Chapter 5: The First Half of the Girls’ Battle: Ichinose Honami

Chapter 5:
The First Half of the Girls’ Battle:
Ichinose Honami

 

BY THE TIME day three rolled around, it seemed like a lot of stuff had happened with the boys. But as a girl, I, Ichinose Honami, couldn’t know the details.

Let’s rewind to the day that the special exam started and tell the story from there.

“Now that we’ve formed our groups, let’s do our best to get along, everyone!”

That was what I said to all the members of my group before bedtime. Despite the many twists and turns, ups and downs, and ongoing drama, at least I now knew the allies who’d be facing this exam by my side.

Wang Mei-Yu-san, Shiina Hiyori-san, Yabu Nanami-san, Yamashita Saki-san, Kinoshita Minori-san, Nishino Takeko-san, Manabe Shiho-san, Nishi Haruka-san, Motodoi Chikako-san, Rokkaku Momoe-san, and I formed a group of eleven people. I was the only one from Class B, and there was also only one person from Class C. The rest were from Classes A and D. Manabe-san and Nishino-san seemed to be considered problem children even within their own class. In short, we were a group of oddballs.

I didn’t know Mei-Yu-san well, and the remaining students who’d been brought in to fill the group didn’t really know each other either. I needed to hurry up and build some relationships—fast.

“Let’s do our best, Ichinose-san.”

“Looking forward to working with you, Shiina-san. I’ve wanted to get to know you for a while.”

“Is that so? That’s an honor.”

But as for Class C—no, they were Class D now—we hadn’t really mingled with any of them at all. With Ryuuen-kun behind them, we could never get to a place where we could befriend them, no matter what we did. I supposed it was still unclear whether he really had stepped down or not, but since we’d finally put this group of girls together, I wanted us to get along.

The main thing we needed to avoid was someone being expelled if our group fell short. In other words, we needed to avoid someone invoking the solidarity rule and dragging another person down with them. Even if my first loyalty was to my comrades in Class B, now that we’d formed this group, I couldn’t play favorites. That was what I had told myself.

Wang Mei-Yu-san wasn’t actively participating. To be more precise, it felt like she couldn’t participate even if she wanted to. It would be simple for me to lend a hand, but this group was mainly composed of girls from Class A and Class D, many of them ones with big egos. If I stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong or tried to forcefully lead them along, they might decide they couldn’t trust me.

So I decided to wait. If no one else took the initiative and started helping Wang Mei-Yu-san, I’d do something about it.

“Hey, you’re Wang Mei-Yu-san, right?”

“Y-yes.”

Shiina-san approached her, addressing her gently. Shiina-san had taken on the role of representative, even for a group like this. She was a really reliable person. I hadn’t put myself forward for the role, partly because Shiina-san had volunteered right away, but also because I didn’t think that we could really aim for the top spot with the members we had.

“This all must make you really nervous, huh? I mean, being surrounded by people you don’t know.”

“U-um, well, I wouldn’t…”

“It’s completely understandable if you’re feeling bewildered, especially when you’re surrounded by strangers and told to get along with them.”

“Yeah. Exactly, Shiina-san.”

You couldn’t transform a group of strangers into friends just because you wanted to. It was the kind of thing that happened naturally or not at all. If you overthought it, you’d lose your footing and fail.

“Hey, Ichinose-san. Have you ever had a boyfriend?” asked a girl from Class A.

“Well… I’m embarrassed to say it, but no. I don’t have any romantic experience.”

“I see. Huh, you look like you’d be super popular, though. Maybe you’re the type of girl who has really high standards or something.”

“I don’t really think I am, but…I dunno.”

“Well, do you like any guys?”

“Huuuh?!”

The question was so sudden, I couldn’t help but panic.

“There are rumors going around. People say they see you hanging around with Nagumo-senpai a lot, just the two of you…”

Well, it was certainly true that I’d been working a lot with President Nagumo after joining the student council. I’d never imagined it would lead to rumors like this, though.

“Setting aside whether I like him or not, I’m really not even on the student council president’s radar. He doesn’t look at me that way.”

“No way, that can’t be.”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re you, Ichinose-san. It wouldn’t be strange if you and Nagumo-senpai started going out.”

“Either way, there isn’t anyone I like now…”

“Wait, right now? So you used to like someone?”

The girls started to grow excited all at once. This was a dangerous topic if you misspoke.

“No, you got it all wrong. Well, I suppose there was this senpai I admired, but before I realized that I had a crush on him, he graduated…” I trailed off, trying frantically to deny it.

The girls all exchanged looks before bursting into laughter.

“What? What? Did I say something weird?” I asked.

“No. It’s just, like, you’re answering these questions all so seriously.”

“Ichinose-san, you’re way too honest. It’s okay to just brush off stuff you don’t want to answer, okay?”

“Does that mean you dodged the question yourself earlier, Chikako-chan?”

“Eek.”

And so our girls’ night gathering grew lively once more. How should I put it? It felt like we could talk forever and never get sleepy.

“Hey, I’m not gonna answer any questions I don’t want to, okay?”

“Okay, then, how many times has someone confessed to you so far?”

“Huh? Um, three times. Well, if you’re including preschool, four times. I think. And if I add in that one other time, then five.”

“See, you did answer!”

“Nyaa!”

I was no good at talking about romantic stuff. I was so unfamiliar with anything of the sort, I was afraid I’d slip up and prove my ignorance.

“Hmm, I wonder. Could it be that Ichinose-san is the kind of person who’s incapable of lying?”

“You may be right.”

The girls were getting really fired up. It was probably better to deny that.

“That’s not true. Really.”

“Really?”

“For example, you might need to make a gamble or two during the special exams, right? I might try to mislead someone in a situation like that.”

“Then you’re fine with telling lies.”

“Hmm. I don’t think that’s quite right, either. I don’t think anyone really wants to tell lies. The best way to put it might be… I try to tell the truth as much as possible. Well, that’s not entirely right either. I guess I don’t like telling lies to avoid hurting people…”

“Isn’t that kinda weird, though? I mean, wouldn’t you want to lie to avoid hurting people?”

“Yeah. I think lies told to avoid hurting people are definitely gentle, as lies go.”

But…that wasn’t really the case for me.

That was right. This was the ordeal I’d set for myself.

“I think a lie told to avoid hurting someone is just delaying the pain ’til later…”

A single lie could lead to something much, much worse down the road. I never wanted to go through that again. Those painful days. That cruel time.