Shuchiin Academy.
Student Council Room.
Haruto sat in one corner of the sofa, picked up his teacup, took a sip of black tea, and then squinted his eyes in enjoyment.
Today, the Student Council Room was particularly peaceful.
Only Kaguya and Haruto were present.
Well—
At least on the surface.
At that very moment, Yuu Ishigami was crouched by the Student Council Room's door, eavesdropping on the sounds inside.
Just moments ago, Ishigami had come to the Student Council Room and was about to push the door open—
When he happened to glimpse the two people inside through the gap in the doorway.
And just like that, he froze on the spot.
Though Ishigami's personality was pretty much that of a steel-reinforced concrete straight man—
Commonly referred to as a "true man Ishigami."
He could still read the room and tell what was going on.
Even a blind man could see the special treatment President Kaguya gave to Vice President Haruto.
And now, the two of them just so happened to be alone together in the council room.
Ishigami felt that if he barged in now and ruined this precious private moment...
There was a good chance President Kaguya would hold a grudge—and wait for an opportunity to erase him.
Besides, Ishigami was also kind of curious about what these two were like when alone.
I mean, come on—it's a romantic topic. What kind of young man wouldn't be curious?
However, to Ishigami's disappointment—
Even when they were alone, the two of them just sat together, quietly drinking tea, occasionally chatting idly.
How to put it...
He had expected something a bit more... stimulating.
Just then, Ishigami heard footsteps behind him.
He turned around to see Chika Fujiwara walking over with her usual innocent smile. When she spotted him, she raised her hand, about to greet him. Ishigami lunged forward in panic and clapped his hand over Fujiwara's mouth.
Then pointed at the Student Council Room behind him.
Fujiwara blinked in confusion, then peeked through the crack in the door.
The moment she saw what was inside, the love-obsessed Secretary Fujiwara immediately understood—and mimicked Ishigami's crouched posture.
"Hey, why are those two sitting so far apart?" Fujiwara whispered softly.
Ishigami was stunned by the question.
He looked again at the two sitting on the sofa inside.
There were only about 20 centimeters between them!
Sitting this close already broke the bounds of "proper etiquette distance."
"That's already super close..." Ishigami whispered back.
But Fujiwara shook her head.
"No no no, if two teenagers in the throes of adolescence have feelings for each other—or are even dating—then if they're alone like this, they'd definitely be sticking together, maybe even doing that god-tier stuff!"
Ishigami's eyes went wide.
That kind of outrageous statement coming from Fujiwara's mouth was shocking—but on second thought, not entirely unreasonable.
"There's no way they'd do that kind of thing at school, right?!"
Ishigami tried to argue.
Fujiwara just wagged a finger at him.
"No no no. Statistically speaking—it does happen!"
While the two whispered back and forth—
A sudden voice behind them made them both jump.
"What's 'god-tier stuff' supposed to mean?"
The unexpected voice startled Ishigami and Fujiwara, who both turned around instinctively—and lost their balance.
BANG!
With a crash, the Student Council Room door burst open.
Ishigami and Fujiwara tumbled right in.
Standing in the doorway was Miko Iino, looking completely baffled.
She'd been about to ask just what those two were doing and what this talk about the "god-tier stuff" was all about.
Inside the room, Haruto calmly took another sip of tea, then put down his cup and looked at the scene without a hint of surprise.
He was completely unbothered. In fact, he kind of wanted to give it a 6/10 rating.
He had sensed Ishigami's presence the moment he arrived.
He had heard every word of the whispered conversation outside the door—perfectly clearly.
As for Kaguya—
She seemed a little startled.
And, apparently, flustered with guilt.
After all, she had been planning to make a move just moments ago.
Kaguya hadn't given up on her plan to get Haruto to confess to her. But due to her complete lack of experience being alone or interacting with the opposite sex—
Just sitting next to him had made her heart pound like crazy.
She had to press a hand to her cheek and activate her "forced calmness" skill.
Trying to calm her heart down was the only reason she didn't go through with anything.
But the sudden intrusion had still rattled her.
Ishigami and Fujiwara scrambled up from the floor, both laughing awkwardly.
Miko Iino was still totally confused.
"So... what is the 'god-tier stuff,' exactly?"
Ishigami's face turned pale and he quickly waved his hands, trying to brush the topic aside.
Fujiwara grabbed Iino's hand and shook her head hard.
If that conversation got out, both of them were doomed.
Seeing the group getting noisy again helped Kaguya settle her nerves a bit. Though... the topic of a "god-tier stuff" had piqued her curiosity.
What was that? An anomaly?
"Come sit down," Kaguya invited.
Fujiwara and Ishigami sat stiffly on the opposite couch, backs straight, posture like two soldiers on duty.
Iino, still confused, also took a seat.
Once everyone had settled—
Kaguya asked curiously:
"I heard you guys mention 'god-tier stuff.' Is that some kind of new urban legend?"
She was wondering—if it was a new anomaly—
She should start gathering intel.
That was part of her duty as a Foundation member—and, admittedly, she was a bit intrigued too.
But Ishigami and Fujiwara's expressions turned ghost-white.
Haruto cleared his throat.
Barely holding it in.
That kind of topic... was a little too early for Kaguya.
Her worldview was way too pure.
"Speaking of urban legends... oh, right—what happened with Hayasaka-san? What was going on last time?"
Fujiwara forcefully changed the subject.
So forcefully that anyone could tell she was just avoiding the question.
"It was a prank. Hayasaka-san is fine. She went home to visit her mother, but now she's back in school as usual."
Haruto answered calmly.
This was the excuse Kaguya had used before.
Saying it again helped reinforce the lie.
None of the three had seen anything abnormal firsthand.
All that was needed was a little narrative control.
After all, memory wipe methods should only be used when absolutely necessary. At any other time, the chaos gremlin known as Fujiwara would absolutely press further—
But today, even she dropped it.
Terrified the conversation would loop back to "god-tier stuff."
Just then, a love-themed magazine caught her eye on the nearby table.
One that Kaguya had subscribed to.
Back when she first moved up a grade, she got her hands on a confiscated love magazine from another student.
After flipping through it, she found it quite useful—
So she subscribed to that particular brand of love magazines. They were now delivered to the Student Council Room regularly.
Fujiwara picked it up casually.
"Ooh, a romance mag. Let's talk about some love topics!"
She flipped to a random page, which happened to be a survey.
Without even reading carefully, she began to recite,
"According to a recent study, one in three high school students have already had their 'first experience'..."
Fujiwara was the type to let her mouth run faster than her brain could catch up.
It wasn't until she finished reading that she realized—
Wait.
That didn't sound right.
Her entire face went crimson and she instantly tossed the magazine away.
Kaguya caught it.
Not understanding the problem, she began flipping through it herself.
"One-third? No way! High schoolers can't be that impure!"
Iino protested, her face also turning slightly pink.
"What? That's normal though, isn't it?"
Kaguya replied as she browsed the magazine.
That line left the entire room speechless.
Haruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He already suspected Kaguya had completely misunderstood something.
"Wait... President Kaguya, don't tell me—you've already had your 'first experience?'" Fujiwara asked in a small voice.
Even saying the question out loud made her blush.
But Kaguya nodded without hesitation.
"Yep. I had mine back in middle school. My partner was my little nephew."
Iino: !
Fujiwara: !!
Ishigami: !!!
Haruto: 6/10
Kaguya, completely unaware of the misunderstanding, continued,
"Didn't you have yours too, Fujiwara? With your family dog... something?"
That one sentence was like dropping a nuclear bomb.
Everyone's eyes turned to Fujiwara.
Fujiwara's CPU nearly overheated—steam was practically coming out of her head.
"Absolutely not! And Haruto-kun, don't look at me like that!"
Haruto wanted to say he was just barely holding in his laughter.
He definitely wasn't judging her for being too wild.