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Chapter 149 Part 1

At Sairei Academy (2) ~Dangerous Premonition~

The morning recital was over.

By the time they noticed, they had been listening to the performance for over two hours, with a break in between, but they weren’t bored in the slightest and it felt like it was over in a blink of an eye.

After this, they would have lunch at Sairei Academy’s prided cafeteria.

Before that, though, they all decided to go to the bathroom.

After getting up from their seats and going out to the entrance in order, the first thing they did was go to the bathroom.

It seemed that this concert hall was designed to accommodate visitors from outside, so it was also equipped with a men’s toilet.

However, it couldn’t accommodate all 21 of them at once, so they took turns going in starting with the third year.

Yuu, who came out while talking with Masaya and Rei, saw Kate standing by the wall, looking bored.

As the security guards and girls from Sairyou were making a path for the boys to pass by and keep the Sairei students away, it seemed that she had nothing to do right now.

Seeing that the third-year students were still waiting for their turn, it looked like the first-years wouldn’t be able to get in any time soon, so Yuu excused himself to his friend and approached Kate.

Perhaps she had gone to the girls’ bathroom, the other girl from the student council wasn’t by her side, so it was good timing.

「Good work.」

「Ah, you… that’s not good. For you to be here by yourself….」

「Isn’t it fine? I’m only here to hello to someone I know, after all.」

「Geez.」

Kate sighed at Yuu’s behavior.

As far as Yuu was concerned, even he had only done it because he judged that in the current situation, where there was a group of Sairyou students nearby, it should be fine.

There were security guards standing at the entrance to stop unrelated Sairei students from entering, and the Sairiei’s female students who had watched the performance hadn’t come to the entrance, perhaps out of consideration for them.

「The recital was much better than I expected. Everyone was moved.」

When Yuu praised them, even Kate, who usually had a cool expression on her face, broke into a smile.

「That’s good to hear. I heard that the people who were chosen to perform today had spent all their time practicing as if they were possessed, not taking even a single day off, even after entering summer vacation, after all.」

「Ooh. If that’s the case, it was all the more worthwhile coming.」

「I’m sure they’re also happy that you came.」

The conversation stopped there, and silence prevailed for a while.

Kate, who looked down a little, glanced at Yuu and was about to speak.

Sensing her gaze, Yuu showed a puzzled look on his face.

After hesitating for a moment, Kate muttered without making eye contact with him.

「Say, after this…」

「Huh?」

In part due to the hustle and bustle from the surrounding area, her small voice was hard to hear.

「About this afternoon…」

「Afternoon? Ah, you mean the student council matter?」

「Yes…」

However, before he could hear the rest of what she wanted to say, they heard someone calling out to Yuu.

It seemed like their turn to use the bathroom had come.

「I’ll get going then.」

「Wait.」

Kate hurriedly took out her student handbook and pen, scribbled something on it, then tore off a page with her hand.

Then she leaned over to Yuu and handed it to him, hiding it from the prying eyes of those around them.

「Go into the bathroom and read it. When you’re done, tear it up and flush it down.」

「Huh?」

「Just do it, hurry up!」

「O… ooh.」

After that, Yuu, who went to the bathroom with a number of first-year boys, deliberately went into a toilet stall.

There, he unfolded the piece of paper Kate had given him.

The following was written on it.

『The student council members are up to something. Quickly go home before they do something to you. 』

◇ ◇ ◇

「Is something the matter, Yuu?」

「Huh?」

「Well, you’ve been spacing out for a while now, so…」

「Yuu-kun, is there something you’re worried about?」

「Err… It, it’s nothing!」

「In that case, good, but…」

They were having lunch at a school cafeteria with a stylish atmosphere on the first floor of Building D – called the Cafeteria in Sairei.

Despite the fact that it was summer vacation, for today, it seemed like the staff had prepared meals for them.

Though, perhaps because it was a provisional operation, there were only three options available today: Set Meal A, which was mainly meat; Set Meal B, which was fish; and Set Meal C, which was a lighter set consisting of pasta, soup, and salad.

Yuu, who chose set A, Masaya, who chose set B, and Rei, who chose set C, sat around a table, but Yuu’s chopsticks were unmoving because he was bothered by what was written on the piece of paper he had been given earlier.

The thing that Riko told him yesterday flashed through his mind.

Which was, in exchange for not laying their hands on ordinary male students, they, with Sairei’s student council president Mitsuse Rinne and vice president Oomori Norika in the lead, were probably planning to approach Yuu.

Looking at their past history, he could easily imagine that.

Not to mention that Sayaka had been in poor health for a while now.

They would still say hello at least, but if they kept pestering him, it would probably be best to refuse it firmly and then put an end to the meeting as soon as possible.

Having made up his mind, Yuu nodded his head to the two, who had a worried look on their faces, to reassure them, and then started eating.

The meal that was served was very delicious considering the low price for students, and they ate it up in no time at all.

◇ ◇ ◇

For a while after the meal, the Sairyou students chatted together, not separately into boys and girls’ groups, but it seemed like the time had come.

The students who served as their guide began to stand by the wall with placards.

The afternoon session would take place in building B and C, and the main focus was on taking a look at the exhibitions by the various art departments and thriving cultural clubs.

There were music department-concert band club-chorus club course, arts-crafts department-related club course, calligraphy and Japanese performing arts-related club course, and drama and light music club course.

It was scheduled to start at 1:30pm and end at 4:30pm.

Setting aside the girls, even the boys got bored halfway through it, they couldn’t just let them go home arbitrarily. In such a case, the arrangement was to ask them to go back to the bus and wait.

For better or worse, the cafeteria was open to Sairyou students and was designated as a rest area (Sairei students were not allowed to enter except the ones serving as guides).

Apparently, the cooking club would be treating them to homemade cookies from 3pm.

It truly felt like they were being taken care of thoroughly.

Masaya, of course, wanted to take the music department-concert band club-chorus club course.

Rei, who had always been fond of tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and calligraphy and was interested in traditional Japanese performing arts, seemed to want to take the calligraphy and Japanese performing arts-related club course.

They would also be going separately from Yuu, who planned to visit the student council with Sayaka and the others.

The boys, who split according to the courses they wanted to take, would be accompanied by five times as many girls and security guards, so Yuu thought, 「I guess there’s nothing to worry about.」, and said goodbye to the two for a while.

As he walked towards Sayaka, Riko, and Emi, who were waiting for him near the entrance to the school cafeteria, Yuu recalled the note Kate had given him earlier.

Just in case, he thought it would probably be best to tell the three of them.

However, the moment Yuu got close to them, he was taken by the hand and led to a corner.

「What’s the matter?」

「Um, err, you see…」

「Sayaka.」 「Saaya-senpai!」

「Ah, yes.」

It seemed like Sayaka had something to say.

Urged by the two, Sayaka looked straight at Yuu from the front.

Her expression was very serious.

「Yuu-kun」

「Yes.」

「You’ll go back to school on your way home today, right?」

Yuu nodded.

The plan was to disperse after returning to school.

「I’m sorry, but could you stop by the student council room before you go home?」

「Hmm? I don’t really mind, but…」

The cheering for the clubs had just come to an end for the time being, so once today’s business was over, there shouldn’t be any urgent business for the student council.

Sayaka exchanged looks with Riko and Emi, then nodded.

「A, actually, all three of us have something important to tell you, Yuu-kun.」

「And that’s… something you want to talk about with just the four of us after we’re done here, not right now, right?」

「Y, yes.」

Since Sayaka and the others said it was an important matter, the option of refusing didn’t exist within Yuu.

「Got it. Sure thing. See you on our way home then.」

Hearing Yuu’s reply, Sayaka and the others showed a relieved smile.

「Well then, let’s get the bothersome stuff out of the way quickly, shall we?」

「Yes. After putting an end to it early, we can also join the tour group. Yuu-kun, do you want to take a look at it together?」

「I suppose so. If Sayaka is feeling well, I’d like to take a look at it with the four of us.」

「Yes. It seems like Sairei’s side is being more considerate than I thought, but I want to see it for myself.」

As they were discussing their next course of action, the matter about the memo he had been given earlier ended up getting pushed into the corner of Yuu’s mind.

The four of them left the cafeteria and went out to the courtyard.

Unlike inside the school buildings, which were cool and air-conditioned, they were immediately hit by the strong summer sun, and sweat seemed to start to pour out of them.

In the courtyard, there was a fountain in the center where the promenades connecting the various school buildings crossed, benches were placed here and there, and colorful flowers were blooming in the flower beds.

As expected, in addition to the fact that it was summer vacation, their students were scattered to accommodate the Sairyou students who were visiting the school, so there were no students to be seen.

They could imagine it being a place for students to relax during breaks and after school.