When Feeling Sad (Sakayanagi IF Route)

The next day.

Oreki rose from his bed.

It was truly a bit strange not having anyone come to wake him.

"Seven o'clock..."

He grabbed a bottle of milk from the fridge and toasted a slice of bread.

That would do for breakfast.

Anyway...

Oreki had no mood to go to any restaurant.

On the way.

He bit into his bread and rode his bicycle.

He arrived downstairs in less than three minutes.

There were still very few people out at this hour.

Upon arriving at Class A, Oreki sat in his seat.

Aside from him, there were six people in total.

One of them, needless to say, he knew exactly who it was.

Hashimoto Masayoshi.

When it came to matters concerning his own future, Hashimoto Masayoshi was never careless.

Even though graduating from Class A meant working for those wealthy people.

But that was just how things were.

His family wasn't particularly prominent.

Nor did they have much wealth...

Therefore, Hashimoto Masayoshi could only be a bit more tactful in his dealings with others.

"Houtarou, you arrived quite quickly today."

"Say what you have to say."

"Yes, yes."

Hashimoto Masayoshi glanced around, and after confirming there was no one worth worrying about, he spoke to Oreki with peace of mind:

"The vote-canvassing is going very smoothly, but..."

"What?"

"That bald guy... Katsuragi seems very dissatisfied."

"So?"

"He teamed up with a few others to oppose my proposal."

"And you call this smooth?"

"Well, well, let me finish what I'm saying first, Houtarou."

"..."

"After my struggle, I finally defeated..."

"Get to the point."

"Ahem, I used points to flip the people Katsuragi had allied with."

"..."

This actually left Oreki silent.

Why did he always feel...

Like there was a hint of comedy in the air?

The people he had gone to such lengths to win over had been easily bought off by his opponent with money.

"How much did you use?"

"Well... about ten thousand points?"

"You really are generous."

"Hahaha... that's not the case at all."

"I wasn't complimenting you."

Oreki shook his head.

He understood; ten thousand points and the like was definitely not the full extent of it.

At the very least, double it.

It didn't matter, though.

It wasn't his money anyway.

Besides, even if it were his own money, it wouldn't be a big deal.

The balance was still four hundred and some thousand, right?

This currency could only be used within this school.

But the items sold by the school were very limited.

Claiming that points could buy anything...

It was nothing more than an exaggeration.

For instance, if I wanted to buy a nuke, would you sell it to me?

The answer didn't even require thought.

If they really could sell that to you...

Then whoever had that kind of capability would be wasting their talents running a school here.

They'd be better off pulling off something bigger.

In short, this was exactly what Oreki was troubled by.

He should have just asked Sakayanagi's Father for cash at the time.

Though he didn't know if he would have given it...

"Houtarou?"

"Mm, I'm listening."

"Simply put, three-quarters of the class will choose you as the leader."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. As for the remaining people, it's not that I don't want to win them over, it's just..."

"What?"

"Well... Houtarou understands. The neutral faction? Not exactly... It should be those who don't want to be dragged into any conflict."

"That's very common."

"It's good that Houtarou understands. But rest assured, while they won't vote for you, they won't vote for anyone else either."

"You mean?"

"Abstention."

"Mm..."

Oreki began to think.

At least for now, no third force had formed.

Sakayanagi's faction was now under Oreki's control.

Katsuragi was still the same as ever, without many capable people.

The rest were all sticking to their own groups.

It was nothing more than a fear of being caught in the crossfire of factional struggles.

Once Oreki crushed Katsuragi, the rest would naturally join obediently.

There was only one concern.

That wouldn't be called a faction; it should be called...

"Then, let's leave it at that."

Hashimoto Masayoshi left with confidence.

He couldn't wait to see the scene of Katsuragi getting slapped in the face.

Previously, in order to maintain a good relationship with Katsuragi, Hashimoto Masayoshi had suffered quite a bit.

This included, but was not limited to, listening to Katsuragi drone on about a bunch of grand principles.

When it came down to it...

It all depended on individual ability.

If those principles were useful, he wouldn't have been played in the palm of Sakayanagi Arisu's hand.

Everyone he wanted to win over had been snatched up by Sakayanagi Arisu first.

The few who were actually decent all chose to stay out of it, ignoring Katsuragi's invitations.

Pathetic.

Afterward, many people arrived one after another.

At eight o'clock, Kamuro Masumi entered through the back door and sat down next to Oreki.

"Has Sakayanagi Arisu contacted you?"

"..."

"What's wrong? Give me a response."

"No."

Oreki looked out the window.

Since yesterday, Sakayanagi Arisu had not contacted him at all.

He didn't know the reason.

Every time he called, it showed she was offline.

If there was something going on, she could have just told him.

Why bear it all alone?

His mind grew restless again.

"I see... then something must have happened. I thought she had found some new game to play again..."

"New game?"

"Like ignoring me on purpose for a while. If I don't go looking for her, she'll play... no, never mind."

Realizing she had let something slip, Kamuro Masumi quickly walked away.

Although Kamuro Masumi didn't say it out loud.

Oreki could vaguely guess...

However, one shouldn't display personal interests while in a relationship, right?

Surely not?

Oreki shook his head.

It was too early to think about such things.

Sakayanagi Arisu was still waiting for him to find her.

It was a pity they didn't sell GPS trackers.

Forget it.

Even if they did, Oreki wouldn't attach one to Sakayanagi.

Because that would be too perverted.

He really couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Alright, alright, everyone back to your seats."

The homeroom teacher walked into the classroom through the front door.

After reaching the podium.

He took a sip of water from his thermos before speaking:

"Now, the voting begins."

A slip of paper was distributed to everyone.

The task was simple.

Just write down the name of the person you are recommending.

Then, they would be collected, and a student would announce the person who received the most votes.

One minute passed.

"Time's up, hmm... Hashimoto, go help me collect them."

"Understood."

Hashimoto Masayoshi was stunned for a moment.

But he quickly stood up and began to carry out the task.

When it was Katsuragi's turn, he couldn't help but laugh.

There was nothing wrong with voting for oneself.

But that was only on the premise that one was certain of winning.

Otherwise, one would just look like a clown.

After all, voting for yourself when you can't win...

It would really be better not to write anything and have it treated as an abstention.

Katsuragi gripped his right hand tightly.

He whispered a warning to Hashimoto Masayoshi:

"Don't get too happy too soon."

"Is that so? Then I'll have a good laugh at your expense later."

"...Hmph."

The two of them were watched by Oreki from behind.

He had no interest in this.

It was time to look at the leaders of the other classes.

The easiest class to identify right now was...

Class D.

--It's time.

With that, Oreki took out his phone and opened Karuizawa Kei's email.

--To be continue