Kokoro Connect Volume 4: Michi Random E-Book

Sadanatsu Anda

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Kokoro Connect
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 278

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Kokoro Connect Volume 4: Michi Random

Leseprobe

Prologue: I Just Can’t

[No, this isn’t right. This isn’t it. I can’t make this work anymore.

It’s impossible. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t. I physically cannot.

Am I a liar? No. I didn’t lie. I’m one hundred percent sure I didn’t. I absolutely did not lie to them.

But there’s a massive gulf between my ideal and reality.

Maybe I just like who I am when I’m in love with him—maybe that’s the only reason I—

I can’t do this anymore. I can’t make it work.

I can’t even be normal.]

Chapter 1: Yaegashi Taichi’s Confession

Maybe it could be excused by the appearance of «Heartseed» and the manifestation of the supernatural phenomena... but only a coward would blame it on that.

This time the five of them had vowed not to let it cause any major complications. They would be getting out of this one wholly intact. And if possible... they would try to put an end to it, once and for all.

Their countermeasure: to keep living their lives as normal.

Now a week had passed, with no major incidents to be seen.

Yaegashi Taichi had vowed to himself that he would keep living his life, just like everyone else. And so he decided that today was the day he would settle a matter that had been left vague and inconclusive for far too long. Today he was going to man up for once.

It was February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day—the deadline he’d set for himself.

In Japan, the chocolate confectionery and retail industries had teamed up to create a certain long-lasting tradition. And while it wasn’t unheard of in this day and age to buy chocolate for oneself or one’s friends, there was one predominant expectation:

February 14th, Valentine’s Day, was a holiday in which girls across the country would give gifts to their beloved.

At present, he had somehow attracted the interest of two different girls. And if he chose to do nothing, he would likely end up with two gifts. But his heart only had room for one of them. And if he was smart enough to understand that, then he needed to make a decision. After all, only a limp-dick loser would keep stringing both of them along.

And so, with his decision made, he had asked the girl in question to meet him after school, out behind the East Wing.

He was worried the others might have overheard, but that was probably just his paranoia talking. At least, he sincerely hoped it was.

And now here she was, standing in front of him.

“I know this is kind of weird timing, but I need to say this... No, I want to say this,” he began.

“Okay,” she replied with a nod.

His heart was thumping like crazy. His legs were shaking. He couldn’t feel his lips. His chest ached, and his stomach felt like it was going to eject its contents at any second. He exhaled hard, summoning all of his strength for this one unforgettable moment. Then he looked back at her, directly into her eyes.

Don’t run—fight. Fight like your life depends on it.

He was going to confess his love to Nagase Iori one more time.

“I’m still in love with you. And I want you to be my girlfriend.”

There. I said it. Oh god, I said it!

This time the words carried a slightly different weight.

He had moved forward. This was a once-in-a-lifetime challenge, and he had risen to the occasion. Now the ball was in her court.

At his confession, Nagase looked away, concealing her expression. Then she spun neatly on her heel, turning away from him entirely. Would she accept his love? Was she savoring the moment?

Taichi paused to wistfully reflect on the long road that had finally led up to this. Months had passed since his initial confession. He never should have made her wait this long. The shame of it made him restless. He wanted her to hurry up and break this stupid tension with a response, but of course he’d never actually say that.

Instead, he quietly gazed at Nagase as she stood there, unmoving. Her well-proportioned figure was stunning from behind... Her cute little ponytail... He thought back to all the emotions he’d seen from her over the weeks. Joy, anger, sadness. She was so much more expressive than the average person, and Taichi never got tired of it. That said, her sunny smile was still his favorite, of course—

“...I’m sorry.”

She mumbled something, but he couldn’t quite hear it. “What?”

“I’m really sorry.”

Sorry? Sorry about what?

“I... can’t be with you, Taichi.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He couldn’t accept it.

This shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her. She had known how he felt for a long time. And as it happened, she had admitted to feeling the same. Was she just lying?

“It just... doesn’t feel right. So yeah... All that ‘I’m in love with you’ stuff... Let’s just pretend I never said any of it.”

That was the final blow. This was the undeniable truth, and he couldn’t escape from it. But strangely enough, it didn’t hurt. The shock of it all had numbed his pain receptors.

“Anyway... I’m gonna get going.”

With that, Nagase hastily started to walk away.

Please don’t go. Please... Please just explain to me why!

But his mouth wouldn’t move.

Finally, he forced the words out of his throat:

“Wh... what the hell, Nagase?!”

He knew he should just accept her rejection with grace, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

She came to a stop.

“I... I...” she stammered in a shaky voice.

But before she could finish the rest of her sentence—

[No... I’m not the person he thinks I am.]

The thought—her thought—echoed through Taichi’s mind, and all at once he felt a rush of eerily foreign emotion, dark and cold.

“Crap...” Nagase muttered under her breath, suggesting she knew he’d heard it.

The next instant, she took off running at full speed, like she couldn’t stand to be around him a second longer.

But Taichi just stood there, left behind like an abandoned puppy.

A strong gust of wind blew, shaking him slightly.

“This can’t be happening... What’s going on...?”

He just couldn’t process it. Had he done something to offend her? If so, he certainly hadn’t noticed. Was she mad at him for not choosing her sooner? For taking his sweet time?

“This isn’t... how it was supposed to go...” he mumbled helplessly.

He didn’t understand it. Any of it. But that didn’t change anything, of course. Her answer was still no. And he was forced to accept that.

“...She shot me down...”

In other words...

Yaegashi Taichi’s love story had come to a close.

□■□■□

The next morning, every high school boy in the country was restless with excitement for Valentine’s Day. They could try to play it off and pretend they didn’t care, but deep down, every single one of them was quietly hyper-focused on the girls’ slightest actions.

Yamaboshi High School was no exception, of course, filled to the brim with unusually energetic boys. But it wasn’t just them—there was a certain giddiness among the girls, too.

And amid all this nervous, giggly energy, Yaegashi Taichi trudged down the hall on leaden legs.

One minute the holiday cheer would start grating on his nerves, and the next minute the apathy would kick in, and all he felt was emptiness. He sighed for the umpteenth time.

Until yesterday, he never would have imagined his Valentine’s Day would end up like this. He’d been expecting something... special.

As he walked down the hall, random students shot him weird looks. He knew he must’ve looked utterly miserable, and it was probably a total buzzkill, but he couldn’t find it in him to pretend he was fine. He’d been a gloomy little raincloud since last night.

Was it a mistake to initiate the conversation during a phenomenon? In the past, Nagase had told him she wanted to maintain the status quo during «Heartseed»’s shenanigans. But things were different now. Besides, she never really seemed to let the phenomena get in the way of her life...

These thoughts pervaded his mind at every moment, dragging him down deeper into depression.

This particular phenomenon, Sentiment Transmission, would broadcast their unspoken thoughts and feelings to one or more of the others, entirely at random. There were plenty of problems to be had from this invasion of privacy—but they all agreed that they would be fine. They would overcome it. They would put an end to it.

Thankfully no one else knows about what had happened yesterday... I’ll be fine... I just need to get over it... I need to get over her ASAP...

He found himself riding this train of thought around and around in circles, unable to get back on track.

Arriving at Classroom 1-C, he opened the door and stepped inside.

“Sup, Taichi!” shouted Watase Shingo, Taichi’s good friend. “Are you hyped for Valentine’s... Wait, what happened to you?”

“Nothing.”

“You say that, but you’ve got a look on your face like your crush handed you a gift bag and said ‘Could you throw this trash away for me?’ and you were like ‘Holy shit, a real-life tsundere?! No need to pretend your chocolate is trash, c’mon!’ but then you looked inside to find that it really was just her trash.”

“That was... extremely specific, but okay.”

Suspiciously specific, in fact.

“Aw, cheer up! The ‘woe is me’ routine will get you less chocolate, y’know!”

Frankly, he didn’t care how much chocolate he received from whomever else. He only wanted hers—and now he knew he wouldn’t be getting it.

Before he knew it, he’d made it to the last class of the day. He couldn’t remember which classes he’d had before this one; he couldn’t even remember picking up his pen. It was a miracle none of the teachers had called him out on it, really. Or had he been taking notes on autopilot?

School’s almost over, he thought.

Normally he eagerly anticipated the chime of the final bell, but now it felt like a death knell. Like he was a prisoner on death row, waiting for his turn in the electric chair... Okay, maybe that last one was a bit overly dramatic. Obviously he wasn’t going to die... He just wished he was.

Taichi hadn’t looked at Nagase all day, much less spoken to her. But once school ended, they would be meeting up in the clubroom. After the emotional devastation the day before, he’d skipped club activities entirely, but he knew he couldn’t just avoid the clubroom forever. He had to go.

And there, in the relatively small space that was their clubroom, they would be forced to interact—Nagase with the guy she rejected, and Taichi with the girl who shot him down. No matter how they tried to spin it, it would be awkward.

And then there was Inaba, the girl he hadn’t chosen, though she didn’t know it yet. She would be there, too. Which meant there would be two victims of rejection and two perpetrators of said rejection, all in the same room. “Awkward” didn’t even begin to cover it.

Nagase probably felt awful, too. For a moment he entertained the notion of avoiding the clubroom purely for her sake.

I’m so pathetic and miserable. I’m worthless trash.

His self-esteem was in tatters.

But worst of all, their current phenomenon threatened to broadcast their thoughts and feelings to everyone else. Now that would be humiliating. Excruciatingly so.

Damn it, I’m spiraling. Remember what we promised? Remember what we learned during the Liberation? Don’t overthink it. Don’t create problems. We’re going to get through it together. We can do this... We can do this...

Ultimately, Taichi continued to wallow in his misery all the way until the final bell.

“Yaegashi-kun, could I borrow you for a moment?” asked Fujishima Maiko, president of Class 1-C.

Taichi found he lacked the energy to try to get out of it, so he nodded.

As they left the room, he could hear curious whispers behind them:

“Whoa, Fujishima’s into Yaegashi?!”

“The Love Guru’s joining the battle?!”

“She’s going to show us all how it’s done!”

“What the hell, Yaegashi?! You’re not into her, right?! And you remember who is into her, right?! Pretty sure I’ve told you a million times?!”

(That last one was a very jealous Watase, of course.)

He wasn’t sure where Fujishima was taking him, but he followed her regardless—all the way up to the school roof.

The roof itself was freely available to students, and even furnished with a few benches, but no one in their right mind wanted to spend time out here in the biting winter wind. Seriously, it was freezing.

“Uh, Fujishima? You sure you want to be out here without a coat on?” he asked.

She had been perfectly quiet on the way here, but now, finally, she turned back to face him. As usual, her hair was tied back in a ponytail with her bangs pinned up; she tucked a stray strand back into place as she opened her mouth to speak.

“Don’t worry about me—the fire in my heart keeps me warm enough. Now then, Yaegashi-kun. You’ve got some relationship troubles, don’t you?” Her glasses glinted as she slid them up the bridge of her nose.

He knew she couldn’t possibly have read his mind, and yet somehow this (self-proclaimed) apostle of love could see right through him anyway. This was nothing out of the ordinary for her, of course.

“...I mean, yeah, you could say that. But it’s none of your business, so please just stay out of it.” His tone was harsher than she deserved, but he couldn’t help it.

“Today is Valentine’s Day, the most important romantic holiday of the year, and I can’t have you moping around and being a wet blanket.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not doing it on purpose.” If he could’ve controlled it, then he wouldn’t have been so snippy with his friends.

“Is this about Nagase-san?”

Evidently she wasn’t going to butt out anytime soon... so he gave up and nodded. “Yeah.”

“This is just a guess, but... did she turn you down?”

The words hit him square in the chest like a cannonball.

“Yeah,” he replied, hoping it would help his brain hurry up and accept this horrible reality.

Fujishima’s eyes widened in surprise. “No way... Really? From my perspective, things between you seemed to be going rather well.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the truth.”

“I see...”

Fujishima averted her gaze sadly, and Taichi’s heart ached. He was tempted to tell her not to feel bad on his account, but then she looked up—

“IT’S TIME FOR MY BIG COMEBACK!” she shouted triumphantly up at the sky.

For a moment, Taichi’s brain struggled to determine whether this was real life. How could someone so openly rejoice over another person’s heartbreak—No, wait! He’d forgotten the crucial detail that Fujishima was possibly interested in Nagase, too! Crap!

After a moment, she snapped back to her senses. “Oh, right. Forgive me, Yaegashi-kun. I shouldn’t have let myself get so overcome with joy.”

“Just because she rejected me doesn’t mean you automatically win, you know.”

“Oh, don’t be such a sore loser. Pfffft.” Her expression was one of mixed pity and scorn.

“Rrrgh... You witch...!”

“I mean, like, with all the history between you two, who could’ve seen it coming? That’s, like, totally hilarious.”

“Quit kicking me while I’m down, you monster! And why are you suddenly talking like an airheaded bimbo?! What happened to being the stoic intellectual type?!”

“There we go. Looks like that helped cheer you up a bit. I’d forgotten how tiring it is to use all these facial muscles.” Just like that, Fujishima had gone back to her usual composed countenance. She rubbed her shoulder as if to massage her muscles.

“What the hell was that...? You make it sound like...”

Like she’d put on a silly little performance for the express purpose of cheering him up. What’s your deal, Fujishima Maiko?

“Talk about a lucky break! OMG, totally hilarious!”

“Wait, so you really were trying to screw with me?!”

Seriously, what the hell is your deal?!

“Just try to cheer up, would you?” she asked in her usual serious tone. “Obviously I don’t know all the details, but I approve of you trying to make things official before the holiday. That is essentially what happened, yes?”

“...You’re pretty sharp.”

“Have you forgotten? I’m the Goddess of Love.”

Apparently she had been promoted to godhood now. Soon she would be free of this mortal realm altogether.

“I wouldn’t get too hung up on it if I were you. Why not use this opportunity to date Inaba-san instead?”

“Pfffbgh?! Where did that come from?! And how do you know about me and Inaba?!”

When did she figure it all out?! You’ve earned my respect, Goddess!

“I know she has feelings for you, at the very least. I mean, just look at her these days. She’s completely smitten! Frankly, it’s baffling that no one else has noticed!”

Precisely.

If Inaba cared for him that deeply, then that was all the more reason he couldn’t be with her. If he pursued her now, it would look like he was simply settling for his second choice, and she deserved better than that.

“I think it’s fine, personally,” Fujishima continued, and instantly his heart leapt in his throat as he wondered whether she’d read his mind... but such a thing was impossible, of course. “Who cares if you get in a rebound relationship after a rejection? It’s perfectly common to seek consolation after getting your heart broken. The rest of the world will forgive you for it, as will I.”

“But—”

“It’s fine. Love is transient, you know. As long as you both have feelings for each other—or, more accurately in this case, as long as you respect her feelings and make an effort to reciprocate, it’s hardly a crime.”

“That doesn’t sound like something an ‘apostle of love’ would say.”

“Sure it is. I believe in the right to love freely. Naturally, this doesn’t mean I think it’s okay to cheat or anything like that. But doesn’t it feel kind of silly to get all uptight about it? I mean, just my personal opinion, obviously.”

But then—

[Alright, now when do I give him this chocolate...?]

It was the voice of Inaba Himeko, who was most certainly not present on the roof with them. He could feel her anxious excitement... Then he realized something critical: He’d meant to tell her not to get him a gift, as he didn’t intend to accept it, but it had completely slipped his mind. Granted, this was less of a casual memory lapse and more of a critical brain shutdown after his envisioned confession scenario had gone so entirely off the rails.

“Besides, I’d say it’s worth it just for the experience. I know I tend to play the part of your mentor, but really we’re both just teenagers. None of us really know what ‘love’ is. All we can do is experiment, screw up, and learn from our mistakes.” She smiled slightly, and in that moment, she was neither a guru nor an apostle nor a goddess—just a normal girl. Somehow it was easy to forget that. “Anyway, once you feel you’ve gotten over Nagase-san, I think it’s safe to go ahead and hook up with Inaba-san.”

“No way. That’s just...”

Inexcusable. Disrespectful. Messed up.

“And then once you’re all lovey-dovey with Inaba-san, I shall lay claim to Nagase-san myself.”

“So that’s what you’re after!”

As usual, she was utterly unpredictable. Still, she had made an effort to have a serious conversation with him, and the fact of the matter was, it helped him cheer up considerably.

□■□■□

With Fujishima’s help, Taichi had managed to regain his composure... Well, not all of it, but enough to go to the clubroom, at least. This was no time to be wallowing in misery. After all, they’d all vowed not to cause any drama. If they were going to get out of this unscathed, then that obviously included him. Now, with Fujishima’s meaningful lesson engraved deep in his chest, he summoned the last dregs of his courage to get him all the way to the clubroom.

But as it turned out, reality was a merciless beast. Of all the times to throw a wrench into their normal lives, it just had to be during a supernatural phenomenon.

Scene: Rec Hall Room 401.

Club president Nagase Iori and vice president Inaba Himeko recounted to their fellow clubmates a message from Gotou Ryuuzen, advisor to Class 1-C and supervisor for the Cultural Research Club.

“And then at the end he was like ‘Sorry to rain on your V-Day parade... Well, I guess it’s not that big of a deal. You’ll just be getting a new advisor, that’s all. Anyway, just a heads up!’ ” Nagase explained in her best Gotou impression.

Willing his mind to stay perfectly blank, Taichi focused on the words themselves. Not the fact that it was Nagase doing the talking. It’s not her, it’s just a recording... just a robot voice...

“ ‘Just a heads up’ my ass! This is a matter of life and death, damn it!” Inaba roared, slamming her fist on the table. On the outside she looked the part of an ice queen, but on the inside she was a veritable inferno of rage.

“Like whoa, Inaba, calm down,” Kiriyama Yui chided. “It’s not Gossan’s fault. He has no idea how serious this is for us.” She paused there to tuck a strand of long, reddish-brown hair behind her ear. “Also... ‘Cook him alive’? Maybe chill out with those violent fantasies.”

Apparently Inaba had inadvertently Transmitted something to Kiriyama. Inaba’s expression hardened for a moment; then her lip curled in a smirk.

“Hmph. He deserves it.”

Kiriyama smiled, relieved to hear the usual venom in Inaba’s voice. The Sentiment Transmission didn’t matter. They were beyond over it.

“So, what do we do?” asked Aoki Yoshifumi, swaying his tall frame from side to side, making his wavy locks bounce with the motions.

Taichi had been laser-focused on the words themselves, so he had all the details memorized.

According to Gotou, he was lined up to get a promotion at the start of the next school year—and this new position was only allowed to advise one club. That meant he’d have to give up his advisor position for either the Cultural Research Club or the jazz band. And according to him, he wasn’t allowed to make this decision for himself; instead, it would be decided by the club presentations held at the end of the school year. Supposedly, whoever scored higher would get to keep Gotou as their advisor.

For something that was casually dropped on them out of the blue, it seemed like kind of a big deal.

“Honestly, Gotou hasn’t exactly been much help to us, so changing advisors wouldn’t really matter in theory, but... he’s the reason we’re allowed to have so much freedom in our club activities in the first place,” Inaba mused.

Club activities were an important part of life at Yamaboshi High School. Students were generally allowed to create and join whatever club they liked, but in exchange, a certain level of effort was expected from them. In other words, it was a privilege they had to earn.

“Normally all we’d have to do is put in some decent effort... but unfortunately we’ve got «Heartseed» and its ilk to deal with,” she continued.

Six months had passed since they first fell into «Heartseed»’s clutches, and its grip was as strong as ever. Thanks to its otherworldly phenomena seeping into every facet of their lives, there had been several times when they’d failed to turn in the Culture Bulletin on time.

“I don’t know how long they plan to keep screwing with us, but if there’s one thing we do know, it’s that they refuse to take no for an answer. Which means we stand a lot to gain from having an advisor who never bothers to check in on us.”

Kiriyama sighed. “Yeah, like... Normally I’d want an advisor who actually does their job, but we’d be in real trouble if we got saddled with someone who comes by every single day.”

I should join the conversation, Taichi thought. “About this club presentation thing... I’ve heard rumors about it, but what is it actually like?”

“I can answer that,” Inaba replied.

Club presentations were to be held after end-of-year exams over a period of a few days. The main purpose was for each club to showcase their activities over the course of the past year, but because they would be graded—and because this grade would directly affect their club budget—it was really more of a competition to see who could put on the best performance.

Each presentation would last up to a maximum of fifteen minutes. Naturally, because this was Yamaboshi, the students were free to present whatever they wanted (within reason).

There would be ten judges on the panel: five faculty members and five student council members. The presentations would take place onstage in the auditorium, and for the sake of transparency, other students were welcome to sit in and watch (also because otherwise the room would feel empty and depressing).

“For now, we just need to learn more about the presentation format, find out how good the jazz band is, and come up with a plan to out-score them... Oh, I know! Why don’t we go scope ‘em out? That way we can kill two birds with one stone!” Nagase suggested cheerfully.

It was rather frightening how... normal she sounded. Almost like she’d completely erased the memory of having shot Taichi down. It made him sad to think she didn’t care about what happened yesterday. Or maybe she did care, but was making an effort not to let it show... If so, she was way too good at it.

If only she’d Transmit her thoughts so I could know what she’s thinking... God, I’m such a creep.

In the end, it was decided that the CRC would go pay a visit to the jazz band, per Nagase’s suggestion.

“Wait... If they were willing to give him up, then that would solve our whole problem... Maybe it’s worth it to negotiate... Ugh, I hate that we have to fight over Gotou in the first place! Gross!” Inaba muttered to herself as she led the way to Music Room 2, where jazz band practice was held.

“Well, hi there, Yaegashi-kun, Inaba-san... Oh, and Nagase-san!”

When they arrived, they were greeted by Shiroyama Shouto, a fellow classmate in Class 1-C. Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, with boyish good looks, he looked like the sort of kid who’d say stuff like “Golly!” and “Gee whiz!”—in other words, a rare breed these days. Some of their other classmates referred to him as “Little Prince,” often sarcastically.

“Oh, hey, Shiroyama. I didn’t realize you were in the jazz band,” said Taichi. The two of them weren’t particularly close, but as classmates, they’d had their fair share of interactions together.

“Yup! And you’re in the Cultural Research Club, right? Did you need something?”

They decided to give him a quick run-down of the situation.

“Hmmm...” Shiroyama tilted his head in contemplation.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well... I don’t think we can give him up, really. We kinda need him.”

“Please,” Inaba scoffed. “You need him? What for? Literally what reason do you have to want that slacker as your advisor?”

“Oh, I’m sure we both have our reasons,” Shiroyama replied with a sheepish smile as he invited the five of them inside.

There, sitting in the center of the practicing students, was Gotou Ryuuzen—rocking the saxophone with such extraordinary skill, even the most tone deaf person could tell he was gifted.

“Wh...” Taichi was speechless.

From there, Gotou’s mind-blowing performance continued (and on top of that, it seemed like he was guiding the other students?!) until the song ended... at which point Taichi applauded. By that point, he was so captivated, he’d completely forgotten why they were there in the first place. Save for Inaba, the others clapped with him; evidently they felt the same way.

“Gossan, that was incredible!” Kiriyama gushed.

“That was nuts, dude...” Aoki murmured.

“The rest of the band kicked ass, too!” Nagase exclaimed.

“Aww, shucks... I wouldn’t say I’m that good... Hahaha...” Shiroyama mumbled shyly.

“No one was talking about you,” Taichi retorted for good measure.

“Hmm? Well, if it isn’t the full CRC crew! What brings you here?” Gotou asked, his tone as laid-back as ever.

“The rumors always said you were incredible... but I was convinced they had to be wrong...!” Inaba muttered bitterly to herself for some reason.

“Fun fact: Gotou-sensei can play pretty much any instrument. Not as well as he plays the sax, of course, but still above average!” Shiroyama added.

“Nngh...! Then... that bullshit about a recruiter trying to scout you to a professional orchestra...”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that... That was a long time ago,” Gotou replied casually.

Where’s she hearing all these rumors, anyway? I guess her information gathering hobby isn’t just for show...

“Gotou... Shouldn’t you be a music teacher? Why the hell are you teaching physics of all things?”

“Why? Because I like physics, obviously!”

Taichi had to admit—he was kinda badass.

□■□■□

Back at the clubroom, the brainstorming session resumed.

“No wonder they want to keep him,” Nagase remarked.

“Yeah, well, they can’t have him,” Inaba replied. “Not right now, anyway.”

Sadly, their attempt to negotiate had ended in failure, as expected. Inaba tried to use her tactical data to their advantage, but alas, the jazz band refused to compromise.

“All that’s left is to fight ‘em fair and square, I guess,” Aoki mused.

Kiriyama sighed. “I don’t know... They sounded really good,” she whispered. “It’ll take a miracle to beat them.”

“Then I guess we’d better give this club presentation everything we’ve got,” said Taichi.

Inaba nodded. “Now that it’s clear Gotou’s some kind of master musician, I’m actually grateful they chose to settle it via presentation scores. I’m not sure if they’re trying to be fair, or if they just don’t give a shit... Yeah, they probably don’t give a shit...” She clucked her tongue in frustration. “So, what do we do? Come up with a plan? Supposedly we’re free to present whatever we want, but it still has to tie back to our club activities. In our case, that’d mean we’ll have to present some kind of article...”

Suddenly, Aoki jumped to his feet. “Ladies and gents... I know our rivals are tough... and I know we can’t afford to lose this battle... and I know we need to focus on it... BUT!” He raised his fist in the air as he continued his theatrical little speech. “Don’t we got something more important to be worrying about on this fine February the 14th?!” He glanced around the room. Crickets. “...Uh, guys? Who’s with me? Anyone?”

“A-Aoki, look, um...” Kiriyama hesitated. “With everything that’s going on right now, I don’t think we can afford to mess around...”

“Au contraire! We gotta confess these things before the Transmission sends ‘em anyways! That’s our policy, right, Inabacchan?”

“Well... Yeah, I guess...” Inaba replied vaguely.

“Besides, we’re all friends here, right? No reason we can’t talk about lovey-dovey stuff like who you gave chocolate to, or who you’ve got your eye on!”

After a moment, Kiriyama smiled. “On second thought, maybe you’re right. I admit, I am pretty curious what Iori and Inaba decided to do this year... I tried asking, but, like, neither of them will tell me!”

It was obvious she saw the topic as harmless.

Their goal was to live their lives unaffected by the phenomenon, avoid causing problems, and make it out unscathed. Thus, they were taking the correct approach... technically.

Isn’t this kinda risky? No, it’ll be fine... I just gotta believe...

“C’mon, Inaba. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that time you asked me for baking tips a while back! And I get the feeling I know what it was for... After all, I can’t imagine you’d go to all that trouble just to hand out freebie candy to random boys in your class!”

“Well, you see... uh...”

As things stood, neither Kiriyama nor Aoki knew how Inaba felt about—

[I can’t! This is no time to go blabbing about how I’m in love with Taichi!]

But despite Inaba’s best intentions, Taichi heard it anyway.

This was the nature of the Sentiment Transmission—broadcasting their innermost thoughts and feelings to other people at random.

His heart thumped uncomfortably in his chest as he glanced around the room at the others.

Fortunately, just because he heard it didn’t necessarily mean everyone else did; the recipients of said Transmission were entirely random as well. Maybe she’d gotten lucky and he was the only one—

But as soon as he saw their faces, he knew. Kiriyama and Aoki had both heard it. Which meant they both must’ve picked up her emotions along with it, thus proving that she was serious.

As for Nagase, it seemed she’d been left out of the loop. “Huh? What happened? Did somebody Transmit or what?” she asked lightheartedly.

“Oh, uh, well... uhhh...” Aoki fumbled awkwardly.