11 Please become my friend! (2/2)

All the surrounding students turned their heads around to look, surprise evident on their faces.

Mika, who was on her way over towards them, froze in her tracks, and even Chiaki was stunned.

The entire classroom fell into an eerie silence.

After an indeterminate length of time, he foolishly responded with a confused, ”Huh?”

...

The school courtyard.

Kazufuru adjusted his glasses again and tried to organize his thoughts, but he found that his brain still wasn’t working properly yet.

In front of him was the cheerful Seigo Harano, the still-shocked Mika Uehara, and Chiaki Wakaba who was smiling ambiguously.

All four of them had brought their own lunches, so to the others, they looked like a perfect scene of two boys and two girls eating lunch together.

”Harano-san…”

”You can just call me Harano, or even just call me Seigo. I’ll just call you Kazufuru as well, bro.”

‘Who wants to be your bro!?’ Kazufuru Ooike’s face twitched, and he almost said that out loud, but he barely managed to restrain himself.

”Man, I thought I wouldn’t be able to make any male friends. I’m glad that I met someone as welcoming as you, Kazufuru bro. Here, as a sign of our friendship, I’ll give you this green pepper from my lunch.”

”I hate these!” Kazufuru wasn’t a picky eater, but he considered green peppers to be the green work of the devil, so he unconsciously rejected it.

Wait a moment, that didn’t seem like the most important thing right now?

”Don’t worry, it tastes really good. After all, this green pepper is specially made; it was cooked by my gentle and beautiful landlord.” Seiji remained smiling.

”Seigo!” Mika couldn’t bear watching it anymore, ”Stop being picky!”

”Is that the only part you want to comment on?” Chiaki took a sideways glance at her friend.

Kazufuru suddenly felt tired of it all.

”Harano-san, just what are you up to?” He sighed and looked straight into Seiji’s eyes.

”Nothing at all.” Seiji retracted his mischievous smile that he was faking and said lightly, ”Just as I previously stated, I’d like for you to be my friend.”

”…Why?”

”Isn’t it obvious—it’s quite hard for me to talk to the other boys.” Seiji forthrightly stated the root of the problem. ”They’re jealous or can’t stand the sight of me—at any rate, I’m having trouble getting along with them. So I need a sufficiently strong enough stepping stone. And you, Student Council Secretary, are obviously a popular and excellent student. You’re the best choice, Kazufuru Ooike-san.”

Seiji’s revelation was far too direct, and the other three students were completely shocked.

It took quite a while for Kazufuru Ooike to regain his senses.

”So you’re saying… you’re taking advantage of me?”

”You’re partially correct. Yes, I want to be friends with you—that wasn’t fake at all.” Seiji smiled again and gave him an omelet from his own lunchbox, ”You’ll accept a new friend, won’t you, Student Council Secretary Ooike-san?”

”What if I refuse?” Kazufuru stared directly at Seiji.

”Well, it won’t be a big deal. At the very most, I’ll just act disappointed in front of all our classmates, and I’ll also tell President Yoruhana about my disappointment as well.” Seiji shrugged nonchalantly.

Kazufuru Ooike’s face kept twitching uncontrollably.

He could already imagine what a commotion the scene from earlier must have caused, and if he refused Harano, and Harano exaggerated it in front of the class, this would become a huge problem, and in the end, it would damage his status.

Not to mention, there was also President Yoruhana…

As he kept thinking it over, Kazufuru found that he had no other choices.

”You… you’re quite something.” In the end, he looked at Seiji and stated coldly, ”As you wish—I shall become your friend, but we still aren’t friends.”

His statement was obviously self-contradictory, but it was understandable as well, and Seiji definitely understood what he meant.

”I’ll treat you as my friend, and I’m confident that you’ll change your opinion of me.” He reached his hand out with a smile.

Kazufuru Ooike looked at his hand for several seconds before he slowly extended his own hand out and shook Seiji’s hand lightly.

Mika Uehara, who was a spectator for this entire scene, was still in shock, while Chiaki Wakaba’s eyes glittered with an indescribable light.

As Kazufuru ate his lunch, he couldn’t help but feel like he had been pulled into some sort of strange trap… but it was still acceptable.

Just let me see who you truly are, Seigo Harano.

After lunch, Kazufuru used the excuse of being occupied with student council matters and left them.

After she watched the student council secretary leave, Mika Uehara turned her gaze towards Seiji, with an expression begging for an explanation.

”It’s quite simple, really—I didn’t want to be left out of everything by all the boys in class, so I forcefully took advantage of the student council secretary.” Seiji truthfully told her his intentions.

The personal relationships in school could become a big or a small issue. He came to school in order to enjoy daily life, not to become a lone wolf, so even if his method was a little overbearing, he had to ensure own place in school first.

Mika Uehara nodded half-knowingly.

”That was… brilliant.” Chiaki Wakaba smiled as she assessed him, ”I thought that you’d find yourself in great difficulty… if it became like that, Mika and I would still stay by your side. But you were able to break through it on your own—nice.”

Even though the method was slightly underhanded.

But to be able to see the true nature of that excellent student who always wore a mask and to successfully take advantage of him, Seiji was definitely gifted.

Seigo Harano… no, Seiji Haruta, wasn’t a simple person at all.