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BSCOTE 12: Reconciliation, Unexpected Meeting
🕑 Added 2025-06-20 15:02:12 +0000 UTC“Of course not!”
Karuizawa refused immediately, leaving no ambiguity. She couldn't allow even a hint of negative rumors.
She glanced at Hirata before continuing, “As Hirata-kun said friendship comes first, ‘kay?”
“Oh! Who was bold enough to confess to you so soon? Ike?” Ryuji asked and Karuizawa's face contorted into disgust.
“Hell no!” Karuizawa shuddered glaring at Ryuji, “If you want any chance of romance in this school you better stay away from those guys, do you understand Yamamoto-kun?” Karuizawa gave him a disdainful glance, “Even better would be if you learn from Hirata-kun.”
Of course, she glossed over Ryuji's initial question.
“Alright alright, let's go eat. Look that table is clear!” Hirata pointed at a group of students leaving, successfully diverting the conversation.
The group headed towards the table and bought lunch for themselves. The girls behaved extravagantly purchasing the most deluxe meals that cost about 3000 Private Points. Hirata followed suit, looking curious and Ryuji too looked forward to the expensive meal.
To be fair, if he was absolutely clueless like these people he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't spend money like water.
Though he knew that there would be chaos in the coming month he could not be bothered to warn them. Whether they believed him or not was still left for discussion but Ryuji had no intentions of being in the spotlight.
Attention or popularity was fine, but he did not want the troublesome role of leading the class.
As for his dwindling points… he had many methods to procure some.
The lunch went smoothly.
Ryuji did not talk too much, only carefully interjecting where he wouldn't seem annoying. Gradually as time passed the girls grew accepting of him and even chatted with him from time to time.
Hirata was inwardly joyful in this situation.
Karuizawa and the girls weren't exactly stubborn, since he knew how to talk and he looked decent they saw him as a worthwhile friend.
Once lunch was finished the girls departed ahead of them leaving Hirata and Ryuji behind.
“They were surprisingly welcoming. I was quite intimidated at first, can't lie.” Ryuji chuckled.
“Really?” Hirata smiled, “It didn't seem like that. You held yourself very…” Hirata paused, not knowing how to describe it, “... skillfully.”
Hirata changed his words.
Should he have said smart? Or should have said ‘peacefully’?
The vibe was quite relaxed, and Ryuji's sudden joining in the group brought no problems at all.
Usually, Hirata wasn't too enthusiastic around the group of girls, but his situation forced him to pander to them to not upset them.
But thanks to Ryuji's little comments and tidbits Hirata found himself drawn into the conversation.
Hirata was confused, was this talent or did Ryuji lie about being shy?
There's no reason to lie. Maybe like he said he was just intimidated by the big group.
Hirata hummed happily as they made their way back to class.
He wouldn't suspect Ryuji, there was no reason to lie. Maybe he was targeting one of the girls but was that inherently bad?
Not really, looking for romance was normal in teenagers and Hirata understood this quite well.
So even if he did lie, Hirata wouldn't fault Ryuji.
To Hirata, having helped Ryuji successfully, made his heart content. His path hadn't been wrong.
He'd make sure Class D would have no problems at all.
He'd make sure.
…
The rest of the day went by normally though there was one anomaly.
“Come with me.” Horikita stood in front of Ryuji's desk after class was over.
Students had begun to disperse, eager to either play games on their newly bought consoles or hang out in expensive cafes with their friends.
Ayanokoji looked surprised at Horikita's invitation to Ryuji.
He felt his world collapse.
He could accurately sense Horikita's gaze towards Ryuji. It contained, what he would describe as helplessness and worry.
Did something happen after the club trade fair?
He wondered idly as Ryuji obediently got up and followed Horikita.
Some people in class saw this, perhaps becoming fuel for their upcoming gossip.
…
“Where are we headed?” Ryuji asked, raising a brow.
“The Student Council.”
“Oh? Why pull me in something between you and your brother?”
Horikita did not respond.
Actually, she did not have an answer.
Was it for comfort? Or was it out of caution?
She did not know how to describe her feelings. It had been years since she had talked with her brother properly.
And now plucking her courage after listening to Ryuji's lecture here she was, confronting him on her fourth day of school.
She wondered if she was being too hasty.
No no, I've only brought him along to deliver the consequences of his meddling. If the relationship between Onii-chan and I recover, I'll thank him on the spot and if not…
Horikita glanced at Ryuji's somewhat scrawny build.
…I'll beat him up.
Yeah, that's it.
She convinced herself, no longer paying attention to Ryuji.
Ryuji, who saw her face visibly vary between numerous emotions in real-time, smiled wryly.
Cute.
He followed along silently.
Horikita was a tough girl. She didn't need more prep talk or convincing. Having decided she would talk to her brother she set off immediately without hesitation.
Her decisiveness was something to praise.
They climbed the stairs since the Student Council Room was on the topmost floor. At the stairwell, Horikita peeked out from the corner and noticed it was somewhat empty.
She was surprised, expecting there to be a lot of visitors.
But after thinking about it, it made sense. Most problems in school didn't have to be spoken in person, a mail to the official contact of the Student Council sufficed.
As for the recruitment, there couldn't be too many people for that.
Seems like today was her lucky day.
Ryuji looked at her sneaky behaviour and facepalmed.
“Huh!? Aeeek!” Horikita stumbled forward, almost colliding into the door of the Student Council. She barely stopped herself, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
She turned her head back and gave Ryuji a death glare.
The bastard had pushed her!
Ryuji ignored her gaze and whistled idly.
Horikita vowed to teach him a lesson after this. She turned around and stared at the large door of the Student Council Room.
After a few seconds, a determined look passed through her eyes and she knocked on the door.
“...”
Her heart thumped as a few seconds passed by in silence, a part of her even began to regret her impulsive actions. What if things went wrong? What if her brother got even angrier at her?
As her thoughts swirled, a calm voice sounded from behind the door, belonging to Horikita Manabu.
“Come in,”
…
Ryuji watched her head inside and squatted down near the stairwell. He could simply leave but since she'd dragged him here it'd be rude to just leave.
He took his phone out and began browsing the school forums.
He noticed his class had a private forum of its own, or rather the private forum seemed to include all the freshers.
All of a sudden he noticed a weird list pinned on the forum.
Boy's Ranking List?
“???”
Ryuji couldn't remember this, despite his great memory.
He scrolled through the ranking and noticed Hirata was ranked first.
Second place was some random student from another class.
Third place was… Ayanokoji!?
Ryuji frowned.
Well, I suppose I'll have to admit he is a bit better-looking than me.
He continued to scroll in anticipation but…
Top 10… Top 20… Top 30…
The longer he scrolled the darker his face became.
[39th: Yamamoto Ryuji]
Ryuji scowled in exasperation.
No! I'm joining the gym today!
Out of the 80 or so listed students he was ranked almost 40th!
That meant there were 38 boys the girls thought were more handsome than him!
Unacceptable!
While Ryuji wasn't that obsessed with looks, he was still a vain man. He wouldn't accept anything below the top 10!
“Uhm~ are you okay?” A sweet voice suddenly sounded, dripping like honey.
Ryuji's scowl eased as he raised his head, noticing the shadow above him.
Instantly, all he saw was pink.
…And boobs.
“...Ichinose?”
The name escaped his lips.
