Chapter 115: Sudden Contact
Valentine's Day is over, and it's already late February.
The final exams of the third semester are just around the corner.
If I can score about the same as last time on the third semester exams, I'll be able to move up to the special advancement class as a second-year.
I've been asking Airi-senpai, a current second-year in the special advancement class, all sorts of things about it, and I really do want to get in.
It gives you a lot of advantages for university entrance exams, and there are lots of perks too.
Honestly, nothing much changes—it's just day after day of balancing studies and club activities.
In the midst of all that, I got called out.
In the morning, there was a letter placed very neatly in my shoe box.
...What could it be?
I kept thinking about it all day.
Am I going to get jumped? Or is it a confession? Nah, no way (lol).
The sender's a guy, after all.
After school, on the rooftop.
There was a familiar face waiting there.
Sahori: "...Kousuke."
"Sahori-senpai?"
You had your designated school recommendation revoked, took the entrance exam for a lower-ranked university, and now you're waiting on the results, right?
You shouldn't have time to worry about me, should you?
For once, Sahori had a serious look on his face,
Sahori: "You know, I get it—you look up to me, right?"
"Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about?"
The conversation is mismatched right from the start.
It's like we're speaking similar but subtly different European languages—like we have things in common, but the endings, pronunciation, and nuances are all off.
For example, Henry (as a name).
In English it's Henry, in French it's Henri, and in German you add an ending and it's Heinrich—kind of like that.
Sahori: "I'm talking to you! Recently—you know what, for quite a while now, you've been close with Airi! Airi is my girl!"
An agitated Sahori.
We are close but... it's not like anything actually happened?
"Airi-senpai is kind to everyone and gets close to people, you know? She made a custom training menu for me."
Lately Airi-senpai's been insisting she's my big sister!
Why "big sister," though?
Sahori: "I keep hearing you're always close to Airi! Just because you can't beat me!"
"No, I haven't lost to you, you know?"
I snapped and said it.
I continued,
I don't want to hear that from a player who always runs out of stamina because he doesn't practice enough,
Or from a senpai whose recommendation was revoked and is struggling even to get into a third-rate university,
Or from a guy who, despite having a great girl like Airi-senpai, cheats and gets caught up in dumb crimes.
Sahori, getting angrier,
Sahori: "...You bastard. What's your deal, just listing out the facts!"
"...So you do realize they're facts."
I couldn't help but blurt it out.
Sahori is obsessed with Airi-senpai, and since she blocked his number, he can only see her at school!
He keeps whining like, "If I go to her house, the housekeeper dumps cold water on me!"
He even asks me stuff like, "Hey, Kousuke, what do you think I should do?"
"Wouldn't it be better to try approaching her after you pass the university entrance exams? Preferably a good university...?"
I try suggesting something impossible, hoping he'll get the hint to give up.
Sahori: "...If I get into a good university, do you think she'll reconsider? ...No, if it's Airi, maybe she'd cheer me on if I tell her I'm aiming for a good university?"
What a scum.
Subtle hints don't work on this guy.
"...Senpai, Airi-senpai's about to take her own university entrance exams too. ...Please keep that in mind, okay? I mean, don't cause her trouble."
I put a bit of pressure in my voice as I said it.
Sahori: "...This is between me and Airi. It's none of your business."
Huh? This guy is seriously so selfish.
"If Airi-senpai says no, everyone in the basketball club will side with her, you know?"
Sahori gives me a look like, "We'll see about that."
Sahori: "There are plenty of people who support me and look up to me too...! You guys might be trying to chase me, but I'm not even in the same place as you anymore!"
"We're not even trying, and honestly, you're pretty far below us at this point. I get it."
Sahori shrugged and walked away like, "Whatever."
...Is he really a third-year with no prospects after graduation?
Where does he get that confidence from?
Talking to Sahori just messes with my sense of reality—seriously, I hate it.
Actually, why was he even here in the first place?
I call out to the person looking outside, who's standing right nearby.
Much more politely than I did with Sahori,
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you need something?"
He's trembling a little.
Apparently, something struck a nerve.
?: "...No, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but... Maybe you need an interpreter to get those nuances across?"
"...Even if someone could interpret for him, there's no one who could interpret what he says."
?: "No doubt about that. This is our first time meeting, right?"
"That's right, Ichinose-kaichou?"
Sahori is seriously just a nuisance.
The one who called me out was the current student council president, Ichinose-senpai, a second-year.
Senpai had his usually neat face all scrunched up, laughing silently.
Top grades, impeccable conduct, always calm and collected—he's called the noble prince, the school's number one top talent.
That handsome guy with glasses was still laughing at Sahori's antics.