President's Fried Noodles

"Hi, I'd like to buy a hair clip named after Nanako. Do you sell those here?" With Sawahara snickering behind him and the clerk giving him a strange look, Katsuragi steeled himself and asked.

A bald man buying a hair clip... It really was...

"Sorry, sir. We don't have any here, but we can order one for you with our next shipment. Would that be all right?"

The shopping district in Keyaki Mall was well-stocked, but no matter how comprehensive it was, it couldn't meet every student's needs. What should they do if a student wanted to buy something that wasn't available?

That was where preorders came in. The shop could bring in the item the customer wanted with its next shipment, though a deposit had to be paid in advance.

"That's fine, but can the preorder be delivered somewhere else at a designated time?" Katsuragi asked. That was the most important part.

"Yes," the clerk replied. "But it'll cost quite a lot of extra points."

Hearing that, Katsuragi let out a sigh of relief. He didn't mind spending some extra points. As long as he could accomplish what he wanted, that was enough.

Katsuragi then ordered a ribbon and a gift box. The clerk kindly offered to wrap the gift for just a few more points, and Katsuragi agreed without hesitation.

After paying the clerk, Katsuragi left the store.

"Thank you so much for helping me." Katsuragi bowed to Sawahara. Without his help, he wouldn't have been able to do his duty as an older brother.

"It was nothing." Sawahara shook his head. "Besides, watching a bald guy buy a hair clip was a pretty good reward in itself."

"..." Katsuragi fell silent. This was probably going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Why were you so sure this would work?" Katsuragi still didn't quite understand the reasoning behind it.

"Because I was the first person to do it." Sawahara smiled. "Last month, on the eighth, it was my father's birthday. I used the same method to send him a gift.

"If you can't send a package from inside the school, then just have the package never come to the school in the first place. That way, you can still send it, right?"

That was Sawahara's line of thinking.

Since the preordered item had never arrived at the school, it wasn't something being sent from the school, and so it followed the rules. Points could buy anything. Did having a preordered item delivered to a designated location break the law? No. Did it break school rules? No. Then it was something that could be bought with points.

Put the two ideas together, and Katsuragi could naturally achieve his goal.

"Good thing you weren't planning to make your sister a gift yourself. I don't know any way to do that without breaking the rules." Sawahara sighed. "Still, you really are buying your sister a hair clip. I only used one as an example. You could've bought her something else."

"...?!" Katsuragi stared at Sawahara, utterly shocked. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner?"

"Then I wouldn't have gotten to see a bald guy buy a hair clip." Sawahara looked at Katsuragi in confusion. How could he ask such a stupid question?

"...I admire your intelligence, but your cruelty and shamelessness are truly astonishing." Katsuragi felt his temples throb. He could suddenly understand why Ryuen was always trading barbs with Sawahara.

"Can you tell me about your sister? Why do you still want to send her a birthday present even though you know it goes against the school rules?" Sawahara asked about the reason behind it.

"My sister and I are twins. She's in poor health, and our parents and grandparents have all passed away. Now she can only rely on relatives to look after her. An older brother is like a father, so if I can't celebrate her birthday, who will? Before I enrolled, I thought I understood the school's rules, but I never expected that I wouldn't even be able to mail a package. If you hadn't given me this idea, I really wouldn't have known what to do."

Sawahara listened quietly as Katsuragi explained why he was determined to celebrate his sister's birthday. He showed neither sympathy nor pity.

Only after Katsuragi had finished did he calmly ask, "If I hadn't helped you, would you have given up?"

"No." Katsuragi shook his head. If he gave up just like that, what kind of older brother would he be?

"That's all that matters." Sawahara smiled. Katsuragi didn't understand why Sawahara was smiling like that.

The two of them said their goodbyes and left the school.

Saturday morning

The food stalls run by the upperclassmen at the school swimming pool.

"President, I didn't know you were good at this." Sawahara looked at Manabu Horikita, who had set up a stall just like the other upperclassmen, surprised.

"Want a serving of fried noodles?" Manabu Horikita looked at Sawahara calmly.

"Is it free?" Sawahara asked.

"If it's free, you'll have to help me." Manabu Horikita pushed up his glasses. Tachibana happened to be feeling unwell today, and he was looking for another helper.

"Then I want ten percent of the profits," Sawahara said without hesitation.

"Fine." Manabu Horikita nodded, agreeing to Sawahara's terms.

Sawahara began helping Manabu Horikita at the stall. After working for a while, he noticed business wasn't especially good. There were plenty of similar food stalls.

"Senpai, how about I call out to people and attract some customers?" Sawahara quickly came up with a way to improve business.

"Go ahead." Manabu Horikita agreed. Business wasn't too busy today, anyway.

"President's Fried Noodles! President's Fried Noodles! If you want to save face, eat the president's fried noodles! If you don't eat the president's fried noodles, you're not showing the president any respect!"

Sawahara's shout soon rang out nearby, leaving Manabu Horikita with a dark look on his face.

The first two lines were fine. They were just a couple of clichéd slogans. But what was that last one supposed to be? A threat?

Manabu Horikita put down his spatula and was about to go drag Sawahara back, but... business had arrived.

Thanks to Sawahara's simple, effective advertising, a long line quickly formed in front of Manabu Horikita's stall.

Whether you wanted to save face didn't matter. Showing the president respect was what really mattered.

"Sorry, I'm done selling for today." Manabu Horikita gave up on selling any more fried noodles. If he kept going, it really would look like he was threatening students into buying them.

He put down the sign and went straight to find the instigator, intending to express his "gratitude" to Sawahara.

"Horikita, care for a bowl of the president's fried noodles?" Sawahara looked at Horikita Suzune with a mischievous smile. "The president's probably closed up shop by now, so this is the last serving."