Assimilation

He walked out of the coffee shop.

Fortunately, Seishiki Otonashi's feigned madness and foolishness were a cut above, and he ultimately escaped the vortex of factional strife.

The condition Sakayanagi Arisu proposed was:

[I hope Otonashi-kun will refrain from interfering in the factional conflicts. Otonashi-kun only needs to remain neutral, quietly watching like a spectator in a movie theater.]

"Movies aren't that boring."

Otonashi looked up at the sky. Then he bit into the air, only a hint of cool wind pouring into his mouth. Colorless, tasteless, and formless—not delicious at all.

"Forget it, I'll buy groceries and cook."

Another week survived, and finally Otonashi's favorite time—the holidays—had arrived. It felt like school time dragged on forever. The month wasn't even over yet...

How about cooking Chinese food tonight? Yeah, that's not bad.

Getting fresh ingredients at school was surprisingly tough, so Otonashi used points to request a certain restaurant's kitchen to reserve fresh chicken and fish.

The school's river—that artificially made lake. The beautiful lake view was actually just seawater passed off as the real thing—still hard to believe.

"Apparently, there are fish in that lake."

Meaning you can fish?! Otonashi's mind ran wild. Right, why hadn't anyone thought of that?!

As the saying goes, practice yields true knowledge. He'd find some time to drag Little Fist Stone along and try to catch fish. If it worked, fish would be a free supply for Otonashi from then on.

Having experienced homelessness, Otonashi immediately thought of a [freebie] method that [ordinary students] would never dream of in their entire lives.

On the way back, he ran into the friend circle led by Koji Machida. Otonashi still politely greeted them.

Otonashi's social standing in the class wasn't low; he could fit perfectly into both male and female groups, leaving a good impression. But it was just that—a good impression—stuck in a delicate balance.

Someone invited him to go work out at the gym. Otonashi found it unbearable—did they want him to die at the gym or what?

After turning it down with a tactful excuse, Otonashi returned to his own dorm.

"Make an authentic Cantonese chicken soup?"

The expensive red dates, goji berries, and cordyceps he'd bought would finally come in handy. He never expected Chinese people to have such a deep understanding of [soup].

One of Otonashi's colleagues was from [Southern Guangdong, China]. Though an unreliable woman, her obsession with food was terrifyingly intense. As a result, he'd learned quite a bit about food from her...

As for the fish, steam it, then pour over soy sauce and hot oil. That's right! Fish has to be eaten this way!

Just thinking about it made Otonashi drool uncontrollably—after all, humans are born to satisfy [food, sex, sleep, and desire].

After putting on an apron, he started bustling around the small kitchen.

When the [dinner] was almost ready, he contacted three people who were, strictly speaking, friends. Otonashi originally wanted to call Little Fist Stone too, but unfortunately, he was busy.

"S-sorry to intrude."

"Yamamura-san, the door's unlocked. Just open it directly."

Miki Yamamura pushed the door open, looking around timidly.

"Dinner will be ready soon. Make yourselves at home—I've already cleaned the floor."

"Okay."

"Otonashi-kun."

Another knock came from outside the door, and then the door opened.

"Smells great~ Is it Chinese food? I get to taste Otonashi-kun's cooking again tonight."

Emi Tamiya gave Otonashi a gentle smile, greeted Yamamura Miki, and sat down with practiced ease. The two started chatting away.

Otonashi chose to tune them out—after all, as a gentleman, it was best not to pry into girls' conversations.

But when the two eventually brought up Sakayanagi Arisu, Otonashi decided he wasn't much of a gentleman after all and pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.

Basically, Sakayanagi Arisu had considered recruiting the two of them. Yamamura Miki and Tamiya Emi chose, like Otonashi, not to get involved in the class factions.

Only hot-blooded, chuunibyou male high schoolers would think factional struggles were fun—they were actually super brutal, you know.

Otonashi nodded. Good thing the two hadn't made a choice. After all, when Otonashi had once had lunch with the girls' group led by Nishikawa Ryoko, they'd talked about political factions being a [battlefield without gunpowder]. It probably scared some of the girls into psychological trauma.

A short knock came from outside the door.

"The door's unlocked, Kamuro-san."

Masumi Kamuro pushed the door open, her expression cool and aloof.

"I thought I was the only one..."

She muttered in a voice only she could hear, tinged with dissatisfaction.

"Sit down. I'll go get the soup."

Otonashi poked his head out from the kitchen, then said to Kamuro Masumi.

"Get along, okay~."

"I... I know! You don't have to tell me."

Kamuro Masumi sat down, her expression a bit stiff. Then she said something that surprised the other two present.

"I... I want to make friends with you all."

During this period, Masumi Kamuro had been running to Star Color's dormitory every night.

For this reason, Star Color intended to correct her [reclusive mindset].

"The collective exerts oppression on individual will. To maintain one's own 'individuality,' one must possess corresponding strength."

"Sometimes, so-called 'individuality' gets crushed by rules. Society is full of unreasonable rules. The more luxurious the restaurant, the more it refuses entry to those sloppily dressed. Public places forbid discussing politics. The superior must walk ahead—these kinds of boring unspoken rules."

"With Kamuro's ability, you might survive quite well in society. But when facing the torrent called the collective, it's very difficult to change anything, and you might even suffer backlash."

"Socrates, the father of philosophy, left behind no writings or texts. Only [speech] and [dialogue] with others. Socrates' [speech] was recorded by his disciples and has been passed down to this day."

"How should it be interpreted? What ought to be done? Philosophy is composed of such topics, and from it, all the world's knowledge was derived. Humanity grows through [dialogue]."

"To assimilate with others, we must undergo a painful self-abandonment, giving up three-quarters of ourselves."

"Even if Kamuro is unwilling to assimilate with others, I will stand by your side. A person should be themselves—this principle is not wrong at all, as long as they can live happily."

Masumi Kamuro rested her head on Star Color's lap and spoke softly.

"Then half."

"Mm, half it is. Maintain your 'individuality' and try to sincerely get along with people."

Star Color's gaze merely looked at her coldly.

Himself, so skilled in philosophy, was nothing but a pitiful hypocrite. After all, the antonym of hypocrisy is not evil. Wearing this carefully polished mask, he would live on miserably.