Karuizawa Kei's Choice

Airi Sakura cautiously walked into the classroom. The moment she crossed the threshold, she keenly sensed that something was off.

At this time of day, Class D students, especially the boys, were usually noisy. There was no way they'd normally be this quiet.

When her gaze swept across the corner of the classroom, she caught sight of Yamauchi Haruki and the others hastily averting their eyes.

Like startled mice, they instantly scattered from their huddle, where they'd been whispering together, and buried their heads in their desks, as though she were some ferocious beast.

Usually, Airi Sakura was the one who avoided their eyes.

Whenever she entered the classroom, the boys' gazes would always linger on her chest, making her wish she could crawl into a hole.

Today was the first time since she'd started school that she could walk through the classroom in peace without deliberately lowering her head or hurrying her steps.

The strange turn of events gave her an almost unreal sense of relief.

All she needed was to be invisible and keep the boys in her class from noticing her. That was enough.

The classroom's familiar layout and her classmates' friendly attitudes showed that Makoto Nishikado had kept his promise and hadn't fought with the students of Class D after all.

She just didn't know what he'd done to make everyone change so much.

Airi Sakura fished her phone out of her schoolbag. As the screen lit up, she saw the profile picture of the person she'd recently added to her LINE contacts.

She'd spent ages agonizing over it, but still had no idea how to express her gratitude.

As she pondered, a girl about her height walked over.

"You're Airi Sakura, right?"

Hasebe Haruka looked Airi Sakura over carefully, liking her more with every passing moment.

The girl dressed a little plainly, and her glasses especially seemed to have a passive effect that lowered her looks by ten points.

But she had good features to begin with. With just a little effort, she'd be beautiful.

As one of the beauties in Class D, Hasebe Haruka had earned the approval of most people, both for her figure and her looks.

If she weren't so aloof and dismissive of boys, she'd be just as popular as Kushida Kikyo.

Now that she'd met Airi Sakura, who was just as pretty, just as well-endowed, and had similar troubles, Hasebe felt she'd found a kindred spirit.

"Y-yes. You're Hasebe, right?"

Airi Sakura had some impression of Hasebe Haruka, too.

The other girl seemed aloof, but didn't seem like a bad person.

And, well, she was a little embarrassed to admit it, but since they were both rather well-endowed, Airi had paid a little extra attention to her.

That was how she'd remembered her name.

"Would it be okay if I called you Airi from now on?"

Hasebe Haruka beamed.

Compared to her, Airi Sakura was clearly a little timid. She seemed like the type who needed someone to look after her.

Taking care of someone was supposed to be a hassle, but Hasebe Haruka found herself liking Airi even more.

"Huh?"

Airi Sakura was dumbfounded.

If she remembered right, today was the first time the two of them had ever properly spoken.

Was it really okay for the other girl to call her by her first name right away?

"Mhm. I want to be friends with you, Airi. You can call me Haruka from now on, too."

Hasebe Haruka was being unusually enthusiastic, completely unlike her usual aloof self.

"Should I call you by your first name, too?"

Airi Sakura was already getting dizzy.

She still had no idea what was going on.

"If you're shy, you can call me Gaga for now."

Hasebe Haruka smiled and met her halfway.

In Sakurajima, calling someone by their first name meant you were very close, while using a nickname meant you were a little less close.

Airi Sakura's mind went blank. She could only shake her head instinctively.

Even an ordinary nickname was too much for her!

Nearby, Sato Maya noticed what was happening and immediately started complaining to her friend.

"Hasebe was never like this before. Even if she's got her eye on that guy, there's no need to be so forward, is there? She was never like this before."

Their little group of gyaru had tried inviting Hasebe Haruka to hang out with them before.

She'd turned them down without a second thought.

Back then, Hasebe Haruka hadn't even been willing to give them a friendly look or let them down gently.

Now that Hasebe Haruka had beaten her to it, wouldn't it be awkward for her to approach Airi Sakura?

She'd wanted to ask that guy for his contact information, too.

Sure, Makoto Nishikado had barged into Class D today and cursed out their classmate right in front of them.

But most of them had simply found it satisfying.

"A guy that handsome probably already has a girlfriend. Hasebe probably doesn't have a chance, either. Maybe she really just wants to make a friend. Right, Kei?"

Matsushita Chiaki smiled, trying to smooth things over.

She turned to look at Karuizawa Kei, only to find her propping up her chin, staring blankly out the window.

Karuizawa Kei hadn't been paying attention to the group's conversation at all. For that matter, she hadn't been paying attention to anything in the classroom.

She was completely lost in thought.

What could she be thinking about so intently?

"Kei? Kei?"

Only after Matsushita Chiaki gave her shoulder a shake did Karuizawa Kei suddenly snap out of it.

"Huh? What happened? What were we talking about?"

Karuizawa Kei came back to her senses and slipped into her usual gyaru persona again.

But by then, none of the girls around her felt like continuing their earlier conversation.

"Kei, what were you thinking about just now? You were spacing out for ages."

"Yeah, tell us, too."

"Don't tell me you were comparing Hirata-kun with that guy who just came in, trying to decide who's more handsome?"

The girls chattered among themselves.

They knew Karuizawa Kei planned to find a boyfriend in high school.

The one she'd set her sights on before was, unsurprisingly, Hirata Yosuke.

In the unreliable Class D, Hirata Yosuke was in a league of his own as boyfriend material.

Koenji Rokusuke came from a wealthy family but was too arrogant. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was handsome, but his personality was too gloomy. The other boys were all pretty ordinary.

As for Yamauchi Haruki and his crowd, the girls couldn't stand them.

Hirata Yosuke was undoubtedly the best choice.

"...You're right. That's exactly what I was thinking about."

"Tell me, which one do you think is more handsome, Hirata-kun or that guy who was just here? Which one feels safer? Which one would make a better boyfriend?"

Talking about this sort of thing in front of her friends made Karuizawa Kei a little embarrassed, too.

But at this point, she could only grit her teeth and go along with it.

She was the leader of this gyaru group. The one thing she couldn't do was back down.

"I think that guy from earlier seems more impressive."

"Yeah, he's more handsome and feels safer, but he's a little scary."

"But he seems pretty close with Kikyo. Maybe they're dating?"

Hearing her friends' discussion made Karuizawa Kei's heart pound.

Kushida Kikyo was way too popular in Class D. She really didn't dare to pick a fight with her.

Though that was what she thought, Karuizawa Kei laughed as if she didn't care.

"So what if he really is that girl Kushida's boyfriend? I can just steal him away!"

"Actually, it'd be better if he had a girlfriend. That would mean I only had one rival."

At that, the girls exchanged glances. Then came a round of applause, though each had her own thoughts.

Shinohara Satsuki: Kei's so bold. But somehow, this feels a little weird.

Matsushita Chiaki: That's our Kei. She makes things look easy that the rest of us could never do.

Sato Maya: So being a gyaru means stealing someone else's boyfriend! I've learned something today.