Chapter 120: Miko-chan: Sakurai-senpai is so kind
After checking the exam results—
After school.
The student council room welcomed a guest—
Short black hair, harmless appearance, the textbook example of an average person. Decent looks, gentle personality. That was the assessment Sakurai Saki and Shirogane Miyuki had of the male student named Tanuma Tsubasa.
The three had known each other since last year.
This year, he was in the same class as Shijo Maki and Kashiwagi Nagisa.
Last year, Sakurai and Shirogane had barely any interaction with those two girls—so little that they didn't even exchange greetings when passing by.
"Shirogane! Sakurai! Help me!" Tanuma Tsubasa's voice was full of urgency.
Tanuma: 三三(つᗒᗣᗕ)つ
The two, who had been sipping coffee, turned toward the door in unison.
"Tanuma, what are you doing here?" Sakurai Saki asked curiously.
"I'm being bullied by girls!"
A thunderbolt of a statement to kick things off!
Shirogane Miyuki was so angry he almost stood up on the spot.
Damn it, this is intolerable!
Sakurai Saki also looked visibly irritated. "You're getting bullied by girls and not fighting back? Don't they always demand gender equality? Be equal by punching back just once, and I guarantee no one will ever mess with you again."
"...Sakurai, that's a bit extreme." Shirogane quickly intervened. "Let's hear the full story first."
Tanuma Tsubasa glanced around the room, then sat down on the sofa.
"This… you absolutely must not tell anyone after hearing it."
Sakurai Saki nodded.
"We're student council officers, very tight-lipped."
Tanuma swallowed hard, then spoke with a pained voice:
"A few days ago—actually, yesterday—I got bullied by some girls. They ran up and teased me, asking if I had a girlfriend."
"And what did you say?" Shirogane Miyuki asked.
"I said no."
"And then?"
"They started mocking me, especially Shijo-san—she laughed the loudest." Tanuma Tsubasa said dejectedly.
"So Shijo-san's that kind of person, huh?" Shirogane Miyuki began losing his favorable impression of Shijo Maki, someone he had barely ever spoken to.
"Hold on, Shirogane." Sakurai Saki rubbed his forehead. "Think about it—could it be those girls were actually trying to probe Tanuma?"
"No way, absolutely not!" Shirogane shook his head.
"Probe?"
"Sakurai means romantic probing."
[Romantic probing~]
Using indirect speech to find out whether someone is dating or not!
Being direct might come off too strong and make someone uncomfortable, but beating around the bush makes it easier to accept.
"Actually…" Tanuma Tsubasa thought for a few seconds, then decided to come clean.
"I've developed feelings for one of them."
Shirogane Miyuki & Sakurai Saki: (·•᷄ - •᷅ )?
"I've been thinking about when I should confess. Shirogane, you're the student council president—you've got to help me come up with a plan." Tanuma explained. "That's actually the real reason I came to ask for your help."
"If you confess recklessly, you might get rejected." Shirogane fell into deep thought.
"Can I ask—who do you like among them?"
Sakurai Saki said nothing. He chose to drink his coffee.
He wasn't interested in other people's love stories.
"Kashiwagi-san."
"She ranked fifth in the entire grade, right?"
"You both knew?"
"We checked the results this noon, saw her name on the rankings. Also ran into her a few times at the inter-club union."
"You like her?" Sakurai Saki asked.
Tanuma Tsubasa nodded.
"If you ask me, the one who probably likes you the most among those girls… is actually Shijo-san."
"Why?"
"When you said you didn't have a girlfriend, wasn't she the one who laughed the hardest?" Sakurai Saki asked.
"That's right." Tanuma Tsubasa thought for a moment, then sighed:
"Haahh… suddenly having five girls into me—who should I pick? This is hard."
Just as Sakurai Saki was about to say, "Gotta catch 'em all, Tanuma-kun!", he was cut off by Shirogane Miyuki.
"Sakurai, don't say anything. Let him think for himself." Shirogane was afraid Tanuma Tsubasa would be led astray by Sakurai's nonsense.
Tanuma Tsubasa thought for a while.
"Yeah, I should still choose Kashiwagi-san. She's really gentle, and much more approachable than Shijo-san. If I dated Shijo-san, I'd probably have to endure her sharp tongue for the rest of my life. That'd be really awkward."
...
In a place the three of them were completely unaware of—
Right outside the student council room, a female student wearing an armband labeled "Disciplinary Committee" was holding a stack of documents, eavesdropping.
The three inside were talking loud enough that she could hear everything without even pressing her ear to the door.
'Unbelievable.'
Miko-chan's face was full of disbelief at life itself.
That a piece of trash like this could exist at Shuchiin...
Did he really think he could confess to any of them and get a yes? And he even used the word "choose"?
Disgusting!
Unforgivable!
Miko pushed the door open—she wanted to storm in and scold them right away.
And then, she froze.
Miko pointed at Shirogane Miyuki inside the room.
"President Shirogane! What are you doing?!"
At that moment, Shirogane was doing a "kabe-down"—pinning Tanuma Tsubasa against the wall with one hand. Their faces were incredibly close, and the scene looked extremely suspicious.
This was a confession tactic Shirogane had come up with that supposedly had an 85% success rate.
It used the "suspension bridge effect"—the nervous excitement caused by sudden danger—to close the distance and create tension, then take the chance to confess! If the target already had feelings, the success rate was extremely high.
Both guys simultaneously turned their heads, faces filled with panic.
And then, Miko made everything even more embarrassing with her next words:
"Shameless! I already thought talking about choosing girlfriends was bad enough—but I never imagined you'd do something like this in the sacred student council room!"
⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾ Σ(°ロ°)Σ(°ロ°)
Miko marched up to the two of them before they could even explain and forcibly pulled them apart.
Then she shouted:
"Break it up! Same-sex indecency is strictly prohibited!"
Shirogane and Tanuma were speechless.
Miko's speed-talking was terrifying.
A few minutes later, after getting scolded to death, the two finally couldn't take it anymore and bowed deeply, yelling:
"We're sorry!"
"Hmph, if you try something like this again, don't blame me!" Miko huffed, then turned to look at Sakurai Saki.
Sakurai Saki was a bit confused under her expectant gaze.
A moment later, the lightbulb went on in his head.
"Rank one in the entire grade—amazing! Congratulations!"
And just like that, Shirogane Miyuki and Tanuma Tsubasa watched Miko-chan's face instantly light up.
She was happy—but the two who had just been scolded for minutes on end were definitely not.
'Why didn't Sakurai get scolded?!' Shirogane Miyuki thought furiously.
Totally unfair!
"They were just practicing how to confess." Sakurai Saki finally spoke up, explaining for the two victims.
As for why he didn't say so earlier? Maybe it was due to his twisted sense of humor.
Sakurai even wished he had popcorn to fully enjoy the show.
"And the whole 'choosing girls' thing—Tanuma was just joking."
"Even if it's a joke, it's still too much!" Miko refused to accept that kind of excuse.
If everything could be brushed off as "just a joke", then the world would only grow worse.
"Sorry, I won't do it again." Tanuma Tsubasa immediately backed down.
"Haizz."
"If only everyone could be like Sakurai-senpai. Last time, even after getting stood up when confessing, he didn't get angry and always treats everyone kindly." Miko sighed with admiration.
Even though Sakurai-senpai often teased her, he was also really thoughtful! He was the first person to congratulate her on her test results!
Tanuma Tsubasa had no reaction to that comment—on the outside, Sakurai Saki remained composed as usual.
But Shirogane Miyuki was visibly annoyed.
This Sakurai guy is even worse than Tanuma!
He's clearly trying to two-time!
Iino Miko, wake up already!