The Beautiful Girl Who Asked Me to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend Didn’t Want to Break up With Me for Some Reason - Chapter 24

A few days after the celebration party, in the morning.

When we arrived at the classroom, there was a crowd in the hallway.

They were gathered to look at the list of top scorers from the recent test.

It might seem old-fashioned now, but at Seimei High School, every time there’s a test, the names, scores, and rankings of the top students are posted on the hallway wall.

People gather early in the morning just to catch a glimpse of it.

Well, that was our goal too, after all.

“Are you nervous?”

“Just a little. I know that no matter how much I fidget, the result won’t change, but until I actually see the result, I can’t help but feel nervous.”

Shirafuji, who asked me, was completely calm.

Her usual relaxed demeanor helped calm my restless heart.

“However… there are so many people, I can’t see anything.”

“I can go check, but would you prefer to stay together?”

“Yes, let’s wait a little. I came prepared for this situation, so I have some time.”

“Though, the voices from the crowd still reach us.”

Among the voices coming from the crowd, I could hear Shirafuji’s name mentioned several times.

“Shirafuji-san, first place again?”

“That’s amazing, as expected of the talented lady.”

“Her record for maintaining first place just keeps growing.”

“…It seems like my results are as they said,” Shirafuji said.

“It looks like it. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. But… I wanted to check the results with Hakuto, so I feel a bit like I’ve been spoiled by spoilers. I’m not angry, though. It’s just how things are, and I’m sure there was no ill intent.”

Shirafuji said this with a faint air of dissatisfaction, though she wasn’t really upset.

Her facial expressions were subtle, but this was clearly her way of showing she wasn’t actually angry.

“More importantly, what I’m curious about is Hakuto’s rank.”

“I didn’t mean to make your results the opening act, but my self-assessment is pretty harsh. It depends more on the results of others than on my own.”

After a while, the crowd started to thin out a little.

Seizing the opportunity, we positioned ourselves where we could finally see the posted list and began checking the names starting from the top.

At the very top, as expected, was the shining name of “Shirafuji Shirafuji” in first place.

Her score was an astonishing 491 points… a total that could only be achieved with almost perfect scores across all subjects.

She had a lead of more than ten points over second place, reigning at the very peak.

We moved our eyes down to continue scanning the list.

The list went down to fifty names.

I ignored the unfamiliar names and only looked for my own…

“Ah.”

I finished reading the list, and a sound escaped me.

“Kuwazome Hakuto, 50th place, 412 points.”

The soft touch of her left hand, which I had been holding silently, and her slightly cool body temperature came through.

Turning around, I saw Shirafuji with a faint smile on her face.

“Congratulations, Hakuto.”

As soon as I heard her words of congratulations, a complicated feeling welled up inside me.

The biggest part of it was the happiness of having achieved the goal I set for myself and the relief of not disappointing Shirafuji’s expectations.

“…Thank you, Shirafuji. It’s thanks to you studying with me.”

“My help was minimal. This is a result that you earned through your own hard work, so you should be more proud of yourself.”

Shirafuji’s choice of words seemed to be aimed at building my confidence.

The first time might have been a fluke.

It’s only by getting the same results again that it can truly be called skill.

Still, for now, Shirafuji was showing me that it was okay to celebrate this achievement.

“I’m glad we both reached our goals. I didn’t want either of us to feel like the only one left behind.”

“Didn’t you plan on comforting the one who didn’t make it?”

“Well, yes. But if you work hard and don’t get any reward, your motivation for the next challenge will fade. That’s why I even bought a maid outfit online.”

“…Eh?”

I could understand rewarding effort even if someone didn’t reach their goal, but a maid outfit?

She actually bought it, so that means she intended to wear it, right?

I really hope she didn’t buy it with the intention of making me wear it.

“Anyway, let’s talk about the reward when we get home.”

“…Yeah, right.”

“If you want, I could wear the maid outfit and serve you… Or something like that.”

“………I’ll think about it.”

It was such an appealing suggestion that I couldn’t outright refuse, so I left it unresolved.

…Shirafuji in a maid outfit would definitely suit her.

The mention of serving me stirred up some very vivid thoughts, but no, I wasn’t swayed by that… okay, maybe I was, just a little.

The rest of the classes were taken with a bit of a cheerful mood, but since most of the time was spent returning tests and explaining the answers, it didn’t cause too many problems.

It seemed that the test was generally difficult this time, and the average score had dropped.

That’s probably why I barely managed to scrape by in 50th place.

When school ended, and I was about to change my shoes in the shoe locker…

“…What is this?”

“Is something wrong?”

“There’s a letter in my shoe locker.”

What I found was a letter carefully folded.

The cover had my name, “Kuwazome Hakuto-san,” written in slightly rounded letters.

I had seen similar things before.

“…Hakuto.”

Shirafuji’s mutter was quiet, without any intonation.

Her expression was flat, and her face was pale, almost unnaturally so.

Then, with trembling hands, she reached out toward the letter I was holding.

“What’s written inside, I wonder?”

“…Let’s find out.”

It might be something completely different from what I expected.

A challenge letter, a duel invitation… though aren’t duels kind of illegal?

…I was so flustered that I had all these useless thoughts.

I unfolded the letter and read the message inside.

“I have something I want to talk to you about, Hakuto-san. Could you come to the back of the school building after school tomorrow?”

The message, written in the same rounded letters as the address, could only be one thing…

“…Could I get the opinion of the experienced Shirafuji-san?”

“……………………Considering the situation, the tone of the handwriting, the content of the letter, and the specified time and place, it’s highly likely to be a confession.”

After a long, heavy silence, Shirafuji replied with an annoyed tone.

Hearing her response, I couldn’t help but cover my face in embarrassment.