"Having sympathy for the enemy? Are you people tired of making your lives miserable?"
"That meal cost you a pretty penny, didn't it? Just wait until tomorrow, and you'll get a taste of hell!"
"..."
He took on the whole crowd by himself, holding his own without the slightest disadvantage.
"Sakayanagi, in a way, your Class A students really are something."
Taking advantage of the confusion, Hoshino En grabbed a few more bottles of sparkling water. As he poured drinks for the girls around him, he remarked, "You definitely beat Katsuragi in that regard."
"But if Kamuro would just put in a little more effort, I could beat you too."
Sakayanagi Arisu sipped her sparkling water in tiny mouthfuls, sounding slightly dissatisfied.
It seemed her scrambled thought process had finally returned to normal. Good, good...
"If you'd just teach Kamuro a thing or two, she'd definitely—"
"So are you a lesbian or not?"
—What the heck?!
Hoshino En looked at Sakayanagi Arisu's doubtful expression, feeling conflicted—and a little crushed.
It wasn't just that someone suspected him of being gay. More than anything, it was Sakayanagi Arisu's attitude toward the whole thing.
Why was this girl so hung up on it? Was she planning to use it to blackmail him?
Never mind whether he'd give in to that kind of threat. She could practically see right through him, yet she still wanted leverage over him. She was seriously taking things too far!
"I told you, I'm not into guys..."
"I don't believe you. Prove it to me!"
That line sounded familiar! Hoshino En glanced instinctively at Karuizawa Kei across the table, and their gazes happened to brush past each other.
"Y-you want me to prove it how?"
"Kiss me."
Sakayanagi Arisu puckered her lips.
Hoshino En was dumbfounded.
"How could I do something like that? The Chairman would kill me!"
"My father's a very composed person. He wouldn't do anything that impulsive."
As if! You've never seen the terrifying look on his face when he saw one of your flirty phone calls.
"No, no. Absolutely not. I have a little sister to look after back home. I can't let myself end up at the bottom of Tokyo Bay."
"Exactly, Classmate Sakayanagi. You really shouldn't do that."
Ichinose Honami chimed in, too. She was finally beginning to see things clearly: Hoshino-kun's lack of restraint around girls was all because Classmate Sakayanagi had indulged him.
"You're not even dating. You can't do something so immoral!"
"I want to, and Hoshino-kun's the one who'd benefit. What business is it of yours, Classmate Ichinose?"
Sakayanagi Arisu shot right back, completely unfazed.
The argument on this side suddenly became just as chaotic.
Hoshino En: "..."
I'm tired. Let the world end.
"Is something bothering you, Hoshino-kun?"
Just then, a soft hand touched Hoshino En's forehead, smoothing the furrows in his brow.
Her gentle, delicate voice echoed beside his ear. Its innocent tone briefly washed away his anxiety.
"Of course. A guy being mistaken for gay is just as socially mortifying as openly discussing a girl's figure in public. And it does even more damage to his reputation."
Hoshino En offered the little cutie a bite of food, then asked, "Shiina, do I really look like some kind of guy who avoids women and only likes men?"
"No. Hoshino-kun has always had a very approachable air about him. I've never thought he deliberately favors boys, either."
"Right? So why does Sakayanagi get the wrong idea? Girls can get close to other girls—even sleep side by side and see each other naked—and nobody thinks anything of it. But when two guys are just a little too familiar in how they address each other, people start making assumptions. It's not fair!"
And honestly, he really did like Kiyotaka and A-Sho... Well, he supposed he meant he admired them.
"Um... Hoshino-kun, girls in love tend to become even more unreasonable than usual. You'll have to get used to it."
Shiina's explanation pointed to just one conclusion, one Hoshino En found completely unbelievable.
"Huh? You're saying she likes me?"
"Mm-hmm. Classmate Sakayanagi has been making it really obvious. I think everyone's already noticed."
"No... She just sees me as an opponent she has to beat. How could she feel that way about me?"
"Once she's beaten me completely, she'll lose interest right away. Shiina, you've definitely misunderstood."
"Mm... Hoshino-kun, you're so biased against Classmate Sakayanagi."
"What are you two talking about?"
Sakayanagi Arisu's voice cut in.
Hoshino En turned around and saw that she'd stopped arguing with Ichinose Honami. Katsuragi Kohei and Hirata Yosuke had also joined forces to break up the argument between the Class D students and Totsuka Yahiko.
They, along with Ryuen Kakeru, who'd been watching the whole thing, were all staring at him in a daze.
"Why are you all looking at me? I've already told you everything you could possibly figure out. What else is there to talk about?"
Katsuragi Kohei, Ryuen Kakeru, and Hirata Yosuke: "..."
"Um... Well, Hoshino, let's talk about it in class tomorrow."
Hirata Yosuke was the first to back out. He ushered the other seven, who still wanted to hear the gossip, back to the barbecue.
They'd spent all their time talking and listening to gossip, and hadn't eaten much. They couldn't let all that money go to waste.
The girls in the Empress Group, who were eager for gossip, were also reassured by Matsushita Chiaki and sent back. Karuizawa had already made her move, after all. She was much further along than everyone else, so there was no need for them to worry.
To be fair, although Hirata Yosuke cared a lot about Class Harmony, he was also the one who cared most about other people's feelings.
But Katsuragi Kohei and Ryuen Kakeru showed no sign of leaving. One stood there watching Hoshino En, while the other stayed in his seat, eating as he kept an eye on him.
And Ichinose Honami hadn't left, either.
"Ichinose, aren't you going back? Your class should still be having a party, right?"
"Oh, it's been going on for ages. They've already finished eating and left."
She checked the messages on her phone before continuing, "There's nothing else going on afterward, so I think I'd rather stay and hear you all out."
Why did everyone think he still had more to say? Save me.
Hoshino En turned to look at Sakayanagi Arisu. She was hugging her cup and gazing at him expectantly.
So this was all because of you!
But today's work had to be done today, especially when it came to Sakayanagi's bet. If he deliberately put it off until tomorrow, she might get so angry she'd jump up and hit him in the knees.
Still, bringing it up now would only make things even more chaotic... Whatever. He was going to muddy the waters anyway. What difference would one more thing make?
"Sakayanagi, let's talk about the bet."
Katsuragi Kohei, Ryuen Kakeru, Ichinose Honami, and Kushida Kikyo, who'd been listening with perked-up ears: "...!!!"
So he really did have more to say!
"I've been waiting for you to bring that up!"
The moment the subject turned to competition, Sakayanagi Arisu forgot her earlier displeasure, her fighting spirit blazing.
"We were betting on how many Class Points the four first-year classes would have left after the first month's Behavioral Norms Exam, and we were comparing our predictions to the actual totals, right?"
"We were taking the difference for each of the four classes and finding the average. The smaller average would win. As for the stakes..."
"If I win, you'll grant me a favor. If you win, I'll let you touch my legs. That right?"
"That's right. And I'll need at least ten minutes."
Hoshino En took out his phone and placed it facedown on the table. He'd written down his prediction in advance.
Sakayanagi Arisu did the same beside him.
"But if you want to touch them, you can do it right now. You can touch them as much as you like. You can even touch them in my room later."
Along with taking out her phone, she tugged her uniform skirt up a little, revealing her adorable feet wrapped in white thigh-high stockings.
Touch me~ Touch me~ Offer me your heart! Hahahaha—Hoshino En could almost hear those mischievous little feet trying to tempt him.
But he wasn't moved in the slightest.
"Touching them now would be a handout. Touching them later would be a prize I'd earned. I'm not that impatient."
Even when Karuizawa Kei had stripped naked, he hadn't wavered. So how could a couple of pieces of flesh wrapped in white cloth possibly tempt him now?
"By the way, did you suddenly stop fretting because you thought of this bet?"
"That's right! Being interested in a girl's legs is a little unusual to me, but I can accept it."
"One more thing. I've decided what I want if I win: you'll have to kiss me, of your own accord, in front of every girl you know."
The onlookers: "..."
Watching the two of them discuss such an outrageous, adult bet as though nobody else existed left the others speechless.
Neither of them had any consideration for the people around them!
"Classmate Karuizawa, why does Hoshino-kun seem so different from before? Do you have any idea why?"
The four closest to them felt the change most strongly. But Kamuro Masumi was already used to the two of them acting up, Shiina Hiyori hadn't noticed anything at all, and Karuizawa Kei already knew what Hoshino En was like. So Ichinose Honami was the only one who asked.
Sakayanagi Arisu was simply letting her true nature show. If anything, it was her behavior before today that had been unusual. But Ichinose Honami had never seen Hoshino En like this before.
The last time they were at the café, he'd still joked around and acted a little clueless. Now, all that remained was indifference.
"This is what Hoshino-kun's really like. He isn't a kind person. He treated us—and Ryuen and Katsuragi—so warmly before because he genuinely likes us and was willing to play along."
"Everyone? Are you sure? That sounds like a lot of trouble."
"It's no trouble. Just the people here: Kamuro, Karuizawa, Ichinose, Shiina, and Kushida, who's been eavesdropping over there. You only have to kiss five times. On the lips, and each kiss has to last at least two minutes."
At Sakayanagi Arisu's prompting, Kushida Kikyo, who'd been eavesdropping, was set upon by the girls from Class D. Fortunately, the meat was almost done, so they could enjoy it while following Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu's bet.
"That's not what you said before... Whatever. Are you sure? You'll run out of breath. The consequences are on you."
"Of course!"
"Then—"
"Three, two, one!"
They flipped their phones over at the same time.
Sakayanagi Arisu: [A: 940; B: 720; C: 500; D: 100]
Hoshino En: [A: 920; B: 680; C: 480; D: 0]
"My, my~ Hoshino-kun's predictions for everyone are so low! And you gave Class D zero points. Didn't Classmate Kushida already explain the school's true nature to her classmates?"
Honestly, except for Class C, Hoshino En's predictions for the other three classes were far below what Sakayanagi Arisu had expected.
Aside from Class C, the other classes had practically taken an open-book exam. Why was Hoshino-kun so pessimistic about them?
"Originally, I rated Class A about the same as you, somewhere between 940 and 955. But Katsuragi's decision-making disappointed me. He actually let someone who runs his mouth join the class's leadership group, which lowered my opinion of Class A."
"I understand that he wanted to use that guy's slip of the tongue to test the other classes' intentions. But that kind of job should've gone to an inconspicuous nobody in the class, not someone at the heart of the leadership group. More than that, letting someone who'd anger students from the other classes join the class leadership in the first place was a mistake, no matter how close they were."
"Favoritism in appointments is a major taboo, no matter the circumstances."
That was clearly a dig at Totsuka Yahiko, who'd gotten into an argument with the Class D students earlier.
Before you continue