Vol 2 Chapter 41 – Interlude: I’ve Been Waiting for This Moment!

I heard a rumor that the “Modern Culture Research Society,” the club Kajiwara-kun is in, went through some shady process and is getting promoted to a full-fledged club.

I thought it had to be a lie, but according to the intel from my gyaru network, it seems to be true.

In that moment, a bolt of lightning shot through me.

This is the moment I’ve been waiting for! I thought.

“Class Rep, the heavens have chosen me!”

“What’s with the sudden delusions of divine right? Has your desperation for a boyfriend finally made you snap?”

“Hey, that’s harsh!”

The Class Rep says some surprisingly cruel things.

But I’m a gyaru.

A little slander like that won’t faze me!

“You of all people should know, Class Rep. That the club Kajiwara-kun is in got promoted. Surely a low-ranking member of the student committee like yourself wouldn’t be out of the loop!”

I mean, it’s become a rumor that even I managed to catch.

Or so I told her.

The Class Rep just nodded as if to say, Oh, that thing.

I smiled, my thin lips curling.

“Hehehe, the day has finally come for me to enjoy the springtime of my youth in the same club as Kajiwara-kun. The heavens have not forsaken me!”

“I really doubt it’s going to be the wonderful development you’re imagining.”

The Class Rep shot down my fantasy with an exasperated look.

Her gaze was ice-cold.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s because I’m a low-ranking committee member that I know more than you do. Like how the student council is royally pissed off at the administration and parents for their high-handed methods, and how even though they had to approve the club promotion—”

The Class Rep let out a sigh.

Haaaah.

“—they’ve also allowed the ‘Modern Culture Research Society’ to set up powerful membership restrictions, effectively rendering it a club in name only.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that if you and I were to try and join that club right now, we’d be rejected, no question.”

Dammit, that’s the punchline?!

But, rejected?

How, for example?

“What kind of method would they use to reject us?”

“Well, third-years would be dismissed from the start for saying something so stupid at this time of year. And first- and second-years would probably be forced to take some ridiculously unreasonable entrance test.”

“Unreasonable in what way, for instance? I’d love for you to tell me.”

I tilted my head.

If it’s the Class Rep, she might know a few things.

Using my gyaru nature to be friendly with everyone, I asked her.

“…What are you going to do even if you know? It’s on a level that even I’ve given up on from the start, you know?”

“First, I’ll give it a shot! You never know until you try!!”

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Even if the path is narrow, a route has now appeared.

If I tread carefully, it might just be a path I can get through.

It’s worth a shot, boss, I said.

“You know, I think I might not hate that side of you. I’m a little moved.”

The Class Rep showed a strange flicker of interest.

But she added, as if to say, However…

“Hey, what would you think if you were in Kajiwara-kun’s position? Think about the situation carefully.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the hordes of people rudely swarming the club wanting to join. Have you actually thought about what Kajiwara-kun would think, seeing that?”

The Class Rep scratched her forehead with her finger.

Scratch, scratch.

“When you’re having a good time with your fellow otaku, don’t you think it’d be unpleasant if someone with no connection to or interest in your hobby came barging in just to date you? What guarantee is there that he wouldn’t feel bad for his hobby-mates and get furious?”

“Hrmph, that’s true. You’re absolutely right.”

She had a point.

It would definitely be unpleasant.

I have to think this method through very, very carefully.

“Okay, then I’ll just ask Kajiwara-kun. If he’d be willing to at least accept the membership applications.”

“How did you arrive at that conclusion?”

The Class Rep tilted her head.

She doesn’t get it.

“From what I hear, the club president… Takahashi-san, was it? She’s an impregnable fortress. She can’t be taken head-on. She’d make us take some crazy test or interview, and it would be impossible to clear such a high hurdle.”

“Probably.”

“Then he who would shoot the general must first shoot his horse.”

It all came back to Kajiwara-kun.

Going through him is the only path to success.

“I just have to tell Kajiwara-kun. That if they’re opening their doors to everyone, I’m interested, so couldn’t he at least let me take the entrance test? If I get his permission politely and directly, no one should be offended. I see a little ray of hope.”

“Ugh…”

What the hell is wrong with your thought process?

The Class Rep looked at me as if to say just that.

Hey, it’s a perfectly sound opinion.

“Won’t you just get rejected at that point?”

“Go for broke. Besides, if I’m honest with Kajiwara-kun about it and he turns me down flat, I don’t think it’ll leave a bad impression on him. With this plan, there’s little damage even if I fail.”

I don’t think this plan is wrong.

That’s the kind of person Kajiwara-kun is.

It’s because he’s that kind of person that this gyaru fell for him so hard.

“You know, honestly, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. That’s that. But I think only an idiot would pass up this chance.”

“…”

The Class Rep was speechless.

Did I say something weird?

“Yeah, with your insane guts, you might just pull it off.”

The Class Rep nodded, looking genuinely impressed.

“I’ll help you out a little. I’m just a Class Rep, after all. The lowest of the low in the student council, but I might be able to get an answer if I ask, just for the sake of gossip, ‘What kind of unreasonable conditions is the Modern Culture Research Society putting on new members?'”

“You’ll go ask for me?”

“I’ll do what I can. What I can, but…”

The Class Rep is such a good person.

When all is said and done, she’s kind to a gyaru like me.

“Yeah, well, I don’t have the guts to say all that to Kajiwara-kun. But, if you succeed in joining, what then? You’d better at least introduce me as a friend. I need some kind of reward, you know.”

Whoops, she attached a small condition.

Well, if it’s just that, I don’t mind.

“Yup, yup, you got it~”

I waved my hand back and forth.

Now, let’s just hope the Class Rep can get the information safely.

And, as soon as she gets it…

“It’ll be time to execute the plan. Call me the star of stratagem, maybe.”

It was from a manga I’d started reading recently to brush up on my otaku knowledge.

I modeled myself after the star of destiny of a certain character from an end-of-the-century savior manga, long past its prime in the Reiwa era.

“Hehehe, I won’t let you get away, Kajiwara-kun.”

I let my thoughts drift to the first boy I’d ever fallen in love with in my life.

Children of artificial insemination.

Girls like us fall in love very easily.

So you’ll have to forgive me for being a little obsessive, Kajiwara-kun.

Thinking such thoughts, I gazed out the window.

The time allowed for this showdown would surely last from the season of fresh green until the rainy season began.