Fushimi and Torigoe’s simultaneous volunteering provoked a strange wave of commotion in the classroom.

““““Oooohhhh!””””

“The quiet beauty versus the princess…”

“M-my bet is on Torigoe! The diamond in the rough.”

The guys started muttering a bunch of stupid stuff to one another.

Meanwhile, my childhood friend kept her hand raised up high, stoic as a swordswoman facing her opponent.

Yeah…she’s not giving it up.

“Whatever shall we do? Talk it out? Rock-paper-scissors? Draw lots? No, that would be too boring.” The drama lover stirred the pot.

What will they do? I wondered, watching the two of them as a totally innocent bystander.

“…I concede.” Torigoe lowered her hand.

Fushimi snorted. Her face had victory written all over it.

“Ah… You do? Well then, our class reps will be Takamori and Fushimi,” the teacher declared, and everyone turned to stare at us.

By then, Fushimi had replaced her smugness with her usual graceful smile.

She changed that much in a second. Astounding skill.

We stood at the front of the class to lead the remaining committee appointments.

“Looks like I have nothing left to do here now that Fushimi is taking over,” Waka said with relief.

What about me? Why not mention me?

“Okay then, I leave you in charge.” She left.

The mood lightened up now that the teacher was gone, and a few scattered conversations broke out.

“Next up, the cleaning committee. Anyone want to join?” Fushimi presided while I assisted. Probably for the best if we wanted things to go smoothly.

And Fushimi’s influence did seem to grease the wheels of the operation.

“How about you, Yuuto?” said one girl. “Wanna join?”

“Oh, fine. Guess I will.”

The committee was formed by a known couple.

“Ugh.” “Ugh!” “Ugh.” “Ughhh!” “Ugh.”

I heard multiple groans all around the classroom at the lovers’ flirting.

Serves you right. Get a room; no one can stand couples that are all over each other like that.

“We’re in public, here… You shouldn’t be joining the same committee together just because you like each other…” I shook my head. My comment was low enough that no one would hear it, but Fushimi was right next to me.

Wait, why do you suddenly seem inconsolable?!

“Y-you’re right… That’s not a good reason to…”

Oh no, no, no, no, no.

Her eyes were welling up with tears.

“What’s wrong, Fushimi?! Everyone’s looking at you—calm down!” I whispered to her.

She looked around, and her tears quickly dried.

That was fast! What are you, an actress?!

By the way, the “diamond in the rough,” Torigoe, joined the library committee.

Yup. Perfect fit.

I stared at her face. I didn’t have a real impression of it, since we never really looked at each other while talking or having lunch together.

I could recognize her when I saw her, but if someone had told me to picture her in my mind, I would’ve had a hard time remembering.

Then a guy stood up with a thud, holding a sports bag.

“Where are you going, Yoshinaga?” Fushimi immediately called to him.

It hasn’t even been a week since we started classes, and you already know everyone’s face and name?

“We’re done here, so I can go to my club, right?”

“What? But class hasn’t ended yet…”

This homeroom was the last class for the day. The main objective was appointing committee members, and the teacher wasn’t there anymore. There should be no problem with leaving class early—only ten minutes were left anyway. In my opinion.

However, Fushimi didn’t seem to share that opinion.

“Are we doing anything else?”

“No, not really…”

She was still as diligent, fastidious, and unyielding as ever.

“Then I’m leaving,” Yoshinaga said, a bit annoyed. Fushimi kept quiet.

Waka did leave her in charge. And she trusts her a lot.

She had to keep the teacher’s trust and fulfill her responsibility as class rep, but she didn’t know how to argue her case.

“Stay at your seat for just another ten minutes, please.” I bowed my head, and the classroom went silent.

Huh? Did I say anything weird?

I heard the chair being pulled again.

“…Fine. Sorry for getting so grumpy.”

The bag dropped loudly to the ground, and Yoshinaga sat down.

“Thank you.”

Everyone else let out a sigh of relief, then shot curious glances at me. I could imagine what they were thinking: Whoa, who would’ve thought he’d say something like that?

I knew it wasn’t quite like me to butt in, but I had to help Fushimi out.

“Thanks, Ryou.”

“Oh, no problem.”

“Hey, hey!” Kurano called to us. She was friends with Fushimi and had also been in our class the previous year. “You two seem to get along really well. What’s up with that?”

The guys’ scowls were turning murderous.

No one had brought this up since the school year started. The bloodthirsty dudes weren’t the only ones interested—the girls seemed quite curious, too.

“Ah, yeah. We’ve been friends since we were kids.”

Apparently, not many people knew about this. I could tell, especially with the boys: Their lust for my blood calmed down visibly.

“Oh, so that’s why.”

“Childhood friends…”

“This is like, classic high school drama!”

“Anyway, yeah…”

““““That means they’re never getting together!””””

Fushimi chuckled. With a mischievous look on her face, she asked me, “Do you think so, Ryou?”

“Wh-why do you ask me?”

“Why, I wonder?” She beamed.