My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 212

Volume 7: I hope that for now, I can remain in your eyes as I am.

Yui Irito: The Dark Side and Aspirations of a Serious Girl

"Hmm... 'Family' or something like that?"

After listening to my proposal, which I had racked my brains for a long time, my classmate Ye rolled his eyes at me and said:

What if the person selected in the lottery doesn't have any family members?

"Huh? Do I really need to think that much?... Hmm—but it's not entirely impossible..."

"To be honest, isn't it a bit inappropriate to borrow people? Doesn't it seem like treating people like objects?"

"Well, but a race using borrowed objects needs a topic like this to really liven things up."

"This is really hard..."

In the student council room after school, the two of us first-year students huddled together, muttering to ourselves, trying to come up with ideas for the sports festival's borrowed race.

Our school's borrowing race has a rather unique rule: you can "change the question." If you find the question you draw too difficult, you can run to another lottery box and draw again. The questions in the earlier boxes are harder, and the questions get easier the further you change them—the rules are inexplicably ingeniously designed.

It takes a lot of time to get an easy question, but it's very difficult to get the first question right.

The difficulty level of the competition was well-balanced, but different questions had to be prepared for each difficulty level, so the people in charge of preparation—that is, us—really racked our brains.

Like now, we've only just begun to tackle the most difficult problems and we've already encountered difficulties.

"Even if the questions are difficult, they still need to be designed so that anyone who draws one can pass in order to be considered fair."

"So, even a common 'person you like' won't work? It doesn't have to be a romantic crush; bringing a friend is fine too..."

What if someone who has no friends gets drawn?

"Well, well... we can always change the topic, so there's no need to overthink it..."

Even though I say this, if I had drawn this question in junior high, I probably would have felt very sad. Because when I was in first grade, I didn't have any crushes or friends...

"Would it be okay to just write about rare subjects? For example, 'people who have passed the Han-style proficiency test Level 1'?"

"Ah, those qualification-based questions might work. But for creating a lively atmosphere, perhaps a more personal topic would be better..."

"...Irito-san, do you really want to give me a romance-related topic?"

Tomorrow, Ye Yuan stared at me with his eyes half-open.

I couldn't help but immediately force a smile and say:

"Well, it's not that it has to be... but that kind of thing is just more likely to please the audience."

"……I can not understand."

Asahi-no-Yuan spoke in a low voice, as if she were having a tiff.

"Are things like liking or disliking someone, having a boyfriend or girlfriend, really that fun?"

"...Hmm—well, that probably depends on the individual..."

Because of past experiences of having her name teased, Asuha-in seems somewhat averse to dating. I understand that some people are like that, and besides, if I hadn't met Mizuto, I might have been similar to her.

"So, what kind of things would Asuhain-kun find fun?"

"Huh?...Well..."

Asahiya gently placed her finger on her beautifully shaped lips and pondered for a moment.

"...Seeing boys who are taller than me but have lower grades is probably the most fun thing for me."

"Oh...I see..."

Seeing the slightly sinister smile on Asuhain's face, my expression froze. Was this girl's dark side a little too deep?

"I suggest you prepare yourself mentally now. I've already started preparing for my midterms."

"Huh? It's already started? So fast...!"

The midterm exams are scheduled for late October, after the sports festival.

Although I have been paying attention, I am currently busy enough just adapting to the work of the student council, and I haven't started reviewing yet.

...And this time, after the exam, there's something even more important...

As they were discussing these topics, the door to the student council room opened.

"I'm back. Any progress?"

"Ah, thank you for your hard work, President."

"Thank you for your hard work!"

The newcomer was President Kurenai. Following him was Senior Hata.

Yuba-senpai silently returned to his seat and turned on his computer, while the student council president peeked at our notes on the problems we had come up with and said:

"It seems there are many difficulties ahead."

"Yes...we wanted to design challenging yet fair questions, but..."

"I see, so it's a fair question, right...?"

The president puffed out his chest, placed his hand slightly on his chin, and said:

"Uncle, do you have any good ideas?"

When she called out on him, senior student Yuba temporarily stopped typing.

"...Whether borrowed items can pass depends on the judge's decision. Therefore, deliberately making the questions ambiguous is also a method."

"Yes, leaving room for interpretation in the questions can indeed reduce the number of times you fail. But it also carries the risk of being deemed unqualified by the judges, making the difficulty level just right. For example, 'somewhat like ○○' or something like that."

"Of course, when doing this, one must be careful not to do so with any defamatory intent."

Oh, that makes sense... I didn't know there was such a challenging design. It also allows runners to showcase their individual strengths, which might make the atmosphere quite fun.

"In that case... alright, let me offer an idea."

After saying that, Senior Sister Hong took a pen and wrote something smoothly on the question slip, then folded it neatly and put it into the prepared lottery box.

"What did the president write?"

"You'll know when you draw it."

After saying that, the president winked. With such a cool way of speaking and such a cute appearance, this girl is truly cunning.

"Haaaaaah...!"

Asahi-no-in blushed and pressed her hand to her chest. It seemed that although she held anti-romance views, she still possessed the ability to feel a flutter in her heart.

As President Hong sat down in the president's seat, she said:

"You two, that's enough for the questions. Can you go find Aisha? She has a meeting with the support group later, and I'm worried she won't be able to handle everything by herself."

As the president spoke, he stole a glance at senior student Yuba.

Oh? Just as I was wondering, the president gave me a look. Even though it was only for a moment, I understood when I saw the pleading look in her eyes.

It seems she wants to be alone with Haba-senpai.

"Huh? But we've only gotten halfway done..."

"Asuhain-kun."

I stood up, thinking to myself, "There's really no way around it."

"You don't have to think of questions here. Anyway, there's still time, so let's go help Senior Ya Shuang first."

"...That's true."

I led Asuhain, who was getting up somewhat hesitantly, out of the student council room. Throughout the journey, she kept turning back, not to look at the half-finished borrowing problem, but at the face of the president, Kurenai.

After closing the door in the hallway, I said to Asuhain:

"...Don't you really want to stay by the president's side a little longer?"

“Eh!”

Asahi-no-in's small shoulders bounced, then she turned her face away and pouted.

"How...how could that be? You're not a child..."

At that moment, I recalled the conversation between President Kurenai and Senior Hanaba in the empty classroom during the cultural festival.

What will the president do next in this student council room—Asuhain might faint if he knew.

Thinking about this, I felt how illusory and fragile Asahi-in's innocent aspirations were, and how endearing they were, which made me naturally reach out to her.

"Good boy/girl."

"Are you looking down on me?!"

I was yelled at.

However, I can somewhat understand how much Senior Sister Ya Shuang dotes on her.

Irito Yume ◆ Friendships built on breast size

Following the president's instructions, I went to the meeting place with the sports festival support group, but I met someone I didn't expect there.

"Yui~onna~!"

"Wow! Xiaoyue?"

As soon as I entered the meeting room, a petite figure rushed towards me. Seeing that familiar face, I blinked repeatedly.

"How did you get here...?"

"Hmm—? What else could it be? Because I'm a member of the cheering squad! ...Wow~ It's Yui's scent. Let me smell it."

"That's disgusting!"

Xiaoyue leaned over and buried her nose in my neck, but I pulled her away.

Xiaoyue cried out, "No! I want more!" But these were just our usual jokes.

Xiaoyue puffed out her cheeks in a mock manner and said:

"It'll only be a little while, it won't matter! I haven't seen you after school in ages!"

"Is that why you joined the cheerleading squad...?"

"Oh dear, don't fall in love with me just because I'm so affectionate!"

"Don't worry, I was just a little scared by you."

"That's outrageous!"

Since joining the student council, I haven't been able to hang out with Xiaoyue much after school. The other members of our usual little circle—Nasuka and Maki—have also joined clubs, so Xiaoyue often feels empty and lonely. I felt a little guilty about it… but I never expected her to take the initiative to reach out to me. I underestimated Xiaoyue.

However, I think she was just joking. In reality, it was probably just a coincidence that someone contacted her, and she joined because she had nothing else to do. It seems she has occasionally helped out in sports clubs before.

"……Excuse me……"

Asuhain, who was standing behind me, tugged at the corner of my uniform.

Is she your friend?

"Ah, excuse me, Asuha-in-san. She's Akatsuki, who's in my class. She's a bit overly friendly, but she's not a bad person."

Asuhain-kun, who was half-hidden behind me, reminded me of Higashi-kun.

When Dongtou first met Xiaoyue, he was also hiding behind the water bucket...

I never imagined that Asuha-in would be the shy type; I wonder if it's some kind of instinctive fear.

"Hmm?"

Xiaoyue also noticed a new face present. She leaned closer to look at Asahi-no-Yuan's face, which was unusually similar to her own, and said:

"Is she the girl from the student council you mentioned before?"

"Yes. She's a first-year student like us, her name is Asuhain—"

"My surname is Asukahain."

Asuha-in interrupted my introduction and gave her surname... Oh right, she seemed to have said she hated her full name.

Even though her self-introduction was rather rude, it was still true to her name, Xiaoyue, as she approached Asahi Yeyuan with a big, friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you! We're about the same size! It makes me feel so safe! We're the Little Ones Association, the Little Ones Association...?"