Ichinose Honami

The two Student Council upperclassmen left, and the others quickly bowed.

Hoshino narrowed his eyes, watching President Horikita's retreating back until he turned the corner and went down the stairs.

That man... before leaving, he had given Hoshino a very discreet glance.

This time, even Tachibana had realized that Hoshino had basically used the Student Council as a tool.

President Horikita had naturally seen through it as well, but he had not said anything.

Probably because this had been something the Student Council should have handled in the first place.

As for this Student Council president, Hoshino had only encountered him once before, when he had happened upon an argument between him and his younger sister—his classmate, Horikita Suzune—and stepped in to stop it.

Their exchange back then had only scratched the surface. Other than learning that he practiced martial arts and was quite skilled, Hoshino did not know much else about him.

Through this incident, Hoshino was finally able to form an initial impression of this upperclassman.

Horikita Manabu, the Student Council president of this school... interesting.

At that moment, a girl who had come with President Horikita earlier but had not left with him walked over.

"Hello, Hoshino. Hello, everyone."

The girl greeted them in a gentle voice.

Her long pink hair was as smooth as flowing liquid sunlight, bouncing over her shoulders with her lively steps. A few playfully loosened strands fell over the high swell of her uniform-covered chest. Her fair skin glowed with a healthy rosy hue, while her clear azure eyes seemed to hold the brightest summer sky, always brimming with a sincere smile that could chase away gloom in an instant. The curve of her lips seemed capable of lighting up the entire space. The sunshine and warmth radiating from within her made people instinctively want to draw close and trust her.

Hoshino smiled at her, then introduced everyone. "These are Sakura and Hasebe, my classmates. This is Ichinose from Class B."

"Hello, Sakura. Hello, Hasebe."

Ichinose greeted them with a smiling squint. Her friendliness was simply overwhelming; even Sakura, who was usually reserved, did not feel uncomfortable.

"Ichinose, why did you come here? And with the president, too?"

Hearing Hoshino's question, Ichinose replied with a smile, "Ever since I ran into you last time, Hoshino, I've been keeping an eye on this matter. By coincidence, when you contacted Tachibana this time, I happened to be with her. After President Horikita agreed, I came along with them."

Hasebe could not help shooting Hoshino a sidelong glance. How did this guy keep getting tangled up with so many pretty girls?

"The last time I went to the Student Council to check the surveillance footage with Tachibana, I happened to run into Ichinose when she was applying to join the Student Council." Hoshino briefly explained how they had met.

"Wow, Ichinose, you're already joining the Student Council right after starting your first year?"

"Mm... I haven't been fully accepted yet. I'm still in the trainee stage. I was in the Student Council back in middle school too, so I wanted to keep improving myself."

"Ichinose is also Class B's class leader."

"A class leader?" Sakura looked a little confused.

"Someone who brings together all the students in the class and represents the class in external negotiations, I guess? In our class, it's something like the role Hirata has?"

"Eh, isn't that really tiring?"

"It's... not that tiring. I like everyone in my class, and I'm happy to be friends with them. Being able to help people makes me happy too." Ichinose spoke a little shyly. "After hearing about this, I wanted to help as well. But in the end, I didn't really manage to do anything. Ahaha, I guess I was just meddling."

"Not at all. We're already very happy that you were willing to help, Ichinose."

"But Ichinose is from Class B. In reality, shouldn't you be our competitor...?" Hasebe said hesitantly.

"Um... that's true." A helpless smile appeared on Ichinose's face. "I think the school's system may be designed to make the classes compete with each other, but that doesn't mean the students have to become enemies. Besides, what happened this time was really terrible. Compared to class competition or anything else, as a girl, I simply can't pretend I don't know about it."

Her pure smile touched everyone.

Hasebe and Sakura did not know how to react for a moment. Ichinose said somewhat awkwardly, "Sorry. Sometimes I get too carried away with my own opinions."

Hasebe said in admiration, "No... Ichinose... you're practically an angel."

Sakura nodded her little head blankly at the side.

"Ah! It's not that exaggerated..."

"It's true. Ichinose, you're so cute, and you're so considerate too."

"Hasebe and Sakura are both really cute too! I really want to be friends with you! Oh, and you can just call me Honami."

"Then I'll call you Honami-chan~"

"H-Honami-chan?"

"This is Airi, and I'm Haruka. Nice to meet you~"

"Nice to meet you too, Airi, Haruka."

"N-Nice to meet you..."

Watching the three chat happily, Hoshino nodded in satisfaction. There was nothing for him to do for the moment, so he took a few steps back and leaned against the wall near the stairwell corner, watching the three girls from afar.

Hoshino Akira could say it countless times: girls being all lovey-dovey was truly wonderful—

With Ichinose joining in, possessing equally impressive—if not even more impressive—assets, the destructive power of the scene increased exponentially.

The only thing better than two beautiful girls being all lovey-dovey was three beautiful girls being all lovey-dovey!

The vibration of the phone in his pocket interrupted Hoshino's daydream. He took it out and saw a familiar string of numbers on the screen. Hoshino frowned and thought for a moment before ultimately declining the call.

Immediately afterward, message notifications began flooding his screen.

"That woman..." Hoshino gritted his teeth and went into his phone settings to blacklist the number.

Finally, some peace and quiet. Hoshino knew this was only a temporary fix; before long, she would switch to another number and continue trying to reach him. Ignoring her like this would not solve the problem either. He happened to need something from her as well, so he should find some time to contact her himself.

Just then, his phone, which had only been quiet for a short while, vibrated again. The screen showed a message from "Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."

"Done?"

"Yeah."

As expected, there was no further reply after that.

He had barely put away his phone when it vibrated again. Hoshino sighed, took it out, and saw the name "Kushida Kikyo" on the screen.

Honestly, she never settles down. Hoshino deliberately waited for a while. When it became clear she had no intention of giving up, he finally pressed the answer button.