Chapter 396: Speaking Like a Girl

"Break… the chains?"

"Exactly."

Yume's smile was full of mystery.

"Takamine-kun isn't like us. Normal people form ambitions or dreams in life, but he doesn't. From birth, he already had everything."

"…"

"No one can punish him. No one can judge him. Living like a god among men, if he wants to feel human again, he must place restrictions on himself. Since the outside world can no longer restrain him, he has to do it himself," Yume explained. "He set rules for himself. If you want to change the current situation, Hayasaka-san, you'll have to break those rules he gave himself."

"Senpai, do you really think I'm capable of doing that?" Hayasaka asked the witch-like girl before her.

"It's not about whether you can or can't," Yume said, her eyes slightly opening.

"It's that only you can."

"Eh?"

"No one else can change him. Only you."

"…What should I do?"

"Tomorrow is your destined day. Just seize the opportunity," said Yume. "It'd be best during the bonfire party—makes it more romantic."

...

...

"What did she say to you, Hayasaka?"

"Nothing special."

Hayasaka shook her head.

They were now walking through the school building corridors after exiting Yume's tent.

The first day of the festival was wrapping up. Around them, students were cleaning up their class booths and taking out trash.

Since earlier, Hayasaka had been holding onto Rinji's sleeve, not saying a word. It was clearly different from her usual self, and Rinji had noticed.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you free during tomorrow's bonfire party?"

"Probably not," Rinji replied.

He glanced toward his classroom—Class 1-B, where the haunted house was.

"Iino is a public morals committee member like me. The bonfire party is exactly when we're supposed to be on patrol... She's really passionate about this festival. It'd be a shame if she couldn't participate because of work."

"So you're planning… to cover her shift?"

"Pretty much. I can patrol alone."

"…Then I'll go with you."

"Huh?"

Rinji looked at Hayasaka in surprise.

"You don't want to join the bonfire?"

"Nope. If you're not there, it's no fun anyway." Hayasaka smiled softly.

"…"

Rinji looked at her face for a moment before turning away.

"If you're willing… then I don't mind."

"Okay."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Actually, Rinji had more to do tomorrow than just patrol.

He also had something more important to take care of.

That was helping with Shirogane's plan, which required some setup to be done in private.

After the day's festival events wrapped up, most students went home. Meanwhile, the student council members gathered in their office as usual.

The others hadn't arrived yet—only Rinji and Ishigami were there.

"Ishigami, how was your date today?"

"Huh? What date?"

"Don't play dumb. Everyone knows you were hanging out with Koyasu-senpai."

"Well… yeah, it was fun."

Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Ishigami admitted it.

As he talked about Tsubame, he scratched his head, blushing.

"While we were walking through the haunted house, she got scared and would suddenly cling to me… it was actually really nice."

"Oh?"

"But…"

Ishigami's mood suddenly dropped.

"Toward the end of the event, we went to a ring toss booth. I won the first prize, and when I gave it to her… she disappeared."

"Huh?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"…Just to clarify, what was the first prize?"

"A giant heart-shaped item."

"…"

At the festival, giving a heart-shaped item to someone of the opposite sex was equivalent to a confession. It was a long-standing tradition.

By giving that to Tsubame, Ishigami had effectively confessed—publicly, in front of everyone.

Naturally, Tsubame, surprised and flustered, must've run off.

The problem was that Ishigami didn't seem to realize he had confessed.

Rinji, however, knew full well about the tradition. But even he…

"Yeah, hearing it now, that does sound strange," Rinji said, falling into thought.

Alright, just because he knew the tradition didn't mean he cared much about it. He didn't really associate gifting a heart with confessing love.

"I'm seriously confused now. Did I mess up somewhere, or does she hate me?" Ishigami sighed. "I feel like I don't even have the courage to talk to girls anymore."

He still carried a lot of insecurity—especially being in the student council, where everyone else was so outstanding.

When Tsubame ran away from him, his first instinct was to blame himself and think she disliked him.

"It's not that bad."

"Tomorrow, I want to talk to her again, so… I want to ask a favor."

"Hmm?"

"Could you pretend to be Koyasu-senpai so I can practice talking to her? I need to build my courage."

"You want me to act as a girl again!?"

"No, no cross-dressing needed—just talk like a girl."

"Talk like a girl? Got it."

"Then let's start."

Ishigami stood up, cleared his throat, and looked seriously at Rinji.

"Koyasu-senpai, I—"

"Yuu-kun, can you help me empty my shopping cart?" Rinji mimicked Tsubame' voice.

"Koyasu-senpai would never say that!!" Ishigami roared.

"You're already fantasizing about me? Gross, you disgusting otaku."

"Cut it out already!!"

Ishigami dropped to his knees.

Just a few random comments from Rinji, and he felt even less confident about facing Tsubame.