Chapter 50: Idiotic Mistake
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
On the way to the student council room.
When Kazufuru Ooike was finally released from Seiji’s iron grip, he adjusted his spectacles and collar before frowning.
He began to regret… no, he already regretted agreeing to become Seigo Harano’s "friend."
He originally intended to discover Seigo’s weaknesses and take advantage of this "friendship" agreement, but he hadn’t learned anything useful, and instead always felt pressured by Seiji’s imposing manner.
Kazufuru was clearly a popular and excellent student with no reason to fear Harano, but he always felt unable to stand up to Harano whenever they were together.
Was it because Harano was so outstanding in sports?
No, this didn’t have anything to do with the difference between their physical abilities… Kazufuru couldn’t understand why, though.
"Why’d you stop walking? Secretary, continue leading the way." Harano’s voice sounded from behind him.
Kazufuru sighed.
"You know the way, don’t you? Why do you insist on having me come along?"
"I told you before—I just wanted to chat with you."
"I don’t think I have anything I’d like to say to you." Kazufuru’s expression was icy and his voice distant.
Seiji observed this excellent student in front of him for a while before he released a sigh.
"Is taking that attitude with me really fine? You know, I’m…"
"I’m not friends with you!"
"I wasn’t talking about that. It’s quite rude to interrupt people while they’re speaking, Ooike-san…" Seiji glanced at Kazufuru out of the corner of his eye: "You seem like an intelligent person, so why are you making such an idiotic mistake about something crucial?"
"What are you saying?" Kazufuru furrowed his eyebrows.
"Your target is President Yoruhana, right?" Seiji said lightly, "Don’t deny it—it’s quite obvious… You want to become her partner, and you’re making an effort to reduce the distance between the two of you."
"…What’s it to you if I am?" Kazufuru squinted.
The fact that his target was the president wasn’t exactly a huge secret, so it couldn’t be said that it was his weakness.
"You still don’t realize your mistake? You want to get closer to the president, and I, Seigo Harano, am someone that the president personally helped transfer into the school, which means that she and I have a special relationship. For someone like me to voluntarily become your friend, and for you to resist… How else can I describe it other than idiotic?"
Seiji smiled upon finishing.
Kazufuru Ooike was surprised for a moment as his brain worked at analyzing what Seiji meant, before he suddenly came to an epiphany.
Yeah… Harano was right!
All he had to do was change his way of thinking slightly, and he had to admit that Harano had a point.
He had previously viewed Seigo Harano as a strong enemy to be defeated, but Harano had never truly opposed him in any way… Not only that, there was the possibility of Harano becoming his ally!
Kazufuru Ooike’s expression contorted.
‘Just where did I go wrong? I… at such a crucial junction, I… actually became stupid!?’
Seiji silently watched the delicate and pretty boy’s expression change in front of him.
‘Kazufuru has a slightly twisted personality, but it’s not too severe. With how he is, even if he remains like this, it probably won’t be a problem. As long as he receives enough experience in the future, or if a difficult situation befalls him, he should be able to realize his own faults. He thinks he’s better than others, he thinks he’s so smart, and he thinks he’s the best… he believes that he’s a special existence—this is a common thought process that many young people possess before reaching maturity; it’s especially common among middle schoolers. Combine it with some strange behaviors, and you get what’s commonly known as middle schooler syndrome.
Kazufuru Ooike… to put it simply, he never awoke from his middle schooler syndrome, and he never saw through a few specific flaws in his personality.
With Seiji’s life experience, he could see through even the twin witches that concealed their true selves so deeply from others, so of course an immature brat like Kazufuru Ooike was simple for him to understand.
Seeing as how this model student didn’t seem to have a rotten personality at his core, Seiji wanted to help him out a little… But Seiji preferred abstaining from such activities as he wasn’t used to them.
It wasn’t like he was Great Teacher Onizuka or anything.
‘Let’s prank this guy one last time, then that’ll be enough.’
"Harano-kun…"
Kazufuru Ooike seemed to finally understand what Seiji meant as he carefully considered his words.
"You’re too late, Ooike-san." Seiji purposefully showed a cold smile.
"I originally wasn’t your enemy to begin with, but you kept showing me enmity for no apparent reason and kept resisting against my friendliness towards you… So, I apologize, but I’m already tired of you. So, as you wish, we’re no longer ‘friends’ anymore. You’re free, Ooike-san; go do as you like."
Seiji waved his hand casually as he turned to leave.
"Wait… Please wait, Harano-kun…"
Kazufuru Ooike’s expression changed drastically as he hurriedly rushed to catch up to Seiji.
"Everything… everything was my bad, I was… a bit mistaken, so…"
Seiji ignored him and continued walking onward.
A wave of anxiety rushed over Kazufuru Ooike upon seeing Seiji’s apathetic attitude.
He was already at a bottleneck in improving his relationship with Natsuya, and this mysterious transfer student might be a breakthrough point… Perhaps he was even the only breakthrough point!
And Kazufuru, due to falling victim to negative emotions such as jealousy and fear, automatically listed him as an enemy… A love rival.
But thinking it over more closely, Seigo Harano had never showed any special feelings for Natsuya Yoruhana!
At the very least, in the past week, Kazufuru had never heard him talk about the subject of the president, nor did he hear anything about this topic from the other students. Rather, he heard several times that Seigo Harano had informed the other female students in class that he didn’t have any special relationship with President Yoruhana.
Considering the fact that President Yoruhana helped him transfer in, they definitely had some kind of relationship with each other, but it was not a romantic one—if they were romantically connected, it should’ve become a hot topic in school long ago!
Kazufuru inwardly beat himself up. For some pointless negative emotions that were common during puberty, he overlooked such an obvious fact and made a huge mistake.
Had he been infected by the other students who were much lower in ability than he was? Those idiotic morons who held envy, fear, or hatred towards Seigo Harano… Had those low-class emotions really infected him!?
How could it be possible!? He should have remained calm and in control, without being affected by the atmosphere! But imperceptibly, he had become just like those idiots.
It’s all those guys’ fault! Kazufuru was furious at them.
But no matter what, objectively speaking, he made a crucial mistake just as Seigo Harano mentioned.
Seigo Harano hoped for his assistance in being able to get along better with everyone in class, and in exchange, Seigo would be able to help him improve his relationship with the president… This should’ve been a mutually beneficial relationship for both of them, but he resisted it for an idiotic reason and had ultimately ruined things!
Kazufuru put himself in Seigo Harano’s shoes and thought about it. If it was him voluntarily approaching another person with a good deal in hand but receiving only an unfriendly response, he, too, would feel anger and treat the other person with cold condescension as well.
He believed that Seigo Harano was currently feeling such emotions.
‘Damn it! I… How could I make such a low-level mistake!!’
Kazufuru Ooike bit his lips.
"S… sorry, Harano-kun! I was wrong for everything before. I’m… sincerely begging for your forgiveness!"
He tried to speak as loud as possible without attracting the attention of any other nearby students as he apologized to Seiji’s back.
Seiji halted his footsteps.
"I’ve received your apology." Seiji didn’t turn around, leaving Kazufuru with a view of his back. "But if I forgive you so easily, will you believe me?" He questioned.
"Er…" Kazufuru paused for a moment in surprise as he regretfully ground his teeth.
"Feel free to get going, Ooike-san. There’s no need to waste your time standing behind me." Seiji lightly left behind one last sentence as he continued striding forward again.
Kazufuru was left rooted on the spot, filled with regret as he watched Seiji leave.
Seiji dismissed the model student Secretary Kazufuru Ooike from his mind as he left him standing there.
The important thing now was his upcoming conversation with President Yoruhana.
Seiji arrived at the student council room once again.
"Excuse me." He entered the room.
To his surprise, he discovered another person seated beside Natsuya Yoruhana in the student council room.