"Hey, Ichinose." Sawahara smiled and greeted the newcomer. Why were there so many familiar faces around today?
The Familiar Faces Day had been over for two weeks already, hadn't it?
"Are you here to get your fortune told too, Sawahara?" The one who asked was Ichinose's friend, Amikura Mako. Two other girls had come with her: Tsube Hitomi and Shiranami Chihiro.
At Amikura's question, Sawahara pondered. Should he say he was there to keep order? If he did, he wouldn't be able to leave until they'd finished their readings. After all, he'd promised the president he would uphold the Student Council's good reputation. If he skipped out early, that reputation would be ruined. But standing around here watching them would be incredibly boring...
"Yeah, but I didn't realize you had to get your fortune told in pairs. What a shame." Sawahara sighed, pretending he'd come alone and had no choice but to head back. That way, he could leave without damaging the Student Council's reputation.
But Sawahara had very clearly forgotten one thing: the girls in front of him were from Class B...
"Then why don't you go with Honami, Sawahara?" Amikura suggested after hearing him. Tsube Hitomi nodded along, while Shiranami Chihiro seemed to have some reservations.
"..." Sawahara fell silent for a moment. Class B students really were... "Would that be all right?"
Since they had to get their fortunes told in pairs, if four people came together and one left, the other person wouldn't be able to get a reading either, right?
"Actually, I'm not really interested in fortune-telling," Tsube Hitomi said. She truly had no interest in this sort of thing. She'd only come because Ichinose had asked her to help, but now it looked like she wouldn't be needed after all.
"Besides, it's almost the end of the month, and I'm running low on points. So I'll leave Honami in your hands, Sawahara."
As she spoke, Tsube Hitomi pressed her palms together and winked at Sawahara.
Ah, now that she'd put it that way, it was impossible to refuse. She was only trying to help, after all... As expected, lying was always a mistake.
He sighed inwardly, made a mental note to take this outcome as a lesson, then turned to Ichinose.
"Is that okay, Ichinose?"
"Mm." Ichinose nodded in agreement.
As they joined the line, Amikura Mako deliberately hung back with Shiranami Chihiro, as if giving him and Ichinose a chance to spend some time alone.
"Ichinose, you didn't really come here for a fortune reading, did you?" Sawahara had already gotten an idea of what was going on from the four Class B students' reactions.
"Mm." Ichinose's earlobes turned faintly red. Since she didn't want the others behind them to hear, Sawahara had to lean close and whisper by her ear.
"It's actually because of Shiranami."
"She still hasn't given up after being rejected last time?" Sawahara had more or less guessed what was going on.
"Ahaha, just like you guessed before, Sawahara."
Sawahara had said before that getting someone to give up on their feelings was never easy.
"After she heard that a really accurate fortune-teller was here, Chihiro kept wanting to come and get a reading."
A hint of worry appeared on Ichinose's face.
Needless to say, she was planning to find out whether she and Ichinose were destined to be together. People were good at convincing themselves. Someone trying to lose weight might see a video promoting some food and tell themselves that a little wouldn't hurt, or that the video hadn't said it had any calories... and then their diet would be ruined.
Obviously, if the fortune-teller said anything about how every romance would eventually have a happy ending, Shiranami would definitely start pursuing Ichinose again.
To prevent that, Ichinose had specifically asked two of her friends to come along and help.
"Sorry for the trouble, Sawahara." Ichinose looked a little apologetic.
"It's no big deal." Sawahara shook his head. If he hadn't lied in the first place, things wouldn't have gotten to this point. Any trouble was his own fault.
"By the way, are you free in a couple of days, Sawahara?" Ichinose asked.
"I probably won't be. What's up?" Sawahara remembered that in a couple of days, it would be his turn to go to the pool and keep order again.
"Some people in our class are planning to go swimming together. I was hoping to invite you, too," Ichinose said regretfully.
"I see." Sawahara nodded. "Oh, the president told me that you'll be able to officially join the Student Council next semester. Congratulations."
"Thanks, but you're still ahead of me, Sawahara. You were already a Student Council member last semester."
"It was just a coincidence. Ichinose, would you like to get a little experience with Student Council work ahead of time?"
Watching Ichinose and Sawahara chatting and laughing up ahead, Shiranami Chihiro lagged behind, jealousy burning in her eyes. And beside her, Komako kept saying things that only made her feel worse.
"Honami really does seem to like Sawahara. The two of them are practically leaning against each other."
"No matter how many times I see them, I think they're such a good match."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they announced they were officially dating any day now."
Lies didn't hurt people. The truth was the sharpest blade. Shiranami was hurting all the more because she felt the same way herself.
Seeing Chihiro on the verge of tears made Amikura feel awful, but she also knew that short pain was better than long suffering. Rather than let Chihiro stay trapped in a romance that had no future, it was better to cut things off cleanly.
After waiting in line for over ten minutes, it was finally Ichinose and Sawahara's turn.
Takizawa, who was waiting for her customers, froze when she saw Sawahara. Then a somewhat unsettling smile appeared on her face. She tapped her right hand silently against the table.
Sawahara watched Takizawa's hand and quickly figured out what she was trying to say.
'You wouldn't want the girl beside you to find out you came here with another girl to get your fortune told earlier, would you?'
"..." The corner of Sawahara's mouth twitched. What went around came around.
He usually liked using this kind of threat on other people. Was he now being threatened the same way? For a moment, he felt as if he understood the frustration Manabu Horikita, Horikita Suzune, and Tachibana had felt back then.
Under Takizawa's extortion, Sawahara ordered the most expensive package, even though it was completely useless.
"You want me to change the next group's fortunes? I'm sorry, student, but I have professional ethics."
After that, Ichinose successfully bribed the professional fortune-teller for ten thousand points. Takizawa promised she would not give the short-haired girl in the next group any positive hints about love.
The fortune-teller made the following prediction about Ichinose's romance:
Your love will be incredibly difficult. One misstep could bring it to an end. And yet, this love will also be incredibly simple: as long as you keep going, it will eventually bear fruit.
In the end, all Sawahara heard from Ichinose was that Shiranami Chihiro had cried bitterly after returning that day.
The next day, an anonymous report from some unknown Student Council member claimed that the fortune-telling event posed a safety risk and might be promoting superstition.
So the event was hastily shut down the very next day.
Before you continue