บท 17: What all nerds want to do at least once in their life
"Pair of jacks."
"Heh-heh-heh. Full house."
"…!"
The student council was throwing a welcome party for Masachika and Ayano after
school. After having a rather early, light dinner in the school cafeteria—which was open at
night as well, although with less on the menu—they took the party over to the student council
room, where they enjoyed snacks and soft drinks while getting to know one another. They
were split up into two groups: Masachika, Touya, and Chisaki were sitting at the office table,
and the other four were playing cards on the guest sofa. It was mainly just Alisa and Yuki
playing, though. Things had been awkward between them when the party first started (it was
more like Alisa was purposely keeping her distance from Yuki), but thanks to Yuki actively
trying to talk to her, Alisa gradually started to come out of her shell. Now they were having
a friendly game of poker.
"Fold. I'm out," Alisa said with a bit of a huff.
"Oh, you are? I only had a high card, but it looks like it pays to bluff sometimes."
"Huh?!"
"Oh my. That's too bad, Alya."
Each one of them had been given a bag of snacks, which they were betting with, but
Yuki was crushing her peers, perhaps due to being far more experienced. Around 80 percent
of Alisa's snacks now belonged to Yuki. Maria giggled at the sight and was immediately
met with Alisa's scornful glare. Meanwhile, Ayano was wearing her usual blank expression
while indifferently dealing the cards as she stood between Alisa and Yuki. Surprisingly, she
was a natural at dealing. It must have been her love for serving others.
"I might have said this last time we were playing board games together, but Yuki's a cut
above the rest when it comes to games," Touya commented from where he sat by Chisaki
while watching them play.
"Yeah, she is from a family of diplomats, after all. Games like that come naturally to
her," Masachika said, nodding.
"Hmm… I'm sure that's part of it, but I think maybe it's also because of how bad Alya
is. She's so easy to read."
Masachika practically fell out of his chair, shocked by Chisaki's blunt evaluation.
"Chisaki… There are some things better left unsaid…even if I was thinking the same
thing!" Masachika chided her.
"…?! Oh… Sorry."
"No, it's fine… I mean, Alya really doesn't have a good poker face. At all."
"Wow, Kuze. Harsh."
"I mean… Look at her. See?"
When Masachika rested his arm on the back of his chair and looked back, he saw Alisa's
eyebrows raise and her lips press together when she picked up the cards Ayano dealt her.
After pondering for a few seconds, she bullishly bet a good portion of her snacks, but Yuki
immediately went all in, raising the bet and causing Alisa to fold. Incidentally, both of them
only had a high card, with Alisa holding the higher of the cards.
"See the expression she made? She makes it painfully obvious whenever she gets a bad
hand."
"I wasn't expecting Little Kujou to be this easy to read. She always seemed much more
emotionally restrained than her sister, but after seeing this…maybe Big Kujou is actually the
harder one to read, after all," Touya mused.
"Yeah… I think you might be right," Masachika agreed while observing Maria, who
was watching over the match with a gentle smile.
"I've known her for more than a year now, and honestly, I still never know what she's
thinking. She really does come off asthis morally pure and good person for the most part, so I
can see why everyone calls her Madonna, but she behaves so strangely sometimes," Chisaki
chimed in with a wry smirk.
"She does see things differently from most people, huh?"
"Or maybe she's just an airhead?"
"Didn't I just tell you some things were better left unsaid?!" Masachika exclaimed and
nearly slipped off his chair again, astonished by how blunt Chisaki could be.
"I could watch you fall out of your chair all day, Kuze," Touya said, laughing.
"Ha-ha… By the way, why do you call Alya and Masha by those nicknames?"
"Hmm?"
"You know, 'Big Kujou' and 'Little Kujou.'"
"Oh…"
Touya stroked his chin for a few moments, then grinned broadly at Masachika.
"I mean…it sounds kind of cool, doesn't it?"
"…What? That's it?"
Masachika reacted candidly as if the reason caught him off guard, but after noticing that
Touya seemed kind of disappointed, he added in a fluster:
"Oh! I mean…! It definitely does sound cool! I know exactly what you mean! I was just
not expecting you to say something like that with a straight face…"
"Oh… You get it, though, right?"
As Touya cleared his throat and collected himself, Chisaki put on some tea with a joyous
smile.
"You don't need to pretend. You're just too embarrassed to call girls by their first names
when you don't have to, right?"
"W-well, uh… That may possibly be part of it, I suppose?"
Touya's eyes flitted nervously, essentially confirming that his girlfriend was right.
"Wow. Just wow."
Masachika didn't know what else to say, but Touya suddenly looked smug and argued:
"I'm more surprised that you can call them by their nicknames."
"You make it sound like I'm socially inept. It's not a big deal."
"Kuze, don't forget I was pretty socially inept up until a year ago. I had almost no
experience talking to girls."
"Oh, right. I totally forgot about that."
"Touya'sstill new to this'being more outgoing' thing. It took him forever to start calling
me by my first name," added Chisaki.
"That's because you're special."
"T-Touya…! Y-you big dummy!"
"Ha-ha-ha! There's nothing wrong with being embarrassed!"
Touya laughed dryly and clutched his side after Chisaki had elbowed him in the ribs.
"Would you like me to refill your drink, Ms. Sarashina?" asked Ayano, who suddenly
emerged behind Chisaki without making a sound.
"Eep?!"
Chisaki overdramatically jumped and turned around to find Ayano standing there, and
a twitchy grin twisted her lips.
"Ha-ha…ha-ha-ha… I'm impressed. Not many people can sneak up behind me without
me noticing first."
"What are you? Some kind of master swordsman?" Masachika inquired somewhat
jokingly.
"Chisaki actually is a master swordsman, Kuze… One who mainly specializes in
punching, though. I suppose that'd make her a master punchman…"
"Has a nice ring to it. Very modern," Masachika replied in a monotone voice. After
pouring Chisaki a cup of tea, Ayano curiously looked in Masachika's direction as well. "Nah,
I'm fine. I still have some of whatever this is left."
"Very well. What about you, Mr. Kenzaki?"
"Hmm? Oh, thanks. I'll take some."
Touya threw back the rest of his drink before holding out his empty cup to Ayano, who
promptly topped him off. Despite the drink being a carbonated beverage, it was impressive
how she poured it with hardly any fizz.
"Thanks. By the way, I heard you work for the Suou household, and I was wondering…
Is not making a sound a skill you needed to learn for the job?"
"Yes, I learned how to do so from my grandparents."
"Oh?"
"Ayano's grandfather was the secretary to Yuki's grandfather, and her grandmother was
their family's housekeeper," Masachika interjected, piquing Touya's and Chisaki's interest.
"Oh, really? Then does that mean your parents worked for them, too?"
"No, my parents are ordinary office workers," Ayano responded simply.
"Wait. Really?"
"Yes, I really looked up to my grandparents, which was why I decided to become Lady
Yuki's retainer, not because it was our family business."
"Huh. By the way, how long have you been serving Yuki?" Chisaki asked. Ayano's eyes
wandered up into space, but her expression didn't change.
"Hmm… I am not exactly sure when I started, but I remember deciding to attend her
when I was in second grade, I believe."
"'Second grade'?!"
"A testament to how much I admired my grandparents. Furthermore, I found that Masa
—…Lady Yuki was someone worth serving."
"Oh, cool."
Although itsounded like she was going to say something else for a moment there, neither
Touya nor Chisaki seemed to notice.
"Ayano, psst."
Masachika waved Ayano over, and she obediently complied.
"I apologize. It was a slip of the tongue," she said in a soft voice.
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you caught yourself when you did. More
importantly…"
"…?"
"Are you not mad anymore?" was what Masachika wanted to ask, but he swallowed
those words as she gazed directly into his eyes…because her admiration was clearly written
in hers. The cold glare she'd given him during lunch was nowhere to be found, and all that
remained was love, respect, and loyalty.
The look in her eyes—just wow. But why? What did I do to get on her good-guy list?
And when?
Masachika racked his brain over how he'd gotten her loyalty and affection to max level,
since he couldn't remember doing anything special, but he was distracted when Touya
suddenly spoke up.
"So is it just good manners for maids to not make a sound? Is it so you don't bother
your boss?"
"Precisely. My grandparents always told me that to become one who serves, one must
become air."
"…What? I don't think that means what you think it does."
Masachika felt the same way as Chisaki. Ayano wasn't wrong to blend into the
background, but what her grandparents most likely meant was "Make sure to always have
everything ready and neat so that your boss forgets you're even there." She'd been far too
young to understand nuance back then and had taken what they said literally, though.
"Become air? I can do that!" she replied, and ever since then, she worked diligently to
become air. Her grandparents found it adorable when she first started to behave politely and
carefully while trying not to make a sound. "Oh, are you trying to copy what we're doing?"
"Aww! What a cute little maid you are," they would say. But by the time Ayano stopped
expressing emotion and they realized something was off, it was already too late. At any rate,
her grandparents ended up deeply apologizing to her parents for mistakenly instilling a weird
habit. However, Ayano herself seemed satisfied, and Yuki had already been turning into an
edgy nerd during that time period and had responded by saying, "An expressionless maid!
How cute!" So Ayano's parents ended up giving up, allowing their daughter to continue her
unorthodox path as a maid. Incidentally, she was planning on becoming Yuki's secretary one
day, but she'd been gradually becoming stealthier as of late, to the point that it made you
wonder if she was actually training to become a ninja instead.
"Oh, Ayano. Do you think I could have a refill, too?"
"My apologies, Ms. Maria."
Maria came walking over with an empty cup.
"Alya got mad at me and told me I was being annoying."
She stuck her tongue out and took a seat by Masachika, then looked back at Alisa, who
was glaring at her cards with a serious expression and furrowed brow. She only had three
snacks left in her possession. It looked like this was the final round.
"Hey, is everything going to be okay? There isn't going to be a fight, right?"
After Touya expressed concern in the midst of the tense atmosphere, both Masachika
and Maria simultaneously shrugged.
"It'll be fine. Alya may not look it, butshe's actually having a lot of fun," said Masachika.
"Yes… She's letting loose for a change and enjoying every minute of it," Maria said
as she observed her sister.
"You can say that again," Masachika agreed.
"Oh my. You can tell?"
"Yeah, it's obvious."
As Masachika and Maria exchanged glances and shared a soft smile, Touya and Chisaki
were completely baffled. That's her letting loose? the two wondered as they tilted their heads
in disbelief. But to Masachika, Alisa was letting loose at a level he had never seen before.
She was showing pure joy in everything she did while playing a game with perhaps her first
female friend her age in years. For example, take the way she was looking at her depleted
snack rations. Those weren't the eyes of someone panicking because they were about to lose.
They were the eyes of someone disappointed that the game was almost over. Her eyes were
saying, "I want to play more, but the game's going to end at this rate if I don't do something!"
What happened to being the "solitary princess"?
Masachika thought about her second nickname at school and rolled his eyes. Even
though he'd always known she wasn't as unapproachable as everyone made her out to be,
when he saw her enjoying playing cards like this, he was moved in a way that was hard to
put into words.
"Oh my. It looks like we're all out."
Masachika turned around to the sound of Maria's voice and saw that the plastic bottle
in Ayano's hand was empty. Ayano went to go grab another, but she soon realized the rest
of the beverages were done as well, and she froze.
"How about I go downstairs and buy us some drinks from the vending machine?"
"Allow me to take care of—"
"Don't worry about it, Ayano. You're the heroine today. Allow me. ♪"
"…?"
Not only Ayano, but both Touya and Chisaki were also confused by what she meant,
but Masachika seemed to get it.
"Uh… It means you're one of the guests of honor today and a girl, which makes you
the heroine."
"Exactly. ♪ Now let's go, hero. I'm counting on you to protect me. ♪"
"Wait. Seriously?"
Her suggestion took Masachika by surprise, but after realizing that it would be hard for
one girl to carry all those beverages by herself, he urged Ayano to relax and stood.
"Hey, I'm gonna go grab some drinks at the vending machine downstairs. Need
anything?" Masachika asked while facing the sofa where Alisa and Yuki were sitting.
"Get me a soda, Kuze, will ya?"
"I'll have a cola… Wait. Ginger ale, please."
"Um… I'll go with the lemon tea."
"I would love a café au lait if possible. Oh, the brown one, not the white."
"Sweet red-bean soup, please."
"I'm fine with just water."
"Who do you think I am, Prince Shotoku? Stop yelling all your orders at once. And,
Masha, you don't need to tell me what you want. We're going to the vending machine
together."
"Oh, right. ♪" Maria smirked as if to say "oopsie," and Masachika smirked back at her.
Touya then began looking for something to write everyone's orders on, but Masachika spoke
up before he could find anything.
"Sigh… Soda, ginger ale, lemon tea, the brown café au lait, red-bean soup, and water.
Got it."
"""…?!"""
Both second-year students and Alisa stared in utter astonishment as Masachika and
Maria left the student council room. Once in the hallway, the motion detectors sensed their
movement, and the lights turned on. The red evening sun gilded the schoolyard outside the
window as they walked down the hallway until Maria said with a relaxed tone:
"Thanks again, Kuze."
"For what?"
"For helping Alya. For deciding to run with her in the election… I'm sure she'sthrilled."
Her expression was brimming with compassion, fitting for someone also known as
Madonna at school.
"That's nothing you need to thank me for…"
"Oh? But it is. Before you came along, Alya didn't have anyone she could count on."
"Huh…"
Maria was wearing a gentle, more relaxed smile, unlike her usual bubbly one, when
Masachika unconsciously stopped in his tracks and muttered:
"Wait… Are you…?"
"Hmm?"
"Oh, uh…"
After almost involuntarily saying what was on his mind, he stopped himself and
wondered if it was really okay to ask. However, before he realized it, he was already raising
the question again as if Maria's gentle gaze was compelling him to.
"This might just be my imagination, but do you purposely try not to act serious around
Alya?"
Maria slowly blinked as if she was caught off guard. She then shifted her gaze to the
outside world on the otherside of the window, her lips curling into a breathtakingly beautiful,
mature smile.
"I don't want to compete with Alya."
Although what she said didn't sound like an answer at first, Masachika seemed to
understand. I knew it, he thought.
"Alya is an extremely hard worker who always puts everything she has into anything
she does…and that is one of the things I love about her."
Maria spoke as if she was imagining a world where only the two of them existed.
"Meaning you're playing the part of the 'laid-back older sister' so she won't see you
as a rival?"
She giggled at his straightforward, blunt question.
"I'm not acting. Taking everything so seriously gets tiring. Does it not? You have to
relax at least a little. Everything in moderation… Oh, but I don't deny I do behave more 'free
and easy' around Alya."
"Ha-ha-ha… 'Free and easy,' huh?"
"Giggle… Can you blame me? She spoils me because of it."
"Oh, she does, does she?" Masachika said with a wry smile, thinking about how it was
usually the other way around with sisters.
It's hard to tell when she's joking and when she's being serious.
Masachika scratched the back of his head while staring up at the ceiling, wondering if
she was actually a serious person deep down inside or as laid-back as she usually appeared.
That was when Maria's whispers tickled his ears.
"I don't want Alya to be alone."
When he lowered his gaze and saw her serious expression, his heart skipped a beat. He
swallowed his breath as she gazed right into his eyes, smiling softly before continuing as if
she was speaking to herself.
"Not only sisters, but relationships between siblings in general are also really difficult.
They're the closest people to you, but because of that, you compare yourselvesto each other."
"Yeah…"
Masachika was painfully aware of what she meant. Masachika, the boy who'd
abandoned the home he was born into, despised his mother, rebelled against his grandfather,
and ran away from home…but once he had escaped, he realized he was empty. There was
nothing he wanted to do. There was nothing he wanted to be. He had forced everything upon
his sister and became a free man, and yet he was nothing.
I couldn't continue like that. I had to do something—something I couldn't do when I
lived in that house—something I truly wanted to do. Because what would be the point of ever
running away otherwise?!
…I was anxious, but nothing changed. There was nothing that got me excited. In the
end, I was nothing more than a brat who impulsively ran away from home and was too proud
to go crawling back.
Yuki took over as the eldest child of the family and grew up to become a magnificent
young lady. And I? I wasted the talent I was blessed with and slowly faded away until I
was nothing. I could make a difference if I put my mind to it, and yet I didn't even try to do
anything. There was no importance to my existence.
It was impossible not to compare a worthless piece of garbage like him with his
hardworking sister, who had unconditional love for her family. The only reason he wasn't
overcome by inferiority and remained close with his sister was because of the effort she put
into their relationship. She never changed. Even now, she made sure her brother knew that
she loved him. To her, it didn't matter if he was Masachika Suou or Masachika Kuze. She
loved him all the same. And she wasn't embarrassed to say so, which was why Masachika
couldn't help but love her back.
If it wasn't for her, he most certainly would have kept his distance.
She really is the perfect sister.
That was when he suddenly realized something. Was Yuki acting like a bumbling nerd
around him so that he wouldn't feel insecure? Was she purposely acting like an idiot at times
for his sake?
No… That's really just who she is.
Although he realized he was overthinking it, he also realized that it may be somewhat
true, and that was why he felt like he could kind of understand why Maria did what she did.
It wasn't merely an act. It was a side of her that she wanted to keep secret because she loved
her sister…and she wanted to be loved by her as well. Most people want to look cool in front
of people they like. Maria simply strived for the opposite, but the why was no different.
"Masha… You're a really good sister."
"Heh. ♪ I am, aren't I? Looks can be quite deceiving."
She proudly puffed out her chest with a smug grin, but her smile almost immediately
turned mischievous as she placed a finger in front of her lips while closing one eye.
"You can't tell Alya any of this, okay?"
Masachika's heart skipped a beat, having never seen Maria look so alluring before, so
he dryly snorted to hide his nervousness.
"I won't tell her. She wouldn't believe me even if I did. 'Hey, your sister is actually a
very serious person.' Like she'd buy that."
"Oh my. I think you're overestimating my seriousness. I'm still far more laid-back than
Alya. Besides…"
Maria's troubled smirk instantly faded, and she looked into Masachika's eyes as if she
were looking into his soul.
"…I'm not the only one hiding their more serious side. Isn't that right, Kuze?"
"…"
Masachika was going to try to joke his way out of giving a real answer, but he
immediately realized that would be pointless and shrugged.
"I don't have some respectable reason why I do what I do like you."
I wasn't doing it for anyone else. The only reason I was goofing off and acting like an
idiot was to protect myself.
"I do it for myself…because I'm selfish," Masachika mumbled self-deprecatingly,
figuring Maria wouldn't understand his incoherent grumbles. Masachika recognized and
accepted that he was garbage, but that didn't change the fact that he was still afraid of people
knowing that part of him. He joked around because he didn't want people to realize that deep
down inside, he was a scumbag. After all, being known as a slacker or an idiot was far better
than people thinking he was a scumbag. He would never be completely open with anyone
in order to keep that part of himself hidden from them. But all he was doing was protecting
what little, insignificant pride he had in the end. He was the great pretender, living his life as
a fraud, which was why people who lived true to themselves looked so bright to him. They
were radiant, and it made him sick that he couldn't live his life like them.
"I guess you could say I play the unreliable slacker because it's fun. That's all. Anyway,
just don't worry about me."
And yet again, he played the foolso he could avoid actually opening up to her and having
her realize who he really was. Why did he start talking about himself like this in the first
place? He hardly ever showed vulnerability, even to his family.
I keep lowering my guard when I talk to Masha for some reason…
Perhaps this was due to how accepting she was? Masachika goofily smirked while
looking away, regretting revealing this side of himself to someone he hadn't known for very
long. Maria quietly approached him and gently raised her hand.
"It's okay."
"…?!"
"It's all going to be okay. You're doing your best, and it's all going to work out, Kuze,"
Maria affectionately assured him as she rubbed his head.
"…?! I…! I'm not…!"
…doing my best. And what was going to be okay anyway? Masachika promptly
wondered, but he was unable to turn those thoughts into words and simply lowered his gaze.
His heart quaked. He couldn't say anything. He felt strangely nostalgic. It was so soothing,
and yet if he let his guard down even a little bit, the tears would overflow, so he clenched
his teeth and desperately fought the urge.
"You are a boy, after all… You're so strong."
Maria looked at him with eyes of infinite kindness as if she was trying to soothe a hurt
child or calm a fussy baby. After a few moments, Masachika uncomfortably moved his
drooping head, and Maria immediately stopped touching him as if she understood why.
"…I'm really sorry," Masachika muttered.
"You shouldn't be. I'm older than you,so it's my job to look out for you. Giggle. I finally
feel like a second-year student in the student council. Alya and Yuki are so mature for their
ages that I always feel like the younger member who needs guidance."
"Ha-ha-ha. I can see that."
Maria pouted while somehow also showing off her usual bubbly smile. Masachika was
grateful to her for acting as she usually did.
"Anyway, I…I'll make sure this doesn't happen again."
"Why? I don't mind. If anything, I welcome it."
"I can't. I'm a man, and my pride won't allow it. Plus, I'd feel guilty, since you have
a boyfriend."
"Oh… Right. ♪ But it's fine. He's not the kind of person who would let something like
this bother him!"
"Oh…" Masachika gave an unsure nod as Maria proudly puffed out her chest. Was it
really okay to take her word at face value, or was she joking again?
"At any rate, shall we get going? Everyone's going to die of thirst if we keep them
waiting any longer," Maria commented.
"Good point. We wouldn't want that," Masachika agreed, putting his thoughts on hold
for now. They set out for the vending machine on the first floor again, bought everyone their
drink, and carried them back to the student council room together.
"Oh, hey. About time you two got back."
"Yeah, uh…"
"Sorry about that. ♪ Kuze and I just had so much fun talking. ♪"
"Really? Cool. Anyway, good timing. We actually just finished getting everything
ready."
For some reason, the moment they'd opened the door to the student council room, Touya
had been waiting for them with an audacious smirk.
"Ready for what?" Masachika asked curiously, and Touya's smirk grew even more
pretentious.
"For the most mentally challenging game of all time. A little student council tradition
of ours."
"…So it's mah-jongg."
A slightly out-of-place mah-jongg table stood in the middle of the student council room.
It was well worn, clearly showing its age as the beautiful women of the council sat around
it, making the entire scenario seem even more surreal. Touya smiled stiffly as if he felt the
same way and then he shuffled the tiles.
"By the way, I wasn't lying when Isaid it wastradition to play mah-jongg at our welcome
parties."
"Okay… Well, I'm familiar with the game, but what about everyone else?"
Masachika turned his gaze to the others.
"I know how. My family and I play together sometimes," Chisaki said confidently.
"I think I at least know how to arrange the tiles," Yuki offered.
"Same here," Ayano said simply.
"I'm sorry. I don't really know…" Alisa admitted.
"I know for the most part, " Maria said, unperturbed.
There were surprisingly a good number of members who knew how to play. Masachika
scornfully glared at his sister, who was a sixth dan in online mah-jongg, for saying she
"thought she at least knew how to arrange the tiles." He then began to think about the
competition, but Touya promptly began to put them into teams.
"Now, as is tradition, we'll be playing in pairs. Chisaki and me, Suou and Kimishima,
and Kuze and Little Kujou. Big Kujou, you'll be on your own. Is that okay?"
"That's fine with me. ♪ Need someone extra to liven up the party, yes?"
"Masha, are you really referring to yourself as 'someone extra'?"
"Because I am. ♪ I only know the basics of mah-jongg, after all." Maria smiled in a very
bubbly way as she took a seat. Masachika then shifted his eyes in Alisa's direction.
"Hey, uh… How about you stand behind me and watch me play for now so I can explain
how the game works?"
"Okay."
Masachika took a seat across from Touya while Chisaki sat to his right. It appeared Yuki
was planning on watching for now.
"Anyway, everyone ready? We don't have much time until they lock up the school, so
we're going to have to make this a half game. Oh, and as is tradition…"
Touya suddenly grinned sharply.
"…whichever team wins gets to 'order' the other three teams to do whatever they want.
Within reason, of course."
"What?"
Masachika arched an eyebrow, since his partner was a complete beginner, putting him
at a disadvantage, but the others surprisingly seemed to be all for it.
"Sounds good to me! A little danger makes it so much more exciting!" Chisaki said.
"Well, I suppose nobody here would request anything too wild, so I'm fine with it, too.
♪" Maria added merrily.
"I don't mind, either." Yuki agreed to the stakes.
"Lady Yuki's wishes are my own." Ayano complied unsurprisingly.
It's pretty easy to imagine how my competitive partner is going to react after all that.
"I'm fine with that, too."
"Did you forget the part where you were an absolute beginner?"
When Masachika looked back at Alisa, she seemed like she wasn't going to back down,
no matter what.
How can she be so confident?
But he reluctantly agreed in spite of his complaints.
"Sigh… Fine, I'm in. By the way, the winning team gets to order the other teams to do
something, right? Not each individual in the winning team?"
"Exactly. After all, it wouldn't be fair to Big Kujou if she somehow miraculously
managed to win."
"I'm going to need a miracle, huh?"
Maria smiled as if she didn't care, but Touya clearly didn't consider her a threat.
"Oh, by the way, President… What are the specific rules?" Masachika asked as he
gathered his tiles.
"Hmm… Let's start with thirty thousand points and allow red dora, kuitan, backdoor,
agariyame, double ron, triple ron, double yakuman, triple yakuman… Well, you get the
picture. Anything goes. Oh, except the game doesn't end when someone goes bankrupt."
"Ha-ha… All right."
"Okay, then. Let's start. Chisaki, you're up!"
"Huh?"
Chisaki blinked in bewilderment as if she had been taken completely off guard and was
only planning on watching the game, but Masachika was just as surprised.
"Wait. You're not going to start us off, President?"
"Heh! The hero always arrives fashionably late."
"Uh-huh."
And just like that, their mah-jongg match began. However…
Still, though…what's up with this student council?
…Masachika was surrounded by beautiful women: to his left, his right, and in front of
him. And within the lovely flowers sat a single background character.
If only this was strip poker, I—
"Kuze?"
The instant the lewd thought popped into his mind, he felt a chill from behind and
immediately began to hastily explain the rules.
"Huh? Oh, right. So after rolling the dice, Masha became the dealer. The dealer receives
more points when winning and gets to be the dealer again next hand as well…"
Ignoring the cold glare coming from behind and the all-knowing, smug gaze from the
individual diagonally to the right, Masachika continued:
"Basically, you want a winning hand of fourteen tiles. So four groups of three matching
tiles and a pair. That's the gist of it."
"My apologies. It looks like I win this round."
"Oh, see how Ayano just won the hand with a self-drawn tile? That's called tsumo. It's
called ron when you win thanks to an opponent's discard."
Alisa, being a quick learner, already had the rules down for the most part by the time
the fourth round started.
"What does it mean to go bankrupt and lose?"
"Going bankrupt means you have lessthan zero points, and there's a rule where the game
automatically ends whenever that happens to one of the players, but we're not playing with
those rules this time. So…congratulations! Now you can go into debt and still have to suffer
for who knows how many rounds!"
"…Is that a good thing?"
"Well, it does give you the chance to turn things around if you're being optimistic…
and it could also put you into debt for the rest of your life if this was an actual mah-jongg
game with gambling."
"Have you ever gambled on mah-jongg before?"
"Oh, look. I can call a pon."
"Kuze?"
After the end of the fourth hand, Masachika switched places with Alisa. Both Ayano and
Chisaki won twice that round, putting Ayano in the lead, followed by Chisaki, Masachika,
and then Maria.
Ayano really plays it safe. She's good. Chisaki, on the other hand, plays really
aggressively. And Masha? …I'm not even sure she knows how to play.
They continued on while Masachika gave Alisa advice from time to time, but Chisaki
and Ayano kept competitively picking up the wins and becoming the dealer. When the second
half of the game started, Chisaki switched places with Touya and Ayano with Yuki. Almost
immediately, Yuki won with a high-scoring hand, and when Touya eventually ended up
becoming the dealer, he won three hands in a row.
Huh… Touya's cheating, Masachika thought as he watched from behind Alisa.
Now I get it… "Anything goes," huh? Which means cheating's fine, too.
From what Masachika could see, Touya wasloading tilesinto the wall and using a sleight
of hand when drawing them to swap the unwanted tile with something else from the wall—
he was sure to draw whatever he needed to win.
"Oh, wow. I win again."
"Wow, Touya! You're amazing!"
"Ha-ha-ha! And that's why I'm the president."
Although Touya cheerfully accepted Chisaki's compliment without a hint of modesty,
if you looked hard enough, you could see a slight shadow over his eyes as if he was kind
of ashamed of himself.
Looks like Chisaki doesn't know he's cheating, so he must be using some sort of trick
that makes it near impossible to tell from behind.
That was when Touya finally realized he had been caught.
You noticed, huh, Kuze? Impressive. I wasn't expecting Suou to notice as well, either…
But no hard feelings, okay? Because this is also a student council tradition.
And he wasn't lying. This was actually a Seiren Academy high school student-council
tradition… At every welcome party for first-year students, the president and vice president
would cheat and do everything it took to beat the first-year students' asses in mah-jongg. It
was their way of teaching the new members that they'd never survive the student council
presidential election if they couldn't even survive a game of mah-jongg… Or at least, that
was what their excuse was every year when in reality, what they were doing was closer to
mild abuse and manipulation than anything else.
Heh… They told me last year it was to "help me learn and grow" and made me do ten
laps around the school every day for an entire month after every student council meeting.
A dark smirk curled Touya's lips as he thought back to the order he had been given—
which would send any PTA into a frenzy if they ever caught wind of it—when he lost at
mah-jongg. On the bright side, it helped him lose weight and gain confidence, and he still
routinely went on runs…but that was another story. Although they made him run to help him
"learn and grow," the president and vice president at the time ran with him, too, and after he
finished the month, they'd praised him. He had even cried a little. But, well, that was also
a story for another time.
Damn, I really was blessed to have them in my life! thought Touya.
President, Vice President, just you watch… I am going to show them how great the
student council president is with this move you taught me when I took over!
Bizarrely pumped up, Touya was ready to get his fifth win in a row when all of a
sudden…
"Ah! R-ron!" Alisa awkwardly announced the moment Yuki discarded a tile.
"Wow. Riichi dora… That's twenty-six hundred points, I believe," Yuki commented
after counting the points. Alisa smiled, although in a somewhat disappointed manner as if
the score was lower than she'd anticipated.
"Heh! A little payback for what you did to me in poker."
"Yes, you got me." Yuki smiled empathetically as she handed Alisa her point sticks.
Alisa immediately looked back at Masachika haughtily.
"Wow. Congratulations on your first win."
"Thanks."
Alisa flicked her hair back proudly, but…
Alya… Yuki gave you that tile on purpose.
…Masachika, who knew exactly what was going on, smiled softly as he gazed at Alisa's
profile. And he wasn't the only one. Everyone besides Alisa and Maria knew what was going
on. Yuki had predicted Alisa had a hand with a low score, and she had perfectly foreseen
the tile she needed for a ron call. Why had she done this, though? Because she needed Alisa
to get the win to prevent Touya from being the dealer again. Only the Kujou sisters didn't
understand what was going on, since they were beginners.
"Congratulations, Alya."
"Thanks, Masha. You better get a win, too, okay?"
But nobody dared to say anything, since Alisa was all puffed up in front of her sister,
who hadn't won once yet. Touya and Chisaki forced pitifulsmiles, Yuki did her usual archaic
smile, and Ayano clapped with a blank look on her face. The student council room at Seiren
Academy was a kind place.
"Ahem. Shall we start the next hand?"
Touya began shuffling the tiles. Although Yuki's smooth move stopped him from
becoming the dealer again, Maria's future was hopeless since she still didn't have any points,
and Touya was already far ahead of the pack with Yuki in second place and Alisa in third.
Hmm… I suppose I've done enough. The others are going to start getting suspicious if
I go overboard. I just need to make sure I don't play into their hand.
Touya was sure he was going to win at this point.
…How naive he was.
"Alya, you think I can play some?"
"Huh? But…"
"I still haven't won a hand, which kind of puts me in an awkward position since you
already got a win and you're a beginner. Know what I mean?"
"I guess. Fine. We can switch."
"Thanks."
After swapping out with Alisa, who was in the best of moods for getting revenge against
Yuki, Masachika sat down and locked onto his sister.
…In two minutes, Touya was about to learn a hard lesson about what happened when
you underestimated these siblings (nerds?).
"Oh. My apologies, President. I made a little mistake."
"What?"
"Ron. Dealer baiman, twenty-four thousand points."
It was only the second turn when Touya discarded an ordinary tile, which played right
into Yuki's hand. He still believed it was merely a coincidence at this point, but he
immediately recognized something was wrong when Masachika won next.
"Oh. Tsumo."
"What?"
Another two minutes went by, and he didn't even get a turn this hand.
"Chiihou. Wow. I won as a nondealer on my first drawn tile. Yakuman—and I got the
highest standard scoring hand."
"Wow, Masachika! That was incredible!"
"Oh my. You won already?"
"What?! 'Chiihou'?!"
"Congratulations, Mr. Masachika."
"Uh…?"
In the midst of the female members' excited and bewildered gazes, Touya looked across
the table at Masachika.
Tsk! Impressive. I didn't think you had it in you, Kuze.
Heh… You made your first mistake when you thought you could cheat to defeat me.
Masachika returned Touya's twisted smirk with a fearless grin of his own…because he
was cheating, too. Yuki may have shamelessly said, "Wow, Masachika! That was
incredible!" like she didn't know what was going on, but she'd played a part in the cheating
as well.
What kind of nerds would we be if we didn't know how to cheat with a little dice control?!
There probably wasn't another nerd in Japan who could relate to what Masachika was
screaming in his mind, but these two siblings had mastered the art of cheating. They got
exactly the number they wanted when they rolled the dice as if it were only natural.
Incidentally, it was their paternal grandfather who had mentored them in the art of cheating.
Sorry, President. It's over. It's just too easy when you have two people loading tiles into
the wall like this.
Tsk…!
They closed the huge gap in points in only a few minutes, making Touya narrow his
eyes in frustration, which amused Masachika.
Don't worry, President. I promise we won't cheat during the last round.
What? Don't tell me you…
Touya almost gasped aloud when Masachika made eye contact with him. After the two
siblings won their hands, everyone was almost tied for first, with the exception of the holy
mother Maria, who was deep in debt. Whoever won this next hand was probably going to
win the entire game.
We wouldn't want our partnersto know we're cheating,right? Let's play fair and square
and wrap this game up.
…Hmph. All right. I don't need to cheat to win. You will feel the great weight and power
I carry as the president!
They exchanged manly smiles in agreement.
Now…
…let's have…
…a fair fight!
The curtains of fate were raised, and the final battle concluded.
"Oh my. I think I won this hand?"
""Huh?""
The two men turned their goofy expressions in the direction of the unexpected, unsure
voice; looked at Maria's hand; and immediately exchanged glances.
"President…"
"Yeah…"
"Anything goes, right? Which means this…"
"…Yeah."
"Masha, th-that's…"
"Chisaki? Huh? Guys, what's wrong?"
Chisaki looked shocked. Even Ayano's eyes were wide.
"Four concealed triplets, triplets of all three dragons, a hand of only dragons and
winds…," Yuki muttered with a twitching grin.
"Oh my. I have four yaku? Um…I guess that'd make this worth around eight thousand
points?"
"That's quadruple yakuman! That's one hundred twenty-eight thousand points!"
Masachika shouted in despair.
"What was all that for? Everything I did…," Touya uttered bitterly as he finally
recovered from his initial shock.
"Seriously?!"
Maria's miracle put her in first place when the game ended, making everything the others
did meaningless. Yuki and Ayano came in second, followed by Touya and Chisaki.
Meanwhile, Masachika and Alisa dropped into last place since a nondealer won the round,
which meant they had to pay even more with the points they had. Maria was then bestowed
with the right to give an order to the six losers.
"Hmm… Now what should I ask you all to do?"
She placed an index finger on her lips and looked around the room until her eyes landed
on the tiny, ribbon-adorned bags of baked sweets that had been passed out at the beginning
of the welcome party. Her eyes widened as if she had an epiphany. Masachika had a really
bad feeling about this…and his gut ended up being right.
_____A few minutes later.
"Oh my gosh! You guys are so cute. ♡"
Maria gave a heartwarming smile to the slightly bashful girls and the trembling,
emasculated boys standing before her.
"President…"
"Don't say another word, Kuze."
Everyone had to wear a ribbon for the rest of the day—that was Maria's order. Maria
herself put the ribbons on their heads, and wow—big deal for the girls, right? Real big deal.
They looked like they got a little makeover, especially Chisaki, who wasn't fashionconscious and ended up looking so good that the other girls squealed in surprise when they
saw her. The problems were Masachika, who had a generic NPC face, and the giant Touya,
who had the face of a middle-aged man.
"What did I do to deserve this…?"
"You? Look at me. This is a crime against humanity."
"I don't know. Generally, popular people can get away with doing things others consider
kinda eccentric. People are more accepting; maybe they'll go, 'Oh, he's into ribbons? Cool.'
But when your average student like me does this kind of thing, people usually cringe and
call you names."
The two boys exchanged glances, feeling sorry for themselves, when the other student
council members approached them.
"C-come on… It's not that bad. I—I actually think you two look good," Chisaki managed
to choke out.
"That'd be a lot more convincing if you didn't look like you were about to burst out
laughing. Instead, it just makes me feel worse."
"She's right, Masachika. You look really good. Trust me."
"Your eyes are laughing, Yuki."
"I am being serious. Wouldn't you agree, Ayano?"
"Yes, you look very good."
"I'm more worried that you can say that with a straight face."
"Kuze…"
"Alya…"
Alisa's expression was indecipherable when she said his name, but the moment
Masachika looked in her direction, her eyebrows flew up, and she quickly covered her mouth
and turned her head away.
"Don't look away. Say something, dammit."
"…! I—I think you look really good. You look…cute?"
"Just go ahead and laugh! Get it out of your system already!"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"Yuki! I wasn't talking to you!"
Yuki somehow cackled while maintaining her gentlewoman facade, so Masachika shot
her a piercing glare. However, Chisaki began to laugh as well as if Yuki's laughs were
contagious. Even Alisa's shoulders started shaking as she stared at the floor, covering her
mouth, so Masachika just gave up.
"President, Kuze, look this way. ♪"
"D-don't tell me you're going to take our picture?!"
"Of course I am! Today's a special day, after all. ♪"
Touya whispered to Masachika, whose expression had tensed in fright.
"Just give it up, Kuze. We cheated, and we still lost. We don't have any right to refuse."
"K-kill me!"
Those were the final words of the captured knight as his expression twisted in agony.
Only the sounds of the girls' laughter and the window shutters closing echoed throughout
the student council room after that, coming to an end when a teacher stopped by to tell them
they were locking up.
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