Chapter 27: You're a Strange Person

You're a Strange Person

After school, I immediately headed straight to the student council room.

Although I didn't know anything about Ijuin's behavioral patterns, he did say that he was handling an unreasonable amount of student council work by himself, so I'm pretty sure that's true.

I stood in front of the door to the student council room.

I was a little nervous.

From now on, I will step into the darkest parts of other people's pasts and clear up misunderstandings.

It wouldn't be surprising if we started yelling and fighting.

...No, I'm going.

I've already made up my mind.

To protect my own chastity and Ayanokoji's smile - I'll go!　

Saotome Otome, Go!

"Pardon the intrusion!"

With a voice full of energy, I boldly opened the door to the student council room.

"...Are you challenging the dojo?"

As expected, Ijuin was sitting alone in the back of the room, by the window, in a seat that seemed to be reserved for the student council president.

There was a pile of documents on the desk.

Although the long tables and metal chairs were set up in a format suitable for a meeting, there are no other members to be seen.

"Ijuin! I have something to tell you!"

"I'm busy so go home."

...Nagumo, do you really think this guy likes me?

If my prediction that the romance flags might already be raised turns out to be wrong, that's great!

I barged into the student council room and walked up to Ijuin, who was sitting in the student council president's seat.

"Hey! It was a misunderstanding!"

"What's going on here all of a sudden?"

"The thing you said about you were betrayed by Onizuka! Ayanokoji saw it!"

Ijuin maintained a cool demeanor, but after hearing this story, he would no longer be able to keep his cool.

With that premonition in mind, I passionately explained what I had heard from Ayanokoji.

However, my imagination was wrong, and after hearing everything, Ijuin said,

"Hmm."

That's all he said.

"Eh... that's all...?"

"That's all, what do you expect from me? Well, that's just the kind of thing Dad would do."

"Then...!"

"But I still can't forgive Onizuka."

Ah, this feeling is the same as Onizuka.

I remembered when I asked Onizuka about the reason for his rift with Ijuin.

Even if it was just a misunderstanding, the hurt of being betrayed by a close friend seems to be quite deep.

In any case, the fact remains that Onizuka did not attend the funeral.

For Ijuin, this fact, and the trauma he felt at the time of being betrayed, must be extremely heavy.

I thought if he suddenly apologizes, saying, "It was a misunderstanding!" and their feelings quickly catch up, they forgave each others, and they made up!

Happy ending!

...But things didn't go smoothly.

That's true.

Both Ayanokoji and Nagumo were filled with confidence, like we could do it, but we completely overlooked the fundamental problem.

What will happen to Ijuin's feelings up to now?

For three years, he believed that Onizuka had betrayed him.

If you were to ask whether he would be able to forgive him immediately if he discovered that the cause was actually his own father, that is a completely different issue.

"……sorry."

All I could do was apologize softly.

Ijuin didn't get angry, he just sighed.

"...If we're done talking, could you please leave? I have to finish this work and get to cram school quickly."

"You have cram school...?"

"That's right, so..."

"Why are you alone? Where are the other members?"

There is a cram school coming, and the student council president, a student taking entrance exams, is alone, surrounded by mountains of paperwork.

Why is he doing his paperwork alone?

"All other members were sent home."

"You sent them home? Why?"

"It's not a big job, so I'm enough."

"If it's not a big job, then there's no need for you, the president, to do it."

"………"

Ijuin fell silent in response to my reasonable argument.

The only sound echoing in the student council room was the sound of Ijuin stapling every few sheets of paper together.

The staples that had been attached were bent in places.

...This guy is clumsy!

I wonder if this school is okay, with the student council president here.

He's the type of guy who likes to take everything on by himself, and just the other day he was carried to the nurse's office by a first-year girl (me).

I snatched half of the stack of papers from Ijuin.

"Hey, what are you doing...!"

"I'll help you. You're terrible at stapling."

"Ugh..."

It seems he was aware of it.

"...The other staplers are in the second drawer from the top of the shelf there, on the right."

"Yeah yeah."

I grabbed a stapler from the designated drawer and sat down in a suitable seat.

It's a simple task of just stapling every third print.

It's a simple task, but the amount is simply too huge.

Weren't there enough for all the students in the school?　

…and he was trying to do this alone.

"...Ijuin."

"……what?"

"You're actually an idiot."

"Either shut up or go home."

Snap

Snap

For a while, Ijuin and I continued the mundane task of stapling in silence.

I stole a quick glance at Ijuin.

He has a well-proportioned face and an aura that keeps others away.

But there's a sense of fatigue floating around somewhere.　

He handled all the student council chores by himself, fulfilled his responsibilities as student council president, and on top of that, he also attended cram school.

If it were me, I think I'd go crazy.

"Isn't it difficult to attend cram school while being part of the student council?"

I asked as if it were casual conversation.

I've never been in the student council, so I don't know the details.

On the other hand, if you can't balance both to that extent, would you be deemed unfit to take on the position of student council president?

"...I have to be perfect."

"……perfect?"

Ijuin began to speak slowly.

"My father wouldn't pay any attention to me if my grades weren't good. He didn't show any interest in me when I got sick from working too hard."

A strict father type?

"My mother was the one who supported me through all of this. But she's gone now. That's why I have to always remain perfect...!"

I felt like he was saying that no one would look at him anymore.

"Ijuin..."

So that's why he was working so hard on his own that he got a fever.

To be recognized by his father, my only family.

I stood up and looked into Ijuin's face as he sat in the student council president's seat.

"What?"

"Serious dark circles"

"......"

Ijuin hesitated for a moment.

"Do you even sleep?"

"…………"

There was no reply.

In this case, silence was probably not wrong in meaning that it was the correct answer.

"Hey, I don't think a person's worth is determined by whether they're perfect or not."

"..."

"You can live your life as you are."

Ijuin's eyes widened in shock, then he smiled gently.

"...You're saying the same things as Ayanokoji did back then."

"Eh?"

Ayanokoji too...?

That's right, the person Ijuin liked before was.

"I-Ijuin's first love..."

It slipped on from my lips.

Ijuin didn't seem particularly impatient,

"Yeah, it's Ayanokoji. I had a crush on her when we were in elementary school."

It was confirmed as if nothing had happened.

It would be fine if he showed some hesitation in that confession.

But if that doesn't exist,

"But that was a long time ago. I don't have any feelings for her anymore. We were close friends, but now we're in different years and we don't have a chance to talk."

...figured huh.

Because it has been completely sublimated into a memory, he could tell it to others without any shame.

I guess it's on the same level as cute "common things" like having your first love be your kindergarten teacher.

The plan to get Ijuin to fall in love with Ayanokoji again seemed to be more difficult than originally expected.

Seeing me thinking and worrying, Ijuin wondered what was going through his mind.

"...You're a strange person."

He said that.

That was the first time I'd ever heard that.

I don't think of myself as a 'strange'.

Those kinds of adjectives would suit someone like Nagumo better.

"I'm just saying what I think."

If that seemed strange to him, it's simply because I haven't caught up with the gap between the content and the appearance.

After all, I was just an ordinary high school boy wearing the mask of a beautiful girl.

After stapling the last printout together, I handed the finished product to Ijuin.

"See, that's half the work done. Now, do your best at cram school."

After giving a final word of encouragement to the my superior, I headed for the entrance.

"Wait."

Before I knew it, Ijuin had stood up and was grabbing my hand from behind.

"Eh?"

I was pulled along and before I knew it, I was in Ijuin's arms.

Eh?

HAH!?

...Are you hugging me now?

"………"

Ijuin didn't say anything.

That made my anxiety worse.

...Where did the love flag get raised?!　

Anyway, I have to get out of the hug...!

As I tried to twist my body, Ijuin's scent wafted softly across my nose.

I thought that girls generally smell good, but do handsome guys smell good too?

I wanted to smell it more...

"...Hah!"

No! No! NO!

What will happen if I fall in love with Ijuin's smell?

More importantly, how do I untie this arm?

I'm held captive by a man who is bigger than me, and no matter how much I push or pull, he doesn't budge.

"I-Ijuin...? W-What's wrong...?"

I called out to him, as if to say, "Don't think that keeping quiet will create a good atmosphere."

"………"

The time I spent waiting for Ijuin's reply felt hellishly long.

...What if he confesses his feelings to me?!

I've never been confessed to before, so I don't know how to say no!

Is it my ego that makes me not want to hurt this guy unnecessarily?

First of all, when did he even start to like me?

I'm the woman who slapped him across the cheek the other day.

My mind is anxious, but my body won't move.

In the midst of this conflicting situation, Ijuin finally spoke...

"...There's trash in your hair."

He said that.

"………trash?"

"Yeah."

Ijuin's large hand casually slid over the back of my head.

Ijuin immediately moved away from me.

"...Wh, what is it?! Just a trash!"

I was surprised!

Even though she was the heroine of a shoujo manga, I was embarrassed at how self-conscious I was and mistakenly thought he was in love with me.

"Well, I'm going home now."

"Yeah"

"Also!"

I'll add it at the end.

"You should talk to your father about Onizuka, okay?"

The possibility is low, but I'd like to make sure.

"...Ah. Thank you for helping me."

This time, I waved goodbye to Ijuin and left the student council room.

"What am I doing..."

After Saotome left, Ijuin was left alone in the student council room and muttered to himself.

He stroked Saotome's head under the pretext of taking out the trash, then looked at his right hand.

There wasn't a speck of dirty things in Saotome's hair.

However, he just wanted to make an excuse for why he had hugged her impulsively, so he blurted it out.

He clasped his empty right hand.

"Try talking to my father, huh..."

It felt like Saotome's warmth still remained.