Feibo's Troubles

Time flew by, and today was the last day of March.

Suzuki Tsubame sat in the back row of the classroom, bored out of his mind. Over the past month, he had practically gone to the Gymnasium whenever he had nothing to do. Unfortunately, he had only defeated a few upperclassmen whose information was limited.

The upperclassmen who knew him avoided him like mice avoiding a cat whenever they saw him.

Kushida had been quite well-behaved this month. No rumors about him or Horikita had spread through the class.

Suzuki Tsubame vaguely remembered that, in the original story, the girls had spread rumors that Horikita looked down on everyone. This time, though, there had been nothing of the sort.

Horikita was still the same as ever. Other than him, she showed no warmth to anyone.

Sakayanagi had made no moves. Suzuki Tsubame had gone looking for her before, but she kept avoiding him. She would not even come when he invited her to play chess.

Besides that, Kamuro Masumi had continued following him. She thought her tracking skills were flawless, but he had seen through her long ago.

In the middle of the month, he had made a deal with Ichinose from Class B. For one million points, he told her the rules of this special exam.

However, their plan seemingly had not made much progress. Ryuen had been making their lives miserable.

Class D's classroom.

It was as noisy as ever. Most of them had not realized the situation they were about to face.

Bang!

Chabashira Sae slammed her lesson plans onto the podium with a loud crash.

"Quiet!"

"We'll be holding a mock exam next. This test will not count toward your individual grades, so it doesn't matter what scores you get."

The test papers were passed from front to back. Horikita Suzune was filled with fighting spirit, as though she would be able to leave this Kamito class tomorrow.

Suzuki Tsubame could only wish her luck.

This test was not difficult for Suzuki Tsubame. An exam of this level was child's play, not even comparable to an ordinary monthly test from his first year of middle school.

The exam ended quickly.

"Sudo, Ike, Ayanokoji, come on."

Yamaguchi left with Kuroya Keisaku and the others. How had Ayanokoji gotten mixed in with them? He seemed to get along with them quite well.

"Kei, Shinohara, let's go shopping together."

Sato left with the gyaru group. Also with them were Wang Meiyu, who came from the same hometown as him, Mori Nene, and Matsushita Chiaki.

Cliques were everywhere. That was Class D.

Suzuki Tsubame remained seated without moving. Forget him—even if a failed art student came here, they would not be able to rally everyone.

"Suzuki, could you wait a moment?"

Hirata Yosuke called out to Suzuki Tsubame with an apologetic expression.

Suzuki Tsubame watched Horikita disappear through the classroom door, then stopped.

"What is it?"

Suzuki Tsubame looked puzzled, though he more or less knew why Hirata had come.

"It's like this. Horikita has been a little... withdrawn this month. Everyone seems to have some complaints about her. You're the only one who can talk to her, so could I trouble you to help her integrate into the class a little?"

Hirata put it very tactfully. What he meant was that Suzuki Tsubame should tell Horikita to rein herself in a little.

After all, this month, she had practically had "I am ashamed to associate with the likes of you" written across her face.

Suzuki Tsubame shook his head. Hirata's obsession with the class ran too deep. It seemed normal on the surface, but in reality, his flaw was the greatest of all.

"Hirata, everyone has their own way of living. Suzune likes living this way, so just let her be."

"As for other people's complaints, you don't need to worry. Suzune won't care. And there's even less reason to worry about her being targeted because of it. She may not be good with words, but she is good with her fists."

Suzuki Tsubame seemed to be taking Horikita's side, but he was actually reminding Hirata that everyone had their own way of life and that he should not be so fixated.

"Please try to persuade Horikita anyway. For the sake of the class, I'm begging you."

With that, Hirata Yosuke bowed to him.

No, Suzuki Tsubame was speechless. Could this guy not understand human language?

And what was with that ninety-degree bow?

Suzuki Tsubame had already stepped aside by the time Hirata bent down.

"Fine. I'll talk to her, but I don't know whether it'll have any effect."

After saying that, Suzuki Tsubame walked straight out through the back door of the classroom.

"Thank you, Suzuki." By the time Hirata straightened up, Suzuki Tsubame was already gone.

By the time Suzuki Tsubame left the classroom, Horikita had vanished without a trace.

Remembering that the refrigerator in his Dormitory was already empty, Suzuki Tsubame changed course and headed for the Supermarket.

He had originally liked taking detours, returning to the Dormitory through the small woods by the Artificial Lake. The route was longer, but sometimes he came across unexpected surprises.

"Suzuki! What a coincidence."

A lively female voice rang out, brimming with energy.

"It's Ichinose. Why are you sitting here alone? Where's your harem?"

He had not expected to run into a wild Ichinose. At the moment, she was sitting alone on a roadside bench.

Half a month ago, Suzuki Tsubame had approached Ichinose. At the time, she had still been surrounded by the girls from Class B. Finding her alone had been truly difficult.

When Suzuki Tsubame brought up the proposed deal, the girls had all gathered around on their own, afraid that Ichinose would be deceived.

In the end, they set the meeting place at the karaoke bar they often visited.

The boys present were Suzuki Tsubame, Kanzaki Ryuji, and Mashima Tomoya.

All the girls from Class B had shown up. It looked less like a contract negotiation and more like a mixer.

Fortunately, only two people from Class B knew the contents of the contract.

As for why he had asked Class A's homeroom teacher to witness it instead of Class B's Hoshinomiya Chie, those who understood, understood.

It had also given him a taste of what it felt like to stumble into a kingdom of women.

"It's not a harem. What you said is way too strange, Suzuki."

Ichinose's cheeks flushed faintly.

She had been troubled by that very matter, yet Suzuki Tsubame had bluntly brought it up.

As she looked at Suzuki Tsubame before her, her eyes suddenly lit up.

She could not really talk to anyone in her class about what she was going through right now. Wasn't Suzuki Tsubame the perfect person to ask?

"It's like this, Suzuki."

"I have a friend who seems to have run into some trouble recently. Could I ask you to help her sort it out?"

Ichinose spoke with a troubled expression, looking as though she truly cared deeply for her friend.

"Is that so? I understand. I'll do my best to help your friend sort things out."

Suzuki Tsubame deliberately emphasized the word "friend," making Ichinose blush once again. Lying did not come easily to her.

"Um, she seems to have recently been liked by a friend of the same sex. How should she respond without hurting the other person?"

Ichinose told Suzuki Tsubame about her friend's problem, hoping to get an answer from him.

He had not expected Ichinose to notice so quickly. Suzuki Tsubame seemed to remember that Shiranami Chihiro was not supposed to confess to her until next month.

"If she doesn't like her, then no matter how she answers, she'll hurt that girl, won't she?"

"It isn't easy to work up the courage to confess your love. And they're both the same sex, which makes it even harder."

Same-sex love was practically as taboo as incest.

In today's society, where morality was still fairly strict—especially in an environment as repressive as this island nation—if it was mishandled, it would mean social death outright.