The Story of How I, a Guy Who Couldn’t Care Less About School Castes, Somehow Ended Up Making All the Five-Star Gals Fall for Me - Chapter 23: Want Me to Pay You Back With My Body Right Now?

Chapter 23: Want Me to Pay You Back With My Body Right Now?

“This is a wig, Kizuki-shi.”

Her tone had slipped back to its usual self.

The sender of the mysterious letter was none other than Platina Kongouji.

Once she realized she’d been exposed, she casually pulled off the black wig. She slipped off the net holding her real hair in place, and her trademark silver locks spilled down in a gleaming cascade.

“Ugh, my head was so hot and heavy. Ahh—what a relief.”

Running her fingers through that silver hair, she undid the top button of her shirt. It seemed her chest had felt stifled—she even waved a hand to fan the deep valley of cleavage.

The perfect honor-student disguise dissolved in an instant, leaving only the usual Platina behind.

“To think you couldn’t see through me with just a little makeup… your eye for women still has a long way to go, Kizuki-shi.”

Like she was done with the whole act, she tossed the wig at me without a care. And really—what was I supposed to do with this?

“Going that far with a disguise, even putting on an act… that’s not just dress-up—that’s practically transformation!”

Now that she had stripped away the mask, the dazzling presence of Platina Kongouji stood revealed in full.

“You fell for it pretty well up until the end. Guess the time I spent was worth it.”

“You looked like a completely different person.”

“Don’t exaggerate.”

“I’m serious.”

“…And you mean that in a good way?”

“Definitely positive. But what about the glasses?”

“Oh, those? Just fakes I wear for fashion.”

“So disguise is your specialty, huh.”

“When did you realize it was me?”

“The way you said Hari’s name… and your build.”

“My build?”

“No matter how much you change your hair or clothes, you can’t change your frame. The width of your shoulders, the length of your arms and legs… And when I pictured you slouching instead of standing tall, it matched perfectly with the usual Kongouji.”

“…You actually noticed all that? What, you got a ruler stuck in your head or something?”

“I was trained to pay attention to details, ever since way back.”

Hari used to drill it into me during ballet practice—always making me check her form over and over until it became second nature. That habit never left her.

“…Creepy.”

“At least call it sharp observation skills, would you?”

Kinda stings when she puts it like that.

“But seriously, you’re a guy who doesn’t get fooled by appearances.”

Platina sounded genuinely impressed.

“So then, what’s with the old-school move of summoning me by letter?”

“It was my way of showing sincerity.”

With that, Platina plopped herself right onto the teacher’s desk.

…So much for proper manners.

“What you said earlier didn’t exactly sound like that, though?”

I set the wig down on the teacher’s desk and leaned against it with one elbow.

Side by side, without looking at each other, we stared out at the empty classroom.

“I’ll be blunt. Stay away from us. You and I can’t be friends.”

“I was just a classmate from the start. It’s not like I ever demanded some excuse of ‘friendship between boys and girls.’”

“I know.”

“Then at least give me the right to hear your reason.”

Since she’d gone out of her way to summon me alone, this had to be Platina’s personal decision.

“What I want is simple—a comfortable status quo. The four of us staying best friends and graduating happily together. I don’t want anything to change.”

“And I’m the one getting in the way of that?”

Platina nodded, casting a glance at me from the corner of her eye.

The queen at the top of the school caste… and me, a nobody outside the whole system—there was no way I actually had that kind of influence, right?

“We chose our current situation because being friends with each other is easier than romance.”

“So what?”

“We believe our bond is strong enough as it is. And that’s why the fact that you’ve been accepted by us is… abnormal.”

Platina’s usually unreadable face now carried a clear trace of wariness.

“Kongouji, you’re more cautious than I thought.”

“I honestly couldn’t care less about the whole school caste thing. As long as no one gets in the way of the four of us being close friends, I don’t mind if the rest of the class treats us like idols. In fact, that invisible wall helps—keeps out people who don’t belong. It’s convenient, really. …Not that it means much to you, though.”

“I’m just not good at picking up on those unspoken rules.”

I didn’t deny it.

The truth was, caste divisions probably worked as a filter to keep groups clean.

Humans weren’t so amazing or tolerant that they could adapt to pure chaos.

“We’re the ones who invited you in first. For that, I apologize. But you’ve blended in too well. This is where it ends.”

Platina looked at me with eyes tinged with sorrow.

After a flicker of hesitation, she quietly handed me something that felt like a gentle breakup notice.

“──Ordinary people don’t have the strength to ignore everyone else’s standards, nor the confidence to go through adolescence all alone. That’s why you’re a little special, Kizuki.”

In other words, she was telling me I’d be fine even if I went back to being alone.

And she wasn’t wrong.

Realistically, a lone guy sticking around a tight-knit group of girls forever was bound to be awkward.

“You’re the same as me, Kongouji. You’d be fine on your own too, wouldn’t you?”

That much I’d noticed from the start.

Among the four, Platina Kongouji was the only one who seemed perfectly at ease standing alone.

“Exactly. If I were a guy, I’d probably have become your best friend. Personally, I like you. And that’s no lie.”

“I’ll agree with that.”

“That makes me happy. Glad it’s not just in my head. Looks like my taste in the opposite sex is working fine.”

“But people too similar usually wear each other out.”

“Cold, aren’t you? I think the opposite—we’re such a good match that it’s easy. Less compromise needed. Being around dull people is what’s exhausting.”

…And yeah, I understood that feeling.

“Funny you say that, and yet you still go through all this roundabout stuff.”

“It’s a painful decision for me too. But my friends matter more—especially Hari. She’s too straightforward, and that makes her fragile. A glass doll breaks if you don’t handle it with care. That’s why I need you to quietly back off.”

“And why drag Suitengu-san into this?”

“Because you’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? Hari’s changing.”

Platina clearly didn’t like that change.

“So you went through all this trouble, dressed up like that, just to play the villain and tell me this?”

Her actions were hard to grasp.

She didn’t strike me as the sentimental type—more of a hedonist, honestly.

And yet here she was, looking ahead, deciding that if Ikoi Kizuki became the spark for romance and risked shaking the Fives’ balance, then better to cut things off now.

“Hari should stay innocent and beautiful. Let the people around her handle all the messy stuff. Don’t you agree?”

Platina asked it in a dreamy tone, like she was gazing at a work of art.

“…That’s some beautiful friendship you’ve got there.”

“Women’s friendship is fragile. That’s why we cling to it so desperately,” Platina muttered with a self-mocking smile.

“You girls will be fine, though.”

I just said what I’d seen.

Each of the four had her own unshakable core, yet they still managed to get along without denying one another. That was practically a miracle.

That kind of bond—that was the real deal.

“But throw a guy into the mix, and it never stays simple. That’s how it feels to me.”

Platina’s expression clouded over.

“So… Platina Kongouji, you’ve got stronger feelings for Hari than anyone else, huh.”

“I won’t deny it.”

I still couldn’t figure out her endgame.

If she really wanted to get rid of Ikoi Kizuki quickly, the most effective way would’ve been to smear me in public—make me look guilty of something I hadn’t done—and have me ousted under the weight of everyone’s eyes.

As long as the fans were watching, there’d be no way I could approach the Fives again.

Their following was strong and disciplined—merciless enough to never overlook someone who broke the rules.

And in high school life, that kind of social exile would’ve been fatal.

Even if I wasn’t the type to run with a crowd, being targeted by that kind of hostility would still wear me down.

So instead of using brute force, Platina had chosen a different route—taking on the dirty role herself, calling me out in private, and negotiating face-to-face.

I couldn’t help but wonder what her real intention was.

“Then what if I don’t agree?”

I didn’t think I’d done anything that deserved being tossed out on the spot.

If there was room to talk, I wanted to know why.

“Oh? So you won’t just go along with it today.”

She’d taken my bluff for reluctance.

“Being singled out without a word would just feel plain awful.”

“Then here’s my counteroffer.”

“What are you going to give me in return?”

“Hm. If need be, I’ll play the role of your lover. That should clear away any dirty thoughts.”

“Hah?”

This time I really did doubt my ears.

“Didn’t you hear me? I’ll do whatever you want. If you like, I’ll even pay you back with my body right now.”

Platina traced the line of her body with her hand.

The meaning was obvious.