The First Meeting with Ichinose and Kujo

Ever since the school year began, rumors had been spreading all over the school.

Most of them were about the school's rules and the secrets hidden behind the scenes.

There was too much information.

Too many different versions.

Everyone was worried about it.

I had to look after everyone's feelings.

What should I do?

Ichinose had a younger sister.

She had also been a member of the Student Council ever since she was little.

She was patient and good at teaching others, and she was always eager to help.

If you were unhappy, she would smile and ask what was bothering you.

If you were happy, she would come over with a smile and ask you to share.

If you were angry, she would complain right along with you.

If you cried, she wouldn't say a thing. She would simply sit quietly beside you.

In the eyes of outsiders, she was perfect.

But a few years ago, an accident had happened. To put it simply, she had stolen something to give her family a present, and in the end, her mother had forced her to kneel and apologize to the shopkeeper.

After that, Ichinose couldn't easily forgive herself. Because of what she had done, she had even been suspended for half a year, quietly suffering at home all by herself.

At the same time, she had become more attentive to other people's feelings. While quietly accepting their kindness and expectations, she worked even harder to help them.

Faced with Kujo, who was awkward in every way, she slowly taught him the basics, starting with how to sit.

As a transmigrator, Kujo failed many times.

But Ichinose simply stayed by his side, quietly encouraging him and offering advice.

Even though she was already exhausted from dealing with the class.

"Wonderful, you've learned it! Congratulations."

Kujo was still working hard to figure out this so-called tea ceremony, but Ichinose had already stopped teaching him.

Like someone watching a fledgling take its first flight, she simply stood nearby and watched quietly.

But as she spent more time with Kujo, Ichinose noticed something: was he a little too unfamiliar with the traditional Japanese way of sitting?

"Kujo, have you been living abroad all this time?"

At her question, Kujo came back to himself and glanced sideways at her. To his surprise, she hurriedly apologized.

"Sorry, I must be overthinking it. My apologies. Anyway, Kujo, you're learning so quickly. You've already done really well. Now, let's get to the main topic."

Ichinose then repeated the proposal Ishizaki had mentioned earlier in the Class B hallway.

Just as Kujo had expected, the kind-hearted girl rejected it outright.

"Class B won't be joining forces with any other class for now. It's not that we don't trust Class C's sincerity. We're grateful for the information Class C shared with the entire year. It gave us the courage to stand up to Class A and put every class on the same starting line. But I don't think we should do anything that might harm the friendship between any two classes."

Ichinose valued Class B above all else, and she had no intention of damaging her friendships with the other classes.

There was no doubt about it: Ichinose had made herself perfectly clear.

She had also explained exactly how Ryuen had used her name to propose an alliance, what she thought of it, and why she had come to see Kujo.

Kujo didn't even need to respond.

It had little to do with him, and regardless of what he thought, Ichinose had already reached her own conclusion.

But Kujo was curious. Now that Class B knew the school's secret and had learned about the other classes, what did they plan to do in the upcoming exams?

Kujo was very curious.

As a transmigrator, he couldn't hold back his curiosity. He wanted to explore the true feelings of these characters from the original story.

He wanted to see what they would do under circumstances that were completely different.

That was what Kujo thought.

Given Ichinose's personality, what decision would she make after learning the truth about the school?

Ryuen didn't seem to regard Class B as a rival.

So what would Class B do if it could act without restraint?

No.

What would Ichinose do if she could act without restraint?

" Ichinose, what are you planning to do from here on?"

Faced with Kujo's question, Ichinose looked a little embarrassed as she replied:

"I've already joined the Student Council. I'm officially a member now."

Kujo nodded.

That was exactly what had happened in the original story.

Around the one-month mark, Ichinose had applied to join the Student Council, but Horikita Manabu, its president, had rejected her. Then she had met Miyabi Nagumo.

In order to gain complete control over Ichinose, Nagumo had talked her into revealing her past in just a few words, then invited her to join the Student Council.

Now, because of the butterfly effect, everything had been thrown into disarray. Yet Ichinose's joining the Student Council seemed to have changed very little?

"Did Senior Nagumo approve it?"

Kujo asked, though he already knew the answer.

Ichinose hesitated, then said something that left Kujo baffled:

"Senior Horikita approved my application."

Kujo's hand shook as he lifted his tea.

Had the story gone off the rails again because of him?

He clearly remembered that in the original story, Horikita Manabu had rejected Ichinose's application to join the Student Council. That was when Ichinose had lost confidence, giving Nagumo the chance to take advantage of her.

But now, President Horikita had actually agreed to let a first-year like Ichinose join the Student Council?

The story had changed from the original—in fact, it had gone completely off the rails.

Had something unusual happened to Ichinose?

He would have to test her.

"Ichinose, do you know why you were placed in Class B? For example, did anything unforgettable happen at school or at home in your past?"

Kujo tried to gauge Ichinose's reaction.

If things were the same as in the original story, Ichinose had been placed in Class B because she had a dark past she couldn't move on from.

What if something unusual had happened and caused her to lose that weakness?

Or what if she had encountered some kind of stroke of luck that had given her enough strength to stand back up?

But Kujo was disappointed.

As soon as he asked, Ichinose's eyes darkened and her smile faded. A range of emotions flashed through her beautiful eyes.

First disbelief, then confusion, and finally calm.

"So you do know, Kujo? I've actually had that feeling for a while. The way you look at me is clearly different from the way other people do."

If Kujo's expression had once been indifferent, then curious, now there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

Ichinose couldn't have mistaken that look.

Because that look was her nightmare.

Ichinose had been exhausted for days, and now she was at the end of her rope.

She hadn't realized that someone's disappointment could hurt her so much.

Why?

Kujo watched Ichinose's smile disappear and fell into thought.

Her weakness was still there, so what was it about her that had caught Horikita Manabu's attention?

Kujo held his chin and began considering every possibility.

As Kujo sat there without saying a word, Ichinose leaned slightly to one side and braced herself against the floor with one hand, barely keeping herself upright.

She licked her lips. Her voice had lost all its earlier brightness, and now she sounded so pitifully vulnerable, as if she had been bullied.

"Kujo, you know about it too, don't you? My past, and why I was placed in Class B.

"My past as a thief.

"Then do you think I'm not qualified to lead the first-years? If it were you, you could do it, couldn't you? Lead the whole class from first year into Class A. No, if it were you, you could even lead all three of our classes into Class A so we could graduate together, couldn't you?"

For some reason, Ichinose had high hopes for Kujo.

Because if she had that much information, she might not choose to tell other people about it. And she certainly wouldn't have the courage and confidence to unite the entire first year.

In Ichinose's eyes, Kujo was selfless.

The person who had spread the information might not have been Kujo, but the person who provided it had to be him.

After all, he was the first person to make a deal with a teacher.

The information had come from Class C, and Kujo was the leader of Class C. Even if he wasn't, he was someone with great influence in the class.

Even Ryuen was wary of him, so Ichinose was sure her guess was right.

At that moment, she desperately wanted Kujo's approval and help.

Because...

Kujo was the only person at this school who knew about her past.

At that moment, Ichinose looked as pitiful as a small animal that had been abandoned.

It seemed that if he said something encouraging now, Ichinose would gradually fall in love with someone, just as she did in the original story.

Kujo knew the original story inside out, and he understood the characters' personalities. He could predict what would happen next.

But that was wrong.

It was something Kujo couldn't tolerate or accept.

The original story kept flooding into his mind.

Ichinose, an upright class leader.

Ichinose, who had stolen something to give her family a present, only to be forced by her mother to kneel and apologize to the shopkeeper.

Ichinose, who had been targeted by Ryuen's underhanded tactics during an exam and chosen to give up rather than risk her classmates' health.

Ichinose, who liked a boy and was willing to put the class's victory aside, traveling all that way just to pass him a piece of information—even though that information probably didn't help him much.

Ichinose, who liked a boy and didn't mind when he completely reshuffled everything she had built up at school.

Because he knew what awaited her, Kujo felt even angrier.

He watched these vivid characters appear right before his eyes, one after another.

And now everything was different.

She had so easily fallen into sadness over the smallest things, doubting everything about herself.

She had so easily denied her own worth, revealing her weakness to a stranger in the hope that someone else's approval could save her.

Kujo put down his teacup and asked her:

"Ichinose, why do you want to lead Class B? Why do you want to lead Class B into Class A?"

"Why do you always put other people's feelings first?"

"Why don't you ever care about what you want?"

"Why do you think we absolutely have to get into Class A?"

"Did we beg you to lead us into Class A, even if it meant hurting yourself or dropping out?"

"Do you know? This school is a piece of trash. You can do everything in your power to protect your classmates, and in the end, it'll still make you choose one of them to leave."

"Most people don't know about your past. I do. So do you think I'm disappointed in you? Yes, I am. But there's a way to make sure I'm not disappointed. You like hearing what other people want from you, don't you?"

The last time Kujo had gotten angry like this was when he had berated Albert on the rooftop. This might have been the second time since he came to this world.

And the person he was angry with was a girl right in front of him who would burst into tears over a single reproach.

Even if she were twice his age, she still couldn't compare with Kujo, who had lived two lives.

Thinking about it carefully, Kujo didn't even know why he was getting angry at a young girl.

Nothing had happened yet. There was still time to fix everything.

He was acting like a madman.

Criticizing a girl who wasn't tough at all over a future that hadn't happened.

She was only eighteen.

"Ichinose, protect Hiyori's and my school life. Put this above protecting your closest friends.

"Forget about trying to protect everyone. You'll soon understand how this school treats its students.

"Everyone has dreams of their own. But if your dream is to see other people achieve theirs, then I'm sure you're willing to listen to my dream too."

After saying that, Kujo realized that if he kept going, things might take a turn for the worse.

Seeing Ichinose sob, he simply stood up, ready to leave the room as quickly as possible.

Ichinose had clearly noticed him move. She wiped her tears and called after him:

"Can I take that as a request from you, Kujo?"

At her words, Kujo stopped. But in the end, he still didn't turn to look at her. His voice softened, too.

"You can say no."

If she chose to refuse, Kujo wouldn't have to think about anything else.

But if Ichinose could turn people down so easily, she wouldn't be who she was.

Ichinose took a breath, then confessed everything to Kujo:

"The reason Senior Horikita agreed to let me join was that I lied to him. I told him you were the one who asked me to join the Student Council."

Kujo frowned.

It was a possibility he had never considered.

"I only wanted to test the waters with you, senpai, and see if I could get any information from you. Instead, I got a reply I never expected."

Kujo understood everything.

It had all been a misunderstanding.

Ryuen had misunderstood what he, Kujo, had said.

Ichinose had misunderstood what kind of person he, Kujo, was.

Horikita Manabu had misjudged his worth.

That was just how the world worked. It would never let anyone get exactly what they wanted.

There were always all sorts of coincidences that forced him to face situations like this one.

Kujo looked at Ichinose, standing before him with swollen, red eyes and an air of fragility about her, sighed, and resignedly said,

"That's right. From now on, I'm the one letting you join the Student Council. Horikita Manabu promised me a seat on the Student Council, so I'm free to do whatever I want with it. Ichinose, you'll be my tool. Join the Student Council and work for me."

Hearing Kujo's cruel words, the girl wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

How could he say something like that with such a clear conscience?

"I don't want anything to hold you back, either. As my tool, I'll help you achieve your dream of protecting everyone in Class B. And to repay me, you'll become Student Council president and protect the peaceful life Hiyori and I have at this school."

Ichinose couldn't help complaining,

"I never thought a girl could like someone like you."

"I understand, Kujo-kun. I'm not much to speak of, but I hope you'll continue to guide me from now on."

"I have a girlfriend."

"I understand. I'm sorry, Kujo."