Makoto Nishikado and Honami Ichinose were quietly discussing the state of the Student Council. A hint of tension still lingered in the air.
Suddenly, a clear, sweet voice came from behind them, interrupting their conversation.
"Honami, Makoto, are you interested in clubs too?"
Kushida Kikyo hurried over like a cheerful little bird, waving her fair hand.
She greeted Honami Ichinose warmly, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
But her gaze kept drifting toward Makoto Nishikado, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
"Kushida, do you and Makoto know each other?"
Honami Ichinose looked surprised.
In her impression, Makoto Nishikado was rather aloof.
He wasn't the type to keep everyone at arm's length, but neither was he someone who went out of his way to make friends.
He hadn't even attended the gatherings Class B had organized.
Even in Class B, Makoto Nishikado didn't have any especially close friends, let alone with Kushida Kikyo, who was in Class D.
By contrast, Honami Ichinose and Kushida Kikyo were both good at socializing.
On the first day of school, they'd exchanged a look and recognized that they were kindred spirits.
The two girls hit it off and exchanged contact information.
So Honami Ichinose knew Kushida Kikyo's circle of friends quite well.
Makoto Nishikado's name definitely wasn't among them.
"Well, Makoto helped me on the bus..."
Kushida Kikyo smiled as brightly as a flower and explained how she and Makoto Nishikado had met.
Her voice carried just the right amount of gratitude, as if it had been a momentous occasion she'd never forget.
Then, as though she'd just remembered something, she took out her Personal Terminal.
"Makoto, we agreed to exchange contact information."
Unlike the flawless smile on her face, Kushida Kikyo was not in a good mood.
They'd agreed to exchange contact information on the bus, yet Makoto Nishikado hadn't even reached out to her.
She'd been waiting for his message the whole time, but nothing had come. Now she had to seek him out herself!
Being ignored like this really had Kushida Kikyo fuming.
[You triggered Kushida Kikyo's emotions and gained 1,970 emotion points.]
"Oh, right. I'd almost forgotten about that."
Makoto Nishikado glanced at the system prompt and smiled as he took out his Personal Terminal.
He made a point of reminding her that he really had forgotten.
It worked like a charm.
[You triggered Kushida Kikyo's emotions and gained 3,390 emotion points.]
"Then we're friends from now on."
Kushida Kikyo's smile remained sweet, as if she had no complaints at all.
But she knew the anger in her heart had flared up again.
Exchanging contact information with a sweet, gentle girl like her should've been something he kept in mind every second of the day, shouldn't it?
And Makoto Nishikado had actually forgotten?
Kushida Kikyo realized that Makoto Nishikado really was something else. He could make her angry with ease.
Her smile had nearly turned into an irritated grimace.
For her own peace of mind, Kushida Kikyo decided to change the subject.
"By the way, I saw you talking to Horikita earlier, Makoto."
"That's nice. I'd like to be friends with Horikita too."
Kushida Kikyo lowered her eyes slightly, a hint of regret in her voice. Her gaze naturally shifted toward Horikita Suzune.
At that moment, Horikita Suzune was still standing alone in the corner, her expression shifting unpredictably.
She seemed even harder to approach than usual, with her cold demeanor.
An ordinary boy would've rushed to help if he saw a girl he admired in trouble, spilling every bit of information he knew without holding anything back.
But Makoto Nishikado was hardly an ordinary boy.
"Horikita can be a little hard to talk to. Good luck, Kushida."
Makoto Nishikado smiled and offered nothing but words of encouragement.
He acted as though he and Horikita Suzune were quite close, while refusing to take the bait.
"Makoto, do you have any tips? Horikita's really hard to approach. I don't know what to do."
Kushida Kikyo was already cursing him out in her head.
If she knew how to get close to Horikita Suzune, why would she need Makoto Nishikado's help?
This jerk had absolutely no social awareness. He was as dense as a log!
"With a sincere heart, keep approaching her. Even ice will melt one day, like snow beneath the sun. Have some confidence in yourself, Kushida."
Makoto Nishikado gave a thumbs-up and flashed a smile, showing a row of healthy, pearly white teeth.
"Right, I'll keep trying. My goal is to become friends with everyone in first year. My friends are waiting for me, so I'll be going now."
Kushida Kikyo clenched her fist and gave herself a pep talk on the outside, while fuming on the inside.
She'd met boys like this before, boys who never understood what someone was saying. A couple of words from them could make anyone furious.
So here was the question: was Makoto Nishikado dense?
Don't make your bro Cheng laugh!
Kushida Kikyo was one million percent certain that he was doing it on purpose!
For the sake of her own peace of mind, she decided to call it a day.
She'd take on Makoto Nishikado, that "walking irritant," another time. Today, she'd just avoid his edge!
"Goodbye, Kushida... Makoto, were you teasing her?"
Honami Ichinose waved goodbye to Kushida Kikyo, looking a little surprised.
She knew how clever Makoto Nishikado was, and didn't believe he'd failed to understand Kushida Kikyo's unspoken meaning.
But he'd acted like someone clueless about socializing, which was rather unusual.
"Ichinose, don't tell the other classes that I'm the class leader for now. It'll make it easier for me to act."
Makoto Nishikado didn't explain. Instead, he changed the subject.
"Oh, I get it. I'll let everyone know."
Honami Ichinose suddenly understood, convinced she'd grasped Makoto Nishikado's intentions.
He'd been acting clueless to catch the other classes off guard, which was why he'd seemed so strange.
With her exceptional Affinity and her position as Class B's class representative, Honami Ichinose was easily mistaken for the class leader.
That made her perfect cover, allowing Makoto Nishikado to lay his plans in secret.
"From now on, Yuki Himeno will help me. Let the others know."
"Yuki? Got it."
"One more thing. Stay away from him—the one named Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."
Makoto Nishikado pointed toward a nearby spot.
Following the direction of his finger, Honami Ichinose saw an unremarkable-looking boy.
"Is something wrong with him?"
Honami Ichinose couldn't understand why Makoto Nishikado wanted her to stay away from a boy who seemed completely harmless.
"It's just a hunch. He might be more dangerous than the class leader of Class A in second year."
"Makoto, can't you have a little more faith in me? I'm not that easy to fool."
"...Have a little self-awareness!"
Without spoiling anything, Makoto Nishikado had no way to explain.
It was like a male lead in a romance suddenly meeting his first love and, for no reason at all, going crazy over her and banging his head against a wall for her.
Makoto Nishikado was worried Honami Ichinose would get bewitched too.
But who would believe that if he said it out loud?
"All right, I'll stay away from him."
Honami Ichinose was full of questions. She didn't know why Makoto Nishikado seemed so biased against her, but she still agreed.
Then she seemed to remember something and smiled at him. "Makoto, let's exchange contact information too."
"Don't we have a class group chat?"
"That's different. Don't you want to be friends with me, Makoto?"
Faced with the girl's bright, sunny smile, Makoto Nishikado could only sigh and take out his Personal Terminal again.
"Don't use that trick again. Your smile is way too unfair."
Before you continue