Why Is the Prettiest Girl in School Trying to Talk to a Loner Like Me during Lunch Break?

Chapter 123 – Echigoya

“A public debate!? What—Class Rep, what’s that?”

“Andou-kun, don’t tell me… You don’t remember the student council election from first year?”

“Not at all!!”

“Don’t proudly declare that together with Yamada! Honestly…”

“Even if you say that, back in first year I had zero interest in student council stuff. Same for Yamada, right?”

“Yeah! Actually, was there even an event like that?”

“Yes, there was! Listen. A ‘public debate’ is exactly what it sounds like—the student council candidates gather in the school auditorium and discuss what activities they’ll do to improve the school, all in front of the entire student body.”

“But does that even mean anything? For a ‘loner’ like me, standing in front of all the students in the auditorium is basically torture…”

“Dahaha! True, Andou does seem bad at that stuff! Besides, what’s the point when you haven’t even been elected student council president yet?”

“……”

(When I’m taking the trouble to explain, I wonder if these guys are even listening properly.)

“Of course it has meaning. This is a huge chance for you, Andou-kun. This ‘public debate’ is a type of election performance! By participating, the existence of ‘Andou-kun’ as a candidate will be known to all students whether they like it or not.”

“Ah, I see… True, even though I’m running, there must be students who don’t even know ‘I’ exist as a candidate…”

“That’s it! Because Andou is a ‘loner’ after all!”

“Shut up. Yamada, be quiet!”

“That’s right. That’s why we can’t miss this chance. Plus, students can grasp each candidate’s characteristics through this debate. Of course, if you lose an argument or slip up during the debate, your support rate might drop…”

“But conversely, if I can stand out, I can boost my support rate… right?”

“Exactly. Looks like you’re getting it.”

“Yeah, I kinda understand now.”

“Yep! I get it too! So basically I just need to yell super loud, right? Alright, leave it to me! On the day, I’ll deliver my max-power singing voice to everyone!”

“Shut up. Yamada, be quiet.”

“Looks like ‘Andou-kun’ is getting it.”

“Yeah, ‘I’ kinda understand now.”

“Hm!? Huh? What’s going on…?”

“Yamada, sorry but… I need to do some serious scheming, and you’re being Jama-da, so could you step outside for a bit—actually, Yoshida was just complaining he wanted to play baseball with you. You’re done here for today anyway, so why don’t you go to Yoshida?”

“For real!? Sweet! Then I’m going to Yoshida!”

Rattle rattle~

“Yoshidaaa! Let’s play baseball!”

“Andou-kun… You’ve gotten really good at handling Yamada.”

“You think? Well, I have been with him a lot lately…”

“But pushing Yamada onto Yoshida-kun like that—was that okay?”

“Eh, it’s fine, right? I mean, Yoshida’s basically Yamada’s guardian anyway.”

“Guardian…”

(If he heard that, he’d go bald from stress.)

“More importantly Class Rep, that debate’s tomorrow, right? Now that the obstacle’s gone, let’s start our ‘evil scheming’?”

“‘Evil scheming’… Andou-kun, couldn’t you phrase it better… Like ‘strategizing’ or something?”

“Kukuku… Class Rep, you’re quite the villain yourself~”