Episode 273: Stuck-up

The next morning.

Whether it was because of all the things that happened at the cooking class yesterday, or just because the cooking class itself was finally over, the atmosphere in the classroom this morning felt a little different than usual.

Naturally, the classmates’ topic of conversation had shifted from cooking to the costumes for the actual day, but the main cause of the weird feeling was likely the fact that the boys weren’t saying Sara-san’s name. I haven’t heard the name「Satsukawa-senpai」once today, despite how much they’d been chanting it until yesterday.

To be more precise, the girls were still talking about Sara-san as usual. They’d mention「Satsukawa-senpai」while constantly flickering their gazes toward me. But if you listened closely, you could tell right away that the boys, at least, were no longer making Sara-san the main topic of their conversation.

I don’t think they need to go to such extremes, though. I just want them to treat her normally. Sara-san isn’t an idol: she’s just a「normal senior,」after all.

「No matter how you look at it, doing enough for everyone is impossible.」

「No, but it was a big help.」

「Anyway, how’d you manage to borrow spares from a maid cafe…?」

「Wait, are the arcade cosplay outfits even going to be enough?」

It’s not like I’m eavesdropping, but the talk about the costumes reaches my ears perfectly.

I don’t know what kind of connections they have, but apparently all the costumes can be borrowed. So the plan is to just prepare them as is, without having to make any. Making costumes from scratch for everyone would be impossible in terms of both time and numbers, after all. If they can borrow everything, then that’s a much more realistic approach.

By the way, it seems the maid outfits will be borrowed from a maid cafe and some arcade’s rental service, while the butler uniforms will be borrowed from the drama club. I kind of want to point out how convenient that is, but apparently that’s how things really are. So I guess it can’t be helped.

「Takanashi-kun, do you have a second?」

The one who spoke to me was one of the members of the Natsumi-senpai Fan Club… no, looking closely, there’s another one right behind her.

These two seem really close, as they’re basically always together whether in the classroom or moving between classes. Though I suppose in this class, the same could be said for Hanako-san and me.

「What is it?」

「No, it’s nothing.」

Hanako-san suddenly turned my way, and our eyes met for a moment.

I wasn’t thinking anything weird, but it still made me panic for a split second…

「Um, Takanashi-kun?」

「Ah, sorry, do you have some business with me?」

「Yeah, we have a few things to confirm, and something we want to talk about…」

「We’re kind of in a hurry, so would the next break be okay?」

I’m not sure why, but I can tell these two are acting a little different than usual.

Plus, being told it’s urgent really makes me curious.

I don’t have any particular plans, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

「Um, I don’t really mind.」

「Good! It’s a bit problematic to talk in the classroom, so can we go somewhere else?」

「We won’t take much of your time.」

「…Alright.」

Being told it’s something they can’t talk about in the classroom makes me even more curious about what they have to say.

I don’t know what it is, but it might be something fairly important.

However, these two are always friendly toward me, so at the very least, I’m sure it’s not anything weird. I can feel at ease about that part.

「Hey, can I go along too?」

Once the plans were settled, Hanako-san, who had been watching us, cut in.

I wonder… since they only asked me, I don’t think it’s something involving Hanako-san, but I guess as a Big sister, she’s concerned?

「Eh? Um…」

「Am I not allowed?」

At Hanako-san’s question, the two of them looked a bit troubled and sent a glance my way.

Are they worried about whether I’m okay with this?

「I’m fine with it?」

「Oh, if you’re okay with it, Takanashi-kun, then we don’t have a problem. Right?」

「Yeah. Besides, it looks like Hanasaki-san knows everything anyway…」

I guess that was it.

But if it’s something Hanako-san knows that can’t be said here, the topic might be about Sara-san and me. If that’s the case, then I have no problem at all with Hanako-san coming along.

I don’t know the specifics, but I’m sure it’s not just idle gossip coming from these two.

「Then I’m going too.」

「Got it. Anyway, see you next break.」

「See you then!」

「Yeah.」

Hearing our response, the two headed back to their seats with smiles.

Now then… it’s probably about the matter with Sara-san and me, and it’s something urgent that can’t be said in the classroom. I wonder what on earth they want to talk about.

By the way, Hanako-san spent a while staring at the backs of the two as they returned to their seats. Those two aren’t really the type you need to worry about that much… oh, I see.

Come to think of it, Hanako-san probably doesn’t know about the Natsumi-senpai Fan Club or the fact that they’ve been taking a supportive stance toward us.

So maybe Hanako-san is worried…

「Hanako-san, those two are fine, you know?」

「I know. Those two are decent, so I’m not worried about that part.」

「Then why…?」

「Yesterday, something bothered me. If it’s about Kazunari and Wife, it might be related to that. So I want to hear it too.」

Something bothered her?

A lot did happen yesterday, but as far as I’m concerned, things turned out okay in the end and I don’t think anything was particularly bad.

Well, I guess if you consider my blunders to be「bad,」then that’s that.

Anyway.

「I see, got it. Regardless, let’s go together next break.」

「Yeah. Well, it’ll be fine. If anything happens, Big sister won’t let things go badly for you.」

So says the Big sister… I mean, Hanako-san, wearing a cute smile.

I don’t know what she means by「if anything happens,」but I really don’t think there will be any problems with those two.

The moment the first period lesson ended and the teacher left the classroom, I saw those two stand up from their seats.

They gave me a quick meaningful glance and then left the classroom together. I assume they want us to follow.

「Hanako-san, let’s go.」

「Yeah.」

I called out to Hanako-san and we left the classroom as well. I could see their figures further down the hall, so we just followed after them.

Eventually, we reached the area where the cultural clubrooms are located, and they entered one of them. It seems this is our destination.

Knock, knock…

I gave a polite knock before slowly opening the clubroom door.

The interior was unexpectedly cluttered: it looked more like a storage shed… what is this room?

「Sorry for being so mysterious.」

「We didn’t want the rest of the class to hear, just in case.」

「Ah, I figured as much.」

「We are fine. More importantly, we don’t have much time, so you should be quick.」

「Yeah, you’re right.」

「Before that, please listen to us for a second.」

「Alright.」

When we nodded, their expressions softened… or rather, they looked somewhat apologetic.

Between the precautions and their expressions, I’m starting to get a little nervous about what they’re going to say.

「First, about the thing with Takanashi-kun and Hanasaki-san. We’re sorry we couldn’t help out more back then.」

「We couldn’t quite grasp the situation ourselves, so we didn’t know how to move.」

「Um… what?」

Well, this is a bit of a problem.

I’m not quite sure how to respond to that.

If they’re talking about the thing with me and Hanako-san, they probably mean the misunderstanding in the classroom.

But these two weren’t among the ones making a scene, and I don’t remember them doing anything they’d need to apologize for.

Well, let’s just hear the rest for now.

「So, we obviously knew that Takanashi-kun and Satsukawa-senpai are close, and you knew that the Fan Club had a consensus that anyone close to Natsumi-senpai is also important to us, right?」

「Yeah, I heard that before.」

I’m pretty sure that was one of the Fan Club’s rules… which is why these two have been so supportive of me.

「But you see, we didn’t know that Takanashi-kun and Satsukawa-senpai had actually become a couple.」

「So when we heard the rumor about you and Hanasaki-san being a couple, it didn’t seem that strange to us. We could tell right away how special you two were to each other.」

I see. It’s true that I hadn’t made any specific reports to them or anything.

In the first place, Sara-san and I started dating during summer break, and as soon as that was over, we were tied up with the incident involving Yamazaki. I guess it couldn’t be helped.

But that just makes me feel like it’s even less of something they need to apologize for…

「I understand your point. But that’s not why you called Kazunari here right now, is it?」

Hanako-san prompted them to continue for me.

They did say「First,」so the main point must be something else. Given the time, we should probably hurry.

「Ah, yeah. Sorry, we just wanted to get that out of the way first.」

「Anyway, now that we know the current situation, we’re going to support Takanashi-kun and Satsukawa-senpai with everything we’ve got!」

「Ah, thanks.」

These two really are supportive, so I should thank them honestly.

「So, about the main topic…」

「Takanashi-kun, you’re living with Satsukawa-senpai, aren’t you?」

!?

H-How did you know!?

I think things got pretty close yesterday, but the topic of cohabitation shouldn’t have come up. So how did they notice!?

No, that’s not the problem.

If it’s just these two, that’s one thing, but if the news broke because of something that happened yesterday, then that means others have noticed too…

「I see… as I thought.」

「Hanako-san?」

Hanako-san nodded calmly, as if she had realized something.

It was a reaction as if she had expected this development.

「How many people noticed?」

「Wait!?」

And Hanako-san just casually resumed the conversation as if she’d already admitted to it.

I guess I have no choice. I’ll just have to trust these two and move the conversation forward.

「It seems like only a few people noticed, but it might be spreading to some extent…」

「For now, the girls in class are in a mood to support you two, but there’s no guarantee the news won’t leak to the boys.」

「True. Once it leaks outside the class through the girls’ networks, there’s no guarantee at all.」

It’s true that the girls said they’d support us back then, but whether this specific matter can be handled safely is a separate issue.

I’m curious how it leaked, but this isn’t the time to be talking about numbers or guarantees.

「For now, we’ve told everyone to keep it quiet on our end. We said that if rumors spread based on speculation, it’ll trouble you both, and Satsukawa-senpai will be angry.」

「Since it’s still just speculation and you haven’t actually admitted to living together, Takanashi-kun. But people are thinking it’s almost certain.」

…So that’s it. In other words, something from yesterday’s topics tipped them off about the cohabitation. But now that it’s come to this, it’s too late to worry about what exactly it was.

「So, to keep the talk about cohabitation from becoming definitive, please be careful about what you talk about in class from now on.」

「Also, there’s a chance it might leak to other classes… we actually wanted to share the info within the Fan Club and handle it a bit, but…」

「But the content is just too huge, so we don’t know if we can trust everyone in the Fan Club that much…」

That’s true…

News of Sara-san living with someone is exactly the kind of thing gossip-lovers would pounce on immediately. And I can easily imagine it being spread with all sorts of added exaggerations and falsehoods.

「Anyway, we just wanted to tell you that.」

「Be careful!」

I was a bit surprised that it was such a big deal, but I’m honestly grateful for the info.

I should thank them properly myself.

「Thank you both for everything. You really helped me out.」

「I’ll say thank you too. Thanks.」

When I bowed honestly, Hanako-san followed suit and thanked them as well.

I kind of thought she didn’t need to… but she is my Big sister, after all. Pointing that out would just be tactless.

「No, it’s fine!」

「Exactly! If we didn’t support the marriage of two of Natsumi-senpai’s best friends, it would be a disgrace to the Fan Club!」

「I, I see. Anyway, thanks.」

Marriage is still a long way off, but… well, whatever.

Even so, Natsumi-senpai’s Fan Club is incredible as always. I think it’s genuinely amazing that they can care so much about her friends and not just Natsumi-senpai herself.

They’re a world apart from those pseudo-fan club guys in our class who only had hidden motives for Sara-san.

「Well then, shall we head back to class?」

When she said that, I checked the clock on the wall. We were still okay, but we didn’t exactly have time to spare.

Even so, I’m going to have to be more careful from now on.

I guess as the man, I’m the one who needs to be vigilant… but Sara-san’s habit of exposing things is so natural… though that’s cute too.

On the way back to the classroom after leaving the storage room(?), a slightly unusual group approaching from the front caught my attention.

One girl and three boys. That wouldn’t be strange in itself, but the three boys were positioned perfectly to surround the girl’s left, right, and rear… it was way too unnatural.

It was as if they were attendants following her…

「Ugh…」

「Yikes, the worst… I guess we should just ignore them.」

The two girls with me noticed as well and let out obviously disgusted voices.

It looks like they’re acquaintances or something, but they don’t seem to be on friendly terms.

Well, it’s my first time meeting them, and I have nothing to say, so if we just pass them by…

「My, I was wondering who it was, and isn’t it the Vice President?」

…or so I thought.

I knew it; she had been looking at me for a while now.

I was careful not to make eye contact, but I guess skipping past her was impossible after all.

Now what to do?

I can’t exactly ignore her when I’m called「Vice President,」and personally, I have no reason to treat this person coldly.

I guess I’ll just be casual…

「Um, hello.」

「Yes, hello. Ehehehe, you have more guts than I thought, being able to greet me without shrinking back. Well, I suppose if you’re able to work with that stick-in-the-mud, you must be a bit different from the average boy.」

……Um.

This is a problem. I take back what I said… who is this person?

I don’t like saying this about someone I don’t know, but she’s definitely the troublesome type.

「Hey, don’t you think so?」

「Y-Yeah, since he’s someone capable of becoming Vice President, he’s at least…」

Her attitude is somewhat condescending, and besides, the boys in her entourage(?) look less like attendants and more like lackeys.

I almost wanted to quip about her acting like some kind of celebrity, but it’s best to get away from such a troublesome person as quickly as possible.

「Oh my… what a cute little girl. Was there someone like this in our school?」

?

I felt like her tone toward Hanako-san became strangely nasty. And this pompous way of speaking… is she some kind of middle-aged lady?

「Rena-san, she’s a transfer student. She’s been called the Angel among the first-years…」

「Ah, a transfer student. No wonder I haven’t seen her. She is a bit cute, I suppose, but an ‘Angel’… fufu.」

「Did you have some business? I assume you didn’t stop us just to talk about something so trivial?」

This, I couldn’t tolerate.

Normally, I wouldn’t talk to someone I’ve just met like this, but her blatant way of mocking Hanako-san seriously pissed me off.

She hasn’t said anything directly yet, but the sarcasm I can feel in every word is just unbearable.

And it was only for a second, but I definitely saw her look at Hanako-san with contempt.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt this much loathing for someone after such a short interaction.

「…Trivial, you say?」

「Hey, first-year, have you ever looked at your own face in a mirror? Talking to Rena-san with a mug like that…」

「You bottom-tier lackeys, don’t you dare talk down to Kazunari.」

「「「 !? 」」」

Hanako-san suddenly stepped in front of me and began snapping at the lackeys with a rather harsh tone… and in that instant, I felt a sense of deja vu…

I’m pretty sure something similar to this happened before?

Wait, this isn’t the time for that!!

The atmosphere is getting dangerous, and I really wanted Hanako-san to stay behind me if possible.

「Lackeys!?」

「What is with this girl…」

「Wait… those eyes…」

「M-M-My, for someone called an Angel, you certainly have a… you certainly have a…… W-What… this girl… wait, just a second…?」

I wonder what’s wrong?

Not only the lackey boys, but even the disagreeable, stuck-up girl was starting to show a strained expression… right, I remember now.

I’m pretty sure the boys who were with Todo-san before ended up looking like this after seeing Hanako-san.

「Whoa… Hanasaki-san is scary…」

「Wait… those eyes…」

I’m not quite sure what’s happening, but the atmosphere is definitely bad.

I don’t care about those guys, but my intuition is telling me it’s not good to leave Hanako-san like this.

So I have to do something fast… I should ignore the lackeys and handle that woman quickly.

「Seniors, it looks like the break is ending, so shouldn’t we all be heading back to our classrooms?」

To be honest, I wanted to say something like,「You’re an eyesore, so get lost,」but I didn’t want to leave any unnecessary grudges here.

Getting into trouble later over something as trivial as this would be pointless. In the first place, I didn’t want to leave any reason for us to have to deal with them again.

「Eh!? Y-Yeah, you’re right… T-That certainly wouldn’t be good. Well then, we’ll take our leave. Let’s definitely meet again, Vice President. ……I might not want to meet that scary Angel again, though.」

The stuck-up girl muttered something at the end and then retreated at a light run, looking a bit flustered.

「A-Ah, Rena-san!?」

「Wait for us!!!」

「Let’s go!!」

And the lackeys followed after her.

Phew… looks like we managed to get through that somehow. Seriously, what was with that group… no, that woman?

「Haa… disagreeable as always.」

「But I’ve never seen her that flustered before. Takanashi-kun, you and Hanasaki-san are pretty amazing, aren’t you?」

「Not really.」

But more than them, it’s Hanako-san I’m worried about. I couldn’t see how she looked from my position, but I knew for sure she wasn’t her usual self.

「Hanako-san, look at me.」

When I spoke to her to check on her, Hanako-san slowly turned back toward me.

But her expression was calm… she was wearing a normal smile. It was so normal it was almost an anti-climax…

「…It’s okay, Kazunari.」

Hanako-san said just that and then gave my sleeve a few small downward tugs. I obviously knew what she was appealing for… well, whatever.

If it helps Hanako-san calm down.

「Good boy, good boy. It’s okay… it’s okay.」

I obediently lowered my head, and Hanako-san slowly stroked it.

When we’re like this, she really does look like her usual self…

Come to think of it, Sara-san also said that stroking my head calms her down. I wonder if my head gives off some kind of soothing vibration or something?

「…What was that just now?」

「…Who knows? Well, isn’t it fine? After seeing this, I guess we shouldn’t ask anything tactless.」

「Hanako-san.」

「It’s okay. I’m Kazunari’s Big sister, after all.」

And then, the usual line from Hanako-san.

But when she says it like that, it really would be tactless for me to pry any further.

「Because I’m your Big sister.」

That one phrase said everything, and it was reflected in Hanako-san’s current actions.

I guess that’s just how it is.