing to go back though. It"s too bad I have to wait for Katsuragi.

4

The situation started turning for the better roughly 30 minutes after my conversation with the older Horikita. Wearing the exact same outfit as yesterday, Katsuragi was slowly heading in my direction. While I observed him from a slight distance away out of his path, I saw him holding in his hands what seems like the bag containing what he bought from that shop yesterday.

"What does it mean?".

There"s still time left until the 29th. Normally one would keep something like that in their room until then. But the fact that he is carrying it around now, perhaps he means to hand it over now?

Even so, I"m curious about his uniform-wearing appearance. Perhaps he intends to act in his formal wear, but honestly I"d rather not see him handing over the present in this heat wearing that outfit.

I held my breath as I attempt to confirm where Katsuragi is headed. And when I did, we soon came to a crossroads. Katsuragi did not proceed down the road that leads to the dormitories of the senior students. He instead proceeded down a road that was outside of my expectations surprisingly. What lies at the end of that road was the school amidst a summer vacation. I shadow him without alerting him.

"So that"s why he was wearing his uniform---".

It wasn"t because he liked wearing it but rather because he intended to enter the school. I finally understand. Katsuragi then entered the school from the main entrance. But since it"s come to this, I can"t follow Katsuragi just like that. As long as it is forbidden to enter the school building in casual wear, I cannot enter.

"Did you meet Katsuragi?!".

As my phone vibrated, my screen seems to be projecting a chat that seems to have been sent to my from the room. Then, without reading the message, I closed my phone and decided to change the direction of my attack. I headed towards the shop where we selected our presents yesterday at Keyaki Mall. And once there, I randomly entered a shop that seems to be popular with girls. I was curious what kind of presents would be sold in other shops.

It"s just, even when compared to other shops, I could not tell what the difference was. In the end, I ended up returning to the shop from yesterday where Katsuragi bought his birthday present. I eventually reached the place where chocolates put in small, thin boxes were stacked. I did take into consideration the possibility that it might not just be a seniors student but a man he"s giving the present to, but looking at it again, that possibility isn"t very high. The chocolates were decorated with hearts and other decorations that girls would like.

"Kyahaha, I know right?". Some girls, who had started being loud inside the shop, pa.s.sed behind me. At that moment, I received a slight b.u.mp to my back.

"Woah". The products that I b.u.mped into with my elbow shook lightly, and the pile of stacked chocolate collapsed like an avalanche. The girls who were engulfed in their conversation, without even noticing the tragedy that had occurred here, simply left the shop while still talking.

"Geez". I do know that I don"t have much of a presence, but I"d like them to at least notice me a little.

"What are you doing?". As I was attempting to restack the fallen products desperately, a giant man called out to me from behind. It was Katsuragi who should have gone to the school.

He looks down at me with a perplexed face.

"I"m here to...buy a birthday present". Having unexpectedly run into him, it was all I could do to answer. After glancing at the scattered gift boxes, he bends down with his large body to pick them up.

"Ahh. No. I can pick them up myself".

"Don"t mind it. It would be bad to let other customers see this. It"s better to clean it up quickly. Two is better than one in that case".

Having said that, and without even a sign of disliking it, he went on to lend me a hand. It"s been around 30 minutes that I had spent visiting other shops, I wonder if he finished up his business at the school during that time.

But in Katsuragi"s hands, he was holding a bag of products from this shop. I sneaked a peek into it and when I did, it seemed to contain a small box packaged as a gift. It seems he hasn"t given it yet.

"This should be fine". When the two of us did it together, we cleaned up the shop in no time. Fortunately, neither the clerk nor any customers happened to see this.

"Thanks". I think Katsuragi is basically a good person. During the time on the uninhabited island too, Katsuragi showed strange goodwill towards us such as when he kept watch over the corn we found. Naturally, he won"t show any mercy if it comes to a compet.i.tion between cla.s.ses, but it seems his personality itself isn"t that of a bad person.

"Are you buying a present for your girlfriend?" Katsuragi asks me.

"Ehh? No, it"s not like that. She"s just a cla.s.smate. I think I"ll just buy it next time". It"s not like I ever intended to buy it in the first place, but I said that as I took my distance from that corner.

And as if to match my actions, Katsuragi also took his distance, so I decided to chat him up a little to see if I could extract some information from him.

"Are you also buying a birthday present?" I asked him.

"Hmm? Why did you think that?".

"You"re holding a bag from this shop in your hands, I was in the same corner too".

"I see. Indeed it is true, I suppose I shouldn"t have even needed to think that" he replies to me. Perhaps he"s convinced, but Katsuragi nods and meets my gaze.

"I was in a bit of trouble since I couldn"t find the item I wanted, what did you buy?".

"It"s no big deal. I just bought one of the chocolates you pushed down just now. I think this shop"s set of items isn"t bad at all, but I suppose it"s up to each individual person to have their own preferences. I would do well to look around in other shops too" Katsuragi answers me.

Then, without telling me who he is giving it too and without me hearing any names, the two of us left the shop.

"Why are you wearing your uniform?". Naturally I"m not going to be mentioning yesterday, but for two consecutive days Katsuragi"s been coming here wearing his uniform. It would be the obvious thing to do to ask him about it.

"It"s necessary to wear a uniform if you wish to enter the school building after all. That"s why it couldn"t be helped" he tells me.

"That means you went to school?". Of course, since I was tailing him, I already know he had gone to school earlier. Now all that"s left is to ask him "who" he"s giving it to. In his hands, Katsuragi"s still gripping the bag.

I had thought it would be possible to obtain some information from him, but unfortunately it doesn"t seem like it"s going to be the case.

"Ahh. There are also various things I wanted to hand over". He did not talk deeply on the matter, but it seems Katsuragi has something on his mind since he glanced in the direction of the school.

"Have you ever thought about this? The disadvantages in going to this school?".

"Disadvantages?".

"That"s right. It doesn"t have anything to do with cla.s.ses, but all students equally share in it". I had to put some effort into the mysterious question I was asked. If this has something to do with the difference in cla.s.ses, then problems will arise on a case-by-case basis.

There are cases like Cla.s.s D that"s beset by a point shortage, but it"s hard to imagine Cla.s.s A would have such troubles. But from the statement that this applies equally to all students, such things can be excluded. If so, exactly what is it? Although I was seriously attempting to find the answer, I could not reach a conclusion.

"You don"t know? Of course it varies from person to person but "You cannot contact the outside" is the disadvantage" Katsuragi tells me.

"Ahh. I see". But since that for me was not a disadvantage, but rather an advantage, I did not consider it at all. Of course, if you look at it normally, it might be considered a disadvantage.

"Don"t you want to contact your parents or your siblings?" Katsuragi asks me.

"I wonder. But leaving me aside, I think quite a lot of students would say the same thing". In particular, girls would often complain that they"re lonely. However, in regards to information leakage to the outside, this school strictly prohibits all forms of contact. If one carelessly breaks this rule, it won"t end with just a warning.

"But the benefits you receive in return are ma.s.sive and I don"t think this is reason enough to be dissatisfied?".

"Indeed that is true. Both the point system and completeness of the facilities are something ordinary students can not enjoy and is certainly an advantage".

Furthermore, he also gets the benefit of having graduated from Cla.s.s A.

Wait, why the h.e.l.l am I conversing naturally with Katsuragi? In addition, during the summer vacation.

"You"re a student who"s close with Horikita, aren"t you?".

"Is a false rumor like that spreading around?" I asked him.

"False rumor? I distinctly remember you acting together with her when you met me".

"It"s something like a connection of fate that happens commonly, or more like from the flow that started when we were a.s.signed seats next to each other, we just happened to talk to each other from there is all".

As long as it"s talk pertaining to the school, it"s nothing unusual at all, I think. It seems Katsuragi"s also got such an image since he nods.

"So that"s how it is. It seems surprisingly I don"t know a lot about the other cla.s.ses despite thinking I did. If I made you feel uncomfortable, please forgive me. I don"t have any ulterior motives in this" Katsuragi tells me.

"It"s something I hear often recently so it"s fine. It seems Horikita"s doing a great job".

"That"s right". Katsuragi briefly agreed with me, but he isn"t showing any signs of continuing.

"To tell you the truth, this is the third time I"ve come to this shop. I"m the type to constantly think about something I"m worrying about, you see. Even though it"s just a present, when I think about the feelings of the one receiving it, I cannot just decide simply".

Someone he worries over giving a present to, I wonder just who it is. Should I try to dig into it a little?

"It might be strange to say something like this, but you"re an upstanding person. To buy someone a birthday present like this".

"Do you think it"s strange to celebrate the day of one"s birth?" Katsuragi asks me.

At the very least seeing a giant skinhead do it gives me a feeling of incompatibility. But that"s just a prejudiced view. In this world there are even delinquents born that would save a cat in the middle of the pouring rain.

"I"ll be honest, who are you going to give it to?" I cut to the chase. I won"t get far even if I beat around the bush.

"To who, huh?".

Perhaps that question confounded even the person in question, since he showed some hesitation.

"It"s something personal. It"s not something for you to hear about" he tells me.

I think it"s something that can"t be helped but he ended up evading the question. If he answers like that, I would no longer be in a position to inquire further. If it"s a best friend it would be a different matter though.

"Excuse me". And without leaving a single word behind, Katsuragi left towards the dormitory.

I did manage to solve the problem of why he was wearing a uniform, but further mysteries only arose from that. Why did he go to the school? Why did he show up at the shop again? I could not clearly see the answers to those.

5

"Oi, Ike. I investigated the Katsuragi case".

"Seriously? You"re pretty good, Ayanokouji. I"m seeing you in a new light now". Saying that, Ike praised me while putting a hand on my shoulder. Was I even doing something that deserved being seen in a new light? Feeling a little doubt about how low Ike had evaluated me internally, I reported the situation to him.

"Unfortunately, I couldn"t find out who from where he was giving it to". That"s not quite true. To be more specific, I couldn"t find out the profile of any girl he could possibly be giving it to. No matter how much I investigated, I couldn"t quite figure it out.

In the same school year, there is no one with that birthday date. However, I couldn"t think of any student in the other school years as well.

In this case, wouldn"t the person we"re thinking of in a completely different location? Looking shocked, Yamauchi raised his head.

"This is bad...I knew this would happen. Just who is Katsuragi going to give his present to?". Rather than joy or excitement, Yamauchi instead made a sorrowful expression as he starts talking as if he"s understood something.

"Hey, Kanji. Didn"t you think Valentine"s was h.e.l.l back in middle school?".

"W-w-what are you saying all of a sudden? Sure, it was tough for me. But what about it?".

"Basically isn"t this a sort of extension of that...that guy, I think he could have bought it for himself".

"Surely no---n-no it could be possible. That baldie doesn"t seem like he"d be popular...".

The two of them seemed to be convinced after that brief, hard-to-understand exchange. But still, it was a development that I had never expected and so I decided to ask a question.

"Are you saying he bought himself a present for his birthday?".

"What else could it be, Ayanokouji". They glared at me as if they were angry. Leaving that aside, normally one won"t buy themselves their own presents, would they? Of course I did consider that he may have been rewarding himself with it to a degree. Like eating something delicious, or buying something he wants. But in this case, I don"t think that"s applicable.

He went out of his way to get a package a girl would like, complete with the wrappings and the chocolate inside. If he simply has that much of a sweet tooth, it would have suited him better to buy it in a different form.

"You seriously don"t get it?".

"...unfortunately" I replied.

"No matter how you look at it, Katsuragi doesn"t seem like the type to be popular with girls, right? But still, he is the leader of Cla.s.s A".

I"m going to withhold making any comments on that statement.

"That means he must be rather prideful. He would definitely want to make others around him think he"s popular. In other words, it"s an act".

"It means instead of saying it"s something he bought for himself, he"s going to play it off as if someone had given it to him, that"s what it means".

They must have felt there was nothing wrong with the conclusion they reached, since both Ike and Yamauchi nodded in agreement.

"I also did the same back in middle school too, I made it look like I got it from the cutest girl in the school".

"Hearing it like that doesn"t it sort of feel, hollow?".

"Isn"t it obvious? Of course it feels hollow, but it"s better than the crus.h.i.+ng despair of not getting any". He got angry. It seems for Ike, events like Valentine"s and birthdays truly are huge events.

"By the way Haruki, you were also in the same boat weren"t you?".

"Huh? No, I"m different. I was popular with the girls, you know?" Yamauchi replied to Ike.

"You liar. Then why did you say something like that? Wasn"t it because you thought he was doing the same thing as you?".

"I"m telling you that"s not true. In middle school, there was an unpopular guy like Kanji that I knew, that"s all" Yamauchi said. It was obviously a bluff, but I had neither the means nor the intention to find out the truth.

"But that"s just a guess, right?".

"No there"s no doubt about it. That absolutely has to be the case!". It seems they"ve decided there"s no further room to doubt the conclusion they"ve reached, since they did not argue with each other any further.

"Hey Haruki, maybe we"ve misunderstood baldie...Katsuragi?".

"Yeah. I was treating him with hostility because he was Cla.s.s A, but now all of a sudden he seems closer to us".

"That means, you were also an unpopular guy who bought presents for himself after all".

"No. It just reminded me of my cla.s.smate and I felt sorry for him that"s all" Yamauchi replied to Ike.

Yamauchi stubborn denies Ike"s statements.

"Do you want to cooperate for a moment?". All of a sudden, something like that was said.

"What do you mean by cooperate?".

"We"re going to prepare a birthday present for him".

From a state of antagonism towards Katsuragi, it seems Ike has instead changed to a state of sympathy.

"Sure, I understand it"s best getting one from a girl. But that"s impossible. And in that case, wouldn"t it be a blessing to receive a birthday present from someone else?".

I felt something was off with that logic, but I would be hard-pressed to deny it all.

Rather than buying a present for yourself for a lie, one would want to receive a present from someone else. It"s just, the thing to be careful of is sympathy can surprisingly be a troublesome thing. If Katsuragi did indeed buy the present for himself, would he even be ok with Ike and the others, who are in the know, celebrating it? On the other hand, he may instead get angry and reject their sympathy. Ike and Yamauchi have already begun discussing what to buy for him, but once again I felt doubt regarding that conclusion.

Indeed there are no girls whose birthday is tomorrow. But it"s not like all other possibilities have been cut out. The teachers of this school and other authorities, including the other employees on school grounds. If we broaden the definition of "girl" there are still a lot of candidates left.

And besides if it"s really a present for himself, would he just boldly buy it just like that. And on top of that, Katsuragi"s outfit was the unusual uniform in the middle of summer vacation. It couldn"t have done anything but make him stand out. It"s easy to imagine people would be suspicious if they saw him, and normally one wouldn"t act in uniform.

"Ayanokouji, you fork over some points too. If the three of us each have around 1500 points we could buy something nice for him".

I"ve already heard this kind of talk yesterday though.....

In other words, my expenditure would double. The expenditure of 1000 points is not a small thing.

"So Ayanokouji, this may be a little fast but tomorrow let"s celebrate Katsuragi"s birthday".

Has their switch already been turned, it seems the two of them are intent on buying Katsuragi a present.

"Are you really going to buy one?".

"Isn"t it obvious we"re going to buy? Don"t you also think of saving an unpopular, lone man?"

Ahh, this is becoming more and more troublesome so I chose not to refuse them. Having decided to meet up tomorrow, the conversation ended and we disbanded for the day.

6

As we gathered again the next day in the afternoon, the form of Kus.h.i.+da was also there.

"h.e.l.lo, Ayanokouji-kun".

"Oh, h.e.l.lo". Why is she here? Such questions were answered with the next words coming from Ike.

"No you see, yesterday I consulted Kikyo-chan. When I told her I wanted to buy a present for Katsuragi, she insisted on cooperating with us. And so she asked to join. Hey, Katsuragi would be happier too if instead of boys, a girl also celebrated his birthday" Ike told me.

He went on and on praising her, but I think he just simply wanted to create an opportunity where he could be together with Kus.h.i.+da. And on top of that, it would make her see Ike as someone who cares about his friends too.

"I"m also in Katsuragi-kun"s debt so naturally please let me share in the costs for the present" Kus.h.i.+da said. And in response to that gentle consideration, Ike stared at Kus.h.i.+da with lovestruck eyes.

Yamauchi too, despite him gunning for Sakura, seems to be strongly affected by Kus.h.i.+da"s charm as he seems to be having more fun than he did when it was only boys here.

"By the way, Ayanokouji-kun, why are you wearing your uniform?".

"It"s just like that". I did take off my jacket earlier since it was overwhelmingly hot, but as expected the uniform makes me stand out in a bad way too.

"Let"s hurry up and go!". Flanking Kus.h.i.+da"s sides, the two of them walked out leaving me behind. And almost immediately after, a conversation started to bloom. I"m always impressed whenever I see someone capable of striking up a conversation with anyone at any time. I walk slightly behind the three of them. On the way, I spotted someone unusual outside.

"Sorry, can you go on ahead? I"ve got something to do" I told them.

"Fine but make sure not to keep Kikyo-chan waiting".

"Yeah". I excused myself and I approached that certain person.

"You"re pretty carefree. The four of you going out shopping? Even though we suffered that much at the hands of Ryuuen-kun".

"Well, that just means Cla.s.s C did something well. No point in worrying about it now. Right?".

"You"re right...but, there are still a lot of things I"m not convinced of".

"Such as?".

"...nothing".

Then, with an expression like that of Sawajiri Erika, she turned her head and didn"t seem to have any sign of answering me.

"When are we right now?".

"Ehh?".

"I"m asking when we are right now, our school year. The month too".

"What are you talking about?".

"Look here, we"ve just finished the first semester of our first year. There"s no need to rush. Just because they"ve extended their lead by a little doesn"t mean there"s a need to despair".

"But even so, that was a crus.h.i.+ng defeat. If we don"t think of a way.....".

"Even though you can"t see what"s directly beneath you, you always look ahead. The student known as Horikita Suzune excels at academics, but when it comes to unique fights like this, you can"t do anything at all. That"s the current impression of you I have" I told Horikita.

"...I get that already".

"I see, so you were aware of it. In any case, I think it"s better for you to fall until you hit the bottom" I told her.

"What do you mean?".

Right now it"s fine for you to be thoroughly crushed, as long as you crawl back up in the end. I think Horikita has the potential to do that.

"There is an order to things. Right now you should take things slowly without rus.h.i.+ng, isn"t that fine?".

"You say there"s an order to things, but then why did you act on the uninhabited island? There"s a contradiction there" Horikita replies to me.

"Perhaps". It can"t be helped if Horikita, who does not know about my interactions with Chabas.h.i.+rsensei, thinks of this as something mysterious.

During the uninhabited island test, I was forced to "show my ability" so I had no choice but to act. Of course, the cruise s.h.i.+p exam, in which I did not have many p.a.w.ns to act through, proved to be difficult for me, but there were still several methods available to me. But the reason I did not use those methods despite that was, if I messed up too much, nothing good could come of it.

I am fundamentally disinterested in things like Cla.s.s A or Cla.s.s B. Therefore, without stirring up things too much, but still showing my abilities a little to Chabas.h.i.+rsensei, I can buy time that way.

That"s why looking at it from my perspective, even that earlier examination was a huge success.

"More importantly, don"t you have any questions to ask about my appearance?" I asked her.

"I do think you"re wearing awfully hot clothes, but I don"t have any other impression of it". As usual, she"s not interested in other people.

"What are you reading today?".

"It doesn"t matter to you, right?". Saying that, she didn"t show any signs of letting me see the book"s t.i.tle.

"Well, that"s fine too. I"m making Ike and the others wait so I"ll be leaving now. Do you want to come too?" I asked her.

"You must be joking. I will refuse" Horikita replied.

Having expected her to answer me like that, I decided to leave without hesitation.

7

"What are you guys doing...?". Suddenly surrounded by Ike and the others with who he had no connections, even the normally calm Katsuragi could not hide his surprise. It was there that Kus.h.i.+da, who must have partic.i.p.ated in the dialogue of the earlier exam, started talking to him.

"Sorry for being so sudden, Katsuragi-kun, do you have some time?".

"Kus.h.i.+da, huh? What is the meaning of this?" Katsuragi asks.

"The truth is, I heard it from Ike-kun and the others. But isn"t today supposed to be Katsuragi-kun"s birthday?".

"Muu...that"s right but...you"ve figured it out pretty well".

Perhaps he had no recollection of telling this fact to anyone, but he looks at us with a slightly confused expression.

"So that"s why the four of us here wanted to celebrate it with Katsuragi-kun and that"s why we called out to you" Kus.h.i.+da continued.

"No. There"s no reason to do anything that special. Am I wrong?" Katsuragi replies. It seems rather than rejoicing at this, he"s put his guard up. That was inevitable. It wouldn"t be strange even if he thought it were some trap from Cla.s.s D. But even so, the fact that he isn"t showing signs of immediately rejecting us, is probably largely thanks to Kus.h.i.+da"s presence.

"Do you have any plans to meet someone else today?" Kus.h.i.+da asks.

"That"s not the case but.....". Kus.h.i.+da then claps her hands with a big smile as if to say "I"m glad". If she shows that kind of smile, any ordinary man would fall in love with her with that one shot.

But this man is the leader of Cla.s.s A, and is not someone that can simply be sunk like this.

"I"m sorry but it"s not like we"re close friends or anything. If there"s any ulterior motives to this please say so" Katsuragi said.

"There are no ulterior motives. We"re seriously just thinking about celebrating your birthday, Katsuragi" Ike said that with a serious face. He"s probably thinking about celebrating Katsuragi"s birthday from the bottom of his heart filled with sympathy.

"Mu.....". This is a bind, as if to say that Katsuragi tightened his mouth with an expression of rejection. And so I realized that in his hands, Katsuragi was holding the same birthday present bag as yesterday.

It was something he should have bought two days ago, and yet he was carrying it around with him wherever he went. I wonder why. It seems Ike and the others have not realized this (or have realized and are pretending to not have) and they called out to Katsuragi.

"Sorry but I have business at the school now. I apologize" Katsuragi said.

"School, eh? Speaking of which, recently you"ve been always wearing your uniform. What are you doing?" Ike asked in a casual manner but Katsuragi did not miss the incongruousness in that one word.

"What do you mean by that?". From the mild-mannered look he had just a while ago, it seems Katsuragi has entered his battle mode as his expression turned sharp.

"Ehh? What is what?". Ike remained aloof without having realized that change but that aloofness collapsed with the next lines that followed.

"How did you know that I was wearing my uniform recently?" he asked. Being stared by strong eyes that seemed to suck you in, Ike unexpectedly gulped.

He must have picked up the words that were whispered in his subconscious and remembered something inconvenient.

"Ehh? No, that"s...".

"Yesterday after you met me, I met up with Ike and the others. I told them about it then, should I have not?". Having been left with no other choice but to follow up like that, I told that to Katsuragi.

"I thought it was unusual clothing for summer vacation" I continued.

"I see...thinking about it I suppose that"s true".

"Yeah that"s right. That, that" Ike said.

"So why"re you going to school?".

The panicking appearance of Ike was still suspicious, but for now I"ve succeeded in changing the topic of the conversation.

"It"s personal. Nothing to do with you guys" Katsuragi replies.

"This may be unnecessary. But isn"t there something troubling you?".

"Why do you think so?".

"Both yesterday and today, you were carrying around that bag, right? It"s a bit unnatural for you to go to school with that too. And you already had that bag in your hands when we met at the shop yesterday. It"s been at least three times, hasn"t it?" I asked him.

There"s the fact that I did see it by coicidence, but it"s not that hard to infer that from what I said.

"I have some business at the student council. That"s all." Katsuragi tells me. Again, the name of an unexpected place appeared.

"Could it be the reason you were wearing your uniform yesterday was because you went to the student council room?".

"...that"s right. But it seems they were out".

"If I recall, up until yesterday they were renovating the room and it was unusuable". Katsuragi made a slightly surprised face and proceeded to ask me how I knew that."

"I happen to have some ties with the student council president".

"So you were acquaintances with that student council president?".

"I wonder if you could call him my acquaintance but...it"s something like that anyways" I replied.

"Ahh, I see. Horikita of Cla.s.s D is the student council president"s little sister huh?". The smart Katsuragi quickly reached that conclusion on his own and was convinced.

"If that"s the case, it would be a lot better if you accompanied me. If time allows, would you please accompany me?" Katsuragi requested as such from me. And with this, I can more or less understand what Katsuragi is aiming at.

"That"s a coincidence. I also have some business with the student council right now".

"So that"s why you"re also wearing your uniform?". Of course, that was only so I could figure out Katsuragi"s aim but with this I"ll be able to get to the bottom of this.

Nodding once, Katsuragi began heading towards the school, towards the student council room.

"Excuse me". Katsuragi, with a clear voice, said that as he knocked on the door to the student council room.

Student council president Horikita Manabu and Secretary Tachibana came out to welcome us. The older Horikita immediately noticed my presence.

"It seems the unexpected but welcome visitors came together". I lightly bowed to return the greeting. Secretary Tachibana, on the other hand, had an extremely disgusted expression on her face.

"Today I came here because I have a request to make. Basically, I heard that student requests go through the student council and that is why I"ve come".

"It seems you came by both yesterday and the day before yesterday. We were absent due to the renovations. I apologize".

"No. It is currently the summer vacation. The fault lies with the side pus.h.i.+ng the matter. But I am glad I was able to meet you today. Depending on the situation, I had been thinking to go directly to your dormitory" Katsuragi said.

In the middle of the summer vacation, why did Katsuragi decide to stop by this place. And what exactly are his intentions in being here. That is finally being revealed.

"In this school, during the period of enrollment, we are forbidden to contact the outside without express permission. I would like to inquire further into that and so I have come here".

"From the sound of it, you"ve naturally been looking through the school regulations? Extreme, unavoidable reasons as the exception, contact is strictly forbidden".

Exactly as the older Horikita said, only in unavoidable circ.u.mstances is this permitted. Severe illness or injuries are the only times when permission is granted.

"Yes. But in regards to individual cases, how would I be best advised to deal with it. I would like to deliver a package and a message card to my family outside the school grounds. Of course, I"m not expecting to hear a reply from my family" Katsuragi said.

In other words, a unilateral communication.

"It"s the same thing. Even if this is unilateral, it still is forbidden". Those words were returned to Katsuragi professionally. But Katsuragi too, wouldn"t even be here if this was enough to make him back down.

"In regards to contact with the outside, I have heard that it strictly includes s.h.i.+pping of packages too. However, as long as I don"t send information in letters, wouldn"t that be considered not breaking the rules?" Katsuragi asked.

"There"s no change in the fact that it is prohibited by the rules. That is a rule that has not changed since the founding of this school. But, it"s not prohibited for no reason. When the school was first founded, the rules were not as strict as they are now".

The older Horikita looked at Secretary Tachibana, then slightly nodded while smiling.

"It is as he says. Originally, the package s.h.i.+pping that Katsuragi-kun hoped for was permitted. However, there were several students that broke their promise. They hid letters inside the packages without permission. Such a thing happened and now it is absolutely prohibited" Tachibana said.

And that"s how it is, the older Horikita drilled an absolute rejection into Katsuragi. But, Katsuragi is not the type to back down here. Even though it"s for the 1st years, this man is still the leader of Cla.s.s A. He immediately rea.s.sessed the situation and rebuilds his approach.

"Then once again I must ask you. Please allow me to apply for the s.h.i.+pping of the package directly at the shop. I will not lay a single finger on the package, I will only pay for its cost. If so, there can be no room for fraud" Katsuragi said.

"But even so it"s still against the rules.....".

"Against the rules? This school is ability-based, if need be I"ve heard you can do anything with enough points. Buying test scores or trading between students, there are many uses for points. Am I wrong?" Katsuragi continued.

It seems to Katsuragi, the value of the birthday present he wishes to send is great.

"If that is the case, the situation will change slightly". The older Horikita, having calmly listened to what he had to say, slightly changed his att.i.tude.

"Before we go into the details of the points, can you let me know who it is you"re sending it to?" he asks.

"It"s to my twin sister. Since we don"t have any parents, I"m the only one who can celebrate her birthday" Katsuragi said.

This was an outcome completely contrary to our sc.u.mmy theories about romance and what not. Of all things, it was to a sibling.

"I"m going to correct you on one point but the point system is not an almighty one. Indeed the action you mentioned earlier is possible. But, that is only because "it is not stated in the rules". What is currently listed in the school regulations as being prohibited, won"t easily be altered just like that".

It was a slightly difficult to understand statement, but it probably means something similar. For instance, let"s use test scores as an example. A while ago, I used points to buy Sudou his test scores. That in itself is not "illegal". It just means points were used to buy test scores. But let"s suppose that same Sudou broke the school regulations on his own by cheating to get a pa.s.sing score on his test and in the case that cheating were to be revealed. It would be difficult then to erase the fact that he had "cheated".

"The rules of the school are there to be upheld".

"That"s funny, if that is the case then the rules of this school are full of loopholes".

"There"s nothing strange about that. It just means that all the school is doing is making rules that allow for a way out".

And in response to Katsuragi"s question, the student council president responded in a way that made it seem as though it were obvious.

"....".

Even for the smart Katsuragi, it seems his opponent this time around is too much. In regards to their ability alone, the difference between them is too large. This man, who for 3 years at this school, was not only in Cla.s.s A but also carried out the duties of the student council president, had no weaknesses.

"You"re saying even if I use my points, there"s nothing I can do?" Katsuragi asked.

"There"s nothing you can do. If this is something the school expressly prohibits, it will not be allowed even with the use of points".

Exactly as the older Horikita had said earlier, it means the point system is not almighty. I"m sure Katsuragi was determined to spend a large sum to do so but if that sole remaining option of his is cut off, it meant the end of the line for him.

"If you"re finished, please leave".

"I see.....I understand, please excuse me". Katsuragi glanced at me just once, but when I gestured that I"d be staying behind to him, he quietly left.

"You"re not going back?".

"What you were saying earlier, it"s about when the act of breaking the rules comes to light, wasn"t it?".

In the middle of that, I said that as though backing up Katsuragi.

"What do you mean by that?".

The older Horikita"s gaze is now directed at me.

"Do you remember, a while ago, Sudou from our cla.s.s had a fight with some students from Cla.s.s C?". The older Horikita nods as though it were natural. It did cause a huge uproar back then after all.

"Back then the Cla.s.s C students made an appeal to the school and it turned into a case where it led to discussions for punishment. But, right now, Katsuragi did not break any regulations. He only thought to ask for an act that would have led to an act of breaking the regulations. And the only ones who know about that would be me and Katsuragi as well as you two of the student council. In that case, as long as you overlook this act of breaking the regulations it would be fine".

This strangely worded phrase, I"m sure if it"s the two of them they would naturally understand its meaning.

For instance, even if you commit a traffic rule violation and happen to be accosted by a police officer. If you bribe that officer and successfully get him to overlook your violation, you will not be a target for punishment and your violation would be forgiven. That"s what it meant.

"And also, the usually difficult processing of such s.h.i.+pping. If it"s you guys, it would be a simple task, wouldn"t it?".

"I see. You"re saying to resolve everything without first clearing it with the school, is that right?".

Katsuragi had righteously tried to secure permission from the school. But if that doesn"t work, all he has to do is make sure the school never hears word of this. But it may be an idea the honorable Katsuragi would not be able to think of.

"Being able to talk about overlooking school rule violations so boldly, what a scary delinquent!". Only Secretary Tachibana turned to point that out to me.

"How did you come to that conclusion?".

"This school forbids acts of violence. But you, in your first meeting with me, showed no signs of holding back. That is proof enough that as long as the school does not find out, anything can be pa.s.sed off".

Even if it"s the student council president, he shouldn"t be able to raise his hand in public like that.

"That"s right. If one is to contact the outside anyways, there is no other method besides that. But, Katsuragi did not realize that fact. In that instant, he lost his only remaining option".

"Don"t you think of helping him out now?".

"No. I"m not the type to simply help violate school regulations for that man"s sake".

"You"re rather strict".

"If you really feel that way, you should have told Katsuragi of this method before he left the room. But you didn"t do that".

Ahh. It really is troublesome to deal with someone smart like him. He"s seeing through me completely. It seems he"s realized I didn"t want to carelessly tell Katsuragi that and put him on his guard.

"I"m done cooling off, I"m going back".

"I could tell Tachibana to prepare some tea for you now?".

"I"ll pa.s.s. I don"t know what you"re going to put in it".

"W-what a rude 1st year!" Tachibana said.

And when I moved to leave the room, for some reason the older Horikita also stood up to escort me out.

"I"m going to pretend I didn"t hear what Katsuragi had to say today. So even if you move behind the scenes from here on out, I won"t try to investigate. You can do as you please" he told me.

"I don"t really feel like doing anything of that sort though".

"That in itself is fine too. I"m just letting you know I won"t be getting involved, that"s all".

I was able to read information from the older Horikita"s eyes to a frustrating degree. In other words he"s telling me he won"t touch this matter, so go ahead and deceive the school well, is that he wants to say.

I decided to leave the student council room to escape from that gaze. He must have also seen through the fact that I was looking into making new suggestions to Katsuragi too.

"He"s a formidable one, this student council president"