The Girls' Invitations

After the midterm exams, time moved into the latter half of June, and the weather grew increasingly hot.

As the saying went, good fortune never came twice, while misfortune never came alone.

That morning, Sawahara finally understood the meaning of those words.

That morning, Sawahara received a message from Ichinose asking him to meet her behind the school building at lunchtime. She said she had something to talk to him about.

During break, a frivolous blond man also came looking for him.

"Our class's princess would like to see you at lunch. Please do us the honor." The man's name was Hashimoto Masayoshi. He was a Class 1-A student and was somewhat well-known around the year... well, among the girls, and not for anything good.

"Sakayanagi Arisu?" Sawahara considered it for a moment. "If I have time, I'll come."

Why had they both suddenly come looking for him at the same time? Sawahara didn't understand. Was there something special about today?

Still, he was more curious about what Ichinose wanted than about Sakayanagi.

At lunchtime, Sawahara went behind the school building at the agreed time. Ichinose was already waiting on a bench.

"Good afternoon, Ichinose. Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Sawahara sat down on the bench and asked why she had called him there.

"I'd like you to pretend to be my boyfriend, Sawahara." Ichinose clasped her hands together and bowed as she asked him.

"Hm?" Sawahara froze for a moment, then laughed. "Ichinose, are you confessing to me?"

"Ah, no, I'm not." Ichinose's face instantly turned bright red. She still wasn't very good at this sort of topic.

"I'm just joking." Sawahara already understood why Ichinose had asked him to come. "Looks like there's someone you don't want to accept a confession from, so you want me to act as a shield, right?"

"I don't... dislike him." Ichinose looked a little troubled. She didn't dislike the other person at all—in fact, she quite liked him.

"But, Ichinose, how did you come up with this idea?" Sawahara didn't think this was something Ichinose would do. It didn't fit her personality.

"I looked it up online. It said this was the way to turn someone down without hurting them." Ichinose answered. She wasn't very good at handling this sort of thing, so she had gone online for help.

"That kind of thing usually only happens in male-oriented novels, doesn't it?" Sawahara was at a loss for words. He'd known what she was like for a while, but this was far too naive.

"First, having a shield doesn't mean the other person will actually back off. Boyfriends and girlfriends break up, married couples can get divorced, and even people who die can be buried together.

"Second, pretending to be a couple is quite dangerous. If the other person has bad intentions, it could become a real problem. And even if they don't, playing the role can gradually affect how you see yourself. Simply put, it's all too easy to end up giving yourself away.

"Third, have you thought about how you'll end this pretend relationship? As a class leader, getting into this kind of situation could easily have a huge impact on both classes."

Ichinose hadn't given it no thought at all. "But if it's you, Sawahara, it'll be fine, right? You're a good person."

"Getting a 'you're a good person' speech in this situation isn't exactly something to be happy about, Ichinose." Of course, Sawahara wasn't disappointed either.

"And there's one more important thing, Ichinose. When it comes to feelings, a lie is always wrong. Deceiving someone who's sincere with you is the most despicable thing you can do."

Sawahara paused, then spoke again.

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

"...I was being too simplistic." Hearing Sawahara's words, Ichinose realized that there might indeed have been a problem with her idea.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Sawahara."

"By the way, who's planning to confess to you? Kanzaki or Shibata?" Sawahara was curious about who it might be, though the candidates weren't easy to narrow down. There was a chance it could be six out of every ten boys in their year.

"Honami!?" A short-haired girl appeared, drawing Sawahara's attention. He knew her: Shiranami Chihiro from Ichinose's class, who was always clinging to Ichinose.

Could it be...?

Sawahara suddenly understood why Ichinose had looked so troubled earlier.

"He's already found the courage and resolve to tell you how he feels, so you should give him a sincere answer, too."

He patted Ichinose on the shoulder, then left the two girls alone. He had another invitation to attend.

Sakayanagi had arranged to meet him in the Former Chess Club's activity room.

At the earlier meeting, Senior Nagumo had mentioned this club. The reason he'd brought it up was...

"Someone challenged this club, and they lost not only all their club funds, but also their right to use the activity room. They might as well disband."

It looked like Sakayanagi was the one who'd challenged them. Sawahara pushed open the activity room door. Sakayanagi sat there, moving chess pieces around by herself. Behind her stood a girl with long purple hair, who seemed difficult to approach. For some reason, though, there was a slight sheen of sweat on the girl's forehead.

"Classmate Sawahara, you really are a busy man. I've been waiting for quite a while." Looking at the man who had arrived late, Sakayanagi greeted him with a barb hidden in her words.

"If you hadn't invited me, Sakayanagi, I'd have had plenty of free time," Sawahara replied calmly.

"Speaking of which, this is my first time meeting you, Classmate Sakayanagi." Sawahara looked her over, wondering what she was after.

"Won't you introduce us?"

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

"What an unobedient little dog. It seems you still need some training," Sakayanagi said with a smile, though her words were far less pleasant than her voice.

At Sakayanagi's words, the girl named Kamuro Masumi looked even more displeased, but still didn't say anything.

"Would you be interested in playing a game with me, Classmate Sawahara?" Without mentioning why she had called him there, Sakayanagi instead challenged him to a game.

"I'll pass. I'm not very good at chess." Sawahara turned her down outright. It wouldn't be wise to play against someone he knew was skilled at chess.

"You told Classmate Ichinose not to use lies to respond to someone's sincere feelings, and now you're lying yourself." Sakayanagi tilted her head, still smiling, though the smile was only on her face.

"After all, principles are for holding other people to, not for correcting ourselves." Sawahara smiled and shrugged, admitting that he'd lied.

Still, a faint sense of confusion stirred in his mind. Why was she so sure he knew how to play chess?

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."