Interlude 5
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「Hey, isn’t Ryūgūin in charge of that? Make him do it! He’s on the cultural festival executive committee, right?」 says a boy in his school uniform.
「Oh, he just went somewhere a moment ago saying he had other work to do for the cultural festival.」
A female classmate responds.
The girl is the type of student who wears her uniform neatly and properly. However, this doesn’t make her seem dull at all – in fact, it adds a sense of cleanliness that enhances her already lovely appearance.
「What work?! That guy is always going off somewhere and never around!!」
「Hmm, I didn’t ask for details, but…」
「He’s never there when we’re scrambling to prepare for the cultural festival! And just when you think he’s gone home, he conveniently shows up out of nowhere when it gets late!」
「But he is somewhere in this school, you know.」
「Just between us, that guy is a coward.」
「A coward?」
「Yeah, a coward. He’s good at sweet-talking people, and he’s selective about who he does it to.」
The girl listens intently.
「The girls he sweet-talks blush and get easily fooled. It’s such a ridiculous farce!」
The boy continues.
「It’s just because he happens to have a pretty face,」 he adds.
The girl can’t help but burst out laughing at the boy’s remark.
「That just sounds like sour grapes. Jealousy is so uncool.」
「It’s not jealousy!!」
The boy raises his voice, looking indignant.
「Hey, people around us will hear! Lower your voice.」
「My bad.」
「In the end, even if you say it’s not jealousy, that doesn’t really matter.」
「Why?」
「It’s about what everyone else thinks.」
「But-」
「No buts. Even if you insist it’s not jealousy, if everyone else thinks you’re just jealous of Ryūgūin, then it is jealousy.」
「It’s sad, but true,」 she sighs, looking down.
「Forget what others think. What do you think?」
The boy asks the girl, who was chosen along with Ryūgūin to be on the cultural festival executive committee.
「You’re asking me?」
「Why not? It’s no big deal, right?」
「You’re an idiot.」
「Why?」
「If you say things like that in this class, his fangirls will target you, you know? Just to let you know, 90% of the class are his fans.」
「I know that. But still-」
「But what?」
「You’re different, aren’t you?」
「What makes you think that?」
「Most girls squeal over his every little move, but you just pretend to, don’t you?」
「I can tell,」 he states confidently.
The girl holds up one finger to him.
「I have two things to say. First, stop calling me ‘you’.」
「Then what should I call you?」
「My name is Itsuki Saki. Normally you’d call me ‘Itsuki’, wouldn’t you?」
「Ah, then I’ll call you ‘Itsuki’.」
「I don’t mind. I’ll call you ‘Motegi’ then.」
The boy nods in agreement.
「And secondly,」
The girl holds up a second finger.
「I hate idiots.」
「Isn’t that arrogant of you?」
She shakes her head.
「There are two types of idiots, you know.」
「Two types?」
「Yes,」 she nods.
「Cute idiots and irredeemable idiots,」 she murmurs.
「Oh-ho.」
「Motegi, you’re a cute idiot.」
「Pfft!」 the boy laughs. 「So I’m an idiot too?!」
「Well, yeah. The fact that you brought this up to a girl like me makes you an idiot. But I don’t dislike you as a person.」
「Gee, thanks,」 he says sarcastically, turning away.
「And Ryūgūin is an irredeemable idiot.」
「Why?」
「In the end, he thinks everything revolves around him-」
She starts, but then corrects herself. 「No, that’s not quite right.」
「He thinks he has everything in the palm of his hand.」
The boy listens in silence.
「You can see right through him – that even if he doesn’t lift a finger, even if he’s just having fun, as long as he can get people to act, it’s all thanks to him.」
She declares.
「You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?」
As classmates who have spent a lot of time together, the boy can’t help but agree.
That time, and that time, and that time too.
Everything she said applied to all of those instances.
「Even his words of appreciation are like that. As long as no harm or loss comes to him, words are cheap, aren’t they?」
She scoffs.
「With a few choice words, everyone – especially the girls – will happily do his bidding.」
「That means-」
The boy starts to object, wondering if he really thinks it through that far.
「He knows exactly what he’s doing.」
「I know that much.」
She says with a thin smile.
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