You Stand on the Bridge, Watching the Scenery; Those Watching the Scenery Look Down at You / Chapter 61: Self-Importance and Putting on an Act

Although what she had said and how she had acted that morning already revealed a lot, Hoshino En still couldn't help wondering at her reckless behavior: were Horikita Suzune and that equally disciplined Horikita-senpai really siblings? The difference in quality between them was just too great!

A little earlier, while Chabashira Sae waited for her [fish] to bite—

"Okay, thank you, Hoshinomiya-sensei."

Ichinose Honami bowed to Hoshinomiya Chie in the office to thank her, then turned and left.

The Student Council had rejected her, and even after asking a teacher, she hadn't gotten any other suggestions. She felt a little dejected.

As she walked back toward her classroom, her gaze suddenly passed over the Counseling Room she'd just visited.

Hoshino-kun still hadn't come out?

Looking at the Counseling Room's tightly closed door and the faint light leaking out beneath it, she wondered.

She had no idea what kind of punishment his homeroom teacher would give him... She hoped it would just be a verbal scolding.

She slowly walked down the stairs, passing a cool-looking girl with long, straight black hair and a single braid over one shoulder.

That girl... Wasn't she Horikita Suzune, the one Kushida had mentioned?

Her striking features made it easy for Ichinose Honami to recognize her at once.

Kushida Kikyo had once asked for her help with a few problems in hopes of getting closer to Ichinose Honami. One of them concerned this tough nut who [refused to socialize], so even though Ichinose Honami had never met her, she'd formed an impression of Horikita Suzune.

She turned to watch the girl's retreating back.

Was she going to see Class D's homeroom teacher?

But Chabashira-sensei seemed to still be scolding Hoshino-kun!?

As if possessed, Ichinose Honami tiptoed after her.

She watched Horikita Suzune enter the Counseling Room, then cautiously approached the door, which the girl hadn't quite shut.

I'm not eavesdropping. I'm just worried about Hoshino-kun.

He helped me once, so I should repay him. That's right, that's all there is to it!

With that sort of self-persuasion, she began to feel perfectly at ease as she peered into the Counseling Room.

Huh? Why are only Chabashira-sensei and Horikita-san in there?

But aside from the two girls with long black hair, one tall and one short, there was no one else in the room.

Where had Hoshino-kun gone?

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 60: You Stand on the Bridge, Watching the Scenery; Those Watching the Scenery Look Down at You

As Ichinose Honami used [The Eavesdropping] again and evolved it into [Peeking Eyes], Hoshinomiya Chie also stepped out of the Teachers' Office.

"Mm~ I've got a staff meeting next. This job really wears you out day after day."

She stretched, loosening her tired body.

Maybe she should go see Sae-chan? She wondered how things were going between her and Hoshino-kun and Ayanokoji-kun... She could walk back with Sae, too.

So she headed toward the stairs, where the Counseling Room was.

But then—

"Eh, eh, eh!!! Is that Ichinose?"

She stared at Ichinose Honami, skulking around outside the Counseling Room, astonished.

Wait, was that really her Archangel? Why would kind Ichinose do something like that?

Was that Hoshino En really so charming that he could even make her throw away her principles?

As she worried over this, she wanted to go over, pull Ichinose Honami away, and give her a good scolding, telling her to stop getting caught up in romance.

But as she drew closer, she noticed that the Counseling Room door was still open.

That meant anyone inside could hear if something happened outside.

Hoshinomiya Chie: "..."

If she startled Ichinose by accident and alerted Sae and Hoshino-kun inside, and they saw her panicking... That would be a crushing blow for Ichinose, wouldn't it?

Anyone would be devastated if the person they loved saw them at their most embarrassing, let alone her Archangel.

Ichinose was the backbone of Class B. She couldn't let something like this leave her unable to recover.

So, to protect Ichinose Honami, Hoshinomiya Chie decided not to disturb her. Instead, she stood behind her and kept watch.

She could scold her later.

When the people inside came out, she could pretend she'd just arrived with Ichinose, then lead Sae away.

Perfect!

At the same time, Sakayanagi Arisu, who had received a message from Hoshino En, arrived on this floor with her [good friend], Kamuro Masumi.

They came up the stairs on the other side, reaching the Teachers' Office first.

But—

"There's no one here."

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the completely empty Teachers' Office, her cute eyebrows drawing together slightly.

"Hey, Hoshino isn't being targeted by Class D's homeroom teacher. Do you really need to be this nervous?"

Kamuro Masumi was speechless at Sakayanagi Arisu, who had suddenly changed their plans and insisted on coming upstairs.

She always did whatever came into her head, without ever sparing a thought for the person running around after her.

"Kamuro, could you please keep your crow-like comments to yourself?"

Sakayanagi Arisu was sure Hoshino En hadn't asked those questions for no reason. He must really be in that situation—or at least believe he might be.

If so, she couldn't just stand by. She hadn't even beaten him fair and square once yet. How could she let someone use [underhanded] methods to get him expelled?

But if they weren't in the Teachers' Office, where else could they be?

"Maybe they finished talking and left already!"

Kamuro Masumi guessed.

After class, she'd immediately followed Sakayanagi Arisu's instructions and headed to the Swimming Club. Taking the high-end camera Sakayanagi had provided, she'd blended in under the pretext of [checking out the club], ready to take some swimming photos of Hoshino En for her.

But once she got there, she discovered that Hoshino En hadn't gone to the Swimming Club at all that day!

She'd sent the news to Sakayanagi and immediately received a new task: [Search for Hoshino En]. But while she was busy looking for him, she'd missed the school announcement. Sakayanagi, who had heard the announcement, hadn't messaged her, so she'd ended up wandering around half the school just to find Hoshino En, who had been in the school building all along.

Then, just as she was sweating buckets from the effort, Sakayanagi suddenly summoned her and said she wanted her to come along and check the upper floors of the school building.

Seriously, you can't treat people like this just because you can order them around!!!

"Impossible. Hoshino-kun just sent me a message saying he couldn't take a call. That means he wasn't free at the time; he was constrained by some sort of situation. We can be sure his conversation with Ayanokoji-kun and Class D's homeroom teacher wasn't over."

"But he could still send and receive messages, which means he wasn't talking to the homeroom teacher. He was waiting somewhere the teacher couldn't see him. There are only two possibilities: a public place that isn't private, or a second space inside another room."

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

Sakayanagi, why did the way you talked sound so much like Hoshino?

Also—

"Sakayanagi, I mean, wouldn't it be faster to just message him and ask where he is?"

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

"And don't you have him as a friend? Why not just check his location?"

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

"Love really does make people—"

"Kamuro, please be quiet. Thank you."

Kamuro Masumi went silent.

"You should add Hoshino-kun as a friend later, too."

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

My big mouth! I shouldn't have teased her... Now I've got even more work to do.

As Kamuro Masumi grumbled to herself, Sakayanagi Arisu used her phone to check Hoshino En's location. He was nearby.

The two walked down the corridor and soon arrived outside the Counseling Room. They also spotted Ichinose Honami, skulking around, and her teacher keeping watch.

But because the two had approached from behind Hoshinomiya Chie, the teacher who claimed to be keeping watch hadn't actually done anything useful.

Kamuro Masumi and Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

They both deliberately moved more quietly and lowered their voices so the two women peeking inside wouldn't notice them.

Kamuro Masumi: [What now?]

Having seen Hoshino En do it, they started using messages on their phones to talk, too.

Sakayanagi Arisu: [Don't move yet. Making a sound now could alert them.]

The Counseling Room door wasn't fully shut, and the surroundings were quiet. So even from a little farther away, the two could make out some of the sounds inside.

It sounded like two women talking, perhaps about test scores or something, but there was definitely no sound of a man arguing.

That meant Hoshino En was still safe.

Sakayanagi Arisu: [Let's wait and see what happens after Hoshino-kun and the others come out.]

Kamuro Masumi: [...So we're just going to stand here like idiots and wait?]

Sakayanagi Arisu: [What else do you want to do? You can practice your photography skills and techniques while we wait. Next semester's sports festival, and even the wedding, the baby's one-month celebration, and the housewarming party afterward... You'll be the one taking pictures at all of those.]

[That expensive, high-spec camera I bought isn't just for decoration.]

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

What do you take me for?! Your personal photographer?

Sakayanagi Arisu: [Even if you have a career of your own someday, this skill will ensure you can come to me for an easy job if your career fails... Though I don't think I'd be very willing to let you go in the first place.]

I hate you superpowered people who can read minds!!!!!

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 61: Self-Importance and Putting on an Act

Back to when Horikita Suzune stepped into the Counseling Room—

"Why was I assigned to Class D?"

Horikita's first question was exactly what Hoshino En had expected. As he'd thought, a [normal person] like her was much more [pleasant] than a weirdo like Karuizawa.

"What? Do you think you were treated unfairly? That there's something wrong with the evaluation process?"

"Of course. I'm confident I got almost every question on the entrance exam right, and I don't remember making any major mistakes during the interview... I don't think I should have been placed in Class D!"

"You got almost every question on the entrance exam right..."

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

Hoshino En heard the sound of paper being flipped. Was Chabashira going through Horikita's entrance exam?

Wait, so the exam hadn't just been a cover?

He'd always assumed the entrance exam and interview were both decoys, and that the classes were assigned based on the school's background checks of students using their recommendation letters. But it seemed that the exam scores had mattered, too.

So his initial judgment might have been wrong. Still, when he'd asked Karuizawa, Ichinose, and Kushida about it at the café on April 1, they'd all seemed to confirm they had recommendation letters.

No way. Had he really hit the jackpot that day? Were the four people sitting around Sakayanagi, including him, all problem students with recommendation letters? But wasn't Wang Meiyu there, too? Why hadn't she spoken up to contradict him?

Oh, she'd seemed frightened by him that day. That was all because Sakayanagi had suddenly brought up some kind of [obedience test], which had gotten him interested...

But if the homeroom teacher could see the entrance exam scores, that gave Chabashira one more possible reason to have her eye on Kiyotaka.

Hoshino En turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and typed out a question right in front of him.

Hoshino En: [Kiyotaka, what were your scores in the five entrance exam subjects?]

Then, without even thinking, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka typed out the following scores.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: [Japanese: 50, Math: 50, English: 50, Social Studies: 50, Science: 50.]