Midterm exams were over, and ordinary days went on.
Or rather, for me, they held a hint of something special.
After feeding Yosuke some information, getting on speaking terms with Hasebe, helping Horikita join a study group, and passing along test details to Kushida, I ended up involved in all sorts of schemes.
Because of that, instead of drifting through days in silence, I gradually began to open up to the others and engage in lighthearted banter.
Especially...
"Yoo-hoo, Ian. Good morning."
"Good morning, Hasebe. You're as energetic as ever today."
"And Ian, you still look tired. What on earth are you doing at night?"
"I'm just getting up early. Please don't say things that could be misunderstood."
That was how Hasebe began addressing me, and soon our mornings were filled with playful teasing.
Then there were days when, after a cheerful "Good morning, Ian" from Yosuke, I'd exchange a casual "Morning, Yosuke" in return.
Or there were moments like when Kushida would chime in, "Ah! Ian, some friends and I are heading to karaoke after school. Want to join?" only for me to reply, "Sorry, I've got something to do today," to which she would tease, "Eeeh—again? Ian, are you avoiding us?" And of course, I'd apologize, "No, really. Sorry," earning a playful, "Mm... okay! I trust you, Ian!"
Then there were times when I found myself caught in the crossfire of Horikita and Ayanokouji's bickering:
"What are you staring at?"
"You're not even allowed to watch. Say something too, Ayanokouji."
"What you see doesn't seem worth a word."
"You two are both idiots."
Days like these passed in their own ordinary way. There were other little escapades too—chatting with Park or grabbing a meal with Sudo and the rest—but for the most part, peaceful days went by without major incidents.
"Nice. Peace. If you can overlook how incredibly dull it all is."
After school, I grabbed a drink, sat on a bench, and watched the sunset while murmuring to myself. By then, I had nearly mastered this school's system and was starting to grow tired of it.
At first, it had provided a novel thrill, but with no [Special Exams] in sight—and a life of scraping by on too few points—it was bound to lose its luster quickly.
By the way, after midterms the point totals stood at:
Class A: 1004
Class B: 663
Class C: 492
Class D: 287
Since our initial evaluation had been so low, our percentage increase was enormous, yet our overall points still trailed far behind the other classes.
But by now, even that hardly mattered.
With a long sigh, I tossed my drink aside and was just about to head back to the dormitory when…
"U-um...!"
A very famous girl suddenly addressed me.
"...Me?"
"Y-yes! C-could you spare a moment?"
The one speaking was a girl whose fame had skyrocketed over the past two months—so much so that everyone in our grade knew her. A campus beauty who had even eclipsed Kushida in popularity, and with her stunning light-pink hair, she was unmistakable.
Even if I claimed indifference, the fact remained that she was the B Class darling known by everyone on campus.
Ichinose Honami was addressing me.
"...Is something wrong?"
"U-um... I..."
Wait.
This situation—and this place.
A deserted side alley on campus, the sunset igniting the sky in crimson, and the school's top beauty speaking a single line to me… This was…!
"No, we barely even know each other—so what am I thinking?"
Lately, the monotony had warped my mind into wild fantasies. But more pressing was the question: what exactly was she trying to say that made her delay like this?
"A confession…!"
Huh?
Wait a second.
Seriously?
Huh? Huh?
A confession? Did she just say that?
In an instant, my heart—which had lain numb from boredom—began to race.
Thump
Thump!
"A confession…! I think I'm about to get one—right here, right now!"
.........
Yeah, of course not.
"...And?"
I felt absurd for even getting my hopes up for a moment, yet I wasn't disappointed at all. No, not disappointed—in fact, if there's nothing to be disappointed about, then that's that!
Standing there alone, lost in my daydreams, was tiring, so I decided to ask why she had really called me.
"...Do you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend or something?"
"Ah, y-yes, um..."
"Hey, Ichinose."
Her hesitant tone made me sigh deeply.
Judging by her reaction, it was clear: she had received a confession from someone, and since it must have been hard to refuse outright, she was planning to use me as a stand-in to indirectly turn them down.
I had always seen Ichinose as the campus sweetheart—someone who not only had an ear for everyone's problems but was wildly popular with all—but in this awkward situation, she seemed surprisingly clumsy.
Even as I found her imperfections endearing, I made sure to convey my thoughts without hesitation.
"Even if it’s hard to say no, lying isn’t the answer. The courage it took for someone to confess to you is probably far greater than the courage you’d need to reject them."
"Th-that’s..."
Just as Ichinose began to waver at my words, another girl stepped forward.
"Ichinose...?"
Huh? A girl?
Eh?
Could it be that the one who confessed to her was…
"A-ah, s-sorry, Chihiro… I brought someone else..."
A girl? A girl from the same class?
Huh? Seriously?
It's not like I have any prejudice against that sort of thing, but…
So it truly existed. I was just a little surprised—really surprised.
And more importantly…
"...Don’t tell me she’s your boyfriend?"
"Th-that’s...!"
"I see, so that’s why..."
Somehow, the small girl named Chihiro began to cry, and Ichinose was left stammering, unable to confirm or deny anything.
I hadn’t planned on getting involved, yet the situation had already taken its course—and I knew I had to step in quickly to smooth things over.
"No, she's just a friend."
"Ah..."
She looked up and met our eyes, but I brushed past her gaze and said firmly to Ichinose,
"Ichinose, did you really want to hurt your precious friend with a lie?"
"N-no! That's... not it..."
"Then instead of doing this, you need to face her directly and tell her what’s in your heart."
Haah.
With a small sigh, I continued,
"To utter those two simple words, 'I like you,' you agonize every day. You long to say it when you see her face, yet the words just won’t come out until, finally, you summon the courage to speak. A confession begins with that kind of honest, brave feeling. Ichinose, all you need is to meet that feeling with a heart that’s just as sincere."
"........"
"At the very least, if you truly consider her a dear friend, don’t run away. Confront her desperate feelings head-on and let your own heart meet hers."
Having said that, I turned and began walking away from Ichinose.
"Well, it’s kind of funny for me to be saying this, though."
I've never had any romantic experience, after all.
Still…
Judging by the expression on her face after my words, it looked as if she had made up her mind. I figured it was time to head back.
It would all end well.
Now that I think about it…
"Didn't we never even properly introduce ourselves?"
We weren’t exactly friends, were we?
Not particularly curious about how it would all end, I returned to the dormitory. A few days later, during morning homeroom, we had barely settled into being a normal class with no absences or tardies when the news broke out:
"Sudo has been reported as the main culprit in a violent incident."
What on earth was that muscle-bound brute up to now…?
To summarize the homeroom teacher's report:
A member of the Class C basketball club claimed that Sudo had assaulted him without provocation—and there were even two witnesses on their side.
In response, Sudo declared,
"It was self-defense! They were jealous because I became a regular on the basketball team and deliberately picked a fight with me! I was the one who got hit first!"
"Any proof?"
"Tch...?!"
At Chabashira-sensei's blunt inquiry, Sudo fell silent.
I figured I could piece together the story: they had set out determined to take Sudo down.
Sudo Ken—strutting around like an overconfident first-year from Class D—was notoriously violent and dim-witted, with a short temper to boot.
If there was a redeeming quality, it was his laid-back nature. He excelled in sports, and being the biggest guy in Class D, he routinely topped the leaderboards in almost every sport. In fact, he was usually first.
Basketball was his specialty. Having played since childhood, his dream was to go pro. He had secured a spot as a regular on our school's basketball team just a month after joining, so there was no doubt about his skill.
As for Class C…
I hadn't been actively gathering intel about the other classes, but there was one guy there who was notoriously famous.
Ryuuen Kakeru.
It had to be his doing. He’d likely orchestrated everything from the start, rallying the Class C students to bring Sudo down. Otherwise, it would have been nearly impossible to get three people to offer matching false testimonies without prior coordination.
"What am I going to do?"
Sudo continued to insist on his innocence to the class, while Kushida stepped in, shouting that she hoped someone would come forward to prove his innocence.
However, the rest of the class looked on with cold skepticism.
That was only natural, since no points for the month would be awarded as long as this incident lingered.
Unless Sudo was expelled or proven innocent, there’d be no point bonus.
"What a hassle."
Proving innocence was simple enough—find a witness or some evidence, or build a case by exposing the other side’s flaws.
But that would only drag the case on, and if the opposition had already taken steps to fix the narrative, it would be pointless.
The most straightforward approach was presenting witnesses or evidence, but I wasn't Nostradamus. I hadn’t foreseen Sudo getting entangled in something like this, so I'll leave that aside for now.
As for another method…
"An eye for an eye, a scheme for a scheme."
There were countless ways to bring those guys down—even methods that would force them into submission by any means necessary.
But…
"That would almost certainly force me to reveal myself."
The risk was simply too high.
And more than anything…
"I don't think Sudo is even useful."
In my estimation, Sudo had already hit rock bottom, so there was no reason for me to intervene.
Hmm…
Still, I'd rather do something than just be bored.
After all, as a way to while away the time, getting involved in this incident might actually prove to be rather entertaining.
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