The Girls' Invitation

After the midterm exams, the second half of June arrived, and the weather grew increasingly sweltering.

As the saying goes, blessings do not come in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

Today, Sawahara finally understood the profound meaning behind those words.

That morning, Sawahara received a message from Ichinose, asking him to meet her behind the school building at noon, claiming she had something to discuss.

During the break, a frivolous-looking blonde man approached him as well.

"Our class princess wishes to see you at noon; I hope you will do us the honor." The man's name was Hashimoto Masayoshi, a student from Class A of the first year, who had a bit of a reputation in the grade... well, among the girls, and not exactly a good one.

"Sakayanagi Arisu?" Sawahara pondered for a moment. "If I have the time, I will go."

Why were they both asking for him at the same time? Sawahara didn't quite understand; was today some kind of special day?

However, compared to Sakayanagi, he was more curious about what Ichinose wanted with him.

At noon, Sawahara arrived behind the school building at the agreed time, and Ichinose was already sitting on a bench waiting.

"Good afternoon, Ichinose. Did you have something you needed to talk to me about?" Sawahara sat down on the bench and asked for the reason behind her request.

"I want Sawahara-kun to pretend to be my boyfriend." Ichinose clasped her hands together and bowed, making her request to Sawahara.

"Hmm?" Sawahara was stunned for a moment, then began to laugh. "Ichinose, are you confessing your feelings to me?"

"Ah, no, that's not it!" Ichinose's face turned beet red instantly; she was still not very good at handling such topics.

"Just kidding." Sawahara already understood what Ichinose had brought him here for. "It seems there's someone you dislike who intends to confess to you, so you want me to act as a shield, right?"

"Dislike... that's not really it." Ichinose's expression became troubled; she didn't actually dislike the other person, and in fact, she quite liked them.

"But, Ichinose, how did you come up with this method?" Sawahara didn't think this was a tactic Ichinose would use; it didn't fit her personality.

"I looked it up online. It said this method is the least likely to hurt others," Ichinose replied. She wasn't good at dealing with these situations, so she had sought help from the internet.

"That kind of plot usually only appears in male-oriented novels, you know." Sawahara was somewhat speechless. Although he had long known her true nature, this was a bit too naive.

"First, having a shield doesn't mean the other person will actually back down. Boyfriends and girlfriends can break up, married couples can divorce, and even the dead can be buried together.

Second, pretending to be a couple is quite dangerous. If the other person has bad intentions, it will be very troublesome. Even if they don't, the cognitive dissonance of playing a role will gradually affect your own sense of self. Simply put, it's very easy to end up losing yourself entirely.

Third, have you thought about how to end this charade? As a class leader, if this situation arises, it will easily cause a huge impact on both classes."

Ichinose hadn't been entirely thoughtless, though. "But if it's Sawahara-kun, there shouldn't be any problems, right? After all, Sawahara-kun is a good person."

"Receiving a 'good person' card in this situation doesn't make one feel happy, Ichinose." Of course, Sawahara didn't feel disappointed either.

"And the most important point, Ichinose: when it comes to feelings, lies are always wrong. Using deception to deal with someone else's sincerity is the most inferior of behaviors."

Having said that, Sawahara paused for a moment before speaking again.

"The Ichinose I know wouldn't do something like this."

"...I thought about it too simply." Hearing Sawahara's words, Ichinose realized that her previous idea might indeed have been problematic.

"I'm sorry, Sawahara-kun, for causing you trouble."

"But come to think of it, who is planning to confess to you? Kanzaki or Shibata?" Sawahara was also curious about who the suitor was, though it wasn't an easy guess, as sixty percent of the boys in the grade could potentially be the one.

"Little Honami!?" The appearance of a short-haired girl made Sawahara look over. He recognized her; it was Shiranami Chihiro from Ichinose's class, who was usually very clingy toward Ichinose.

"Could it be..." Sawahara suddenly understood why Ichinose had looked so troubled earlier.

"The other party has already mustered enough courage and determination, so you must respond with sincerity as well."

He patted Ichinose on the shoulder and left, leaving the space to the two girls. He had another invitation to attend.

The place he had agreed to meet Sakayanagi was the former Chess Club activity room.

During a meeting previously, Nagumo had mentioned this club, and the reason he brought it up was...

"This club was challenged by someone, and they not only lost all their club funds but even the right to use their activity room. A club like that might as well be disbanded."

It seemed the person who issued the challenge was Sakayanagi. Pushing open the door to the activity room, Sakayanagi was sitting there alone, fiddling with a chessboard. Standing behind her was a girl with long purple hair who looked difficult to approach, though for some reason, there were beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Sawahara-kun is quite the busy man; you really kept me waiting." Looking at the man who had arrived late, Sakayanagi's opening remark was sharp despite her gentle tone.

"If Sakayanagi hadn't invited me, I would have been quite at leisure." Sawahara responded indifferently.

"Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen Classmate Sakayanagi." Sawahara scrutinized Sakayanagi, guessing her purpose.

"Won't you introduce her?"

"Kamuro Masumi." The purple-haired girl introduced herself coldly, her gaze toward Sawahara filled with inexplicable hostility.

"Such a disobedient little dog; it seems she still needs some training." Sakayanagi said with a smile, though the words she spat out were not as pleasant as her voice.

Hearing Sakayanagi's words, the girl named Kamuro Masumi showed even more dissatisfaction on her face, yet she did not speak again.

"Sawahara-kun, are you interested in playing a game with me?" Without mentioning her purpose, Sakayanagi instead challenged Sawahara to a match.

"I'll pass; I'm not very good at chess." Sawahara refused directly. Knowing the other party was a chess expert and playing against her anyway would not be wise.

"You just told Classmate Ichinose that one shouldn't use lies to deal with sincerity, yet here you are lying yourself." Sakayanagi tilted her head, her face still wearing a smile, though only her face was smiling.

"After all, principles are always used to constrain others, not to persuade oneself." Sawahara shrugged with a smile, admitting the fact that he had lied.

However, a trace of doubt arose in his heart: how was she so certain that he knew how to play chess?

"If there is nothing else, I will be taking my leave."