Chapter 62: The Leaders
“Alright, everyone stop!”
An unexpected girl appeared, and the arrival of Ichinose Honami immediately separated the three tense individuals. It seemed as though she hadn’t done anything, but somehow, Ishizaki, Yamawaki from Css C, and Totsuka from Css A all unexpectedly chose to back down.
This outcome was clearly unexpected for many people.
“Who are you? Mind your own business! Don’t interfere with my matters!”
Sudo clearly didn’t recognize Ichinose and didn’t even notice the change in expressions of Ishizaki, Totsuka, and others. As usual, he acted like a mad dog, snapping at anyone, a little simir to a "tyrant"—the difference being one had no brain and the other had one.
At this moment, Kushida quickly came forward and grabbed Sudo’s sleeve, probably trying to stop him from continuing, though it was unclear whether he was trying to avoid Ichinose's influence or genuinely trying to calm Sudo down.
“I don’t think who I am matters. I’m just a normal student using the library. Conflicts between cssmates happen, but if it affects those around us, I’m sorry, I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”
Despite facing Sudo’s aggressive tone, Ichinose remained calm and composed. Her calm demeanor, however, didn’t imply weakness: “This red-haired student, if you insist on continuing to use violence, I’d prefer if we take this outside the library, or let’s end it here.”
“Honami is right. Those guys from Css D…”
Ishizaki and Yamawaki tried to take the opportunity to mock him, but Ichinose suddenly turned her head, and when they saw the serious expression on her face, they immediately fell silent. It seemed they had dealt with Ichinose before and understood her strength, having lost to her in the past, so they didn’t want to make a fool of themselves.
Ichinose then gnced in the direction of Katsuragi, and perhaps realizing Ichinose’s strength, Totsuka had already hidden behind Katsuragi.
Ichinose and Katsuragi exchanged looks, but neither spoke. However, when Ichinose turned around, Katsuragi couldn’t help but furrow his brows, while Totsuka stood behind him looking guilty, too scared to speak.
After Ichinose gave a few words of reprimand, Ishizaki and Yamawaki exchanged a look of helplessness and left the library reluctantly. Katsuragi and Totsuka also left with them.
As for Sudo, who lost his target, he didn’t persist or continue to make a scene. After gring at Horikita, he left the library with a sullen face, followed closely by Ike, Yamauchi, and others, clearly trying to avoid getting involved in any more trouble.
This conflict, sparked by Css D and Css C and intervened by Css A, was perfectly resolved by Ichinose from Css B. The turn of events was completely unexpected and full of twists.
During this disturbance, everyone remembered the names of Katsuragi and Ichinose, though in the end, it was clear that Ichinose received far more attention.
Ichinose let out a quiet sigh of relief. She had seemed calm on the outside, but deep down, she had been nervous. If she hadn’t handled things well, she might have made the situation worse or found herself in a difficult position. Fortunately, the outcome was positive.
However, the pink-haired girl hadn’t thought about the fact that she didn’t really have to interfere. From a rational and self-interested point of view, it might have been better to watch from the sidelines, and then she wouldn’t have had to bear the pressure and potential negative consequences.
Yet, from a retrospective perspective, Ichinose had solved a potentially violent situation perfectly. Her actions and name would spread throughout the entire grade, which was undoubtedly a form of invisible wealth and strength.
But the innocent girl hadn’t calcuted all of that. Her actions were simply driven by a natural sense of justice and kindness.
Ichinose approached Horikita and the others.
“Hello, I’m Ichinose from Css B. I know it might not be appropriate to interfere with matters from another css, but I believe that since we’re all cssmates, we should help each other, understand each other, and support each other. I understand you might think I’m meddling, and if I’ve caused any trouble, I’m truly sorry.”
Ichinose sincerely advised Horikita.
On the side, Ayanokouji, Kushida, and others remained silent, as did Horikita. Though she appeared cold and distant, it didn’t mean she couldn’t feel Ichinose’s genuine goodwill, without any malice.
But the more sincere Ichinose seemed, the more Horikita felt a sense of "helplessness," as if for the first time, she doubted her actions.
Horikita had always been "focused on the matter, not the person." She remained calm and rational, which made others unintentionally distance themselves from her. From another perspective, she cked empathy, which was why Hachiman felt that Horikita was somewhat like him in that regard.
Not far away, Hachiman watched Horikita, deep in thought. It was like looking at his former self, having done simir things in the past, with nearly identical outcomes.
After Ichinose left, Kushida and Horikita seemed to continue talking. Soon, Kushida, with his head down, looking as though Horikita had bullied him, quickly ran out of the library.
Although the disturbance was over, Hachiman continued to observe Horikita, Kushida, and others. Kamuro, seeing this, felt an unexpected surge of irritation.
“Hey, have you seen enough? It’s all over now! Are those girls that pretty? Your eyes are practically glued to them…”
“I don’t respond to ‘hey.’ And why are you still here, Kamuro?”
“Hah? You’re asking me that, Hachiman…”
Kamuro widened her eyes, her gaze fiery.
“I meant, since Katsuragi’s already left, is it really okay for you to stay here?”
Hachiman said quickly.
Kamuro paused for a moment before reacting: “You…”
Kamuro wanted to ask how Hachiman knew she was watching Katsuragi, but after being caught several times, she felt embarrassed and didn’t have the guts to ask.
“Actually… I wasn’t entirely sure at first.”
Hachiman carefully gnced at the purple-haired girl, who looked like she might bite someone.
Who knew that a slight tease would immediately reveal everything? Hachiman only dared to silently think this in his mind.
“…”
Kamuro suddenly wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
“After the school revealed the truth about the S system, Katsuragi should have the upper hand in the css, right? Given that little troublemaker’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t be satisfied with just submitting, right?”
Hachiman, despite not being in Css A, seemed to understand the situation in Css A better than anyone. “At first, I didn’t think about it that way, but after Katsuragi showed up, you followed closely behind. And now, from where you’re standing, you can monitor Katsuragi without him noticing. That’s a little too coincidental. And then you tested him…”
Hachiman didn’t finish his sentence, leaving Kamuro some dignity.
After a moment of silence, Kamuro looked at Hachiman strangely:
“Hachiman, are you… a pervert?”
“…Cough, cough, cough…”
Hachiman almost choked, then retorted, “You’re the pervert!”
Can’t you speak properly? Even though I have a lot of DHA in my eyes, that doesn’t mean I’ve sunk to the level of being a pervert!
“Forget it! Since it’s like this, I’ll leave now.”
As soon as Kamuro finished speaking, she immediately turned around and left in a hurry.
“You two really have a good retionship~”
At this moment, the usually quiet Hiyori suddenly spoke, with a hint of envy and an almost imperceptible sourness in her tone.
“I’ve only met Kamuro three times.”
Hachiman smiled bitterly: “But Shiina, it seems you know Kamuro?”
“Yeah, I know that girl, but she probably doesn’t really know me.”
Hiyori answered honestly.
“?”
“I saw her a lot in the library when school started. Back then, you were there too, Hachiman! Now that I think about it, it’s kind of a coincidence. Every time I saw you, I always saw that girl.”
Hiyori frowned, trying to recall, then looked embarrassed. “But at that time, I was really shy and didn’t dare to say hello to either of you.”
“…”
“Shiina, promise me, don’t tell Kamuro about this.”
Hachiman said seriously.
