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Volume 6, Chapter 5: "The Formation of Ayanokōji Group" Part 6

There are various commercial facilities at the Keyaki Mall. Most of the stores are used on a daily basis, like the supermarkets. However, there are multiple shops that only see occasional use. For example, there’s a service that delivers supermarket ingredients to your dorm room and a specialty store that fixes electric, gas, and water issues. The laundromat is another perfect example of this. A salaryman or another member of the outside community would have a good reason to typically use a laundromat, but it isn’t relevant to the students of this school. However, when a blazer or another part of our uniforms gets unusually dirty, the laundromat plays an important role by cleaning what we can’t clean on our own.

Even if it isn’t something you usually use, the time will come suddenly when it’s needed.

It’s Thursday night at 8:00 with the exam coming up on the weekend. The shops on campus had already reached closing time, so everyone from Class D gathered at a karaoke room. It’s a great place to make arrangements without worrying about anything leaking outside.

Horikita and Hirata acted quickly. The group was the same as from the start of the final examination, with the addition of Keisei.

It’s true that it would have been more ideal to do this in someone’s room, but one of us didn’t want to do that.

“Hey, can I sing?”

“Wait, Karuizawa-san. That’s not what we’re here for today.”

“Even though there’s karaoke right here?”

“Since you said that you didn’t want to go to the dorms, we came here. Isn’t that right?”

You don’t know who’s watching or listening in a cafe or cafeteria elsewhere on campus.

“That’s right, but what should I say? Isn’t it kind of stupid to go to karaoke and not sing?”

“Make do with your food and drinks.”

Karuizawa had ordered plenty already. Her own personal drink, as well as junk food such as potato fries and drinks for everyone else, sat on the table.

“Then let’s sing a duet together after the strategy meeting is over, Yōsuke-kun.”

“Yeah. It might be a good idea to take a breather after the meeting is adjourned.”

“I’ll agree to that. I want to have a proper celebration, but it\'s also been quite a long time since I’ve gotten to do karaoke.”

Hirata and Kushida searched for a compromise by agreeing with both Horikita and Karuizawa.

“……I’m going to start.”

Horikita simply ignored the two of them and began the meeting.

“First up is the results from the study sessions, and to be honest, I think that they’re excellent. In the beginning, the behavior of the boys was a mess, and I worried about how it would turn out. Fortunately, they’ve studied hard and should be able to cope with the final exam to some extent.”

"Just so you know, I studied so hard that my mouth is now an English dictionary!"

Sudō appealed that he had studied in his own way, but the way he phrased it made it difficult to understand.

“Sudō-kun has grown significantly compared to where he started from. His concentration has dramatically improved in particular. However, don’t forget that your basic academic abilities are still inferior to a first-year middle school student’s.”

“I’ve studied so hard and I’m still only at first-year middle school level……”

“The fact that you were at an elementary school level up until now is kind of amazing.”

“Ho-Horikita-san, that’s going a little too far……”

“He didn’t even know that pi existed until recently.”

It was a pretty explosive statement. It’s unexpected for him to have lived until today without knowing about the existence of pi.

“Eeeh? Isn’t that too stupid!?”

Even Karuizawa, who doesn’t study very much herself, gives an overreaction.

“Shut up, Karuizawa. You don’t even understand it yourself.”

“No, no, no. Seriously. Even I knew it was 3.14.”

The conversation managed to descend into something trivial. Everyone who had to listen to it might end up with headaches.

“Please stop it. I can roughly see what level your academic ability is. Is he really okay, Horikita?”

“It’s pointless to worry about him. Like I said, his basic academic skills are behind. But, he generally understands the content that he needs to for this semester. It’s not like he’s facing the exam expecting to fail. Have the problems with Hasebe-san and Miyake-kun been resolved on your end, Yukimura-kun?”

“Of course. Ayanokōji was watching closely, so he can verify this, isn’t that right?”

“I don’t think there was a better way to approach it. I have no concerns about them failing the finals.”

“Great! I’d absolutely hate to lose someone from Class D, so let’s all overcome this together!”

“……Something like that. Speaking of which, are we really okay?”

After hearing Kushida\'s thoughts, Karuizawa asked an unsettling question.

“I don’t want fewer classmates, but this is a test that someone drops out of every year, right? There is no guarantee that Sudō-kun or I won’t fail, right?”

“I can’t really guarantee you it, but-”

“Then don’t say something like that so rashly in the first place.”

The relaxed atmosphere of the room gradually began to tense up.

“Kushida-san, I’ve always felt like you’ve been giving me lip service for a while now.”

“Is that so…… I just want everyone to pass the exam safely……”

“It must be nice to be smart. You don’t even know what will happen to me.”

“It’s okay, Karuizawa-san. You’re involved in a reliable study group now.”

Even with Hirata backing her up, Karuizawa seemed entirely unconvinced.

“I\'ve wanted to say this for a while now. Kushida-san, aren’t you behaving a little bit goody-goody?”

“Eh?…… D-Do you really think so……”

“Can you calm down, Karuizawa-san? We are in the middle of having a discussion about the finals right now. Don’t waste our time with unrelated matters.”

“Horikita-san, shut up a little. Hey, Kushida-san. Are you perhaps mocking my intelligence in your mind or something?”

“I wouldn’t do something like that.”

“In that case, don’t make promises like that. Since it’s hard for me every time I take an exam, can you take responsibility if I fail?”

This was too irrational. Faced with such inexplicable anger, it wasn’t just Kushida, but the entire study group was confused.

Karuizawa lost it due to Kushida’s positivity and kindness.

She then reached out and picked up the grape juice that she had barely touched, and proceeded to pour it out onto Kushida with all her might. The juice and all of it’s staining properties, soaked into the chest of her blazer.

“Karuizawa-san!”

In the face of this unbelievable situation, Hirata let out an usually loud voice as he grabbed her hand that was holding the cup.

“You can’t do this. I feel like there are things that simply cross the line.”

“A-are you saying…… this is my fault?”

“I’m sorry, but this situation only puts you in a bad light, Karuizawa-san. Kushida-san hasn’t done anything wrong.”

This was an action that even Horikita, who was in midst of a Cold War with Kushida, could not defend.

“I’m fine. I don’t mind at all, okay? Please don’t blame Karuizawa-san.”

“That’s not happening. No matter how you think of it, it’s all Karuizawa’s fault.”

Keisei spoke his mind and judged the situation objectively. It’s entirely natural for everyone present to be hostile towards what had happened. No matter how anyone came to see it, they would think Karuizawa was in the wrong for her self-righteous remarks. Nevertheless, her actions weren’t unnatural. Karuizawa has always been this kind of girl.

“Oh, riiight. I\'m the only bad guy. Yeah, after all, Kushida-san is the star of the class.”

All the people present, except me, had already made their judgments.

Karuizawa turned towards me as if to ask for my help.

“Hey, Ayanokōji-kun, who are you siding with?”

“Who I agree with… Nobody here has said anything incorrect. You’re in the wrong.”

“Well, that’s it. I knew it would be. Everyone is my enemy.”

Karuizawa got up and picked up her bag without even apologizing.

“Karuizawa-san. If you leave things in a weird state like this, you’ll definitely regret it later. I don’t want things to be like that either.”

Hirata was adamant about stopping Karuizawa from leaving the karaoke room.

“What? What the hell else am I supposed to do?”

“First of all, apologize to Kushida-san. That’s the most important thing.”

Karuizawa was persuaded by her boyfriend. She looked frustrated, but she ultimately stepped down.

“I don’t think I’m in the wrong, but I have to apologize?”

“You have to say it first.”

At this, Karuizawa stood in silence for a moment.

“……Sorry.”

After her moment of silence, Karuizawa gave in and apologized after being admonished by Hirata.

“No, it’s not a problem at all. I think I should’ve also been a little more considerate to your feelings.”

In this situation, an angry response wouldn’t be abnormal, however, Kushida was entirely calm, and forgave Karuizawa.

Hearing this, Karuizawa appeared to feel guilty, and returned to sit down next to Hirata.

“I feel like I had lost my cool a little. Sorry.”

Karuizawa apologized once again to Kushida, who responded with a smile as if say to forget about it.

“Thank you……”

Hirata breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the two of them.

However, this doesn’t mean everything has been resolved.

“Kushida-san, do you have a spare blazer that you can wear to school tomorrow? All good?”

“Ah, no. My other one had gotten damaged, so this one is the last one I have left……”

The school originally paid for each student to have two blazers. But sometimes unexpected things might happen like a student might outgrow a part of their uniform. At that time, if necessary, there is a shop in Keyaki Mall that specializes in student uniforms. However, it can take some time to tailor the uniforms to fit the students, and it isn’t cheap on points as well.

“Isn\'t there a laundromat? I can bring it with some clothes I’ve soiled during basketball practice. If I hand it over to them today, you should be able to get it back by early tomorrow morning.”

“I’ve never heard about it since I’ve never had a reason to use it. If this is the case, then it seems like there’s a solution somehow.”

Kushida accepted Sudō’s great advice and grasped how to solve the problem.

Karuizawa heard his suggestion, and made a proposal herself as if realizing that she could do something more to help.

“Although it doesn’t work as an apology, please allow me to pay the cleaning fee.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind it.”

“Should I say that I won’t be able to feel at ease…… can’t I?”

“Is it really okay?”

“Yup! I’m the one at fault here, so please let me do it.”

Thus, the situation found a point of compromise due to Karuizawa offering to pay the cleaning fee.

(Part 6 End)