“Wha—! That’s impossible! Is… is that true, Hotaru-san!?”
“Yep. Kiridou-kun was saying it boastfully. When Amamori-kun and I heard that and laughed thinking it was a joke…… yeah. We got punched!”
“Thinking back on it now, he was an interesting guy—”
“He just had a screw loose.”
Karasuma and Sakuma piled on their words, and laughter echoed around us.
Asahina-jou is clenching her fists as if to say [Humiliation!].
Well, I’ll freely use the guy who isn’t here as material for laughs.
He was a harmful man from start to finish, so if I don’t utilize him in places like this, wouldn’t he be pitiable? If not for that, that man wouldn’t have any reason for existing.
“Wait, Amamori-kun! Why didn’t you resist!”
“Punching your husband is…… a bit……”
“L-Learn to doubt people a little bit, please!”
To think I would hear that line from your mouth……
When I shrugged my shoulders, she puffed out her cheeks without hiding her irritation.
That reaction looks like an angry Hoshina-san. Hoshina-san is cute. Asahina, you are no good. You look like a rip-off of Hoshina-san, so it’s not moe at all. Go get reincarnated as Hoshina-san and then come back.
“A-Anyway, Amamori-kun! Is your body okay!? ……Why are you sitting in seiza?”
“T-That’s right, Amamori-kun, please reflect on your actions!”
Asahina-jou with question marks floating above her head, and Hoshina-san getting angry as if she just remembered.
While correcting my posture again…… I suddenly turned my gaze to the side.
……Beyond that point, Makibi and her group were staring at me with twitching faces.
“……Hm? What’s wrong, Makibi?”
“Ah, no…… You, you’re stronger than I thought.”
Saying that, she hurriedly left for somewhere else.
The girls in her entourage also chased after her as if in a panic.
……For now, it seems safe to view the first stage of the operation as a success.
Let them understand my strength, and upon that, vividly imprint that I am an ally.
Commonly known as [Operation Let’s Get Along with Makibi].
It’s too sloppy to call a scheme, but for manipulating the impressions of high school girls, this level should be sufficient.
By the way, regarding the second stage of the operation, [Imprint that I am an ally], I have entrusted it to Kurashiki.
That sort of thing is her area of expertise.
It would be meaningless for an amateur like me to butt in.
More importantly, the problem is—.
(Amamori-san…… did you notice?)
I nodded back at the telepathic message from Kurotsuki.
The reason I forcibly stopped the fight with Dojima in this manner.
One reason is definitely what I said: [Any more than this wouldn’t be sparring].
But, there was one other…… even larger factor.
I turn my gaze in that direction.
Those five were watching me closely.
“……Heh, I see now.”
The red-haired girl observes me and mutters that.
Noticing my gaze, the surrounding students also turn that way—and open their eyes wide.
“Wha……!? Y-You act……”
Asahina-jou’s surprise is, well, natural.
Kurashiki said that this place is basically only known to upperclassmen.
Class C was able to come to this campsite precisely because of her connections.
Naturally, the probability of another first-year class with weak connections coming here is extremely low.
—Yes, just low. Not impossible.
“Why is Year 1 Class A here……!”
“Why, you ask…… to camp?”
The red-haired girl standing at the front said that.
If I recall, she was the student who participated in the Conflict Request with Atsuhara to make up the numbers.
Her name is Kurenai Akiha.
Facing her like this…… I can tell she is not [just] filler strength at all.
In fact, Dojima narrowed his eyes upon seeing their group, and Asahina seems to be on guard as well.
Even before abilities, it is clear that their [base] combat capabilities are extremely high.
“Don’t be so guarded. There’s only five of us, you know? There’s no way we could mess with another class with such small numbers. Atsuhara isn’t here either.”
I turn my gaze to the other students. Girls…… a total of three, and two boys.
Kurenai Akiha, Maishin Karen, Robert Vecchio, Yoneda Hanbei, and one other petite girl.
Ideally, the members who participated in that Conflict Request were all present.
Presumably, these five are the main force of Year 1 Class A.
Atsuhara is absent, but if things go poorly, these five alone could rival the total war potential of Class C.
Please let your guard down because we are few…… That’s quite something to say with a two-meter foreigner in tow.
As expected, Asahina seems to sense the danger and shows no sign of relaxing her guard.
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“Oh, really? I never considered Atsuhara-kun to be the leader of Class A, though.”
“……!? A-Are you saying that seriously, Asahina!”
At Asahina’s casual remark, Sakuma, who has combat experience with Atsuhara, raises his voice.
Within Class C, Sakuma, myself, and Kurotsuki know his true ability well.
Atsuhara Nagashi’s strength is no lie.
That man certainly possessed the talent and caliber to reign at the pinnacle of the class with his ability.
—But, that is a story for if he had been assigned to a class other than Year 1 Class A.
“Heeeh. You say interesting things, you. Asahina, was it?”
“Yes, it’s Asahina. Please don’t get the name wrong.”
Chirori, Asahina glances at me as she says that. It’s annoying, so I ignored it.
Kurenai also gave me a glance, but immediately pasted on a contrived smile.
“Putting the leader stuff aside. To be blunt, we’re on something like a heartbreak trip too. Look, this kid. She was bullied by Atsuhara in various ways. So we came to camp for a change of pace.”
Saying that, Kurenai pulls a familiar white-haired girl to the front.
Asahina narrows her eyes at that figure.
She would remember. After all, Asahina Kasumi was defeated by her.
She fell into Atsuhara’s scheme, volunteered to take the vanguard—and was defeated without doing anything, without being able to do anything.
It must be a bitter memory. In that case, she cannot have forgotten the girl who was being bullied at the time.
“……I see. Then, let’s just say that’s the case for now.”
With a face like she had something stuck in her teeth, Asahina squeezed out the words.
I wasn’t the only one who felt a sense of incongruity at her behavior.
Kurashiki and Kurotsuki also looked at Asahina’s face with expressions of confusion.
The only ones who could notice the true meaning of that confusion—surely, in this place, were only two people.
I turn my gaze toward that white-haired girl.
Mimicking a weakling, pretending to be a victim.
That girl who once completely deceived Asahina Kasumi.
—However, the one she deceived was only the Asahina Kasumi of that time.
Now is different. She has accumulated growth and tasted setbacks.
The current her does not think that everything she sees is the truth.
That is why, with that level of mimicry…… Asahina Kasumi will see through you, Tachibana Tsukihime.
That monster, for now, still wears the [Weakling] and stands there.
However, she never once turned her gaze toward Asahina-jou.
Looking down, with her eyes hidden by her bangs.
—She was just staring straight at me the whole time.
TLNOTE : As reminder our MC is humongous liar, 90% of his monologue are bullshit. And he’s always expresionless from the outside
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