A Farce

At a mid-to-upscale restaurant in the mall

Ayanokoji and the others had already gathered. Satsu had reserved a table around noon, so they hadn't had to wait outside.

At first, they'd chatted and laughed while waiting for Satsu, but as time passed, a faint sense of unease began to erode the harmonious atmosphere.

"Sorry, we're still waiting for one of our friends."

Kikyo wore an apologetic smile. This was already the second time she'd turned down the waiter's request to place their order.

As soon as the waiter had left, one of the girls spoke up anxiously. "Do you think something happened to Kato? It's been so long."

"He probably realized he couldn't afford to pay and was too embarrassed to show up!"

Yamauchi jumped in without hesitation, casually clinking the cutlery as he spoke.

"After all, he looks like the kind of guy who lives off women. How could he actually be willing to treat everyone?"

He'd certainly dressed up for the occasion, but his crude words and behavior exposed the fact that he was only pretending to be a gentleman.

"No way. Satsu doesn't seem like that kind of person."

"Damn it, I hope he doesn't embarrass me. Otherwise, I'll have to pay for everything today." (Kikyo Kushida)

Though she was trying to smooth things over, Kikyo was already thinking about how to handle the situation.

"Come on, Kikyo, stop making excuses for him. He's just a coward who doesn't keep his word. Ayanokoji thinks so too, right?"

Yamauchi pressed the issue, putting Ayanokoji on the spot. As one of only two men there, Yamauchi naturally hoped to win Ayanokoji's agreement.

"Well... actually, I agree more with Kushida. Satsu doesn't seem like that kind of person. He probably ran into some kind of trouble."

"If he'd just been playing a prank, there'd have been no reason for him to deliberately invite Horikita and me in the first place, let alone Hasebe at the last minute. He had no motive." (Ayanokoji Kiyotaka)

"Hasebe, did Satsu tell you what he was going to do?"

Rather than blindly taking Yamauchi's side, Ayanokoji asked as if he were trying to get to the truth.

Hasebe shook her head slightly. "No. He just said he'd thought of something really important, then hurried off."

"So he just ran away! We've all been tricked!"

As he spoke, Yamauchi pushed back his chair and stood up. "You can keep waiting if you want. I'm leaving!"

"Honestly, not only did he make me buy such expensive clothes, but now I haven't even had dinner this late."

He left his seat, but just as he reached the door, it was suddenly shoved open. Yamauchi couldn't dodge in time and took a hard hit.

Hearing a loud yelp, Satsu briefly thought he'd hit one of the restaurant's dogs with the door.

"Don't you look to see if anyone's there before you open the door?" Yamauchi shouted, clutching his swollen, reddened nose.

"How am I supposed to see inside when I open the door?" Satsu replied.

"If you'd been any later, Yamauchi would've left, Satsu," Hasebe said with relief.

So the urgent thing he had to do was change clothes. (Haruka Hasebe)

"Better late than never. These clothes cost so much, so if you hadn't let me see them, wouldn't that have been a waste?" Satsu said coolly, one hand in his pocket.

He stood before them in casual but well-fitting clothes, a stark contrast to Yamauchi, who had clearly tried too hard with his outfit.

His left hand's bandaged. There's no way he just went to change clothes. (Ayanokoji Kiyotaka)

"Good to see you made it. Everyone was starting to worry that something had happened to you," Kikyo said.

"I'm really sorry for making you worry. Let's order first. I'm sure everyone's starving."

Satsu smiled at Kikyo as he spoke, then headed toward his seat.

"Here he comes! Once you sit in that seat, your humiliation tonight begins!"

Yamauchi's malicious grin was plain to see. In his mind, he shouted wildly, praying that Satsu would hurry up and sit in the one remaining seat.

I already spread stink bombs evenly inside that chair cushion. As soon as you sit down, everyone will hear that wonderful sound and smell that enchanting fragrance. (Haruki Yamauchi)

You have only yourself to blame. Not only did you try to steal a girl from me, Lord Yamauchi, but you were so late that you gave me plenty of time to prepare. (Haruki Yamauchi)

I thought he'd have some clever trick up his sleeve. He's really proud of a caveman's prank like this? I could just deny everything and check the chair. Wouldn't that make him lose it?

Satsu silently grumbled to himself, then said calmly, "Yamauchi, I'd like to sit in your seat. Let's switch."

"What!" (Haruki Yamauchi)

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with that seat? Why do you suddenly want to switch with me?"

A strained, guilty smile appeared on Yamauchi's face as he spoke.

"No, it's just a personal preference. I don't like that seat. I'd be glad if you'd switch with me."

Instead of checking the chair after you get hit, why not let you get hit by your own prank? (Kato Satsu)

I just arrived, and everyone saw that I didn't touch the chair. Do you really think they'll suspect me later? (Kato Satsu)

Satsu spoke with a wicked grin, already eager to watch Yamauchi bring disaster upon himself.

"No. I'm not switching!"

"Then switch with me, Satsu. I'll take that seat."

When Yamauchi flatly refused, Kikyo stepped forward of her own accord.

"No!"

Yamauchi spoke up again. He even got to his feet and instinctively reached out to stop her.

Everyone found Yamauchi's strange reaction baffling.

"What's wrong, Yamauchi? What are you trying to do?" one of the girls asked.

If Kikyo gets hit and they check the chair, I'm done for. You know what you did, don't you? (Haruki Yamauchi)

I'm the only one who's touched that chair! But in the movie, the protagonist pulled this exact trick on the guy who was after the same girl. Why isn't it working for me? (Haruki Yamauchi)

Hearing those thoughts, Satsu couldn't help rolling his eyes.

For fuck's sake. I can't even be bothered to insult him. (Kato Satsu)

"I... I'll switch," Yamauchi said slowly through gritted teeth.

At his new seat, Yamauchi held himself in a deep squat and didn't sit down.

But there was no way he could hide such strange behavior from everyone in the room.

"Yamauchi, sit down!" Satsu said with a hint of amusement.

"You're going to make yourself uncomfortable. Sit down, Yamauchi!"

Yamauchi turned and glared at Satsu. In the end, filled with resentment and indignation, he sat down.

"Whoa! It's that powerful!"

Satsu pinched his nose, struggling to keep himself from gagging.

"Waiter, could you move us to another room?" Ayanokoji calmly raised his hand and asked.

Meanwhile, in the Chairman's Office

When his daughter came in, Narimori cut straight to the point without wasting a word. "Arisu, I want you to find a way to make Kato Satsu from Class 1-D..."

"Drop out!"