CHAPTER 1
Reunion
Regular classes resumed after the Autumn Heights Festival and the extra day off school that made up for it. However, many students were clearly far too distracted to concentrate on their lessons, fidgeting in their eagerness to talk to their friends and classmates. Some were even caught sneaking glances at their phones to text, unable to control themselves. It seemed, however, that the main topic of conversation was a particular event that had unfolded during the assembly in the gym that morning: a public apology.
“I am truly sorry for my actions and the pain that I have caused.”
With a dramatic bow onstage, Yuushou Kiryuuin, one of the top three most popular boys in the school, apologized profusely to the entire student body. Born into a wealthy family, he was known not only as the Prince of Piano for his extraordinary musical talent and good looks, but for his pride as well. Which was why his unexpected act of humility left the entire student body stunned, especially the female students, who gasped in disbelief. However, what was most surprising was the fact that his scalp was shining radiantly as he bowed.
His usually flawless, silky hair, which was adored by countless fans, had become a memory of yore. And to make matters worse, whoever shaved his head must have done a terrible job, because there were bandages all over his head. Although a rather painful sight, it was honestly hilarious, and his strikingly beautiful face only made it funnier—to the point that it was genuinely hard for anyone to even pay attention to Touya’s explanation.
Nevertheless, as understanding of the situation gradually spread, anger began to simmer, particularly among the students who had been directly affected by the incident. Before things could escalate, Sumire—who was onstage by Yuushou’s side—suddenly took out a pair of scissors and claimed that she shared responsibility for what had happened. Then she grabbed one of her beloved spiral curls as if she were going to snip it off. Chaos ensued as numerous girls from the kendo club rushed onto the stage to stop her, creating a scene reminiscent of their recent swordplay drama. However, Chisaki’s stern shout brought a quick end to the madness, turning the situation into what could only be described as a comedy sketch.
While the student body was in a state of confusion, not knowing whether to laugh or to be angry, the principal announced a one-month suspension for Yuushou, bringing the assembly to a close. The incident quickly became the talk of the school, so naturally, Masachika became the focus of everyone’s attention, since he was rumored to be the one who thwarted Yuushou’s plan.
“Yo, Kuze! Did that little display this morning have something to do with your piano battle at the school festival?”
“Did you seriously beat the Prince in a piano-off?!”
“How did you know that he was behind those incidents at the school festival?”
The moment first period ended, Masachika’s classmates crowded around him, making him grimace. But he decided to answer their questions as best as he could, since he was well aware that he had to clear up any misunderstandings before weird rumors started spreading.
“Well, I assumed it was probably someone trying to ruin the reputation of the current student council, so I figured it was highly likely someone running to become the next student council president would have been behind the incidents. Of course, it could have just been someone with a grudge against the previous student council president and vice president…but either way, I had a good feeling that they would try to make contact with the First Light Committee, so I staked out the room they were staying in until he showed.”
“Nice! How’d you convince him to ‘debate’ you, though?”
“That’s…a secret.”
“Oh, come on! The curiosity is killing me!”
“For real! That’s what I really wanted to know!”
Although his classmates pressed him for more details, there were just some things that Masachika couldn’t tell them, let alone even wanted to, so he simply offered a forced smile and an evasive response.
“Give me a break. You guys know how some things can’t be discussed when they involve the First Light Committee, right?”
The classmates, who had been leaning forward with anticipation, all let out a collective “Gah” and scowled at his response.
“Oh, so that’s why…”
“Yeah, good point…”
There was a simple reason why their expressions soured all at once: A gag order had been put in place immediately following the Autumn Heights Festival incident, thanks to the members of the First Light Committee, who had been present at the festival.
However, despite the attempts to silence them, a few festival guests managed to post videos and pictures of the incident on social media—all of which were deleted within a minute, along with the accounts themselves. The media’s coverage was equally brief and misleading, being nothing more than a sanitized version of the event, stating only that “An intruder sneaked inside the Autumn Heights Festival but was apprehended by security.” This vague news report, which made it seem as though the intruder had been caught right away, failed to capture the public’s attention and was soon forgotten. And that was why even the Seirei Academy students, who knew about the First Light Committee and how they operated, couldn’t help but find the situation unsettling, to say the least.
Incidentally, the police were never called to the scene, and the intruders, who were taken to the disciplinary committee room, vanished without a trace. Regardless, it was probably best not to know where they went or what had happened to them.
“You know those conspiracies about how there are secret organizations controlling entire countries from the shadows? Well, I’m starting to wonder if the First Light Committee is one of them.”
“Except they’re not even trying to hide it. It’s really obvious now how many powerful people are part of that group.”
“I’m just surprised Kiryuuin got away with only a month suspension.”
“Well, he was doing it for the election…so I guess he’s basically getting a pardon from the committee?”
Masachika’s classmates huddled together, their voices low and filled with a mix of fear and wonder. Masachika gave his peers a wry smile, then his eyes darted toward the back of the room…where another cluster of students had gathered.
“The show was incredible! Hey, did you guys record yourselves? Like demo tapes or something? A few guys in another class want copies.”
“D-demo tapes? Oh, I didn’t even think about making any…”
“We have some recordings of our practice sessions…but we didn’t professionally record in a studio or anything.”
“““Nooo!”””
Both Takeshi and Hikaru seemed somewhat troubled yet proud after hearing their peers’ disgruntled complaints.
“Alisa, I know it’s a little late…but I wanted to thank you for warning us during the whole firecracker incident. I was kind of panicking, so you have no idea how reassuring it was to hear your voice.”
“Really…? I’m glad I could help.”
“I wish I could see you cosplaying as an elf again…”
“Th-that was a one-time thing…”
“Awww… Come on.”
“The outfit you wore onstage was so cool, too! I was really far in the back, so I didn’t get a good look at it, though… Where’d you get it?”
“Nonoa was the one who picked out all our outfits, so I’m not sure…”
A blend of admiration and affection shone in their eyes as they fixed their gaze on Alisa, who was awkwardly smiling. Meanwhile, Masachika watched the scene unfold until the second period teacher walked through the door, prompting the students to return to their seats, albeit reluctantly. Alisa followed suit and went back to her desk as well.
“Look at you now,” Masachika whispered.
When Masachika gave Alisa a tired smile, she looked away nervously and nodded.
“…You too,” she mumbled, before sitting down and facing straight ahead. Her reaction made Masachika grin.
Yeah… She’s still thinking about what happened the night of the festival, isn’t she? All the excitement…led to that, after all.
His mind had begun to wander as he reminisced, so he furiously shook his head to clear it. After dispelling these impure thoughts, he tried to focus on the lesson…but he couldn’t ignore the feeling of his classmates’ gazes, which made him too uncomfortable to concentrate.
Hmm… I’m glad we really got our names out there during the festival…but this is more exhausting than I thought.
The current situation was ideal for their election campaign, though. After all, the main reason he had pushed Alisa to join the band was to improve her image and social skills, and it obviously worked. The school festival had completely changed how people saw her. Once a solitary figure admired from afar, she was now surrounded by people eager to get to know her, at least more so than before. And Alisa, though a little taken aback, seemed to be embracing this change as well.
If I’m only looking at results, then this was a huge success… What I hadn’t expected was that people would start paying more attention to me as well, though. Obviously, a huge miscalculation on my part.
If anything, he kind of felt like he was stealing most of the attention, but that was definitely not a bad thing, since it would still help their chances during the election. Regardless, it was definitely making it hard for him to pay attention in class.
Then again, this is probably only temporary, and people are only still talking about it because of what happened this morning. Everyone’ll stop talking about it once word gets around as to why and how I did it…
It was a foolish wish, though. No more than a pipe dream.
“Hey, did you seriously jump kick a firecracker that got thrown at Alisa?”
“I had no idea you were that good at piano. Where did you learn?”
“Any idea what happened to the people who tried to ruin the school festival?”
“Can I ask you about something that happened during the trivia game?!”
One person after another…over and over and over again approached him in between classes, expressing their envy and praise, giving him absolutely no time to rest. So by the time lunch came around…
“Ahhhhhh!!” …Masachika was alone in the student council room—dying. “Ngh!!”
He was lying facedown on the couch, writhing around and making strange, muffled noises. He was acting like a crazy guy on the subway, and his behavior would have given anyone who saw him incurable secondhand embarrassment. However, with nobody around to judge him, he decided to indulge in a wild fit of interpretive dance, only stopping abruptly to mumble:
“…This is getting ridiculous.”
His words were tainted with regret and embarrassment. Everyone around school was talking like he was some sort of hero to the point that he already kind of wanted to forget it all. If “Don’t look at me! Don’t talk about me! Please leave me alone!” were a mood, then that was what he was feeling right now.
Kicking a firecracker back at someone onstage, punching some punk right in the face, and…
He couldn’t help but think about his numerous interactions with Yuushou, especially how he’d let Yuushou’s theatrical performance provoke him to the point that he tried to act like a badass…
“Gaaahhh!”
Masachika exploded with mortification, making him jump in his seat and then shrivel in agony.
Guhhh!! I’m going to die. I’m seriously going to die…
Fortunately, there weren’t many people who had seen what he did when he wasn’t onstage in the schoolyard or auditorium. There weren’t any witnesses to how he acted around Yuushou, so nobody saw the embarrassing wrestling move he tried on him, either. Fortunately, Yuushou was definitely not going to tell anyone about it, so the most embarrassing exchange he had during the festival would likely die along with the gossip—as if it had never happened at all.
While there were a few people who had watched as Masachika knocked out that thug, Nonoa’s special “friends” put on quite a show, startling all those who saw, which was probably why nobody was talking about Masachika throwing a punch. The main rumors about him were how he jump kicked a firecracker and had a piano duel against Yuushou. Neither of these were particularly embarrassing, but whenever someone brought up either, he couldn’t help but remember how he acted like some sort of wannabe badass using pro wrestling moves on Yuushou.
No, I get it. Nobody’s laughing at me or even knows that it happened. I get it, but—ahhhhhh!!
Whenever something good and bad happened around the same time, Masachika’s mind always overwrote the good with the bad. Even his wonderful memories of Mah were tainted by his depressing memory of their good-bye, so it was safe to say that this wasn’t going to be any different.
Guh… I’m starting to feel ashamed about what I did to Nao and my little surprise for Alya.
He slowly found himself spiraling, unable to break free. Memories of Nao’s tear-streaked face, Alisa’s devilish smile and captivating cleavage…
“Bfft!”
A very indecent memory resurfaced, causing him to jolt upright once more. Despite his attempts to suppress it, the vivid image that had been deeply etched into his mind began to play on repeat: the soft feel of Alisa’s body in his arms, her mesmerizing smile that could steal anyone’s heart, paired with the tantalizing sight of her plump, jiggly—
“Hnnng!”
He slammed his forehead on the couch, hoping to erase the memory, yet the sensory details of that experience remained stubbornly engraved in his mind.
Come on! Alya was so beautiful, and she smelled really good, and her boobs were pressed up against me! My reactions seemed to have put her in a good mood, but I can’t stand how obvious I was being. Yeah, her boobs were incredible, and she kept snuggling up to me, and I bet Alya didn’t even notice, but when she tugged on her outfit—ahhhhhh!!
Masachika squirmed and twisted his body once more, but for different reasons than before.
Sigh… I really deserve a pat on the back for being able to control myself after all that…
“Want me to give you a pat on the back?”
Go away, you stupid little demon.
A small, devilish Yuki popped her head out in his mind, and he wasted no time smacking her to the ground, reducing her to dust. The ash, however, immediately reassembled, resurrecting the demon.
“Demons can’t die. ♪”
Tsk. You sure know how to be annoying.
He let out a deep sigh, feeling utterly defeated and rightfully annoyed as the devilish figure pranced away with a mocking laugh. Though the shocking memory had momentarily pulled him out of his tailspin, his situation hadn’t changed at all. The most likely scenario was this: The moment Masachika stepped out of this room, he would be bombarded once more with the curious gazes of passing students, and that thought alone filled him with dread.
Sigh… This has made me once again realize just how much I hate being the center of attention.
Although he had a faint suspicion this was the case, the fundamental reason he’d acted as a behind-the-scenes vice president in middle school probably had to do with that. Because he was convinced that he was worthless—that he was a terrible person—he had always been afraid of being in the limelight, worried that people would discover the real him, so he had always gone out of his way to avoid attention, preferring to lurk in the background…
But I have to start getting used to it, because I promised I would be there for Alya—right by her side…
Masachika had already made up his mind that he was going to make himself visible during the campaign. Because unlike Yuki, who was fully qualified to be the student council president, Alisa needed someone to be there for her.
—Did she really, though?
Doubt suddenly infiltrated his thoughts. His mind replayed the many instances that proved Alisa’s recent growth: how she courageously performed solo during the trivia show, how she was recognized as the band’s leader by her peers, how she displayed leadership during the firecracker incident as she calmed the crowd, and most recently, how she responded to her classmates with a smile, albeit awkwardly, as they crowded around her. Thinking back to these moments fed the premonition within him. It was the same thing his gut had been telling him during the school festival. Put simply…
The day that Alya doesn’t need me anymore is going to be here sooner than I thought…
At the very least, he probably didn’t have to hover as much anymore. Alisa was growing far more rapidly than Masachika could have ever predicted. If anything, he was starting to worry that his overprotectiveness might be stifling her social life.
“I’m just making excuses so I don’t have to help her anymore. What kind of human garbage am I?”
He spoke those words aloud, as if to convince himself, then sat up, resettling himself on the couch while looking up at the clock. He realized that half of his lunch break had already slipped away.
“Haaah…”
With no lunch packed that day, Masachika was stuck between going to the cafeteria or the co-op for a meal, but the thought of being surrounded by his peers again made him hesitate.
…I’m not that hungry, so maybe I’ll just skip lunch. Besides, I’d barely have any time to eat if I left now to buy something.
Although lost in thought, he was hardly surprised when the door to the student council room abruptly burst open. His indifferent gaze wandered toward the entrance, where his eyes met Maria’s, bringing a radiant smile to her face.
Whoa. What a lovely smile.
As he squinted, Maria approached him, then placed the papers she’d been holding on to the table. She looked down at him on the couch, her gaze brimming with compassion.
“Is this where the lost lamb, Sah, has wandered?” Maria asked, as if she were some sort of holy nun.
“Sister Masha, is that you?” he retorted, deadpan.
She sat down next to him and spread her arms wide. In that instant, a vivid memory flashed through his mind: the recollection of her overbearing maternal instincts.
“…I’m not going over there, even if you hold your arms out like that, and I’m not going to let you come here, either.”
Masachika raised his arms protectively in front of his chest to keep Maria in check, and his obvious wariness made her eyebrows droop with disappointment.
“…Does it really bother you that much when I kiss you on the cheek?”
“Huh? O-oh, a kiss on the cheek…?”
Maria’s sorrowful expression filled him with shame and embarrassment for misreading the situation. He lowered his hands, unable to make eye contact due to the overbearing guilt, but right as he averted his gaze, she moved.
“Huh?”
Before he even realized it, a pair of arms had slipped around his neck, and with a sudden tug, he was pulled forward, only centimeters away from Maria’s school uniform ribbon.
“…?!”
“There, there. What happened?”
Her gentle tone rained down from above, but Masachika was no longer in any position to reply.
What happened to the kiss on the cheek?! A kiss on the cheek! You liar!
His mind screamed in protest, but he couldn’t voice his objections, because everywhere from his nose to his mouth was completely buried in something soft. He couldn’t even say a word, let alone breathe. That wasn’t, however, because he was physically incapable of breathing. It was an issue of the mind.
After all, if he breathed in through his nose, it would look like he was sniffing her like some sort of creep. And when he exhaled, it’d look like he was breathing heavily onto her like a pig. Even breathing through his mouth would make it look like he was trying to suck on her…like a creep. In other words…
How am I supposed to breathe like this? Through my skin? Is that how I’m supposed to survive?
He tried to tap Maria’s shoulder to convey the urgency of the situation, but she showed no signs of letting go, and as the seconds continued to tick by, he could slowly feel his brain beginning to starve for oxygen…
Does she not even notice that I’m tapping her? Then again, I guess it makes sense… Masha’s massive bust is just—ah, so this is what it means to be sandwiched in happiness…
His consciousness slowly started to fade—
“Ready for the spring roll? Say ‘ah.’”
“Ahhh. Mmm.”
“Do you like it?”
“…! It’s really good.”
Before Masachika knew what was happening, he was being fed from Maria’s lunch box.
“Why…?”
“Huh?”
“Huh? Uh…? How did this happen?”
“‘How’? You looked hungry, so I told you I was going to share my lunch with you, and I only have one pair of chopsticks, so I told you I’d feed you.”
“…And I agreed to that?”
“You even nodded.”
“Seriously…?”
While hard to believe, there was no denying that he had been passively allowing Maria to feed him. In fact, on closer inspection, her lunch box was already half-empty.
What is going on…? Why can’t I remember anything? Don’t tell me that I regressed into an infantile state because of Masha’s motherly love?! Nooo!!
But even as his thoughts became an inaudible shriek—
“Here comes the airplane.”
His mouth automatically opened for the chopsticks hovering before his lips. Chomp, chomp.
“Is it good?”
“So good.”
He had been perfectly trained and conditioned.
“Wait! No!”
“Eek! What’s wrong?”
“I don’t even know what’s wrong…”
Masachika’s head drooped low, and Maria appeared confused, until she eventually nodded, as if she understood what he meant.
“Well, that’s very thought-provoking.”
“I just feel lost.”
“You’re in the student council room.”
“No, not like that. This is mind-bending.”
“…Nothing about this seems unusual to me?”
“Yeah…”
“Here comes the airplane. Ahhhn.”
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