Chapter 67: The Infamous Jinnai Saku!
Yukinoshita Yukino's reputation at Sobu High School was rather unique, and being among her own classmates didn't change that.
In most students' minds, Yukino was still synonymous with "difficult to approach."
So when someone casually walked straight toward her without the slightest hesitation, quite a few heads turned.
One particular group of girls immediately began watching with interest.
"Who's that? We have a guy that handsome in our class?"
A petite girl asked curiously.
Beside her, a short-haired girl with faint freckles stared for quite a while before giving an indifferent answer.
"Handsome? He looks pretty average to me. He doesn't even compare to Hayama-kun."
"Pfft!"
A long-haired girl in the same clique laughed.
"We know you like Hayama-kun, but you don't need to exaggerate that much. Though I agree Hayama-kun is more perfect."
The petite girl looked exasperated.
"That's not the point! Is he seriously in our class?"
"Yeah."
The long-haired girl nodded.
"He's Yukinoshita's deskmate. I forgot his exact name, but his grades are consistently in the top three."
Then she added, "You've definitely heard about him, though. He's an otaku and used to be in the Gaming Club."
The freckled girl suddenly remembered.
"Oh! He's that pervert from the club that was always playing eroge."
Her expression immediately twisted.
"Gross."
The accusation was exaggerated, but broadly speaking, it wasn't entirely baseless.
Aside from Club President Watanabe and Saku himself, most members of the Gaming Club really had enjoyed eroge.
After someone outside the club caught them, the Disciplinary Committee warned Watanabe, forcing him to clean things up.
The members stopped playing eroge afterward.
They simply switched to galgames instead.
Thanks to the absurd behavior of those members, the entire Gaming Club's reputation had been dragged through the mud.
Watanabe hadn't escaped it.
Neither had Saku.
That was exactly why Watanabe had always wanted to win some kind of esports competition and repair the club's image.
He still hadn't succeeded.
And at this point, he probably never would.
The stereotype had already taken root, which meant Saku's reputation was equally difficult to salvage.
Nobody even cared that he'd already left the Gaming Club and founded a club of his own.
"I thought he was kind of handsome."
The petite girl folded her arms with a disgusted expression.
"Turns out he's just a creepy otaku."
Any interest she'd felt in Saku vanished immediately.
Not far from the girls, several boys were discussing him too.
The instant one bespectacled boy saw Saku approaching Yukino, he reacted as though he'd witnessed something impossible.
"Whoa. Who is this brave warrior?"
Another boy beside him answered, "I vaguely remember him. I think he's mixed-race. Never remembered his name because it's hard to pronounce."
A tall, skinny boy knew a little more.
"He's Yukinoshita-san's deskmate, I think."
He stared in amazement.
"But I didn't know he was this fearless."
More importantly...
"He can actually talk to Yukinoshita-san."
To the boys in class, Yukino was practically a treasure everyone admired from afar.
They'd never seen her give another boy any real attention.
Today, that worldview was being shattered right in front of them.
The tall boy almost felt his heart breaking.
"He's maybe thirty percent as handsome as me, and even he can talk to Yukinoshita-san."
A heavyset boy beside them stroked his chin, apparently having seen through everything.
"Then wouldn't I have a chance too?"
The skinny boy stared at him in shock.
The guy's height and width were practically approaching the same measurement.
His cheeks were so round that his facial features seemed squeezed toward the center.
Where exactly had he found the confidence to claim Saku was only thirty percent as handsome as him?
Was this what people called blind confidence?
Saku had no idea what anyone was saying about him.
But he could certainly feel the uncomfortable stares coming from every direction.
Yukino, by contrast, didn't react at all.
She seemed long accustomed to being watched.
"Standing beside you really does require a certain amount of courage."
Hearing that, Yukino's eyes trembled slightly.
She immediately understood what he meant.
With faint irritation, she brushed a strand of hair aside.
"So?"
"Are you going to retreat?"
Her gaze settled on him.
"I don't remember you being that kind of person."
"Don't make it sound so dramatic. I'm not interested in being famous."
Despite saying that, Saku didn't move even half a step away from her.
Instead, his gaze passed over the scattered student groups before landing on another gathering area.
Those were the students from Class F.
Even without deliberately looking for him, Hayama Hayato's overwhelming social presence was obvious.
It wasn't only Class F students surrounding him.
Several girls from Saku's own Class J had joined the crowd as well, creating the largest group in the entire meeting area.
Whether Hayama considered that happiness or trouble was something only he knew.
Separate from that crowd was Yuigahama Yui's little group, centered around Miura Yumiko.
Yui essentially served as the group's errand girl.
They were too far away for Saku to make out the details, but he could at least tell Yumiko looked unusually restless while Yui and Ebina smiled awkwardly beside her.
The contrast on the other side was just as striking.
Hikigaya stood almost entirely alone, much like Yukino.
The only person beside him was the feminine Totsuka Saika.
"Looks like Hayama really is popular."
Saku suddenly said it for no apparent reason.
Yukino, who had been in a fairly good mood, immediately frowned.
Even if Saku said nothing and merely stood beside her, Yukino found the situation rather satisfying.
At the very least, she no longer looked completely alone.
Being strong-willed was one thing.
That didn't mean she never wanted someone beside her.
But Saku's abrupt, contextless remark immediately irritated her.
"What are you trying to say?"
A moment ago, even her insults had contained a faint smile.
Now her voice was completely cold.
The change in attitude was almost startling.
「(⊙o⊙)... Crap. I accidentally stepped on a landmine!」
Saku hadn't meant anything by it.
Unfortunately, Hayama really was a sensitive subject for Yukino.
Without realizing it, he'd stirred up memories from her childhood.
Still, Saku couldn't exactly apologize.
For one thing, he wasn't supposed to know about Yukino and Hayama's private history.
If he suddenly apologized, it would make him look suspiciously calculating.
So his expression remained unchanged as he explained calmly.
"I just meant I'm jealous that Hayama has so many girls around him."
Yukino folded her arms.
A light breeze passed by her ears and lifted several strands of dark hair.
Her ink-black eyes stayed on Saku's face for several seconds.
Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
"You don't exactly lack girls around you either."
In fact, Yukino knew that several girls were currently living under the same roof as Saku, with more than one of those relationships being suspiciously ambiguous.
He was an undeniable flirt.
So she genuinely had no idea how he could say he envied Hayama with a straight face.
If he was going to make excuses, couldn't he at least pick one that sounded remotely convincing?
It was so ridiculous that it had actually made her laugh.
Still...
Since he'd clearly spoken without any malicious intent, Yukino decided to let the matter go.
Just then, Hiratsuka-sensei, who had been counting students, finally raised her voice.
"Everyone's here!"
She gestured toward the waiting group.
"Let's move out!"
"Destination: Kyoto!"
…