Why the Cool Beauty, Who Repeatedly Keeps on Read and Ignores, Only Replies to Me - The Beautiful and Aloof Girl Wants to Know the Lonely Me - 06 - Cultural Festival Executive Committee Member

【Chapter 2: Cultural Festivals and Changing Relationships】

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The incident occurred a few days after Saeki started sending Limes.

Just before the lunch break after the fourth-period class, Machibari, the class representative, stood in front of the teacher’s desk.

“We’ve decided to choose members for the Cultural Festival Executive Committee in preparation for the end-of-month cultural festival.”

The Cultural Festival, one of the three major events in this high school. It was the first cultural festival for us first-year students, but I had attended this school’s cultural festival during a high school visit in my third year of middle school.

The disparity between classes with motivation and those without is quite noticeable in this high school’s cultural festival. Some classes only display artworks created in art class in their classrooms.

However, since this class seemed to have motivated students, they would probably take care of everything themselves.

“Well then, anyone willing to volunteer for the executive committee?”

When Machibari inquired, the entire class fell silent.

“…I thought so.”

Machibari sighed and returned to her desk for a moment. Then, she came back to the front with something resembling a box in her hands.

“Since it seems like things might take a while this way, let’s decide it fairly by drawing lots. Girls, please draw lots first.”

Saying so, Machibari placed a handmade lottery box on the teacher’s desk.

This is obviously a bad luck lottery. It seemed like everyone in the class, including me, thought that way, and the atmosphere in the class became somewhat heavy.

Being on the executive committee meant not only preparing after school but also attending committee meetings. It was undoubtedly troublesome.

Everyone sighed, thinking that it was burdensome. At least, until this moment.

“Now, if anyone drew a red circle in the lottery, please raise your hand—”

Someone raised their hand silently, and all eyes in the class focused on that person.

“…Alright, then the girl is Saeki.”

Applause and cheers erupted from the class, and the expressions of the boys changed.

Wait, is this really happening? Saeki becoming an executive committee member?

“I have no interest in that.”

She said something like that, so it’s not going to work. The boys were overjoyed, but I was the only one feeling uneasy.

“Now, it’s the boys’ turn.”

Machibari, seemingly fed up with the excitement of the boys, called the boys to the front of the blackboard.

With the executive committee member’s right, which had been considered a bad luck draw until now, suddenly becoming a first prize draw, the tension in the classroom became palpable.

If I become an executive committee member with Saeki, I’ll likely face relentless harassment from jealous guys. My peace will undoubtedly be shattered.

But before thinking about Saeki—being an executive committee member for the cultural festival is something I absolutely don’t want.

I was cursing my bad luck.

I unfolded the folded paper, and the red circle in the center caught my eye.

“…!”

This is bad…

If I become an executive committee member with Saeki, I’ll face relentless harassment from jealous guys, and my peace will undoubtedly be shattered.

Before thinking about Saeki, becoming a cultural festival executive committee member is something I absolutely don’t want.

I was cursed with bad luck.

At that moment, I got an idea.

I needed to handle this situation skillfully without buying hate from others and rather gain their cooperation.

I approached Harada, a popular guy sitting behind me, who had just drawn his lot and returned with drooping shoulders.

He didn’t get the winning draw this time.

This time, all the boys, except Saeki, and me, drew losing lots.

Harada looked at me with a puzzled expression as I approached.

“Hey, what are you doing, Okami?”

“Harada… if no one is watching right now, will you exchange your lottery with mine?”

“What?”

I snatched the crumpled paper from Harada’s hands and handed him my paper in return.

He looked at the lottery in his hand, then at me with widened eyes.

“Oi, Okami, what’s the deal?”

“……Just do it.”

Harada clasped his hands together as if praying, and without saying a word, he returned to his seat.

“Now, boys who drew the red circle, please raise your hands.”

“Yes, yes! It’s me!”

Harada raised his hand with a beaming smile, appealing to the class.

The applause for Harada was drastically different from the cheers for Saeki, and I let out a sigh of relief.

This was too dangerous, and I had to improvise quickly to avoid trouble.

“Alright, so the executive committee members are Harada-kun and Saeki-san. Please go to the committee room for a meeting after school.”

Machibari seemed pleased with how smoothly things had settled.

I glanced at Saeki from the corner of my eye. She was staring directly at me.

She must be looking at… Harada. Right, there’s no reason for her to be interested in me.

However………an issue arose a week after the executive committee members were decided.