“[Houjou’s excellence]…Heh…me saying that is also according to Ootomo Youta’s plans. With that devilish intellect, he could have beaten me in an even more humiliating way. But instead, he chose a defeat that allowed me to retain some dignity.”
I think if you were truly excellent, you should have realized all your dialogue is mistaken much sooner.
“Faced with this dimensional difference, I don’t even feel anger at being shown pity…instead it’s a strangely refreshing feeling.”
Houjou looks straight at me and declares:
“Ootomo Youta…you have thoroughly defeated me.”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!?”
The classroom erupts into deafening cheers.
“Holy crap…just holy crap!”
“Seriously, what kind of brain structure does he have…?”
“I gotta hand it to Houjou, makes it seem like she was in the script too…”
“Coming in so antagonistically yet winning flawlessly without leaving any grudges…”
“The Ougami chosen children are terrifying!”
This is bad… I’m standing out…extremely standing out! While winning in the end is good but–
“Oh wait…”
That’s right. Whatever the process, I won in the end. Getting caught up in the absurd developments, I forgot why I ended up in this match to begin with.
Finally freed from the submissive pose, I stand and gaze at Houjou.
In response, she silently nods and walks over next to a certain person.
“Mihaneya Getsuka!”
“Eek!”
Facing Mihaneya who looks startled, Houjou–
“I’m sorry.”
Bows deeply.
“For laughing at your dream.”
“Houjou-san. …… ”
“It may sound like an excuse but…I was frustrated with myself… No matter how many times I challenged, I couldn’t make it into the The Teio Academy Ten Sai… No, that’s not it. I was irritated at, deep down, already thinking it was hopeless. The Ten Sai were too strong and it broke my spirit. Though none would admit it openly, I believe that dishonorable title of ‘The Unmatched Eleventh One’ fits me more than anyone. But as a Houjou, I can’t show that attitude… Then you came along speaking so purely about defeating the Ten and becoming a superstar…I just snapped and said awful things…”
“Ahaha, it’s okay. I know best how pathetic I am.”
“But I feel an unbreakable will in your eyes. Despite acknowledging your own weakness, you don’t give up on aiming higher… It’s something I could never have.”
“That’s not true, Houjou is amazing! You can challenge the Ten again and again from now on!”
“No…It’s because I realized I’ve given up that I was trying to salvage some pride being boss of this classroom. After continuing that for a year, my heart grew ugly and distorted, causing unpleasant feelings for the class… Although externally I still have to keep up the pretense of challenging as a Houjou, personally I’m…honestly…ready to quit.”
“Then don’t do it as an individual.”
“Huh?”
“If one person can’t do it, then two. If two can’t, then three. And if that still doesn’t work, even more until we can take down the The Teio Academy Ten Sai together.”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant by individual…Anyway, ganging up is meaningless. Unless I properly defeat them one-on-one–”
“Huh? Was there a rule like that?”
“Th-There wasn’t but…it’s meaningless if I don’t win with my own ability right?”
“Ahh, Houjou is too serious… It’s fine to just drag them down first, then think about what to do to sit in those seats yourself.”
“Y-You’re…serious about that?”
“Yes. Since even Houjou can’t do it alone, there’s no way I alone could defeat the Ten Sai.”
For some reason striking a patronizing pose, Mihaneya continues:
“And, the superstar dream I’m after is even more impossible. For any field…unless you have exceptional individual talent, there’s no standing at the top.”
“Ah, my goal is the opposite.”
“Opposite?”
“Yup. I just want to gather as many friends as I can, get them to help help help me out, hype me up, somehow gain fame without me actually doing anything, and end up in a position where I’m doted on worldwide. Being a superstar without any personal ability is the best right?”
“Wh-What is that…relying entirely on others? You don’t need a sense of accomplishment or fulfillment?”
“Don’t need them! I’m fine with just being doted on!”
” ……………… ”
Houjou seems at a loss for words.
“So Houjou, let’s be friends! Being friends with a superstar is fun!”
With a wide childlike smile, Mihaneya holds her hand out to Houjou.
“Pfft…!”
Unable to hold it in seeing that hand, Houjou bursts out laughing.
“Getsuka…you’re missing a few screws huh.”
“Ehehe…”
“Ah, n-not that I’m praising you or anything…”
Please return those screw-sans quickly…
“But it does seem like it’d be fun being beside you…nice to meet you.”
“Likewise, pleased to befriend you!”
Mihaneya beams while Houjou awkwardly shakes hands.
“Speaking of friends, nicknames are a given right? For Reina…how about Rei-chan?”
“Sure, feel free. Then for me let’s see…For Getsuka…is Miko-chan okay?”
“No way that’s getting rejected!”
Knew she’d wanna go with that…
“I thought Getsuka was stupid but…even more of an idiot than expected…”
“Right, but she’s a damn good kid right?”
“And if you look closely, super cute too!”
“Seems like she’ll stir up something fun!”
“Be my friend too!”
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Nice…with Mihaneya accepted by the class, and Houjou’s entourage bowing to her…this looks about wrapped up.
“Hey, don’t you feel a nice mood?”
“Yeah. Class mood was kinda prickly with Houjou irritated.”
“Miko-chan seems to have blended in well, we’ve got unity now.”
“This is all thanks to…”
“Yeah, Ootomo!”
…But I don’t like this flow.
Standing out is obviously bad, but being raised up excessively is going overboard. I need to cut this off here somehow.
Everyone, listen!
If the mood is this good, then revealing everything earlier was just a misunderstanding likely won’t revert Houjou’s attitude or how Mihaneya is treated.
I have to get them to understand I’m a perfectly normal person.
“The truth is everything about the earlier match was a misunderstanding! Houjou generously interpreted it favorably, but I had no deeper intentions… So in reality…I’m the one who lost!”
“…………”
After a moment of silence from my classmates at this declaration–
“Pfft!”
In unison, they burst out laughing.
“No no, too late to say that now!”
“Right right. I thought no way at first, but thinking back calmly on Houjou’s explanation, it was a perfect flow.”
“If it really was just misunderstandings, you couldn’t explain the earlier weird behavior.”
“Haha, humility in excess becomes undesirable!”
Wh-Why’s it going like this… Granted I can’t explain the weird behavior without mentioning the choices in my head, but… Hm?
Then I notice Mihaneya making eye contact and gesturing over here.
Right…she knows my goal of avoiding standing out. Doubtless she’ll provide some assistance–alright, I’m counting on you!
“I know it may be hard to believe, but it really was just convenient misunderstandings. The confrontation with Houjou wasn’t pre-planned either, it happened because he got angry for me… Huh? …Was this the right approach? …Eh? …Would it have been better to say it went according to script? …No, but that behavior couldn’t have been acting… Oh, I’m all confused now, but Dai-chan is a really nice person who gets seriously angry for others!
You idiot!
“So the confrontation itself was planned, but his anger in the process was genuine!?”
“On top of intellect, he’s got passion too!?”
“What a man…a real man!”
The words of a few people quickly spread throughout the classroom–
“Ootomo!” “Ootomo!” “Ootomo!” “Ootomo!” “Ootomo!”
You assholeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
“Ahaha… It seems like my attempt to help you blend in backfired…”
“Is this on purpose…? Did you do this on purpose?”
“N-no, it’s not like that!”
“That’s right… You’re just an idiot.”
“Don’t call me an idiot!”
“Sigh… There’s nothing we can do about what’s already done… Anything we say now will probably make it worse, but little by little, we’ll clear up this strange misunderstanding…”
“…Thank you.”
Before I could continue murmuring, Ohana spoke up.
“Huh?”
“Um… I’m glad you got angry at me.”
“Yeah, well, don’t worry about it. I did it on my own, after all.”
“Even so… Thank you very much.”
“…………I see.”
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I averted my gaze slightly from Ohana’s face.
“Hehe… I’m glad I could become friends with you, Daikyō-san.”
“I might be regretting it a bit.”
“Huh!?”
“Haha, just kidding… Well, I hope you can forgive us for all this attention.”
I’ll say it again, but my life goal is to not stand out.
Even though things got off to a rough start, this is still just the first day.
It’s a common story for transfer students to let loose in the beginning.
From here on, I’ll return to being my usual self and enjoy a peaceful school life…
[Choose: ]
① Kiss the wall while shouting the name of your favorite sexy actress.
② Kiss the wall while shouting the name of your favorite female historical figure.]
“Hiratsuka Raichō!”
T/N : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiratsuka_Raich%C5%8D
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