Going Along with the Flattery

"Compete? I'm not confident I could beat Classmate Sakayanagi. I'd probably lose badly. Does that really count as a worthy opponent?"

U Amakasa helplessly spread his hands.

Sakayanagi smiled faintly. "That's all right. I'll give you the chance to challenge me. In return, I want your loyalty—a faithful dog."

"That's quite an appealing offer, but..."

After lowering his voice for a moment, U Amakasa said the line he'd been wanting to deliver.

"But I refuse."

"I'm not interested in being a dog, especially one that doesn't get fed."

Thinking of Kamuro from the original story, Sakayanagi had squeezed her dry.

No wages, no rewards—she just worked herself to the bone.

A top-of-the-line nuclear-powered donkey.

"Oh, should I take that to mean you're afraid, Amakasa?"

Sakayanagi thought she might have overestimated U Amakasa.

"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me, Classmate Sakayanagi. Besides, you don't need to goad me into challenging you.

It's the penalty for losing that I refuse."

At that, Sakayanagi's lips curled upward despite herself. Changing the terms wasn't out of the question.

She'd never intended to gain someone's loyalty this way. That wouldn't earn her anyone's true devotion.

Sakayanagi believed that until she had leverage over someone, she couldn't trust them completely.

That was why Kamuro was her only confidante.

She'd cast herself in the same role as Ayanokoji, viewing everyone as a tool.

Of course, she'd eventually realized she couldn't do that. She'd already come to think of Kamuro as a friend.

"Oh? What terms would you like instead, Amakasa?"

"Just treat me as a member of the Sakayanagi Faction. It's not like Katsuragi's side would necessarily accept me anyway."

That wasn't necessarily true. If U Amakasa tried to join the Katsuragi Faction, its members probably wouldn't take him in.

But if he went straight to Katsuragi, then given Katsuragi's personality, he'd most likely accept him.

"Then I'll accept, for now. Katsuragi is no threat to me."

"Still, it's best to keep things evenly matched, Classmate Sakayanagi."

"Oh? And what's your reasoning, Amakasa?"

"Internal conflicts can spur both sides to work harder, making them an effective way to drive progress.

"So I don't think competition within the class is a bad thing. If anything, it's a good thing."

U Amakasa straightened up and continued, "But there's a downside, too. If an outside threat appears and we can't unite against it, Class A will fall apart without a fight."

He hoped that would serve as a warning to Sakayanagi. U Amakasa didn't want this battle-hungry Class A ace stirring up trouble.

If he weren't in Class A, he'd actually be looking forward to seeing Sakayanagi make trouble.

But he was in Class A now, and he still had plenty of Private Points.

That didn't mean they could cut his allowance, though.

If only banks existed, U Amakasa couldn't help thinking. How much interest could he earn on his more than forty million Private Points?

"Are you changing the subject, Amakasa?" Sakayanagi smiled confidently, speaking with an air of authority. "Spurring the class to work harder? That's unnecessary when I'm here. With me leading the class, Class A will only flourish. Any outside threat will crumble before us. That's nonsense. With me here, Class A will be unstoppable."

Great, now she sounded like a character from a fantasy webnovel.

"You're certainly confident, Classmate Sakayanagi. Then I won't say anything more. How about I choose the competition?"

"Go ahead."

Whatever kind of contest U Amakasa chose, Sakayanagi was confident she could beat him.

Of course, if he proposed something absurd, she didn't think he'd dare follow through.

She'd make sure he regretted it.

As a Class A student, he ought to know his own worth. In short:

He couldn't possibly have the nerve.

U Amakasa looked at Sakayanagi beside him. She was only as tall as his chest.

Right around where his heart was.

Sakayanagi wore a confident smile, as though everything had gone exactly as she'd expected.

U Amakasa decided to do something Sakayanagi would never see coming.

"Then let's compete to see who's more charming."

Sakayanagi blinked. "Charming?"

U Amakasa's lips curled into a smile as he brushed back his bangs, showing off his good looks.

"Of course. I'm nothing special, but back in kindergarten, whenever we played pretend, the teachers and girls all said I was born to play Prince Charming.

"In elementary and middle school, I got love letters in my shoe locker every day, from both older and younger girls. On Valentine's Day and Christmas, I received more chocolates and presents than I could count."

"..."

"You can skip the rest. Just tell me how we're competing."

Sakayanagi suddenly thought recruiting U Amakasa might have been a mistake.

U Amakasa raised a finger. "Let's see who can get more chocolate from girls in one minute."

Sakayanagi frowned slightly. "...Really... Only you, Amakasa, could come up with a contest like this. What can anyone even do in one minute?"

This would be difficult for Sakayanagi. She had to get chocolate from girls in just one minute.

The key points were "find girls" and "get a lot." That sounded like a lot of running around, and they had only one minute.

Besides, the others might not even have any chocolate on them. It wasn't Valentine's Day.

"What can you do? Just close your eyes, Classmate Sakayanagi, and you'll see."

"Close my eyes? If you have something to say, just say it."

Even Sakayanagi, who considered herself exceptionally gifted, couldn't figure out what U Amakasa was planning.

She had no idea he was simply planning to flatter her.

"I just want to surprise you, Classmate Sakayanagi."

"...I'll give you three seconds."

Sakayanagi was quite curious about what U Amakasa would do. Why was he asking her to close her eyes now?

And then there was this ridiculous contest.

Compete over charm? Sakayanagi admitted U Amakasa was handsome enough to be a top-tier celebrity.

But that didn't mean she lacked charm. Looks were only one part of it.

Even when it came to looks, she thought she could outshine U Amakasa.

Then Sakayanagi slowly closed her eyes.

U Amakasa took out his phone and snapped a picture of her.

Thankfully, he hadn't left the camera app after taking Kamuro's picture.

They only had three seconds. He couldn't waste them.

Sakayanagi's tightly shut eyes gave her a curious expression. Combined with the ginkgo tree behind her, the right angle made the picture look like a perfect travel advertisement.

U Amakasa now had two pictures on his phone.

One was an embarrassing portrait of someone; the other showed a curious girl beneath a ginkgo tree.

Three seconds passed in a flash. Sakayanagi opened her eyes and saw U Amakasa standing some distance away.

(●-●)

What was he doing?

U Amakasa had already slipped his phone back into his pocket. This wasn't like with Kamuro.

It would be bad if Sakayanagi caught him.

When Sakayanagi opened her eyes, U Amakasa slowly approached her until he was standing right in front of her.

As she watched with faint surprise, he dropped to one knee.

"What? Are you proposing to me?"

"No. How could I, my princess?"

U Amakasa held out his hand and turned it over. Suddenly, an unopened white rose appeared in his palm.

With the white rose in hand, U Amakasa gently twisted the end of its stem.

Its petals unfurled one by one in a clockwise direction.

Inside was a little chocolate—a tiny cookie-shaped chocolate.

"You've won this contest, my princess."

I came prepared. Heh heh heh~