Chapter 201: Suggestions
The meeting about the sports festival ended around the beginning of the fifth period.
As a result, I had a simple lunch of bread and returned to class with a hungry stomach.
Since he had lunch with another group today, Satoru, already seated, noticed me and asked with a puzzled expression.
“Why do you look so glum?”
“Because I’m hungry.”
“Didn’t you eat?”
“I did eat, but one piece of bread isn’t enough.”
Knowing that I’m usually a big eater, Satoru gave a wry smile and rummaged through his desk drawer.
“Do you want this? I kept it for times when I’m hungry.”
He handed me a crunchy chocolate bar as he said that.“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
Normally, I wouldn’t even touch chocolate, but now wasn’t the time to be picky.
As I hastily unwrapped the yellow wrapper and ate the chocolate bar to replenish my energy, Rika, who was watching, rummaged through her bag and pulled something out.
“Ryu-chan, have this too.”
What she shyly handed me was a convenience store rice ball.
“Oh, thank you.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Rika said that and turned her head.
Seeing her like that pricked my conscience, but I shamelessly ate the rice ball she gave me with some water.
Thanks to the help from both of them, my hunger subsided somewhat, and I was able to calmly prepare for the fifth period.
Clatter!
“Everyone, take your seats.”
At Matsuda’s voice, who entered through the front door, the noisy students found their seats.
“Wake up anyone sleeping next to you.”
Saying that, Matsuda put down his textbook and attendance book on the podium, erased the chalk marks on the blackboard, and suddenly realized something as he was about to call roll.
“Where’s the Class President?”
Then Sasha, her seatmate, answered instead.
“She is absent today.”
“Really? I didn’t get any notice.”
Matsuda tilted his head, glanced at the Class President’s seat, and then began calling roll by attendance number.
“Aizawa Minami.”
“Yes.”
“Akagi Shun…”
After school.
“Then I’ll go first today. I have an appointment.”
Usually, Rika would go home with me, but she said that and left the classroom first.
Seeing that, Sasha, who had just grabbed her bag and approached, asked.
“Kim Yu-seong, did you fight with Kishimoto?”
A question that hit the mark.
I could only respond with an awkward smile.
“Well… something like that.”
I couldn’t reveal the truth here.
But this seemed to be enough of an answer, as Sasha stared at Rika’s desk and muttered quietly.
“…She doesn’t seem like someone who would give up easily.”
Then, with her distinctive blue eyes, she glanced at me, said, “See you tomorrow,” and followed Rika out.
Left alone like that, Ryuji, who was at the window seat, approached.
“Yu-seong, let’s go home together.”
Yaguchi and Hattori were clinging to Ryuji’s arms as if competing.
‘Hattori Ayame.’
Hattori Hanzo’s daughter, who revealed her hidden identity in Kyoto.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
With Ryuji’s help, I was able to move without fighting her, but somehow, after the fight ended, she fell for Ryuji and stayed in Tokyo.
As a result, Yaguchi, his current girlfriend, was the one suffering.
As expected of a love comedy protagonist, he seems to attract women without doing anything.
“Ryuji is my boyfriend!”
“Hmph! Anyway, childhood friends losing is common knowledge in the industry, you know?”
“What?!”
Seeing them fight like cats and dogs over Ryuji made my stomach ache, even though it wasn’t my business.
“You’ve got a lot to deal with.”
“…Thanks.”
As I looked at him with a sympathetic expression, Ryuji shed a tear of gratitude, creating a chaotic scene.
Anyway, since Ryuji invited me, I packed my bag to leave with him.
Clatter!
Matsuda, the homeroom teacher, came in through the front door and asked the remaining students.
“Is anyone here close with the Class President?”
Then, the students’ eyes naturally turned to us.
I reluctantly raised my right hand and asked what it was about.
“Oh, it’s nothing much. I just wanted someone to give her the handouts summarizing today’s lessons. If it’s inconvenient, I can ask someone else.”
“No, it’s fine. I know where the Class President lives.”
When I said I’d take them myself, Matsuda sighed in relief and handed me the printouts.
“Then please do.”
“Okay.”
I put the printouts summarizing the lesson into my bag and looked at Ryuji, who had a betrayed expression on his face.
“Good luck.”
“Yu-seong! At least go with me halfway!”
Ryuji hastily grabbed me.
He probably intended to use me as a buffer between the two girls, but unfortunately, I had something to do.
“See you tomorrow.”
I lightly waved to the three of them and left the classroom first.
I had to hurry if I wanted to visit the Class President’s house before sunset.
After school, Rika, who left the classroom first, headed not to the subway station but to the Student Council room on the third floor of the annex.
She rarely came to the annex except for moving classes since she wasn’t in any clubs, but today, she came because she was invited by someone.
Knock, knock!
“Come in.”
At the voice from inside, Rika took a small breath before opening the door and entering the Student Council room.
Creak!
Beyond the antique wooden door, the space that unfolded before Rika’s eyes looked like a ‘castle’.
Furniture and desks that were obviously high-end at a glance, and an elegant atmosphere.
Rika was born into a fairly wealthy family, but it was nothing compared to the influence of the Saionji family, which ran one of the top ten companies in Japan.
And the owner of this suffocating space greeted her, sitting on the sofa in the middle of the Student Council room.
“Welcome, Kishimoto Rika.”
The Student Council President, Saionji Kumiko.
“We’ve met before, right?”
“Yes.”
As she said, Saionji Kumiko and Kishimoto Rika had met at the beginning of the semester.
But at that time, Rika didn’t like Kim Yu-seong yet, and she had no personal involvement with the third-year Kumiko.
So Rika lost the heroine race without even recognizing the existence of her greatest rival.
The real dangerous enemy was right under her nose.
“What did you call me for today?”
When Rika asked with a wary expression, Kumiko replied with a relaxed look.
“How about sitting down and talking first? This conversation might take a while.”
“…Alright.”
Without a word, Rika sat in the seat opposite her.
The two sat facing each other across a long table.
“Minami.”
“Yes, my lady.”
When Kumiko called her name, Minami elegantly poured herbal tea into the teacups she had prepared.
Rika, who was quietly watching, spoke up.
“So, what did you mean by what you texted earlier?”
At her question, Kumiko chuckled softly and put down her teacup.
“I meant it literally. I know who Yu-seong likes.”
“…Who is it?”
In response to Rika’s cautious question, Kumiko proudly pressed her right hand to her chest and said.
“It’s me.”
A heavy silence fell in the Student Council room.
Kumiko, surprised by the completely unexpected reaction, asked again.
“D-did I say something strange?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Rika spoke with a visibly relaxed expression.
“Did you call me here just to brag?”
“No, of course not. I don’t like doing such cruel things.”
“Then why did you call me?”
As Rika’s voice started to sharpen, seemingly running out of patience, Kumiko cleared her throat and spoke.
“Then, I’ll get straight to the point. Rika, would you like to join Yu-seong’s harem that I’m forming?”
“Harem…?”
“Yes. Harem.”
Rika was dumbfounded by the completely unexpected word.
Harem, where multiple women like and share one man.
Usually, such a genre was called a harem, and as a fan of shounen manga, Rika naturally knew the term.
But that made it even harder to understand.
The words of the sole victor.
“Are you saying this to tease me?”
A harem wasn’t possible in reality.
That was something only possible in manga.
How many people in the world could generously forgive their lover for looking at someone else?
Legally and emotionally, the possibility of a harem in modern times was extremely low.
But Kumiko flatly denied Rika’s opinion.
“No, I’m completely serious. If you accept the proposal, I’d be willing to share Yu-seong’s love. Do you dislike the idea of being treated as a concubine? If so, we can even change the law in this country. I have enough connections in politics to make polygamy legal.”
After hearing Kumiko’s explanation, Rika pondered and asked.
“Why are you making such a proposal? It seems to be in my favor from start to finish.”
Rika’s words hit the mark.
As she said, Kumiko originally had no need to share her lover, Kim Yu-seong, with other women.
But she had her own reasons.
Reasons that were hard to easily tell others, reasons that were embarrassing.
She cleared her throat and looked at Rika.
“Don’t think it’s strange when you hear it.”
“Pardon?”
When Rika tilted her head innocently, Kumiko looked down and explained the reason.
“Yu-seong’s vigor is too strong.”
“…?”
At first, Rika blinked in confusion at Kumiko’s words, but soon understood, and her face turned as red as an apple.
Though she appeared like a gyaru on the outside, Rika was also a virgin.