Chapter VIII: Reunions at the Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony for winter break was held on Christmas Eve. Like the rest of the students, the members of the special class were happily discussing their plans for winter break as they exited the auditorium. There hadn’t been any real problems with their reintegration into school, and more than a few of them had rekindled their friendships with students from other classes, all of whom were in their third year now.
Shizuku, in particular, was beloved by everyone in the school regardless of grade, and Suzu and Kaori were quite popular as well. Kouki, Ryutarou, and some of the guys who’d been in large clubs like Jugo Nagayama had also started reaching out to acquaintances outside of their class.
Yue and Shea were also rather popular. Even today, they were surrounded by a gaggle of admiring underclassmen girls. They were both sending Hajime covert glances, asking him to save them.
Naturally, Hajime just smiled at them and looked away. Both of their shoulders visibly slumped as they saw they’d been abandoned.
“Why are you abandoning them?”
Hajime turned in the direction of the voice and saw Yuka leaning against a pillar by the exit and twirling a finger through her hair.
“I just want them to make new friends.”
“Liar. You don’t want to deal with that group of girls, that’s all.”
Hajime averted his gaze and simultaneously sought to change the topic.
“Sorry that I’m reserving your whole café during one of your busiest seasons.”
“It’s fine, it’s only for today, and tomorrow onward is when we really get busy,” Yuka said with a shrug of her shoulders. Stifling a laugh, she added, “Besides, dad was really happy to hear you’re coming.”
“Seriously?”
“You bet.”
Everyone in Hajime’s class was planning on having a party at the Sonobe family café after school, and it seemed Yuka’s parents were more than happy to lend the whole café out to them. They were grateful to Hajime for bringing their daughter back and to everyone else for fighting together with Yuka.
“Oh, also, umm...if mom or dad say anything weird, just ignore them.”
“Weird how?”
“Y-You know, like those misunderstandings they had at the latest family meeting.”
“Which misunderstandings?”
“You know, all the weird stuff they said to you!”
“Was any of it really that weird?”
“How do you not remember it?!” Yuka blushed as she shouted that, but Hajime continued to look completely clueless. Of course, those who knew him well could tell by the twinkle in his eye that he was just teasing her.
“Heeey, Nagumocchi’s teasing Yukacchi and she’s blushing!” Nana shouted, running over to the two of them.
“I heard you say something about your dad... Are you finally going to confess? Is it finally time for you to join his harem?” Taeko asked with a grin.
“I am not!”
The three of them were loud enough that some of the passersby stopped to stare. Of course, with how much Yue and the others stood out, rumors had already spread across the entire school that Hajime was the harem lord of the returning students. As a result, the guys all glared at Hajime, wondering if he was about to add another girl to his harem, while the girls looked half-repulsed and half-curious.
“Oho, you’ve got a lot of courage, Yuka...”
“Yue-san?! Wait, I—”
“Hm? Is this the moment you were waiting for, Yuka-chan?”
“Kaori?! This is all a misunderstanding!”
Yue and Kaori suddenly appeared behind Yuka, and behind them were Shea and Shizuku. All of the harem members who attended school had now surrounded Yuka. If you included Yuka and her friends, Hajime was now surrounded by more girls than Yue and Shea had been.
In the distance, one of the guys muttered, “Some guys just get all the luck...”
At the same time, the Shizuku fans who called themselves the Soul Sisters started preparing something that looked rather dangerous.
If Hajime wanted to end this closing ceremony peacefully, he needed to act fast.
“If we’re done talking then let’s get going. If we—”
The surroundings suddenly grew noisy and Hajime trailed off. The source of the commotion seemed to be a crowd at the front gate. Hajime immediately recognized who was at the center of the crowd and he looked up at the sky in despair.
The figure made her way through the crowd and started heading into the school grounds. She was wearing a milky white coat and had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Though she looked young enough to be a middle schooler, she projected an air of authority that made her seem far more mature. And that made sense, since she was a princess.
Liliana smiled at the people surrounding her and thanked each and every one of them for getting out of her way. They all stared raptly at her, completely entranced. It was clear she was the daughter of some rich noble family, but none of them knew her. But then, she spotted Hajime and her plastered-on smile was replaced by a genuine one.
“Ah.”
In that moment, everyone realized that she’d just been being nice to them. Her real self was clearly reserved for someone else.
Liliana ran over to Hajime, her hair swaying in the wind and her short boots tapping against the ground.
“Hajime-san! He he he, I came to see your school.”
Everyone turned to Hajime and shouted, “You again?!” in unison.
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