II / I’ll Tell You the Truth of the World
Well, it was now one week later.
Izumi was spending yet another peaceful day of academy life.
…Or so it seemed, despite the fact that Satou and a mob of other male classmates were surrounding him with menacing expressions. It was an extremely peaceful morning.
For some reason, Izumi had been forced to sit in the formal seiza position, a cramped smile playing on his lips.
Then, as if representing the entire collective, Satou raised his voice.
“The 5th ‘Purge that Bastard Izumi’ Council is now in session∼!”
Boom-boom, toot-toot! The sound of drums and trumpets echoed from somewhere.
The surrounding boys burst into applause. Their coordination suggested a level of solidarity that was anything but ordinary. Had they been born during the Bakumatsu period, they might have left behind some impressive legends. Well, since this was the modern era, the assessment of “just a group of idiots” was much more appropriate.
Sitting in the center, Izumi asked Satou, almost as a formality:
“Uh… are we still doing this?”
“Of course we are! As if we could just ignore the current situation where you’re the only one being showered with popularity!”
Last week’s sports festival.
Specifically, the incident during the final scavenger hunt where Hakua, revered as the [Ice Princess], blurted out “I love you!” in front of the entire student body.
Actually, the moment it became common knowledge that Izumi and Hakua were former fiancés—and on top of that, that she was fighting Nanao for “ownership” of Izumi—the general atmosphere had become one of “Well, I guess that makes sense.” However, the boys wanted to believe. Their [Ice Princess] wasn’t supposed to fall in love, and the prince who melted her frozen heart certainly shouldn’t be some happy-go-lucky guy who only had his face going for him.
As if speaking for the grief of every boy in school, Satou grabbed Izumi’s shoulders while crying and shook him violently.
“Damn it, just settle for Nanase-san already! And at least give us a chance with the other cute girls!”
“Hey, stop making it sound like I’m breathing down everyone’s neck trying to claim every girl for myself…”
It had been two months since Nanao transferred in… and Satou and the others taking their frustrations out on him like this had become a daily occurrence. But this time, it looked like it was going to drag on. Perhaps that was a testament to Hakua’s influence within the academy.
It seemed like they would naturally disperse if he just waited for homeroom to start… but Izumi, feeling completely at a loss, looked around his surroundings.
(Isn’t there anyone who can help me… Ah!)
A certain female student came to Izumi’s mind.
She was the top of the class caste, a professional model, a top-tier student—a “Main Heroine” with stacked attributes and total dominance in the field of romance. With just one word from her, it was guaranteed that these commoners like Satou would prostrate themselves instantly.
—Her name was Amasaki Amane!
Actually, she and Izumi shared a “secret relationship” where he taught her after school, and that shared secret had led to them becoming close. Well, she was—without exception—a girl with a one-sided crush on Izumi, but since Izumi didn’t know that, seeking her help in this situation was a natural progression.
However, no matter how much he looked, Amane was nowhere to be found.
Her seat was empty, and her usual group of friends looked like they had nothing to do. Had she not come to school yet…? No, wait. Amane’s bag was definitely there. So, where was she?
While thinking about this, he suddenly turned his gaze forward.
There stood Amane, pointing a finger directly at him with a perfect “cool” pose!
“Izumi-chi, today is the day you pay your sin!”
“Wait, what!?”
Amane had—unbelievably—joined Satou’s side!
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But if you thought about it, this development was also natural. Originally, Amane was a woman with a strong habit of running away. Things had been going well for a bit after she formed a loose alliance with Nanao, but then came Hakua’s massive reversal at the sports festival. As a result of her advantage as the “woman who took the first step” vanishing—she had been consumed by the miasma of Satou’s jealousy.
“Amane? What is seriously wrong with you…?”
Suddenly, Amane’s eyes filled with large tears, and she began shaking him by the collar with all her might.
“Because, Izumi-chi! You didn’t eat Amane’s bento even once last week!”
“I already had other bentos, so it couldn’t be helped, right!?”
Currently, the women openly making moves on Izumi were:
Nanao, Amane, and Hakua.
The current situation was that all of them had a high probability of bringing homemade lunches.
Amane was also struggling through the unfamiliar task of making bentos, but she was constantly beaten to the punch by the neighbor, Hakua. Consequently, her bentos ended up being stuffed into her father’s stomach day after day. One might think she should consider an approach other than bentos, but if she had the kind of flexible personality to think of that, things wouldn’t have become this complicated in the first place.
Having previously hit Hakua’s landmine by thoughtlessly using the word “[Wife ♡],” she was now being forced to pay the price. As a result, she had fallen into the dark side of the heroine race. Her figure, struggling as a banner for the masses, was reminiscent of Joan of Arc. What happened to her tearful plea to Nanao, “Amane wants to try her best too…” (See Volume 1).
At any rate, Izumi had now lost the only person in the class who might have been his ally. Was he destined to be buried by these assassins of the dark side?
(Usually, Nanao would stop them at a time like this…)
For the past week, things had been left on hold like that.
But Nanao was absent today… or rather, she was in the class next door, so that was only natural. She had been coming and going so freely that it didn’t even feel weird anymore.
Just then—a frantic voice burst into the classroom!
“Hey, it’s a huge incident!”
It was one of Izumi’s male classmates… one who usually hung out with Satou. He also sometimes went out to play with Izumi after school… anyway, he whispered something to Satou while gasping for breath.
Hearing the report, Satou’s complexion changed.
“What did you say!?”
In an instant, the “witch hunt” atmosphere flipped, and the boys became agitated.
Izumi tilted his head and asked.
“What happened?”
“Shut up! We don’t have time to deal with the likes of you!”
“Wow, harsh…”
It wasn’t that he wanted to be purged for a crime he didn’t commit, but Izumi felt a little lonely at the sudden dismissal.
After the boys scrambled out of the classroom, he stood up with a heavy “Heave-ho.” His legs were numb from sitting in seiza for so long.
Then, he turned his eyes toward the last remaining member of the purge squad.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Pyah!?”
It was Amane.
She had been hoisted up as the banner of the rebellion until a moment ago, but suddenly, her minions had vanished. Having lost her defensive line, the headquarters was now completely exposed.
As Amane stood there flustered, Izumi let out a weary sigh… seeing this, the surrounding girls began to boo and complain as if to protect her.
“It’s Izumi’s fault anyway∼”
“Lately you’ve been so cold to Amane because you’re busy with all those other girls∼”
“Why am I the one being blamed…?”
However, it seemed like that couldn’t be helped.
It was true that for the past week… Nanao’s fierce offensive at school hadn’t stopped, and when he went home, Hakua and Meina were taking dinner together as if it were the most natural thing in the world, leading to sparks flying with Kasumi. Even Izumi was struggling to keep up, and he hadn’t been able to hold the usual after-school study sessions with Amane.
But that was just an excuse. Knowing this, Izumi apologized sincerely.
“Amane. I’m sorry for not realizing how hard you were working.”
“Ah, no, it’s not like that, but…”
Thinking about it, she was just taking her frustration out on him, so being apologized to made Amane feel awkward in turn.
Then, with Satou and the others gone, the atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Feeling embarrassed, she fidgeted and blushed, stealing glances at Izumi’s face.
(…Could it be that Izumi-chi has finally realized Amane’s feelings?)
The moment she saw a ray of hope.
Izumi continued with a serious expression.
“You were that mad that I couldn’t be your bento taste-tester, huh. I’ll eat it as much as I can from now on.”
“That’s wroooooooooong∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼!!”
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