Ever since I confessed, she has been acting strange. - CHAPTER 5: SUMMER VACATION ARC

Episode 28: King’s Game

About ten minutes before the meeting time, the members for this round gathered.

The boys were me, Yukimichi, and eight other boys from either my class or other classes.

The girls were Fumon’in-san and nine others from the same Hōraiō Academy.

Ten boys and ten girls. Twenty people in all. It was quite a large group, but the atmosphere was lively. … I’m always amazed at Yukimichi’s social skills in being able to gather so many people, including outsiders.

Afterwards, under Yukimichi’s guidance, we went to a cafe where antique furniture and small objects were neatly arranged. The soft, calm light from the lamps blended naturally with the interior design of the shop, creating a fitting ambiance, yet it also gave off a feeling of being a secret base or hideout.

But… what is this feeling of unease? Yukimichi is quite used to going out, so his taste in choosing places like this is good, and I acknowledge that. But… this sense of style seems more like something an aristocratic young lady would choose, doesn’t it?

And there’s something else that bothers me.

“Hey? This place was empty until recently, wasn’t it?”

“When did it become a cafe?”

The other boys around me tilted their heads in confusion. They probably hang out here a lot.

It seems that they shared the same sense of discomfort and doubt that I had.

Exactly. This store was just an empty building until recently. But somehow, this fancy cafe has opened here. Normally, something like that would be the talk of the town, but I haven’t heard anything about it until today. It’s strange.

“Actually, this cafe was just recently completed, and I happen to know the owner. I’ve rented the whole place for today, so there are private rooms as well. Feel free to enjoy yourselves without any worries!”

Yukimichi explained all this in one breath, as if he was reading from a script he had prepared beforehand.

“Wow, they have private rooms as well?”

“And you even rented the whole place, huh? You’re impressive, Kazami.”

“Well, yeah.”

Yukimichi nodded while sweating nervously. Why is he so tense?

Even someone like him must feel the pressure when dealing with people from the Hōraiō Academy.

…After all, that guy always helped me. Even though he made that ridiculous suggestion about a mixer, he figured out exactly what I was missing and even set it up. I guess I’ll give him a little credit.

“As expected of you, Yukimichi. You’ve managed to get information about this cafe and set it up so quickly, almost as if the Tendou Group was involved.”

“Hahaha…”

Despite my praise, Yukimichi’s reaction was somewhat lackluster.

“Well, well, anyway, let’s just sit down!”

Under Yukimichi’s direction, everyone sat down at their assigned seats.

“Wait, Eito. You’re sitting on the furthest seat.”

“Hmm? I don’t mind that, but… why?”

“……… Because that’s the rule of this mixer.”

“Is that so?”

I’m not very familiar with mixers, so it wouldn’t be surprising if there were rules, I didn’t know.

For now, I sit in the outermost seat as Yukimichi instructed.

The boys and girls sit across the table from each other. Yes, this matches the picture of a mixer I have in my head.

“Yogiri-sama. Please go easy on me today.”

“Likewise, please go easy on me, Fumon’in-sama.”

By chance, Fumon’in-sama was sitting right in front of me. A mixer is an unknown world to me. Even though she’s a young lady who knows the ojou (the aristocratic young lady), it’s reassuring to have someone I know on the female side.

…But there’s also a different kind of tension, knowing that I can’t do anything rude.

Even though it’s a mixer, I shouldn’t get too carried away. Even though it’s summer vacation, the last thing I want to do is cause trouble for Ojou.

“First of all, feel free to order whatever drinks you want.”

As each person happily engaged in conversation, they began to order their drinks.

At this point, the boys were still talking to the boys and the girls were still talking to the girls. Since this was a first-time meeting, it seemed that people found it difficult to talk to each other without some kind of icebreaker.

The drinks and light snacks we ordered arrived quickly. Since the place was reserved just for us today, there were no other customers, which was probably why.

After that we had simple introductions. The boys, eager for the chance, made their moves on the girls across from them. The people from the Hōraiō Academy seemed to be somewhat intrigued by the boys, and their reactions weren’t bad.

By the time the introductions were over, the atmosphere had gradually relaxed, and we were able to chat freely.

Still… this is unexpected.

“Yogiri-sama, you look quite surprised.”

“Well, yes. In a way, I thought you might not be very used to interacting with men.”

After all, Hōraiō Academy is an all-girls school.

There are probably some who choose to attend because they don’t feel comfortable around men.

“Actually, some of my classmates are not comfortable around men, but the members attending today are those who attended co-educational schools during middle school… or what you might call ‘outside students’ in your words.”

“Ah. I see. Hōraiō Academy also has a middle school, right?”

Historically, Tendouin Academy and Hōraiō Academy have a lot in common in terms of status and formality. That’s probably why, as part of the transition to co-education, selected students from Tendouin Academy were sent to Hōraiō Academy.

“At Tendouin Academy, there is a kind of gap between ‘outside students’ and ‘inside students,’ but does that exist at your school? And when it comes to the issue of co-education…”

“Heh. Actually, that topic is quite interesting, but for now, I’d like to talk about something else for a while.”

“Something else?”

“Well, for example… perhaps your story, Yogiri-sama?”

Then it hit me. Although Yukimichi had called this a mixer, it was really more of a social gathering. We should talk to get to know each other better.

“We’ve crossed paths at parties, but we haven’t really exchanged words, have we? Since this is a rare opportunity, would you tell me more about yourself?”

“Yes. Of course.”

This is a different setting than the usual parties I attend as someone who serves ojou.

Perhaps Fumon’in-sama is also looking for a topic different from the usual “everyday” conversations.

“So, what are your hobbies?”

“Heh. Yogiri-sama, this almost sounds like an arranged marriage interview.”

“I’m sorry. Actually, I’m not very used to situations like this.”

“Please, don’t worry about it. I’m the same way. …Ah, but still, since this is a rare opportunity, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

“‘Might not be a bad idea’… what do you mean?”

“An arranged marriage. Since we’re both not used to it, how about we talk as if we were having an arranged marriage interview?”

“No. That would be disrespectful to you, Fumon’in-sama. I’m not a good match for someone as wonderful as you.”

“That is not true.”

Fumon’in-sama’s gaze wavered slightly. It wasn’t that she looked away.

Her eyes were firmly fixed on me. But there was something in that slight shift of her gaze that attracted me.

“I wouldn’t mind an arranged marriage with you, Yogiri-sama.”

In her voice, in her gaze, even in her every gesture, there was a strange charm that seemed to linger….

“Suddenly, but!!! I think it’s time to start the King’s Game!!!!!!”

It really started suddenly. And for some reason, Yukimichi placed a tube-like container with a stick inside on the table as if he was going to stand between me and Fumon’in-sama.

“The rules are simple! Whoever draws the king’s lot gets to give any command he wants to the people with the given numbers! But since we’re high school students, keep it reasonable! All right, Kagehito, hurry up and draw your lot, you bastard!”

“O-oh… Got it…”

Overwhelmed by Yukimichi’s unusually tense expression, I had no choice but to draw a lot for now.

The moment I did so, the conversation came to a halt. Watching me draw, Yukimichi let out a sigh of relief.

“Th-That was close… When you suddenly started that matchmaking thing, I seriously thought my life was over… The ocean floor… Buried alive…”

“What the hell are you mumbling about?”

“The snowy road feels a little weird today. Being the organizer of a group date might be more work than I thought.”

While I was worrying about my friend who’s working so hard, it seems that everyone had already finished drawing lots.

“Okay, everyone’s drawn their lots, right? Now, when I say, ‘Who’s the king?’ the person who got the king should step forward and announce himself.”

“I see. So that’s how the rules work.

The lot I drew wasn’t the king, was it? Well, even if I had become the king, I probably wouldn’t have known what kind of order to give. I’ll just watch and see what kind of order the first person comes up with.”

“Here we go! Are you ready? On the count of three!”

“Who’s the king?!”

☆

I hadn’t expected my conversation with Lady Yagiri to be interrupted, but I had anticipated that things might lead to a game of King’s Game.

As expected, Lady Kazami had secretly prepared tickets for the King’s Game. After confirming this, all I had to do was to use the special coating I had prepared beforehand – developed by a company under the Shigenin family – and apply it to the tickets. This coating is designed so that its color can only be seen through the contact lenses I’m wearing.

And Lady Kazami, you may not know this, but all the students from the Hōraiō Academy who are participating this time are under my influence… It’s no problem for them to tamper with the tickets while you’re unaware.

Fufufu… It seems that my efforts to study shoujo manga in preparation for this “group date” paid off.

There were even times when I got so carried away flipping through the pages that I ended up pulling an all-nighter.

Well then… It looks like everyone has drawn their lots.

“Here we go! Are you ready? On the count of three!”

“Who’s the king?!”

What a stupid chant.

As if it matters who it is – I can see through everything.

I’m number five. Lady Yagiri is… number eight. And the king is…

“Ah, it looks like I’m the king!”

One of my people. Fufu… This is a good start.

If the king had ended up with one of the gentlemen from the Tenjōin Academy, I wouldn’t have been able to pull off any tricks.

(You understand, right? Lady Yagiri is number eight. I’m number five.)

(Of course!)

Using a secret sign known only to us at the Hōraiō Academy, we exchanged messages in an instant.

Fufufu… All the training I’ve done to communicate seamlessly through secret signs without raising suspicion, just for this “group date,” has paid off.

Thanks to this, I’ve even managed to get along with the “external students” who used to keep their distance, and somehow, we’ve become good friends.

“All right, um… numbers eight and five will stare at each other for one minute!”

Let’s start off easy. Going too extreme from the start would leave a bad impression.

“What’s Lady Yagiri’s number?”

“I’m… number eight.”

“My, what a coincidence. As for me-”

“Ah, I’m number five.”

Wha… what did you just say?

Th-this can’t be…!? My ticket clearly had the number five written on it…!

“……………!?”

This is strange. The number on the ticket I was holding has somehow changed to “number two”.

Was the lot switched? No. The color of the coating visible through these lenses clearly indicates “number five”…

Did I make a mistake in the mixing process? No. The colors correspond exactly to the numbers I assigned to each coating beforehand… The only possibility is… the number on the lot itself was changed? But how could that even…?

“Huh? So number five is Yukimichi?”

“Shut up. I don’t want to stare into another guy’s eyes for a whole minute either… but it’s the King’s orders, so…”

“—-…!”

Orders… Could it be that Lady Kazami is acting under someone else’s orders…?

…That’s right. Now that I think about it, that’s impossible.

Since Yagiri Eito is participating in this group date, there’s no way that Tenjō Seion would just sit back and do nothing…!

(This lot… I didn’t pay much attention to it before, but judging by the texture, it’s made of metal. And the part with the number on it is slightly warm…)

It’s likely that the numbered part is designed to change the displayed number based on a certain level of heat. The numbers are probably assigned according to the temperature of the heater. Then, by remotely controlling the heating device embedded in the lot, they can make any number they want appear…

This unnecessarily elaborate… no, overly elaborate game.

There’s no doubt about it. This lot was independently developed by Tenjō Seion. To think that such a brilliant mind is wasted on something so trivial…! If only they’d use that talent for the good of the world instead!

(Given the timing, they’re probably watching this group date from another room… There must be a hidden camera somewhere…!?)