Chapter 73: Osada-san's Proposal
In the end, yesterday Tanaka-kun, Sho, and then Aoi came over to my house, and the four of us spent the time laughing our heads off together.
I was embarrassed, but happy, when I realized everyone had come to check on me.
Friends are great, aren't they.
...For some reason, it ended with us all giving Sho a hard time at the end.
...Apparently, I'm the only one who thinks Sho has gotten more mature lately... but it was a surprise to hear everyone else say he's missing something.
I wish he could have the same warrior spirit he had back then, along with his current mindset.
Well, that's just a selfish wish from his best friend.
Anyway, the next day at lunch break.
I was in the clubroom with Tanaka-kun and the film club president, the three of us together.
Apparently, the top girl from Class 6 made an appointment to apologize for using the film club because of the Yukari-san situation.
"Should I be here?"
Tanaka: "Of course. The three main people—the one in charge of the documentary, the actor, and the president—should all be here, right?"
Before we even had time to wait, right at the predicted 13:00 sharp, the girl arrived.
The top girl from Class 6—Osada-san, right?
Osada: "...Sorry for the late introduction, I'm Osada from Class 6."
President: "Oh my, how polite of you? The ones responsible are Tanaka here and Saito, who was actually the actor. So discuss with them, okay?"
The president just tossed it over to us.
First, Osada-san apologized for how, for the sake of Class 6's festival booth, she piggybacked on Yukari-san's project, used up the finished Yukari to attract customers for the maid café, entered the beauty contest, made a bet with Class 5 and 6, and made a bet with Mishima Satsuki—basically, she fully jumped on the film club's plans to get results.
Tanaka-kun graciously accepted the apology.
On top of that, as I heard from Tanaka-kun yesterday,
Tanaka: "So, I talked it over with the whole film club, and we decided to shelve this project. We also filed a complaint about this year's Miss Hokusho being unfair. The film club's documentary was too biased and swayed votes, seriously undermining the fairness of the contest. We notified the student council that the documentary won't be entered in any external film contests, and will be scrapped."
Osada-san nodded without changing her expression, and then said she wasn't exactly defending Yukari Tomonaga, but that the whole class worked hard and the maid café earned enough to aim for best sales. If Yukari Tomonaga's scandal means she loses her Miss Hokusho title, fine, but she's afraid there'll be further penalties or slander beyond that.
I thought,
(This girl is smart... She's showing just a hint of duty and compassion, weighing the risks and benefits, trying to find a compromise.)
In short, Osada-san is saying that stripping Yukari Tomonaga of the Miss Hokusho title is an appropriate punishment, and she wants the film club to say so too—or at least make that request.
She's making it clear she doesn't intend to defend Yukari-san, just using "not wanting to waste the class's efforts" as a pretext.
Tanaka: "So, just take away the Miss Hokusho title... but what about our anger? What will Yukari-san do for us?"
Osada-san smiled sweetly and said,
Osada: "We of Class 6 will keep her under surveillance, we won't let her pull any more scummy moves, we'll keep her completely in check."
I couldn't help but ask,
"Do you have a good plan for that?"
Osada: "If things keep going like this, I'm sure..."
Osada-san's prediction actually made sense.
Given the situation, her spoiled mentality, and Kuzu's behavior, it's highly likely.
Both Tanaka-kun and I were impressed by Osada-san's plan to keep things under control and still punish her.
"But what if some scandal or trouble pops up after the festival's over?"
Osada: "By that point, things like the festival's hard work or top sales won't matter anymore, right? Cook her however you want? We won't be involved at all then, okay?"
Osada-san is scary!
She flat-out said that once the festival awards are over, she's fine with cutting her loose.
Tanaka-kun seems to think it's a good idea.
As for me, as long as they keep her away from me, that's good enough.
So we decided to accept Osada-san's proposal.
The film club will formally request to the student council that Yukari-san be stripped of her Miss Hokusho title, based on the complaint.
We'll never make or show any more works that affect school events like this again.
This documentary won't be entered in any external contests, and will be destroyed.
Class 1-6 will monitor Yukari Tomonaga and do their utmost to ensure she causes no more trouble, and she'll receive a suitable punishment and penalty.
We don't want the festival sales or awards to be revoked.
That's how it ended up.
After the talk ended, Osada-san spoke to me.
Osada: "Are you Saito-kun? Kousuke Saito-kun?"
"...Yeah, that's me."
Osada: "I'm really sorry about the trouble caused by Yukari Tomonaga in our class. She kept talking about you right up until a week ago... Unbelievable...!"
Osada-san was angry, with an intimidating presence.
Apparently, she really hates cheating and NTR and stuff like that.
...I hate it too...!
Osada: "If you just leave Tomonaga alone, she'll definitely cause you trouble again, so we'll be sure to keep her under surveillance, and keep her on a tight leash. ...Oh, and about your ex-girlfriend, Mishima Satsuki-san..."
Osada-san said apologetically,
Osada: "She looks down on us, you know. This time, we made a bet with our class and Mishima Satsuki. So, we're planning to make fun of Mishima Satsuki over this, mock her, and then crash the class caste she loves so much and laugh about it... Sorry, is that okay with you?"
Osada-san apologized, asking for my permission.
Huh? Seems fine to me?
Osada: "Great! Then, Saito-kun, want to come with us?"
Huh? Right now?
Tanaka: "Camera, camera..."
Looks like my best friend is already on board.
And so, I ended up going to see my ex-girlfriend lose the status she'd treasured and cherished so much,
watching her fall from the position she'd always admired.
...Osada-san is scary!