Chapter 187: "Princess"
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
Hoshi finished speaking to the other students.
Seiji was also finally able to face reality.
"Senpai..."
"Let’s go outside the classroom to speak."
The stares from the other students were still a bit painful to bear.
"Senpai... you seem rather fatigued; have you been having a difficult time recently?" Hoshi seemed concerned for Seiji as they walked into the hallway.
‘Yes, I’m having a difficult time. All my fatigue is because of you, damn it!‘
"It’s okay... some stuff happened, but it’s already taken care of." Seiji sighed.
"Was it about Kagura-san?" Hoshi blinked in seeming realization.
Seiji nodded.
"I knew it! I figured that Senpai must have been working behind the scenes for Kagura-san’s sake!" Hoshi clenched his fist as his eyes began sparkling. "And now, Senpai’s dealt with every problem and saved Kagura-san! Right?"
"Saved... I suppose." Seiji awkwardly averted his gaze. "But I didn’t take care of every problem. I could only deal with some of them."
"Senpai, you’re being humble again."
"Not at all; I’m just telling you the truth... Eh? I feel like I’ve said something like this before." Seiji fixed his gaze on his junior. "Don’t overestimate me. There are things I can’t accomplish either, so please remember that."
Hoshi didn’t reply and merely looked at him with a bright smile and stars in his eyes.
There was nothing vicious whatsoever about Hoshi’s expression.
'Why can I still feel a chill, then?' Seiji's eyebrows shot up.
He wanted to say something else, but before he could speak, Hoshi began talking again.
"How’s Kagura-san doing now? She hasn’t been coming to school ever since that day, so I was a little worried, but when Senpai stopped coming to school as well, I guessed that she must have been together with you..."
"Yeah. She and I... got involved in some things that are hard to talk about." Seiji scratched his face. "Now... she’s become my adopted sister... we’re going to live together."
Hoshi was rendered speechless.
"Wha-?" Two seconds later, he finally realized what he had heard and made a sound of astonishment.
Ever since that phone call that day, Hoshi had been imagining how the situation would be resolved.
But this result was far beyond his imagination!
"Adopted... sister? Live together!?" The handsome boy (in female clothing) was utterly stunned.
Seiji nodded in embarrassment.
"Even though I wanted to wait for you guys to finish talking, I’m no longer able to just stand by after hearing this," a voice said from beside them.
It was Chiaki.
Chiaki and Mika had been waiting on the side, but she couldn’t help interrupting at this point in the conversation.
"Kagura-san became your adopted sister and is even going to begin living together with you? Heh heh, Seigo, do you still remember what I told you last time?"
The tomboy flashed a dark smile.
‘Even Chiaki is acting like this... this is too much!’ Seiji felt helpless about the situation.
He didn’t want to deal with this right now.
'I'll use the decoy substitution technique!'
"I already told everything to Mika, so just listen to her explanation. I’m going to go help out in the classroom now!"
After giving them a decoy, he instantly fled.
"Senpai!"
"Seigo!"
Seiji merely responded to the shouting behind him by waving his hand.
...
Under the direction of the class representative Koji Hoshihara, Seiji put on a cosplay uniform. The role assigned to him in the café was a waiter.
This cosplay uniform was a butler-style humanoid fantasy creature. Seiji didn’t know where his class had borrowed it from, but the uniform’s quality was quite high. Thanks to his excellent figure and appearance, it looked really cool on him. It was almost as if he were a handsome guy who had jumped out of a female-oriented fantasy manga.
There was also a hood attached to the cosplay uniform as well, but all the girls present strongly insisted that he couldn't wear it after they saw his appearance in this outfit.
That turned out to be a wise decision.
As the poster boy for their classroom to attract customers with, he was surrounded before long!
All the visiting students and guests took pictures of him nonstop with their cell phones and continually requested him to take various poses or capture selfies together with them.
Of course, most of them felt obligated to visit the class’s confectionery store after having taken pictures, which was why Year 1 Class 5’s confectionery store was filled to the brim with a huge line of customers waiting outside!
All the waiters were overwhelmed by the work.
That’s when Seiji shouted loudly: "Get out of the way; let the professional do this!"
...Okay, that was made up.
He did temporarily halt taking pictures together with the guests, as he used his skills from the real confectionery store to quickly deal with the chaotic situation.
Afterwards, he became the shift leader and gave instructions to his fellow students on what to watch out for, as well as assigning specific tasks to everyone so that the store could operate more efficiently.
"Harano-san is so amazing! He must be an excellent employee in the real confectionery store as well with those abilities of his." Koji sighed in amazement. "Seeing your outstanding work, I can completely understand why your boss was so willing to give us all this help in setting up for the school festival... because she really values you!"
Seiji smiled in response. "That’s an exaggeration, Class Rep."
Rika Amami helped him due to a certain trade he made with her.
Well, it was due to his good performance in the store being recognized by the owner that he could make the trade in the first place, so it wasn’t exactly wrong to say that his work performance was what made her willing to help him.
As for the trade... he needed to contact with Peach-sensei soon.
‘After I finish the hectic work here, take a rest, have some lunch, and finish reading the love letters, I'll give her a call." Seiji planned out his day.
Time passed by busily.
It was finally time for a change of shifts.
Seiji changed out of his cosplay uniform and finished up his work in the classroom before letting the class representative and the other students know that he was leaving.
Where were Chiaki and Mika right now? Chiaki was probably helping out at the drama club, but as for Mika... he had no clue.
Seiji took out his cell phone as he walked and was about to call them when someone interrupted him.
"Harano-san..."
Two unfamiliar girls were looking at him nervously.
‘They seem to be first-year high schoolers like me.’ That was Seiji’s first impression of them.
"Do you two have some business with me?"
"We... have a friend... she has something she’d like to say to Harano-san," the girl with short dark brown hair replied.
Seiji blinked in realization. ‘Oh... that’s what it is.’
He wasn’t one hundred percent certain if it was what he thought it was, but it seemed likely.
"Is it something really important?"
'I might as well confirm it.'
"Yep... She’s waiting somewhere else..." said the other girl, whose hair was dark red and curly.
"Okay, let’s go together then." Seiji put away his cell phone as he smiled gently.
Both girls appeared slightly surprised, and their cheeks began to flush red.
"Please come with us..."
They led the way.
"Harano-san is so handsome!"
"Yep, handsome and gentle, so perfect."
"That’s why our princess likes him..."
The two girls whispered to each other secretly and believed that the boy behind them couldn’t overhear.
But thanks to his improved physical abilities, Seiji could actually make out their conversation.
‘Princess?’
That was probably just a nickname, not the real deal.
This nickname, while rather cliche, was still regal. He looked forward to seeing what type of person she was.
But thinking about his own current nickname, Seiji felt the urge to cover his face.
As for all the well-known nicknames in Genhana High School, he felt that they were mostly rather exaggerated and immature, while the remaining ones were either cliche or classical.
Embarrassment aside, and considering them seriously, these well-known nicknames usually described the person’s characteristics, or an obvious trait or famous incident attributed to them.
The nickname "princess" was most likely the same and represented something one of her traits or a well-known matter she was involved in.
These two girls leading the way seemed to be first-year high school students.
The "princess" would most likely also be a high school freshman.
For a first-year high school girl that was able to be called "princess" by other girls... Seiji’s first guess would have been Natsuya Yoruhana, but the president was still currently in the hospital, and she didn't she seem like the type to act that way.
Then that meant that this was a girl who was special enough to still be called "princess" even with the existence of the brilliant and eye-catching student council president Natsuya around.
What type of person would she be?
Seiji was truly curious.
The two girls leading the way took him out of the school building, through the crowds, and all the way to a somewhat concealed place behind the school building.
A dark purple-haired girl was standing there, gazing at the tops of the trees.
She turned around when she heard footsteps approaching.
Seiji’s expression froze over when he saw her face.