Is it wrong to want the heroine's skirt?
The previous day after classes came to an end, Megumi took a quick detour to the hairdressing salon.
"…Are you really sure about this?"
"Yeah. Just get it over with quickly."
Seeing how determined Megumi was about it, the young hairdresser lady brought her scissors up to the fluffy hair and started working. Bundles of hair fell to the ground with each snip of the scissors.
"...…" Megumi watched the mirror in silence as her trademark hair vanished.
Though she would usually visit the hairdressing salon from time to time to trim the tips of her hair, she had forgotten how long it had been since she had gotten such a drastic haircut.
In her younger days, as a countermeasure to the nickname 'Oniko' other kids had called her, she had let her hair grow out, like a princess. This, of course, was because the princesses who appear in fairy tales and stories all have beautiful long hair. To Megumi, having long hair like that was proof of being a princess. It was a lot of trouble to grow her hair out so long, but after her close childhood friend Naoya told her it looked good on her, she felt so happy that she let it grow out even more.
Thinking back to it, that had probably been her main motivation. To have her hair grow out longer and to be admired more, like a princess. But there was no reason to do so anymore. Before she came to the hairdressing salon, her love had crumbled away to nothing in the school's library. She had overheard the conversation between Naoya and Keiki, and now she knew Naoya's love wasn't directed at her.
What else can I do? He said that we aren't a good match.
She wanted to become a princess for him, but that wish couldn't be granted anymore.
*
"—And because of that, I cut my hair."
"...…"
Since they didn't have time to talk about it early in the morning, they postponed the conversation until the short recess after the first period. Keiki's face grew pale when Megumi told him her reasons in a nearby empty classroom.
"Basically, you cut your hair in order to cut off your feelings for Inui-senpai…?"
"That's about it, yeah."
"Why would you do something like that?!"
"Why are you getting angry at me, Kiryuu-shi?"
It was because this was all a one-sided misunderstanding on Megumi's part. In reality, Onizuka Megumi and Inui Naoya both had feelings for each other, and if they could just confess their feelings, they could enjoy their days as a happy couple. There was absolutely no reason to cut her hair like that.
It's my fault. Because I did something unnecessary, Onizuka-san cut her hair!
If Keiki had simply kept his nose out of their love affairs, this entire mess wouldn't have happened. Because of his decision, all of this… Because of him, their relationship could no longer be healed… Because of him, Megumi had cut her hair, which is something of a girl's life essence. She threw away her long, fluffy hair, trading it for this shorter haircut.
While Keiki was being plagued with an immense feeling of guilt, Megumi spoke to him again, slightly anxious.
"…Does it look that bad?"
"Ah, no, I think that your current hairstyle is just as cute as before."
"Thanks for that," Megumi sounded a bit bashful after hearing Keiki's sincere thoughts.
Because of her cut hair, her smile looked more grown up than it had before. Keiki was impressed by how much a simple haircut could completely change the impression she gave off.
"I let my hair grow out because I wanted to become a princess. I wanted to become beautiful so that I could be worthy of Nao-kun."
"...…"
"I think a part of me was actually lost. I was wondering if it was really fine for me to become the student council president and completely ban any romantic relationships. If I had to guess, I probably had some regrets. While I was boasting about my plans, there was a part of me that couldn't give up on a possible future of being able to go out with Nao-kun."
"Onizuka-san…"
When Megumi said this, Keiki remembered something that Ayano had told him a while ago. On the first day of the election-planning during lunchtime, Ayano had received a declaration of war in the club room building. Back then, Ayano had told Keiki that Megumi looked like she looked lost and hesitant.
And Megumi had just told Keiki the reason for this. The main reason why she had decided to join the election as a student council president candidate was purely for Naoya's sake. After being rejected by Rinko, Naoya couldn't bear the pain he had felt, and had started holding deep grudges towards the flirty couples walking around at school. Because the radiating glow of normies enjoying their lives was too much for him. Megumi wanted to ban all romantic relationships in order to ease his pain, while still holding onto the faint hope of being able to become a couple.
"But, being flat-out rejected like this was really relieving. Because I like Nao-kun, I want to create an ideal school life for his sake."
For Naoya's sake, she would become the student council president. Even in such a devastating situation, her original goal had not changed.
"You really like Inui-senpai, huh?"
The girl's words showed just as much she felt for him.
What should I do about this? I want to clear up the misunderstanding, but I can't just tell her about Inui-senpai's feelings…
If he really wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, Keiki would be forced to reveal Naoya's love for Megumi…
But Inui-senpai said that he would be giving up on Onizuka-san…
After the incident involving Rinko, Naoya had lost his confidence as a man. He might be able to force Naoya to confess, but after the horrible mistake the day prior, Keiki was scared of unnecessarily meddling even further for fear that he would only make things even worse.
"More importantly, are you okay, Kiryuu-shi?"
"Me?"
"I heard the girls in our class calling you a two-timing bastard. That you sunk your poisonous fangs into both Fujimoto-chan and Takasaki-senpai."
"Ah…"
Apparently, the rumors were already going around.
"Apparently it was one picture of you sexually harassing Fujimoto-chan, and another one of you burying your face into president Takasaki's chest."
"I'm amazed how wrong the rumors are!"
"I never thought you were that much of a player, Kiryuu-shi…"
"The pictures are one thing, but the two-timing rumors are absolutely false, okay?"
The question was, who even took these scandalous pictures? Airi said that the manga research club was suspect, but—
"…Let me just ask you this. This isn't your doing, right?"
"You doubt me that much, Kiryuu-shi?"
"I don't want to, but considering the situation…"
Megumi was the only one who would really profit from this during the election. Naturally, Keiki had to at least give the possibility some consideration.
"Well, considering the timing, I can't really blame you. I would profit from this entire scandal after all." Stating the facts, Megumi directed an intense gaze at Keiki. "But I will win fair and square in this election. Using such cheap tactics is not what I want to do."
"I see…"
He had no way of verifying if those words were true or not. But he had been under the impression that she wasn't the perpetrator from the very beginning. Someone asking for her club's help, who was working her hardest for the person she liked wouldn't use such underhanded measures that hurt other people in the process.
But if it isn't Onizuka-san, who else would stand to gain anything from this…?
The only other suspects could be the male members of the manga research club, but again, there was no proof. Looking for the criminal was important, of course, but first they had to come up with a way to get rid of these rumors. On top of that, they had to prepare for the candidates' final speech. If only nothing else happened before the end of the election.
But Keiki's feeble wish would not be granted.
After his conversation with Megumi, Keiki returned to the classroom and forced himself to endure through the lessons. Keiki decided to talk to Shouma about the scandal and rumor during the next recess. He was also wary at first about Mao's reaction, but she just slept through most of the classes. Most likely, she had thought of too much material for Keiki X Naoya, which had kept her busy the entire night creating new manuscripts for her doujinshi.
As the third period came to an end, messages from both Yuika and Sayuki reached Keiki, as they most likely had heard the rumors as well.
From Yuika came the message 'You'd better tell Yuika the details later, okay? Depending on what it is, there might be punishment~' It sounded awful scary.
At the same time, Sayuki contacted Keiki with 'I won't hear any excuses. As punishment, you will have to treat me as a pig for an entire day!'
Keiki didn't want either one to happen, so he quickly messages in return, explaining the circumstances. Naturally, his explanations to Sayuki and Yuika didn't save him from getting awfully cold gazes from his female classmates, but he had to ignore them for now.
"Ah, Keikun-senpai!"
"Oh, Rintarou?"
On the way to the student council office, Keiki was joined by Rintarou, who was carrying bread in his arms. While he walked next to Keiki, Rintarou directed his gaze at the lunch box in Keiki's hands.
"Keikun-senpai, are you going to eat lunch in the student council office?"
"Yeah, the gazes of the girls in the classroom hurt a bit too much…"
"It seems like the two-timing rumor has been going strong, huh?"
Starting with Shouma, Keiki went on to clear up the misunderstanding, but unlike his rumored position as the harem king of the calligraphy club, the naysayers now had proof in the form of the pictures. Just denying it wouldn't be enough to erase the rumors completely.
"I did have a talk with Nagase-san, and we decided to explain the situation to the newspaper club so that they clear up any rumors going on in their article. You can trust the newspaper club, after all. If they put out the article this afternoon, it should help clear up the rumors by the final election tomorrow."
"I see. The newspaper club, huh?"
Even if the student council itself denied these assumptions, since they're directly involved, it wouldn't exactly sound credible. However, if an outsider like the newspaper club said the rumors were false, the information would sound more credible, as they're more trustworthy in this scenario. It wasn't a bad approach.
"Can I leave the negotiations with the newspaper club to you, then?"
"Of course. You just focus on the final speech, Keikun-senpai, and support Ayanon-senpai as much as possible."
Though Rintarou was the kind of guy who'd wear female clothes as a hobby, he was also the type to take his work seriously. Keiki felt safe leaving the negotiations with the newspaper club to him.
While they talked, the two boys arrived at the student council office. Since he had been coming here on almost a daily basis, Keiki opened the door without even knocking first.
"Good work every—"
The female members of the student council were already in the room. That much was perfectly fine. It made sense for them to be present. No problems there. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that out of the three girls, one was barely wearing anything. Her underwear was all that was covering her body, and that just barely.
"Fujimoto…san?"
The renowned vice president of the student council was wide-eyed, wearing only a white bra and panties in broad daylight. She seemed to have been in the middle of changing her clothes. Her well-formed chest, her beautiful white belly, her charming hips, everything that made her an appealing young lady was revealed for all to see.
"""""..."""""
All five people present in the room abruptly stopped moving. Ayano was seated in a chair in her underwear, Airi was holding a towel for some reason, Keiki was standing in the doorframe, and Rintarou was frozen behind him. All of them had lost their ability to speak.
The first one to react was Airi. She stormed towards the door in rage and panic.
"Kiryuu-senpai?! Why are you peeking like this?!"
"I'm innocent, though!"
"Just get out already!"
"Right!"
When he was urged out of the room, Keiki quickly turned around and shut the door behind him. Resting his back against the door, he let out a long sigh.
"…Ahhh, that took me by surprise."
An unexpected feeling assaulted Keiki. Ayano's body had fully entranced Keiki's gaze. Then again, who would expect to see such a scene when walking into the student council room like that?
"Good for you. You were able to see Ayanon-senpai like that."
"You saw it too, didn't you?"
"Sadly, since I was right behind you, I wasn't able to see much."
"Is that so…?"
Apparently, Keiki had stumbled right into a lucky pervert moment.
"But why was Fujimoto-san changing in the student council office of all places?"
"Who knows?"
If their previous class had been PE, she could have just changed in the designated changing rooms…
After they waited for a few moments, the door to the room opened again, and Airi peeked out.
"You can come in now."
"Alright…"
When Keiki entered the room, he was greeted by the sight of Ayano wearing a jersey. Her cheeks were tinted a faint pink, and she narrowed her eyes at Keiki.
"…Kiryuu-kun, you pervert."
"I have no excuses."
Though he had done so with no ill intent, he had still seen her in her underwear. Thus, he had to apologize properly.
"Still, that really shocked me. To think that I forgot to lock the door while Ayano-senpai was changing…!"
"It's not your fault, Airi," Ayano cheered up Airi, who was busy blaming herself.
Shiho for her part was watching this scenario unfold, a big grin on her face.
"Say, Keiki-kun, aren't you quite the lucky man to be able to see Ayano-chan like that?"
"T-That's not true!"
"Your eyes were glued to her… This is why men are the worst." The gaze from Keiki's Kouhai grew even more icy.
"By the way, Fujimoto-san, why were you changing in the student council office?"
"That's… well…"
Ayano had trouble answering after Keiki asked her that. Airi gave the answer in her place, quite bluntly.
"Someone poured water on Ayano-senpai."
"Huh? Water?"
Keiki directed his gaze to Ayano, who nodded in affirmation.
"On the way here, it came from above the stairs…"
"I was with her, but I couldn't see the perpetrator…" Airi grit her teeth.
"Why would someone do this…?"
Airi had been saved from the attack, but Ayano's uniform had ended up completely drenched.
"And after coming here we found this note hanging on the door."
"What note?" Keiki accepted the piece of paper from Airi.
In rough handwriting, the note read as follows:
'Withdraw from the election. If not, next time we'll pour condensed milk on vice president Ayano and post pictures of it everywhere.'
"Condensed… milk?!"
Keiki audibly gulped at this despicable threat. What would happen if one poured condensed milk on a girl's face? The answer to that was as clear and bright as a fire shining in the dark. A white, sticky liquid would be all over her face. She would have an almost disgusted expression, close to breaking out in tears. It would look like a scene straight out of some porn magazine.
"That bastard… Who would dare to do something so horrible…?!"
"They can't possibly be human…"
Keiki and Rintarou both nodded to each other, understanding the graveness of the situation.
"Really, so underhanded. This is why men are…" Obviously envisioning the same thing as the two boys, Airi made a fierce glare.
Ayano was the only one who didn't understand the problem. She just looked around the room with a blank expression on her face.
"Wait, what's the significance of condensed milk?"
"Ah, well, that's…" Keiki felt too embarrassed to explain.
Shiho rose to the occasion to lend a helping hand.
"Alright, let this Onee-san teach you~" She stood up from her seat and approached Ayano.
Leaning up next to the vice president's ear, she started whispering.
"—Basically, you use—from the boy—put it on—the girl's face—"
"!?"
When she heard Shiho's explanation, Ayano's face started burning bright red. Now that she understood everything, she mumbled feebly.
"M-Milk would be troublesome…"
"Yup, pretty much."
Though Keiki couldn't help but think that her reaction was cute considering that she was a pervert herself, but sadly it wasn't the time to tease her about this. Instead, Airi got back to the main topic.
"What's important is the 'Withdraw from the election' part. Now it's obvious what goal the perpetrator has in all of this."
"It's related to the election… meaning there's a high chance that the pictures this morning come from the same person."
Considering the timing of this, there could only be one explanation.
"Basically, this person would find it troublesome if Ayano-chan became the student council president."
"That means the people from the manga research club are the biggest suspects, after all."
Rintarou agreed with Shiho's assumption. Since this was related to the election, they couldn't disregard the possibility that the manga research club was involved.
The third-year Inooka, who hid his eyes behind his long bangs.
The second-year Shikagawa, who had a slender stature and wore glasses.
The tiny first-year Chouno, who looked relatively calm in comparison.
Could one of them be the perpetrator? Could they be trying to help the Otasa Princess in her campaign?
"As the election campaign strategy director-general, I can't ignore this perpetrator any longer."
"I agree with Nagase-san," Rintarou said.
"Splashing water onto a girl like that? That's going way too far."
Truth be told, if things went on like this, it wouldn't just influence the election. Now that the perpetrator had acted two times, the chances of them carrying out their threat written on the note couldn't be disregarded. Keiki for his part didn't want Ayano to suffer any more than this. And for that—
"Let's catch the perpetrator. We can't have them pour milk on Fujimoto-san."
They had to secure the mastermind behind this. There was no other way they could avoid any more incidents such as this.
"But how are you going to catch them, Kiryuu-senpai?"
"That's the problem…"
As of right now, they had no definite hints or proof that could lead them to the mastermind. They didn't really have the time to thoroughly look into the matter, either, since their time limit was the following day when classes came to an end.
"The safest way would be to catch them red-handed…"
"Hmm… they're probably going to be careful about this, so I doubt it'll go our way that easily…" Shiho showed a troubled expression.
"Then why don't we make me the bait?"
"Rejected. We can't put Fujimoto-san into danger."
"Agreed. What would you do if something happened, Ayano-senpai?"
"But…"
Ayano's idea was shot down immediately. No matter how desperate they were to catch the perpetrator, the risk was too great. The perpetrator was someone who was prepared to hurt a poor girl like Ayano by pouring water on her. There was no proof that their enemy was only one person, either.
"I see… A decoy operation…"
"Rintarou?"
"We might be able to do something about this."
"Eh, really?"
"Yes, thanks to the method I just came up with, we can keep Ayanon-senpai away from any danger… But I'll need your assistance, Keikun-senpai."
"Mine?"
"Yup~" Rintarou nodded with a devilish grin.
"..."
When he saw this grin, Keiki had a horrible premonition.
*
On that day, once classes came to an end, the 'Perpetrator' saw Fujimoto Ayano busily going about election duties. Vice president Fujimoto was hanging up election posters on the billboards in the hallway of the special classroom building. The perpetrator hid in the shadows nearby, watching over her. He had warned her thoroughly, and yet she showed no signs of withdrawing from the election.
"—I guess I'll have to scare her some more."
He had assumed that this would happen, so he was already wearing a clown mask on his face. He took out a small water pistol from his pocket. Inside this pistol, however, was not water, but rather thick condensed milk.
"Kekeke. I'm looking forward to seeing her sullied face…"
He would spray the milk on the poor girl and finish it off with a perfectly-timed picture. After that, he would share this picture around the entire school campus.
"...Hm?"
Ayano seemed to be taking a break. She entered a nearby empty classroom.
Heh, now that's lucky…
What a foolish girl for entering a place with no means of escape. Though he hadn't seen anybody else around, this lowered his odds of being spotted by anyone else even more. What good fortune for him.
"..."
He slowly snuck towards the classroom Ayano had entered. When he carefully peeked inside, he confirmed that his target was standing right next to the window, so he rushed in to attack.
"Prepare yourself, vice president Fujimoto!"
"?!"
When she heard his sudden voice, Ayano turned around in shock. He pointed the muzzle of the water gun right at her, steadied his aim, and—
"Eat thiiiiiiiiiis!"
He pulled the trigger without hesitation. A white line sprayed out of the muzzle, hitting the girl right in the face.
"Hahaha! That's what you get!"
Any girl would be humiliated by having her face splattered with this white liquid. All he had to do was take out his smartphone, take a photo, and escape from this place. He shifted the water gun to his left hand while taking out the smartphone with his right.
"With this, you're done for, vice president Fujimoto!"
Right when he pointed the camera at the girl, an odd sense of discomfort assaulted him.
"…Huh? Was the vice president always this tall?"
Fujimoto Ayano was quite the celebrity at their school. Thanks to her official work as the vice president, she had stood on the school stage quite a few times, and every time it was clear that she wasn't the tallest girl out there. However, the Ayano in front of him had to have been taller than 170 centimeters, at least.
"I see. A water gun filled with milk. Not a bad idea, punk."
"...Eh?"
The voice that reached his ears didn't belong to Ayano. No, it wasn't even a girl's voice at all. Instead, it sounded a bit rough, almost like a man's—
"Fufufu. I've caught you, dear perpetrator~"
"Huh?! Y-You…?!"
He was taken so much by surprise that he couldn't stop the vice president (?) from grabbing hold of his arm. On top of that, he was given a fierce bear hug, the kind you would normally see from Westerners.
"Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"
When he was embraced by arms that didn't even belong to a girl, the perpetrator let out an agonized scream. While he desperately tried to escape from the vice president's (?) grasp, he happened to bump her (?) head, which caused her hair to float down to the ground.
"Oh my, Ayano-san's hair fell down~"
"A wig?!"
The hair that had fallen to the ground was actually just a wig that resembled vice president Fujimoto's hair.
"Wait, aren't you second-year Kiryuu Keiki?! What are you wearing a female uniform for, you pervert?!"
"I'm not a pervert, okay?!"
Indeed, the perpetrator hadn't sprayed milk on Fujimoto Ayano's face. In reality, it was Kiryuu Keiki, who had been wearing a female uniform with a wig on his head.
*
The plan Rintarou had come up with was rather simple. If making the girl herself the bait was too dangerous, then someone just had to disguise themselves as Ayano. Though Keiki was certain that Rintarou would be the best contender for this, Rintarou argued that with his small stature, he might be overpowered by the perpetrator.
Though he hated the idea of being forced to wear a female uniform, Keiki had to follow the plan since he wanted to protect Ayano. Thus, Kiryuu Keiki made his crossdressing debut.
A few minutes after securing the perpetrator, the members of the student council gathered in the empty classroom. Shiho, Ayano, Airi, and Rintarou. As a side note, Ayano had dried her uniform during lunch break, so she was no longer in her jersey. On the other hand, Keiki hadn't had time to change, so he was still in his disguise.
"I'm surprised you had a skirt that fit me."
"A previous student council member apparently used this for a special event. The skirt and wig were both in the material room."
How did Rintarou even find them?
"By the way, Kiryuu-kun, you actually look quite good in a skirt."
"Don't say that.."
"Let Onee-san take a picture to remember this glorious day~"
"Please just don't."
He was praised by Ayano and threatened by Shiho. There was no end to Keiki's psychological onslaught. The wig was one thing, but the skirt was extremely uncomfortable for him.
"I want to hurry and change…"
"You can do that after we finish questioning this guy," Airi said. She directed her cold gaze at the perpetrator, who was tied up in a chair.
After Keiki restrained the perpetrator, Rintarou had come out of his hiding spot, a locker in the corner of the room, and helped tie him up. The clown mask had been taken off as well, so the true identity of the perpetrator was made clear.
"So it really was the manga research club's doing."
"...…"
Sitting on the chair with a sour expression on his face was the first-year member of the manga research club, Chouno. The members of the student council all knew him already, leaving no need for a self-introduction. Instead, they jumped right to the main point.
"Alright, I guess it's time to hear him out."
"…Hmpf."
Keiki directed his gaze at Chouno, but he just averted his face with an arrogant snort. A perfect act of resistance, but Keiki didn't seem too perturbed by this.
"Were you the only one behind all this, Chouno?"
"…I have no reason to talk to a pervert."
"Well, you do you then. In that case, we'll just take you to the student guidance teacher, and let them take care of the rest."
"Ugh…" Chouno showed clear discomfort at the idea.
"Naturally, the manga research club will be held accountable, as well. Even if Onizuka-san herself had no say in any of this, since this was caused by one of her subordinates, her evaluation in the election will sink severely."
"That's…" Chouno grit his teeth at Shiho's remark.
After a conflicted silence, he slowly opened his mouth.
"The others aren't related to this. I did it all on my own. I wanted Megu-senpai to win no matter what."
"Why would you go this far for Onizuka-san?"
"…Megu-senpai is my benefactor."
"Benefactor of what?"
In response to Keiki's question, Chouno started revealing his reasoning.
"I think it's pretty obvious from the fact that I joined the manga research club, but I'm an otaku. If there were a choice between them, I'd prefer watching anime over eating three meals a day. If you gave me a brief description of any slice-of-life work, I'm confident that I could name it in a heartbeat."
"Ah, I…I see?"
Keiki didn't see how the dots connected in this conversation, but he nodded in mock understanding nonetheless.
"When I started attending high school, I hid the fact that I was an otaku."
"Why is that?"
"Because I'd be the laughingstock of everyone around me. Especially the girls. If I did something as simple as reading light novels in the classroom, they'd think that I'm disgusting. It'd me want to shut myself in at home…!"
"O-Oh…"
"Since I went through this back in middle school, I was careful of it in high school, but a bit after my high school debut, a girl in my class happened to find out. I happened to drop my bag in the hallway, and with the bad luck I have, I had ShameCom with me…"
"Ahh, isn't that the really dirty one published in a shounen magazine?"
"I read that as well."
ShameCom, or the full title 'Is it shameless to hope for a romcom in a different world?' was a story about a protagonist being transported to a different world and getting into perverted accidents with the heroines of that world. It was a fairly popular shounen manga.
"The cover of 'ShameCom' is fairly dangerous on its own, so once the girls saw this, they gave me cold gazes and said things like 'Chouno-kun, you still read this even in high school?' and 'Disgusting~ (LOL)' and so on…!"
"That must be tough…"
"I feel you, my comrade…"
Both Keiki and Rintarou nodded along with Chouno's story. Being spotted carrying a book like that would mean immediate death for boys like them. As fellow men, they had to show sympathy. Behind him, Keiki heard a cold "This is why men are…" from Airi, but he decided to ignore it.
"Back then, Megu-senpai passed by out of pure coincidence, and she saved me. She said that making fun of things people like is lame, and stuff like that."
"So that's why she's your benefactor."
Megumi reached out to him with a helping hand, pulling him out of the dark abyss. To him, she must have looked like a hero.
"I hated girls who would treat me badly just because I was an otaku. But Megu-senpai was different. She accepted me for who I was. That's why I joined the manga research club. Because she was also a member."
"That makes sense."
Chouno had been an otaku from the very beginning. Of course he would feel comfortable in a place practically designed for him.
"When Megu-senpai said that she wanted to become the student council president, I of course decided to support her with all I had. Together with the Senpais from the club, we tried to repay our debts to her…"
There, Chouno's tone of voice dropped.
"But yesterday, Megu-senpai just looked so hurt and depressed… I thought that it was because she was losing against vice president Fujimoto in the election…"
"Ahhh…"
It had been after the incident happened in the library room. Megumi was under the wrong impression that she had been rejected by Naoya, and she had been very depressed. Chouno grew worried about her as a result of that.
"So that's why you hung up those pictures."
"I had been observing the opposition for our election for a while, so I had happened to take a few pictures like that. I know it might sound weird coming from me, but it's your fault for flirting around in places like that."
"Yeah, I can't say anything against that."
They weren't exactly flirting around, but Keiki had to admit that doing something like that in broad daylight had been asking for something like this.
"Because Megu-senpai saved me… I wanted to fulfill her wish…"
That was the reason why he had wanted to disturb the current election. He was driven by his desire to cheer up Megumi, but had lost himself in the process.
"I understand your motivation, but that's not good enough of a reason for what you did."
"...…"
Creating weird rumors about Keiki two-timing, splashing Ayano with water, and attempting to do the same thing with milk. No matter what had driven him to do this, it wasn't enough of a reason to just let this slide. Naturally, he didn't seem like a bad person either, but he didn't know when to stop.
"—It's just as Kiryuu-shi said."
"Eh?"
Turning around at the familiar voice, Keiki saw Onizuka Megumi, who was standing in the classroom's entrance.
"Onizuka-san?"
A rather unexpected guest. The sudden appearance of his princess caused Chouno to panic.
"M-Megu-senpai?! Why are you here?!"
"I was looking for you because you weren't answering my calls. And when I finally found you, I saw that you were surrounded by the student council, so I listened in for a bit."
"Judging from that reaction, you probably heard everything, right?"
Megumi ignored Keiki. She made her way straight to Chouno, stopping right in front of him.
"M-Megu-senpai, I…"
"...…"
Facing the boy still restrained on the chair, the girl smiled.
"You moron!"
"Ouch?!"
Only to karate chop him right on the head.
"What are you doing?! Working in the shadows without me knowing?! Bothering other people like this?!"
"I-I'm sorry!"
"We wouldn't need a police if everything could be made better with an apology!"
Lecturing time ensued out of the blue. Rintarou stepped back and watched it unfold, quietly whispering to Keiki.
"This is…"
"Yeah, it's like some kind of motherly scolding…"
It was the perfect depiction of a mother harshly lecturing her child who had made a mistake. In other words, it was awful to watch.
"You really are a moron. I'm glad that you were worried about me, but I can't really be happy at the result."
"Megu-senpai…"
"Apologize to the folks of the student council!"
"Y-Yes…!"
Bearing the full brunt of Megumi's rage, Chouno teared up and quickly did as he was told.
"I am terribly sorry for troubling you all like this…"
"Let me apologize as well. I'm sorry for putting you all through this because of my carelessness."
Chouno and Megumi both bowed down.
"Now that it's come to this, I'll have to withdraw from the election. Although I didn't know about it beforehand, I have to take responsibility for Chouno-shi's actions."
"No way…" Chouno grew pale.
As the leader of the group, Megumi was responsible for the actions of her subordinates, so her decision made perfect sense. However, a member of the student council didn't feel the same way.
"There's no need for that."
"Eh, Fujimoto-chan?"
The greatest victim of it all, Ayano, spoke up against Megumi's decision.
"I don't mind, nor do I want you to take responsibility."
"But…" Megumi hesitated in response to Ayano's decision.
"Onizuka-san, I want to end this election fair and square."
"Fujimoto-chan…"
Let's fight fair and square. Those were the words from Megumi at the beginning of the election.
"But… are the others really fine with this… Even Kiryuu-shi…?"
"Sounds good to me. Fujimoto-san is our boss right now, after all."
"If Ayano-senpai says so, then I won't argue against her decision."
"Sounds fine by me."
"I'm leaving everything related to the election to them, after all."
Nobody dared to speak against Ayano's decision. Keiki, Airi, Rintarou, and even Shiho all put faith into her decision.
"…I understand. But, now that I'm in, I won't be holding back, okay?" Megumi yet again declared her intentions with a smile.
"Yeah, that's what I want," Ayano returned a confident smile of her own.
Now that things had calmed down, Megumi directed her gaze to Keiki.
"By the way…"
"Hm?"
"Why are you wearing a skirt, Kiryuu-shi?"
"Ah…"
After that, it took them another five minutes to explain the situation.
The incident with Chouno came to an end, and Keiki was finally freed from wearing the female uniform after he made his way back to the student council office.
"…Aaaah, wearing pants sure is nice."
Sitting on a chair, he let out a sigh of bliss, enjoying the familiar male uniform he knew and loved. Shiho had returned to studying for her entrance exams, whereas Airi and Rintarou were both needed elsewhere, meaning that it was just Keiki and Ayano alone in the student council room right now.
"Kiryuu-kun, good work today," Ayano said, setting a cup of black tea down in front of Keiki.
"Ah, thanks for that."
After Keiki thanked her, Ayano sat down next to him. He took a sip of the black tea and voiced aloud something that had been bugging him for a while.
"It might be a bit late for me to say this, but is it really fine to forgive her this easily? If you had announced any part of this incident, you would have won for sure."
"It's fine. It would be troublesome if Onizuka-san withdrew this early."
"Why is that?"
"Still a secret. I still don't know how things will turn out."
"?"
Keiki had no idea what she was on about, but she apparently had something in mind.
A bit of time passed. After Keiki finished drinking his tea, he stood up.
"Now then, it's time to lock away this uniform."
Keiki doubted there would ever come a time to use this uniform again. He grabbed his blazer and started heading out with the intention to stuff the uniform away in the material room where it came from again when he realized something.
"…Ah, I still have Chouno's water gun with me."
"The one with milk inside?"
"Yup, yup."
Since it was a personal item, Keiki had to return this eventually.
"There's still some milk in it. I guess I've gotta wash it out first."
Things would get a bit unhygienic if he left the milk inside. He decided to rinse out the interior. Keiki fiddled around with the water gun for a bit, only to eventually give up and stare at it, perplexed.
"…Huh? How do you even open this thing?"
It was shaped like a pistol, so you could see the contents inside, but he couldn't find any way to open it. Trying out various things—
"Could it be this?"
Ayano moved over to assist Keiki. She got up from her seat and was standing face-to-face with Keiki as her beautiful fingers touched the gun.
"Ah, be careful, or else—"
—Splash.
"Fueh?!"
"Ah…"
A misfire. It was caused by the gun suddenly moving and Keiki's finger accidentally touching the trigger. Immediately, the liquid inside was shot onto Ayano's face. Keiki's white liquid unloaded right onto the girl's beautiful cheeks and hair.
This is wrong on so many levels!
This sight clearly crossed the boundaries of what was legal. The beloved vice president had turned into a complete mess from the white liquid.
"…Ah, my face feels so sticky…"
"Wipe it off! Right now! As thoroughly as possible!"
Keiki panicked and took out a tissue from his pockets, reaching out for Ayano's face.
"This is bad… If Nagase-san saw us like this…"
"What… are you doing?"
"Ah?!"
Turning around, Keiki was greeted with the sight of the person he didn't want to see at any cost.
"Nagase-san?!"
Airi had just returned from her duties, and Rintarou was right behind her. She was giving Keiki a glare cold enough to freeze hell.
"What exactly is going on here?! Why is Ayano-senpai's face all sticky with that white liquid?!"
Ayano answered Airi's question with slightly flushed cheeks.
"Kiryuu-kun sprayed it all on me…"
"What did you say?!"
Ayano's simple answer agitated Airi even further. She cast her gaze downward, her shoulders shaking in rage, and a black aura started to emanate around her.
"You enemy of all women!!!!"
"This is a misunderstanding! The milk was splashed onto Fujimoto-san by accident!"
Keiki tried desperately to soothe Airi while still wiping Ayano's face. It took a few minutes to clear everything up.
"…Sheesh. Why can't you be a normal person for once, Kiryuu-senpai?"
"I have no excuses."
"I know you don't… And after we did our job properly, too…"
"Now that you mention it, how did it go with the newspaper club?"
Rintarou was the one who answered Keiki's question.
"They said they would start writing the article immediately."
"I see."
After that, the article 'Two-Timing Doubts' was released, stating that it all was just false information. The article said that the person who had put up the pictures had been discovered, but he had promised to reflect on his actions, so his name was redacted from the article. Thanks to this, Ayano and Megumi would be able to finish their election without much damage to either faction. The rumors about the two-timing would hopefully vanish in light of the final speeches the following day.
"It looks like we can finally relax a bit."
Keiki had been very worried about the incident with the pictures, but they had somehow managed to make it through. Right around the time when he went to have a more relaxed talk with the student council members, his phone started vibrating. It was an actual phone call, and the one calling him was Yuika-chan.
"—Yes, hello?"
Ah, Keiki-senpai.
When he answered the call, he heard a rather meek voice.
"Yuika-chan? What happened?"
"Please save Yuika…she doesn't know what to do anymore…"
"What happened?"
"A zombie appeared in the library room."
"The heck are you talking about?!"
"He's a rather troublesome customer, and he seems to be an acquaintance of yours, so Yuika thought you might be able to help."
"I don't know any zombies, though…"
Who could she be talking about?
"You know, that third-year student with the bad look in his eyes."
"Ah…"
It finally clicked for Keiki.
"Is it Inui-senpai?"
Onizuka Megumi's childhood friend, and the upperclassman she had feelings for. When he heard that this very Inui Naoya had turned into a zombie, Keiki quickly made his way over to the library room.