Shiina Hiyori was persuaded. Every time she spent the day reading with Hoshino En, they also ate together—it had become part of their daily routine, and she didn't want that habit to change.
However, watching their affectionate interaction made Sakayanagi Arisu, seated across from them, uncomfortable.
Ahh, that's so hard to look at. Does Hoshino-kun like girls with long hair better?
"I think you'd be better off keeping your current hairstyle."
Kamuro Masumi whispered the reminder in her ear.
Although Sakayanagi Arisu usually acted like a devil, seeing her apparently getting jealous made Kamuro Masumi's eyes hurt.
Especially since she'd been the one to invite Sakayanagi in the first place, and now Sakayanagi was jealous over her. She looked like an idiot.
The thought that someone this much of a [fool] had gotten the better of her only made Kamuro Masumi more annoyed.
If you're going to start a group, then at least win for me!!
"If you grew your hair long, you'd end up overlapping with Shiina Hiyori. The biggest taboo in a romantic rivalry is [matching outfits] with your rival."
Though when it came to [matching outfits], having the same personality was more taboo than having the same appearance. But with Sakayanagi's extreme sadistic personality, it was hard to imagine anyone in the world [matching] her.
Still, Shiina Hiyori's personality was rare too: a truly pure, naturally airheaded girl. She'd be the easiest person to get through to for a psychological deviant like Hoshino En.
Had Sakayanagi brought the wolf into her own home?
"Enough, you two. Stop making eyes at each other. You can get all lovey-dovey once we get there."
At last, having had her fill of jealousy, Sakayanagi Arisu interrupted Hoshino En and Shiina Hiyori's [deep, meaningful gaze] and added another variable to the battlefield.
"Also, Hoshino-kun, why not invite that blonde gal you keep around? You probably have something to discuss with me about today's exam, too, right? We won't have time to play with the puppy later!"
Kamuro Masumi: "..."
Sakayanagi, you deserve to be a loser!!!
So when Karuizawa Kei arrived at the yakiniku restaurant in the shopping mall, she found Sakayanagi Arisu and Shiina Hiyori clinging to either side of Hoshino En, while Kamuro Masumi sat opposite them, looking pitiful as she handled the grilling.
First Semester of First Year:
Chapter 41: This Party, or What?
Because Sakayanagi Arisu insisted that Hoshino En support her, the four of them arrived late, and all the private rooms were taken.
So they had no choice but to sit in a secluded booth in the main dining area.
Although it was out of the way, there were still two other booths where people could see them.
By coincidence, one of them was the [good friends] get-together Kushida Kikyo had organized: Kushida herself, Inogashira Kokoro, Wang Meiyu, and the only boy, Hirata Yosuke.
Clearly, it was a gathering organized to help someone win over Hirata Yosuke.
And because Karuizawa Kei was [busy with something], the rest of her [Empress Group]—Matsushita Chiaki, Sato Maya, Mori Nene, and Shinohara Satsuki, who had been [recruited] into the group—were all here hanging out.
The booths here had large, sofa-style seats. As long as you weren't particularly burly, eight to ten people could easily squeeze into one.
Their booth was right next to Hoshino En's, giving them a clear view of everything happening on his side.
The other booth with a view of them was diagonally opposite. It was a Class C gathering.
There was Class C's representative, Ryuen Kakeru; the distinctive-looking Black student Yamada Albert; Ishizaki Daichi, whom Ryuen Kakeru had [tamed] with a beating on the first day of school; and the rare female fighter, Ibuki Mio.
They were the core of Class C's violent faction.
There was also another table besides theirs. The people there were out of sight, but they were right next to them, beside Class C, close enough to hear every word they said.
Hoshino En didn't recognize the others, but he remembered that bald guy quite well.
It was obviously a gathering of Class A's Katsuragi Faction.
Damn it, were all these people getting together for a party or something?
And just as they came in, Kushida Kikyo had spotted him and shifted Class D's conversation to him. Her [Friend Group] and Hirata Yosuke had been curious, so they stopped talking;
The four members of the [Empress Group] had seen that he wasn't accompanying Karuizawa Kei, who was [busy with something], and had gone quiet, glaring at him furiously and practically hissing;
Ryuen Kakeru had glanced at Shiina Hiyori, and his gaze had been about to move on—until it swept over Sakayanagi Arisu beside her and stuck there like it had been pulled in by a magnet;
Even the Katsuragi Faction, the only group still talking, had fallen silent when they saw Sakayanagi Arisu.
Shift! This young lady was way too famous.
"Did you pick this place on purpose?"
Hoshino En helped the girl, who wore a triumphant smile, into the seat on the inside, then sat beside her. Shiina Hiyori sat down right next to him, while Kamuro Masumi [sensibly] took the seat opposite and volunteered to grill the meat.
You two can argue all you want later. Just don't drag me into it.
With practiced ease, Kamuro Masumi laid the various marinated meats on the grill and cooked for the three ravenous people—or possibly four—who were waiting to be fed.
"No, this really is a coincidence."
Since the three booths around them had gone quiet, and they were in a corner of the restaurant, Sakayanagi Arisu's voice carried just as clearly as ever.
"Then let me guess. Ichinose and her class just happened to be having their class gathering here too, right?"
"Oh my~ You're quite the good guesser, Hoshino-kun! You can have the first piece."
"Kamuro, please."
Without even turning her head, she gave the order to the puppy opposite her, though her eyes stayed fixed on Hoshino En beside her.
It's cooking, it's cooking! Don't rush me!
Kamuro Masumi, stuck in a miserable situation, could only complain silently to herself.
And what the hell was "Puppy" supposed to mean?!
The first piece of meat was ready soon enough. Kamuro Masumi placed the whole slice on Hoshino En's plate.
Hoshino En picked up the grilled meat Kamuro Masumi had put on his plate and popped it into his mouth. Then he opened a bottle of sparkling water and took a small sip.
The cold bubbles stimulated his throat, getting his somewhat stiff brain working again.
"Sakayanagi, did you really have to do this? It might not be much to you, but it's going to hurt me."
He asked his second question.
"Who told you to leave me waiting for a whole twenty-eight days, four hours, and twenty-six minutes? This is your punishment... Ah, I want some of that too."
She held out a clean glass toward Hoshino En, gesturing for him to pour her a drink.
Hoshino En looked at her clean glass, then at the sparkling water he'd already drunk straight from the bottle. His forehead creased with exasperation.
"I've already drunk from this. If you want some..."
"Please~"
She kept her hand outstretched without moving.
Only after Hoshino En filled the girl's glass with sparkling water did he get her answer.
"Glug, glug... You didn't come looking for me because you didn't want Katsuragi and the others to notice you, right? But now they've got their eyes on you, and on top of that, Dragon Boy is watching you, as is the temporary class representative of your own Class D. So now you can come hang out with me without a single worry!"
"Isn't this just pushing me into an abyss? The trouble I'm going to have now is enormous... Ah, Shiina, try this."
While [taking care of] Sakayanagi, Hoshino En didn't forget to [feed] Shiina either.
"Oh, oh, mm... It's delicious!"
Unlike Sakayanagi, this girl didn't think too much about things. Give her something tasty, and she'd smile happily.
Shiina Hiyori: Actually, food fed to me by Hoshino-kun himself tastes even better!
Kamuro Masumi: Then what were all my efforts and sweat for?
"Ah! Hoshino-kun, you're playing favorites! Your [lawful wife] is right here, you know. Arisu wants some too!"
"Didn't I just pour you some sparkling water? Honestly..."
He complained, but Hoshino En still fed the nasty little girl a piece.
He no longer had the energy to correct her teasing.
"Sakayanagi, if I prostrate myself in front of them right now and beg for mercy, do you think they'll just treat me like a fart and let me go?"
"..."
Meanwhile—
Since Dragon Boy was only listening without saying a word, the Katsuragi Group's table seemed all the livelier by comparison.
Unlike Hoshino En, who didn't care about this at all—there was nothing he could do about it even if he did care—the Katsuragi Group kept their voices extremely low to make sure the people around them couldn't hear. Almost no one except those at their own booth could make out what they were saying, so they naturally wouldn't disturb Sakayanagi Arisu and Hoshino En's conversation.
"What is Sakayanagi up to? Why is she hanging around some Class D trash?"
"Yahiko, watch your language. Don't lower Class A's standards."
Katsuragi Kohei admonished his subordinate for his slip of the tongue.
"Also, in a situation like this, listen more and talk less. Someone might be listening through the wall."
Like people such as them, or the group from Class C nearby.
"But we're not going to talk about anything important. The only one who'd let something slip is that brainless guy from Class D..."
Totsuka Yahiko was about to say more when he heard Sakayanagi's mocking voice from the booth next door.
"You made it so obvious that everyone can guess what you're doing. Surely no brainless person would think you'd let that much information slip by accident?"
"Especially not our Class A. We're the elite of the new students. How could they fail to realize you were speaking so loudly on purpose to release information and weaken Class A's hold over the whole year?"
Totsuka Yahiko: "..."
"And in fact, you've already done exactly that, haven't you? On the first day of school, April 1, you told Ichinose Honami from Class B and Kushida Kikyo from Class D how the school really worked. Because of that, Class A wasted the information advantage we'd paid two million private points to obtain!"
Katsuragi Group: ...!!!!
This was the first time Class A's [elite] had heard about this.
"But why didn't Class C get any information from Hoshino-kun? Was it because Shiina-san didn't serve him as devotedly as the other two?"
"Sakayanagi-san, I-I'm not in that kind of relati—"
"It's simply because there weren't any students from Class C in the shop when I shared the information. A-Sho was busy bringing the class together back then. I guess no one dared to go out and have fun."
"A-Sho? You mean Dragon Boy?"
"A-Sho? Dragon Boy? Isn't he Ryuen-kun?"
"That's right."×
Ryuen Kakeru: "..."
I'm right here, and you two dare to give me a nickname to my face?
These two... They really have no manners!!!
(Does not count toward the main text)
Yakiniku restaurant seating arrangement (it's a little abstract, please bear with me):
Window--wall--wall--wall--wall--wall--wall--wall--wall--wall--wall--wall
Window--Hirata, Wang Meiyu, Shinohara, Matsushita//////aisle//////Shiina, Hoshino, Sakayanagi--wall
Window--table~~~~table//////aisle//////table~~~~table--wall
Window--Inogashira, Kushida, Sato, Mori//////aisle//////Karuizawa, Kamuro--wall
Window--Ibuki, Yamada//////aisle//////Katsuragi, extra A, extra B--wall
Window--table~~~~table//////aisle//////table~~~~table--wall
Window--Ishizaki, Ryuen//////aisle//////Totsuka, extra C, extra D--wall
First Semester of First Year:
Chapter 42: Everyone's Here, So—Let's Begin
"They've definitely realized how capable Hoshino-kun is by now. So even if you deliberately put on an act of [failing and falling to your knees in tears], I don't think they'll believe it."
"True... But weren't you the one who set all this in motion? You've cut off every way out for me, and there are still almost three years until graduation!"
"How am I supposed to get through those three years in peace?"
Before you continue