Beside the sports field.
Sakurai Saki tugged Ishigami Yū along, heading toward the Basketball Club.
Nakano Yotsuba had just messaged him, asking for help once again. Sakurai wasn't surprised—Yotsuba always seemed too kindhearted, too eager to please, and far too incapable of turning people down.
The closer someone was to her, the harder she found it to say "no."
Sakurai didn't particularly mind where he stood in her priorities. If he thought about it rationally, the choice was obvious: on one side was a tutor she had only just met, on the other were friends she often supported. Naturally, she'd choose her friends.
In situations like this, friendship usually outweighed fairness. Even if Yotsuba knew that studying would benefit her more in the long run, she wouldn't choose Sakurai Saki. He understood that perfectly.
Perhaps it was fear of straining relationships. Perhaps it was just habit. She helped every week, and helping had simply become second nature. The more one failed to refuse, the harder refusing became—a vicious cycle.
And yet, people like that were easy to like.
After all, who disliked kindness? Good people liked kind people, and even bad people liked them too. It was rare, and admirable, to maintain such a pure heart in this world.
Inside the gym, the girls' Basketball Club was already in the middle of practice. Since the boys' team usually used the outdoor courts, clashes over space were rare.
But Sakurai couldn't spot Yotsuba.
He and Ishigami moved to the sidelines and watched for a while. It looked like a player was missing, and with no one on the bench, the need for Yotsuba's help became obvious.
Ishigami leaned over.
"Senpai, did you bring me here just to watch practice?"
"I came to find someone," Sakurai replied honestly. "But I don't see her."
The practice wound down for a short break. Players grabbed water bottles and stretched, sweat dripping down their foreheads. The image of high school girls in sports uniforms might sound charming, but in truth, the air was stuffy and smelled less than pleasant.
Several students had gathered to spectate—newcomers who hadn't joined clubs yet. In the crowd, Sakurai and Ishigami stood out more than they intended.
"Let's go," Sakurai said at last, unwilling to waste more time.
But just as he turned to leave, he caught sight of several girls from the team huddled together, whispering.
He quietly activated his daily "superpower"—tenfold hearing. Their words carried clearly into his ears.
"Why isn't Yotsuba here yet? Doesn't she know we can't train properly without her? She promised us, then suddenly said she had to help a teacher move stuff. Doesn't she realize how much trouble this causes?"
"Yeah, she was late yesterday too! And when she showed up, she even said, 'Sorry everyone, I had something more important today.' Can you believe that? Does she think she's special?"
"She's just a helper, acting like she's important. It's laughable." One girl snorted loud enough to echo across the gym.
"I bet her 'something more important' was just helping another club. Yotsuba is everyone's Yotsuba~" another girl added, giggling.
"More like everyone's tool—just move her around wherever you need her, like a brick."
"Hey, that's too much!" another girl protested, stepping in. She was probably Yotsuba's closest friend on the team. "She gave up her break time to help us practice!"
"Sorry, sorry, we're just joking!" one girl chuckled, though the smirk still lingered on her lips.
"Yeah, why take it so seriously? It's not like we'd say this to her face. She was late, wasn't she? She broke her promise first. Can't she take a few complaints? It's just a little venting behind her back." A ponytailed girl crossed her arms.
"Enough—stop chatting. She'll be here any minute."
The group scattered.
Expressionless, Sakurai turned to Ishigami.
"Ishigami… is selfless dedication foolish?"
"Very foolish," Ishigami answered without hesitation.
If you asked for nothing in return, your help became worthless. The people you helped would only take it for granted. That was why Ishigami never believed in thankless sacrifice.
Compensation, on the other hand, gave balance—it reassured both sides.
Imagine a stranger helping you out of nowhere, again and again, never asking for anything. Gratitude might come the first time, but what about the tenth? Suspicion would creep in. What does he want from me? What's his angle?
People were naturally wary. That was why one should never do good deeds without leaving a name.
Being a little selfish didn't tarnish kindness. Even accepting fair payment wasn't shameful. Anonymous donations might be noble, but there was nothing wrong with letting people know you cared. Walking away coolly after helping might seem admirable, but helping openly and honestly was just as worthy.
"…But I like such people," Sakurai said quietly.
Who wouldn't? As he had said before, no one disliked a genuinely good person.
"Me too." Ishigami surprised himself with his own words. He wasn't sure why he'd said it aloud.
But it was true. He liked them too.
Whether it was Shirogane Miyuki, Sakurai Saki, or even Kaguya Shinomiya, who always gave him cold stares—at their core, they were all good people.
Ishigami Yū never said it aloud, but he often felt fortunate to have stumbled into the Student Council. His earlier claim—that he only wanted his circle of relationships to include the Student Council—hadn't been a joke. For Ishigami, quantity didn't matter. A few good friends were enough.
The three seniors who looked after him gave warmth to his otherwise failing life. The only downside was that there was always that strange creature lurking among them, making his existence slightly more troublesome.
"Let's see," Sakurai murmured, listening in. Someone had just said Yotsuba would arrive soon.
So the two remained by the court, waiting.
Minutes later, a girl with reddish-orange hair tied with rabbit-ear ribbons came jogging in.
Nakano Yotsuba burst into the gym with her usual energy.
"Sorry~ The teacher asked me to move some things. There were a lot, so it took some time." She bowed lightly.
Breaking a promise was never good, but at least she apologized.
"It's fine, as long as you're here."
"We've been waiting forever! Can you come earlier next time? We can't train without you."
Yotsuba clasped her hands, tilted her head with a sheepish smile, and said, "I'm sorry~ I'll come earlier next time."
"Go change quickly."
"On it!" Yotsuba chirped, darting toward the changing room.
As soon as she left, their expressions shifted.
"Always smiling. It's disgusting," someone muttered—loud enough for Sakurai's enhanced hearing, but not for anyone else.
"She's so popular with boys. I'm jealous."
"Girls who act kind to everyone usually only show up in that kind of place, right?"
"Where?" someone asked with a grin.
"Like a hostess club? Oops, I let it slip. Just kidding~"
Suppressing his disgust, Sakurai deactivated his ability. He hated listening to this kind of venom.
Not all of them believed it, of course. Some were just reading the room, following the tone. Because if everyone is criticizing one person and you suddenly jump to her defense, what happens?
You become the outcast.
That's the unwritten rule. And the consequences are obvious: graffiti on desks, flowers mocking you in the morning, missing textbooks, a sudden shove in the restroom.
In a word—bullying.
Shuchiin might pride itself on being refined, above such "low-class" behavior, but exclusion was still easy. In fact, exclusion was effortless.
After all, stratification was built into the academy itself.
External admits—Mixed-Course—and internal promotions—Pure-Course—formed two distinct layers of status. Everyone knew it. And then came the second hierarchy: clubs. Sports clubs sat at the top, followed by cultural clubs, with the "going-home" students at the bottom.
Only the Student Council stood apart, untethered to the hierarchy. Everyone else lived under these unwritten rules.
"Senpai, I feel like throwing up." Ishigami's voice was low, but his eyes burned with anger. He didn't even need to hear the words clearly to know what had been said.
As someone who had been ostracized before, he knew these faces, these tones, these whispers all too well. The memories resurfaced, tightening his chest.
He frowned. "Senior, don't tell me the girl you were waiting for… was that one?"
The idiot with the radiant smile.
Why could she still laugh like that? Didn't she notice? She had to notice.
He liked good people, which was exactly why this made him furious.
"She's not even in the Basketball Club," Sakurai replied casually, watching Yotsuba emerge from the changing room.
"…What?" Ishigami blinked. "Then why did she apologize like that?"
Helping out, being fifteen minutes late, bowing so humbly as though she had sinned. She hadn't done anything wrong!
And those girls—how could they mock her so shamelessly? Did they have no shame at all?
Sakurai's lips curved slightly. "Interesting, isn't it? She's one of the students I'll be tutoring."
Ishigami exhaled sharply. "…She's an idiot."
But not the kind you could hate.
Sakurai thought to himself: before he could teach Nakano Yotsuba how to study, he would first need to teach her how to say no.
Without hesitation, he stepped past the onlookers and addressed the team directly.
"Excuse me, everyone in the Basketball Club. The Student Council needs to see Nakano."
Straightforward. Typical Sakurai.
"Eh? We were about to start training! Can't it wait until later?" one member protested.
Ishigami noticed another girl lean over, whispering something sharply into her teammate's ear.
"Probably talking about Shinomiya-senpai…" Ishigami Yū guessed.
At Shuchiin, the Student Council carried the protection of Kaguya Shinomiya herself. Her deterrence was legendary—greater than even the so-called VIPs of the Club Alliance. If one had to rank it: she was SVIP.
"This is quite urgent," Sakurai said evenly. "I'll explain it to Hasegawa-senpai. She's been busy with her studies, so I doubt she'd want to hear my complaints."
The effect was immediate. Ishigami could see the girls' faces blanch.
Hasegawa-senpai? Probably the captain of the girls' Basketball Club, Ishigami guessed.
"General Affairs Sakurai, you can take Yotsuba. No need to trouble Hasegawa-senpai with such a small matter!"
"Y-yeah, yeah! Take her quickly so we can start training again."
"Yotsuba see you next time"
Moments later, Ishigami watched Sakurai Saki casually take the confused Yotsuba by the hand and walk over to him. After Yotsuba gathered her things and changed, the three of them left the club together.
"Sakurai-kun, did the Student Council need me for something?" Yotsuba asked, not doubting his words in the slightest.
"No," Sakurai said flatly. "I lied."
"Eh!?" Yotsuba froze in the hallway.
"Is that… okay?"
Before she could process it, she turned to Ishigami with her usual cheer.
"Hello, fellow student! I'm Nakano Yotsuba. Are you Sakurai-kun's friend?"
"Hello, Nakano-senpai. I'm Ishigami Yū," he introduced himself politely. Despite himself, he was… intrigued. It wasn't every day you met someone this foolish.
"Oh! You're a junior? Then that makes me your senior! Hehe~ it's my first time being called that!" Yotsuba beamed, practically glowing with joy.
Ishigami studied her for a few seconds. Finally, he asked:
"Nakano-senpai… why don't you ever refuse their requests?"
Yotsuba blinked, as if the answer were obvious.
"Because they need me!"
The three made their way toward the library.
"What about me, then?" Sakurai's voice cut through the air suddenly.
"Eh?"
"Didn't I need you yesterday?" His tone was calm but piercing. "Yotsuba, when you abandoned me and left, did you ever consider my feelings?"
She froze.
"What…?"
"I said," Sakurai repeated, his voice steady, "I need you too."
"But… they need me too…" Yotsuba whispered.
Sakurai stopped walking. Yotsuba instinctively stopped as well.
"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head.
"I'll say it again."
He placed both hands firmly on her shoulders and leaned close, locking eyes with her. His expression was deadly serious.
"I need you, Yotsuba."
Her breath caught. His handsome face loomed closer, and her cheeks flared bright red.
A… confession? Yotsuba's heart pounded. It was the first time a boy had ever said such words to her.
"To assume I wouldn't care about you, and then to abandon me—don't you think that's cruel?" Sakurai pressed on.
If the girls of the Basketball Club were going to exploit her kindness, then Sakurai Saki figured he might as well be the one to do it.
"You are very important to me," he said, every word deliberate, almost weaponized.
"So… don't just leave me behind. Okay?"
Yotsuba lowered her gaze, flustered.
"I… I understand."
From the side, Ishigami Yū watched this unfold in silence.
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
This was a man who could say things that sounded exactly like confessions… without even realizing it.
What a dangerous creature.
For the first time, Ishigami felt a surge of gratitude—gratitude that he was a boy. Because if he weren't… he might already be in trouble.