“Ugh, I suppose things won't go so smoothly when it’s Itsuki I’m dealing with...”
“What do you mean, ‘when it’s me’...?”
I had a bad feeling about this.
“Wait, hold on. You aren’t doing that to other people too, are you?”
“Eh? Oh, I’m occasionally asked to do it by the girls. Though I usually keep it much briefer than I did just now... Is it some kind of popular game these days?”
As if.
Just as I made that silent retort, a certain possibility occurred to me.
When I looked at Narika’s face just now, what did I think?
She had such a dignified, beautiful countenance that anyone—regardless of gender—would find themselves entranced.
“Onesama!”
A voice called out from down the hallway.
It was the female student I’d seen speaking to Narika after the Management Game ended. Just like then, she was approaching Narika in the corridor.
“...This is perfect timing.”
Narika spoke as the girl approached with small, hurried steps.
“I have something important to tell you.”
“Eh... C-Could it be, about the other day...?”
“Yes.”
Narika nodded solemnly and spoke.
“I’m sorry. I cannot reciprocate your feelings.”
“..................Oh.”
The girl’s eyes went wide.
It was, unmistakably, a rejection of a romantic confession.
“I... I see... I... I understand...”
The girl, who clearly adored Narika as her “Onesama,” nodded even as her eyes welled with tears.
(Wait, so that means...)
It seemed the one who had confessed to Narika wasn’t Kita, but this female student.
It was true that Narika had recently become an object of adoration for many girls who called her “Onesama,” but... apparently, while she was going around performing kabedons like the one she’d just tried on me, she had accidentally won someone’s heart for real.
While I was trying to wrap my head around this, someone brushed past me.
(...Suminoe-san?)
She must have only just arrived at school.
Still carrying her bag, Suminoe-san walked straight up to the girl Narika had just rejected and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“I understand completely.”
Understand what, exactly?
As the female student’s eyes overflowed with tears, she and Suminoe-san shared a firm, emotional handshake.
What on earth am I even watching right now...?
“...Narika.”
For the time being, I decided to give Narika one piece of advice.
“No more kabedons. They're banned.”
“Kabe...? What is that?”
At that same moment, Maki Minato was organizing documents in the Student Council Room.
The interview reports she had received from the current officers and the candidates for the next Student Council term totaled nearly a hundred pages. It was an excessive amount of information just to get a sense of someone's character, but considering the secondary purpose of conducting a background check, this stack of papers was indispensable.
After filing Mirei Tennoji’s report, she moved on to the next one.
Itsuki Tomonari. She began organizing the report for the boy who was running for Vice President.
(I wonder if Tomonari-kun was able to find someone to talk to...)
Given his sincere nature, surely anyone would be willing to lend him an ear if he truly wished for it. He would likely be able to overcome this hurdle as well.
Based on the reports, his personality seemed to be the type that caused him to bottle up his worries. That was why Maki had advised Itsuki to find a confidant, but...
(Hmm... I still feel like he’s wound a bit too tight.)
It was nothing more than a hunch, but the more she read the reports, the more she felt that Itsuki Tomonari was excessively earnest. She had initially thought he was simply desperate to keep up because he was a transfer student, but he was surrounded by friends now, and over the past six months, his grades had caught up to the curve. Now that he had a place where he belonged, why did he continue to maintain such intense seriousness?
Maki’s own family business, the Rakuo Group Co., Ltd., was a massive corporation, but its history was quite shallow compared to those of her classmates. Precisely because Maki was part of that new-money minority, she saw things differently. All the students of Kikou Academy were earnest, but their actual desire for upward mobility was unexpectedly weak.
This was because a set of sturdy rails had been laid out for them since birth. Because they had been acutely aware of those rails for as long as they could remember, they unconsciously accepted that their futures were largely predetermined.
Despite this, Itsuki Tomonari possessed a fierce drive for advancement. It was as if he weren't looking at the rails in front of him at all.
To begin with—what was his motive for joining the Student Council?
He claimed he wanted to become a consultant... but what reason would the successor of a mid-sized IT company have for choosing such a path?
His determination was clearly solid. That was precisely why the fact that she couldn't see the source of his ambition felt so eerie.
For what purpose, and for whom, was he living with such singular focus?
“...I think I’ll try asking, after all.”
Maki traced her finger over her smartphone.
After a few moments, the call connected.
“Pardon me for calling so early. Is now a good time?”
“...I believe I told you not to contact me too often.”
“My apologies. But there is something I wish to ask.”
The voice on the other end was overtly displeased, but she had expected as much and did not falter.
“Itsuki Tomonari. You know of him, don’t you? I’d like to learn more about him—”
“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of answering that.”
the person on the other end of the line said flatly.
“...May I ask why?”
“It’s personal information. I intend to protect my disciple.”
Look who’s talking, Maki cursed silently.
This was a man who wouldn't hesitate to leak classified information to the entire world if it suited his needs.
“...And do you not care for your previous disciple?”
“It was your own failure for not demonstrating enough talent to be worth cherishing....I’m busy. I’m hanging up.”
Without waiting for her response, the call was cut off.
Maki let out a long sigh. Then, she looked down at the report in her hand.
Itsuki Tomonari. A second-year student at Kikou Academy, aiming for the position of Vice President.
And—his disciple.
(............As I thought, I can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.)
Was it not natural for someone like her—who had once been his disciple just like Itsuki Tomonari, only to be discarded mid-journey—to struggle with the emotions swirling in her heart?
It was an attitude unbecoming of a Student Council President.
But even so... she could not cast aside her personal feelings regarding Itsuki Tomonari.
“...I wonder what kind of face that man would make if you were to lose the election.”
She let her thoughts wander toward her former Master, the man who would never look her way again.
Kikou Academy was about to enter the heat of the Student Council Election.