Hayasaka Ai felt stressed out.

She always prided herself on being in complete control when managing her school life, but this situation was an absolute disaster.

It was all because someone barged in and made a splash in a tense but otherwise calm pond.

Yukinoshita Yukino.

What an absolute madwoman.

It wasn’t as if she had never entered Hayasaka’s radar before. On the contrary, she had always been considered a possible threat. But not in the way that Kaguya or Hayasaka had expected.

Yukinoshita was close to Shijo Maki and seemed to have a strong connection with powerful families in Tokyo. Naturally, anyone from the Shinomiya Family would be wary of her existence.

Hayasaka made sure to include her name occasionally in her work reports.

But as Kaguya’s love rival?

No one, not even Hayasaka, considered it. It was safe to say that the entire school had not expected such a thing either. Yet, when the fact were laid out it suddenly clicked.

The possibility was not zero.

Small pieces of seemingly unrelated information came out like leaks in the pipes of an old building. It all culminated in a seemingly believable pile of conclusions.

The possibility was not zero. That was more than enough. Because, up until now, Kaguya had never had any rivals for Miyuki’s affections. With that no longer seeming to be the case, Kaguya panicked.

"Yukinoshita and Miyuki? Don’t make me sick." Hachiman told Hayasaka. "Those two couldn’t possibly be further away from each other."

Hayasaka thought Hachiman could be jealous, but there was no hint of jealously in his words. However, Hayasaka knew that the situation was so urgent that she couldn’t ponder Hachiman’s real feelings too much. No matter what happened, Kaguya took priority.

But it seemed that Hachiman was also confident about it. Where did that confidence come from? The fact that Hachiman and Yukino had a bond from before?

"Hachiman met that frigid bitch, before we even got to know each other..." Momo told Hayasaka. "They’re not exactly friends, but sometimes you’d think they’re one step away from being lovers. In fact, I always thought they were dating, but Hachiman kept denying it."

As someone who was the closest to him, Momo would know that fact well. Momo was also suspicious of Hayasaka and made her wariness clear. But Momo was also more than aware of Miyuki’s pursuit of Kaguya.

Far too aware.

Without Momo, Miyuki wouldn’t put on such a mask and push himself to half-death, trying to pursue the unobtainable Moon Goddess. The aloof and flawless image that Shirogane Miyuki cultivated was the handiwork of Momo after all.

That’s why Hayasaka was not being overly careful. She was very open about approaching Momo regarding the latest gossip with no hidden intentions. Momo would be able to sense them right away. Thus, being honest about it would actually dampen any suspicions.

"Shinomiya would be insane to think there’s any romance between Miyuki and Yukinoshita. I think she’s lost her mind because she got bounced off to third."

Personally, Hayasaka wanted to agree, but she knew the situation was far more complicated than that. Kaguya wasn’t a stranger to losing, but that rank of second held a special place for her.

No one else would understand. And these people weren’t wrong to see how pointlessly Kaguya was suffering.

"About President planning the Yozakura event with her? Yeah, that’s true. I heard it from President himself during our ride on our way there." Momo sneered. "Shinomiya was dense not to realize it was all done for her sake."

Again, Hayasaka would absolutely agree.

Such a deceptively exquisite party... Miyuki probably worked hard for it without the help of the other Student Council Members. However, he would never admit it.

He was every bit as prideful as Hayasaka’s mistress.

"Did Shinomiya tell you to ask me?" Momo openly questioned. She was done playing ignorant and decided to confront the matter at hand. Namely, Hayasaka had been a good part of the student council for months at this point, and Momo still couldn’t discern her motive.

"Nah. I’m new to the school’s elite circles in general, so I’m curious why it blew up now of all times." Hayasaka shrugged and wryly grinned. "It really was the exam, huh?"

Hayasaka was being honest that Kaguya didn’t specifically tell her to... precisely because Kaguya refused to say anything at all. Everything that was happening today was Hayasaka’s initiative.

Momo squinted, eying Hayasaka discerningly and noticed no hint of fakeness in the other girl’s words, so she decided to ease up.

"Yeah, there was absolutely zero gossip involving them before. It came out because of the exam results." Hachiman came and barged into the conversation. "It was people’s way to destress. Because gossip involving big names on campus boosts dopamine like you wouldn’t believe."

Momo’s face saddened. "Hachiman..."

"More than that, it’s better to simply raise your hands, let this go, and not interfere." Hachiman gravely said. "Shinomiya projected her own insecurities toward Yukinoshita. If she can’t overcome that, then her relationship with Miyuki was destined to fail."

"Yeah, all this time, it was always President who put in some effort." Momo scoffed. "In any case, Shinomiya better shape the fuck up. If she doesn’t want him getting stolen, then lay an early claim."

In all honesty, Hayasaka wanted to agree with them. However, not only was she duty-bound to serve Kaguya, but she also didn’t want to see her wallow in her own sadness like this.

"What about President?" Momo asked him.

Hachiman shook his head. "If Miyuki opens his mouth now, he will either come off as pitying or condescending, so he’s keeping it shut."

It seemed that Hachiman had given up and washed his hands of the entire affair after he failed to convince Miyuki to give up his ego and give a proper confession to Kaguya.

And honestly, Hachiman probably felt mad about it too.

If Miyuki tried to imply that he wanted Kaguya to be there, she might be a lot less mad. Despite her pride, Kaguya would easily overlook it in favor of pursuing a higher objective.

Unlike Miyuki, Kaguya had tons of different sides to her. Some were less prideful than others.

Hayasaka couldn’t blame Hachiman for giving up.

Even so...

Hayasaka felt miffed.

Their entire relationship was defined by working together trying to push Miyuki and Kaguya forward by getting them to put aside their pride, destroying their stupid schemes, and working to get them to actually start nurturing a proper and healthy relationship.

But, you cannot help those who don’t want help.

Was this really the end of their cooperation?

It couldn’t be helped. Hayasaka was a professional. Sometimes, investing in fruitless pursuits was unprofitable. It was just a needless waste of energy.

Yet, thinking about it, Hayasaka felt a sting in her chest.

She felt a cold sensation and looked aside to see Hachiman shoving a cold canned coffee into her shoulder. "It’s hard to deal with these dumbasses, so be sure to keep a cool head if you want to survive this reclusive society of awkward people."

As a matter of fact, Hayasaka might legit be the only one who could be considered normal, and Hachiman was more than willing to reinforce that impression.

He was protecting her disguise.

Hayasaka smiled. Judging by the similar canned coffee in Momo’s hand, Hachiman probably didn’t mean anything special by it. Even so...

It was sweet, in more ways than one. Especially since Hayasaka knew that it was Hachiman’s favorite drink and not Kvass.

"Thank you, Hikigaya-san!" She leaned closer and almost kissed his cheek, if not for Hachiman blocking her forehead and pushing her back. "Ouch!"

Still, he could feel her breath on his face and blushed slightly. Momo almost choked, looking at the scene. Hayasaka was really bold.

Gal girls really are way too shameless. But then again, Momo, of all people, had no right to shame others, considering the amount of vulgarity she showed Hachiman herself. And that one time on the spring vacation camp...

"Sorry about it, Ryuju-san!" Hayasaka apologized quietly.

"Pssh, I bet you haven’t shown him your body." Momo snorted smugly, then took another sip off the Max coffee can.

Hayasaka widened her eyes and looked at Hachiman in disbelief, but the guy didn’t hear the conversation due to the recently plugged earphones.

"Hikki-san! Hikki-san!" Chika arrived in a hurry and then saw the coffee in Hayasaka’s and Momo’s hands. She pulled out one of his earphones, demanding his attention. "Ehehehe, do you have another? I’m kind of thirsty."

Hachiman looked at the coffee in his hand. It was actually his last one. "No. This is my last one."

"WHY?!"

"What about the bubble tea in your hand?" Hachiman, pointed to said item.

Fujiwara Chika became flustered, feeling exposed because it was clear that she only asked for one out of envy. It was true that she ran here with a boba cup in her hand.

Which she had actually forgotten about.

Why would she ask for a canned coffee when she already had a drink in her hand? From Hachiman’s perspective, it was expected when it came to Chika. This is the clumsy and forgetful girl who occasionally lost her lunch to freaking pigeons!

"How about we trade then? I just remember I’m on a diet, so..." Chika decided to pick the standard excuse, even though it wouldn’t fool anyone.

The other three were all too aware of Chika’s monster appetite. Despite her average silhouette, Chika was packed to the brim with muscles, and she had a craving that far exceeded other girls.

Diet my ass!

"..."

Hachiman actually had to weigh it since he bought the cans from outside. They’re considerably cheaper than if he got them in the school vending machine.

He got them for 130 yen. In contrast, the Boba cup in Chika’s hands cost 1000 yen.

"Sure. It’s your financial loss, though." Hachiman handed over the last one to Chika.

"Eugh, why do you have to remind me?" Chika was agape in shock and disgust at Hachiman’s audacity. "Hikki-san, you idiot!"

"Hey, I’m just warning you..." Hachiman told her. "I’m not into ripping my friends off."

"I’m taking that loss!" Chika barked and yanked the last can from his hand. Then shoved the boba cup to his chest.

"Seriously?!"

Hachiman really didn’t know that someone liked Max coffee so much they were willing to get ripped off so openly. Not even Hachiman was that gullible.

Momo and Hayasaka wondered which was worse, that Hachiman was shamelessly petty or that he was being incredibly dense in this moment.

Oh well, it wasn’t like they knew him only yesterday.

やはり, 彼らが望む告白は間違っている. S2 As expected, the Confession they want is wrong S2

**Original Story by: Watari Wataru and Akasaka Aka Written by: @ZeroXSEED, Co-Writer/Editor: @GoukaRyuu**​

Chapter 27 - Kaguya wants to confront...

The situation in the Student Council office was cold.

Ishigami Yuu was hardly the densest man in the world. In fact, he ass exceedingly sensitive. Perhaps it was because he had spent quite a long time alone.

Even before the Ogino incident, Ishigami didn’t have anyone he could call a friend. He had always been a quiet loner that most of his classmates ignored when not needed.

Recently, after the crappy reconciliation (which Ishigami was absolutely sure was staged), the old status quo was returning, and people were starting to ignore him again, with far fewer people expressing hatred directly at him. Ishigami had mixed feelings about it. But, he decided to bear with it.

The air in the student council was cold.

Usually, he could hear a lot of idle chatter between the President and the Vice President. They would talk about small things, including stories as innocuous as Kaguya watching birds near the school fountain.

"The financial report from the soccer club is here."

"Ah, right."

Yet, now they were saying almost nothing to each other beyond what was necessary to do their jobs. Ishigami found that really weird.

The only other person in the room, Iino Miko, probably preferred it this way. She had always been overwhelmed by the pace of the others when it came to messing around.

Ishigami was a bit uncomfortable, though.

"I’m just about done with the accounting. Can I go home early?" Ishigami asked.

"I’m also done with the auditing. I’ll return to the Disciplinary Committee." Miko stated to Miyuki as she stood up too.

"Ah, sure enough." Miyuki wryly smiled. "Be careful on your way."

With that, pretty much almost everyone was done with their work for the period. The current workload had been delayed due to the Council working at half capacity in the period before the exams.

"I-Ishigami!" Miko called out to him as soon as they were out of the Council’s office. "Wait."

"Eh? Umm, sure."

The relationship between Iino Miko and Ishigami Yuu could be said to be awkward. Since Ishigami had stopped being the object of his class’ hatred and a problem student he also stopped being of object of attention for Iino.

Both of them considered it a good thing. The relationship Ishigami and Iino shared before could be said to be toxic and abrasive. Though there was a brief moment where their classmates gossiped that they had a romantic relationship.

However, it made their subsequent interactions very awkward. Closer than acquaintances but less than friends. Sometimes they even took the train home together, and it was awkward every time.

They just didn’t know how to deal with each other when Iino lost the impetus to nag on Ishigami and for him to insult and provoke her in turn.

"Uh... is it just me, or is it really awkward between President and Vice President back there?"

"Just noticed now?"

"No..." Iino said with a guilty face. "It was nice to work quietly for the first few days."

Guilt had finally caught up with her. As much as the usual shenanigans between Kaguya and Miyuki disturbed her, she couldn’t in good conscience say she enjoyed their now cold and distant relationship.

Ishigami thought that Iino looked ugly in more ways than one, but it didn’t elicit any disgust on his part. He could only feel pity. He didn’t know if the one feeling causing Iino’s current wretchedness now were her feelings of camaraderie or her sense of justice. Perhaps a bit of both.

"It was like this ever since the announcement of the exam results..." Ishigami explained her, just in case.

"I know I don’t have the right to say this..." Iino hesitated. "Was it that a big deal?"

Iino always worked hard to maintain her #1 position in terms of grades because she was physically short and unathletic. Because otherwise, she felt she had nothing to personally back her legal authority.

No one would bat an eye. No one would listen to her. Miko had been a victim of minor bullying in the past because she had nothing but her own convictions.

Things only changed because she had become the top of her grade.

However, both President and Vice President were top of theirs, though it went beyond just their grades. Whether it was in terms of athleticism or charisma, they left Iino in the dust.

Iino only had her grades and nothing else. That was why she took the exams with mortal dedication.

"It was!" Ishigami told her. "For you, it might seem trivial, but it meant everything for the second years. From that day, nothing will be the same anymore."

"Ah..."

Right.

The current council roster began with Shirogane Miyuki’s challenge against Shinomiya Kaguya, and things snowballed from there. The general assembly where Miyuki’s candidacy was announced was a riot.

And also, perhaps the relationship between those two began and ended with that rivalry. Miyuki and Kaguya didn’t know how to deal with the change.

Right. Just like Iino and Ishigami.

...

The atmosphere in the Student Council office grew even colder than before.

The lack of shenanigans from Chika and Hayasaka, the lack of Hachiman doing damage control, and the lack of the two awkward freshmen with contrasting attitudes made the tension grow even higher...

It was almost as if the two individuals were left trapped in inescapable ice.

However, it wasn’t as if Miyuki was without any plans.

One word.

One word is all he was waiting for, and then he would do his best to cheer her up in his own way. But without Kaguya speaking first, it would be impossible.

Because Miyuki knew that the door to Kaguya’s heart was half-closed and trying to open her up would only make her retreat back harder, potentially locking herself away.

"...Last week."

YES!

Miyuki pretended he didn’t understand and made a questioning look at her.

"Last week... where did you go, President?" Kaguya asked. "You’re not usually borrowing Hikigaya-san’s bike."

"Ah."

On any other occasion, Miyuki would try to milk the situation for all it was worth, thinking he has the upper hand in their war for a confession. This time though, Miyuki didn’t. Because he knew how hard Kaguya was trying to start a casual conversation.

"Kei and I went to the countryside to visit our father on the farm."

"The farm?" Kaguya raised her eyebrows. "Your father has been working on the farm since April, yes?"

"More accurately, he inherited it from my grandparents." Miyuki confidently nodded. "They’re not getting any younger, and my father has no stable job. So he decided to take it over."

"I see."

Kaguya was more than aware of the financial situation that the Shirogane family suffered. They weren’t just impoverished... they were almost totally destitute.

"I guess it’s thanks to Hachiman." Miyuki laughed. "He can be an asshole, but he always finds the obvious things that people overlook."

Kaguya chuckled a bit, partly amused and partly irritated. How many times had Hachiman’s rotten eyes broken her plans and schemes, whether accidentally or on purpose?

Kaguya couldn’t say she hated him, but she wasn’t fond of him at all.

"That’s indeed true."

"What about you, Shinomiya?"

"I spent most of the last week wall-"

No. Kaguya wouldn’t admit it, her weakness. Especially not to Miyuki. She wouldn’t allow him to know that she had wallowed in her misery for almost three days straight while pretending to be sick to the servants in the family.

It was a believable excuse to claim that the stress from the exams had gotten to her. Not to mention the weather at the time was unstable too. Kaguya’s weakness to the changing of seasons and climates was something the family knew well.

"-aluating my exam results and seeing where I had gone wrong."

"I see."

Here was the minefield. Now that Kaguya had brought up the topic of the exams Miyuki could no longer retreat. No, he didn’t WANT to retreat.

"You were short of a point from a perfect score." Kaguya’s eyes turned dark and lifeless. "Did you find where you had gone wrong?"

Miyuki nodded. "A partially correct answer worth two points."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Since it was partially correct, was it a mistake in writing or-"

"Not at all. It wasn’t a mistake, and I gave a partially wrong answer thinking it was the right one."

Kaguya was legitimately surprised.

Miyuki decided to take that hit to his prestige head-on. Usually, Miyuki would never admit that he was wrong or made mistakes.

Open up, Shinomiya!

"...Surprising." She finally spoke in astonishment.

"I still have a long way to go..." Miyuki said. "And I’m not stopping here."

The implicit message in that statement was that he didn’t intend to slow down for her sake or anyone else’s. If Kaguya kept dragging her feet, then Miyuki would leave her in the dust.

Bite the bait, Shinomiya!

At the end of the day, their relationship had started with provocation. If that was how it had started before, then like the death and rebirth, Miyuki needed to start the cycle again.

"If you’re that determined... then it might be impossible for me to catch up with you again."

Kaguya looked relaxed and content as she said this, but then again, it shook Miyuki. Kaguya. Do not surrender. Ever. It wasn’t in her character to resign into defeat and stop trying.

"Don’t even joke about that." Miyuki smiled back at her, but inside he was screaming. Screaming at her and telling her to try and catch up.

It doesn’t end like this. Shinomiya!

"That’s right, it was a joke." Kaguya took a sip of her tea and sighed. "But Yukinoshita-san... people just keep ignoring her existence and potential, what about you?"

"What about it? We don’t really interact all that much, so I’ve never thought about her at all."

"Is that so?" Kaguya narrowed her eyes. "About the Yozakura event last April too... I heard you two planned it together."

Fuck.

How long had Kaguya known about that? It was something that even Hachiman and Momo knew after the preparations were done. They couldn’t have been the source of leaks...

But...

"Yes." Miyuki calmly and earnestly answered. "I mentioned offhand that I wanted a Yozakura party to be held instead of the original plan she proposed, which was a Hanami party."

"Is that so? And she agreed just like that?" Kaguya was visibly shaken.

"No, I actually had to convince her because she felt that a night party was superfluous and didn’t reflect the image of model students."

Huh? That was surprising. Kaguya did hear that Yukino could be stubborn over the tiniest things, but she disapproved? Does that mean she and Miyuki weren’t on common ground?

"How did you convince her?"

"By finding the cheapest and lowest-key place that was suitable for the event." Miyuki answered. "As you remember, the restaurant we booked wasn’t exactly a top class establishment. She found it an acceptable compromise that fit the budget."

Kaguya DID remember. She was expecting it to be held in a somewhat grander place, but the end result was what mattered the most. She spent a good few hours with Miyuki together, which beat any of the five-star restaurant dinner experiences she had had.

For the entire night, Yukinoshita Yukino wasn’t in the picture at all. She had other people to attend to.

"I did promise the council a fun Yozakura event, and I wanted to fulfill that promise." Miyuki finished his explanation. "That was the extent of our collaboration. Really."

Kaguya relaxed again. Of course. Miyuki made it about them, or rather, himself. But... even though her frigid jealousy had been thawed, her deep-seated insecurities remained.

"I guess I, too... underestimated her." Kaguya stood up and looked out the window. "If there was something I lacked, then it was probably caution."

"That’s right. Actually, what is it that you lacked?" Miyuki stealthily praised her. "You lacked nothing, Shinomiya."

Whether in sports, arts, academics, physical beauty or inner appeal... what was it that Kaguya lacked?

You’re perfect as is.

"Perhaps." Kaguya grinned and twitched.

"Someone like Yukinoshita not entering your field of view isn’t surprising at all." Miyuki stood up. "So don’t be too worried and focus on what you want to do next."

For someone to enter Kaguya’s field of view, they had to try their damnedest, whether on purpose or accidentally. Yet, Kaguya wondered if her thoughts on Yukino were one-sided.

She had to find out for herself.

...

And that was why she ended up confronting Yukino. Kaguya wanted to ascertain her own feelings on the matter and what Yukino thought about it.

"I came here to congratulate you." Kaguya offered her hand. "Congratulations for winning second place."

"Thank you." Yukino was a bit weirded out but appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

"...You don’t seem to be excited."

"To be honest, these academic rankings matter less than the sum of our grades." Yukino confidently answered. "I’m glad it’s higher than what I earned at the end of the first year."

Oh?

Yukino brushed her hair behind her ears and looked out of the window. "Shuchiin’s standard of education terrifies me... I was working with my exam fully expecting to get a failing grade."

"Someone even chastised me for being so busy that I couldn’t maintain a tidy appearance."

If she was that nervous, then how could she...

Oh...

I see.

It never mattered to HER.

"Mistakes are bound to happen to anyone no matter how much you prepare..." Yukino said. "But if you don’t change yourself and the way you think, then your problem will never go away."

Not for a single moment had Yukinoshita cared for her standing in Shuchiin’s society. Because when she had enrolled she had been treated as part of the lower castes. People expected nothing out of her. Just surviving alone was enough.

However...

People who entered Shuchiin from outside were all extraordinary. And Kaguya’s generation was even more outstanding compared to their predecessors.

Just like Hikigaya Hachiman, Yukinoshita built her own social network from scratch. Those two possessed an incredible amount of soft power, not through lies or deception, but by behaving true to themselves.

No...

It could be said that they gained all their power by changing themselves to keep moving and not getting crushed by the circumstances and people around them.

Either survive as heroes or die as peasants. They were too busy climbing up to push others down.

"I find it strange that people made such a big deal of it, achieving second place, I mean."

"Was it?"

"Do people even remember the second tallest mountain in Japan?" Yukino asked.

"Hmm? Yamanashi..." Kaguya tilted her head, thinking. "It’s Mount Kita in the Prefecture of Yamanashi."

"The fact that even someone as brilliant as you hesitated to answer proves that second place does not matter to most people, and yet, for some reason, people made a big deal out of it."

Yukino held the railings of an open window.

"Forget illogical... it doesn’t even follow standard emotional and psychological convention." Yukino laughed, not a shred of burden in her voice. "There’s even plenty of research concerning the Olympics. That it is silver medalists who suffer the most. What’s there to gain being in second place?"

Kaguya wasn’t unfamiliar at all with the idea. The person in third place often came out more satisfied because they subconsciously looked down at people who didn’t get the chance to stand on the podium at all...

It might seem awful, but being human means fighting one’s rotten, animalistic behaviors and instincts with rationality. Hence, respecting opponents regardless of their achievements was the ‘correct’ thing.

Kaguya always knew that the so-called elites only maintained a veneer of respectability. Hiding spite and fierce competition behind polite words, backstabbing each other at a whim, and living hedonistic lives. Because they were above society at large, they didn’t care about respecting others below them.

They didn’t care about behaving like animals. They had the privilege to do so.

Kaguya was not an exception. She did as she pleased, and only her family’s influence and values held her back.

"It doesn’t really matter if I placed second, third, or fourth," Yukino told Kaguya with a hint of annoyance. "With that kind of gap of grades in the first place, it doesn’t matter in the end. President left us both in the dust, didn’t he?"

Hearing Yukino mention it so openly made Kaguya seethe inside.

"Ha, it’s rare to see Auntie loitering around here, even caring to interact with us peasants." A cute voice laced thick with sarcasm said out loud. "Came here to confront Yukino-san or something?"

"You’re mistaken, Shijo-san." Yukino smiled. "Shinomiya-san came to congratulate me."

Kaguya didn’t like that smile at all.

It was too honest and genuine to the point of creepy. And Yukino even said it clearly without a hint of arrogance. Not only that, because Yukino denied the importance of the second rank in Shuchiin, Kaguya was irrationally mad about it too.

Part of her understood Yukino’s opinion, a very logical and grounded view, yet... she couldn’t accept it.

Kaguya was too emotionally compromised to accept it. It was as if Yukino outright denied her existence.

"That’s right." Kaguya grinned. "I came to congratulate her. With that said, I wouldn’t be as complacent next time."

"Isn’t that some kind of thinly veiled challenge?" The red-haired girl, with a face baring a resemblance to Kaguya’s own, goaded. Indeed, Shijo Maki would take every chance she could to throw shade at her distant relative and mortal enemy. "Someone is really a sore loser here."

"You may interpret it as you wish, Shijo-san." Kaguya’s outer expression was calm, but she was screaming murder inside.

"Speaking of sore losers." Yukino’s voice turned cold. "Shijo-san, could you not try to insult someone for losing despite being ranked lower than her?"

Maki coughed blood in response to that. Leave it to Yukino to stab even her closest friend critically with her rapier-sharp tongue!

Kaguya blinked in confusion, however. Was there internal strife among their group? Kaguya wasn’t familiar with Yukino’s personality at all. Take, for example, Chika. Kaguya never, ever once attacked her directly or badmouthed her so straightforwardly.

"I’m taking your side!!" Maki screamed at Yukino, half crying.

"It was incredibly unnecessary, and my point still stands... you can’t provoke Shinomiya-san when your grades were even lower than her!" Yukino told her. "And if it was something as pointless as who would rank higher in the next exam, I have no interest about it at all."

Kaguya almost laughed seeing her old rival getting shanked right in front of her. By a close friend, no less. Yukinoshita Yukino is absolutely savage!

"Well, I guess that was the reason why we put a lockdown on the Service Club activites after all." Maki gave up. "You have zero interest in something like this. But then again, I doubt Auntie can beat you in anything."

Kaguya unconsciously clenched her hand.

She had never felt this threatened before.

"We wouldn’t know that if we don’t try." Momo climbed up from the window with a smug face. "But I guess Yukinoshita is too afraid of losing."

For a second, the entire corridor was filled to the brim with a murderous aura. In the epicenter of that outburst was none other than Yukino.

"Let’s make this more interesting." Momo pointed a finger. "How about you two have some friendly competitions. Not like you have better things to do this Saturday, right? Then we can prove which one of you is more talented."

"As I said-" Yukino was about to retort but was cut off.

"How could you even be a club president with that cowardly mentality?" Momo cackled. "Makes me wonder what Hachiman saw in you back then. It certainly had nothing to do with your lacking figure."

As she said this, Momo slapped her own chest.

The other students nearby gasped. Bringing up a rumor so old it might as well have been stale bread and directly insulting a girl about her body in the same breathe, there was no such thing as too low for Ryuju Momo!

Demon! Ryuuju Momo is a fucking demon!

"...Fine. I wasn’t going to run away, anyway." Yukino sighed. "No offense meant, Shinomiya-san."

"Oh. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy with this either." Kaguya frowned. "But I would embarrass my family if I ran away."