Card Game Tournament Arc
12 Tree Shade and a Smile

The card game tournament began. Since the entire high school division was partic.i.p.ating, they were divided into several different tournament venues. Based on the number of people partic.i.p.ating, Concentration was in the first gym, Poker, Daifugō, and Fan-Tan were in the second, and Speed and Old Maid were in the third, so Meru separated from Hayate at the entrance to the school year building.

When the tournament ended, the six winners would line up on the first gym"s stage and form the new student council. In other words, as soon as the five executives obtained their respective champion seat, they would come to the first gym. Thinking about that, she felt her shoulders grow just a little bit heavy.

The gym which had seemed small just a moment ago was gradually growing larger. In the instant Meru thought soon, she heard the sound of someone dashing up to her with incredible force.

"Meru-chan!"

Meru"s eyes widened upon hearing that voice.

"…Rengetsu-kun?"

When she looked over her shoulder, Fuuga was unsurprisingly there. How far had he run to be panting like that? Breathing in and out laboredly, Fuuga smiled painfully.

"Haa, haa. I made it in time!"
"…? Rengetsu-kun, your venue is on the other side, right?"

Fuuga"s chosen event was Old Maid. In other words, his venue was the third gym. The first gym behind the main building and the third gym behind the 1st years" building were in completely opposite directions.

When Meru tilted her head, Fuuga did his best to take a breath.

"I still, haven"t said, "Good luck," to you!"

Fuuga conveyed that in between breaths. Meru laughed when she heard his words.

"You came running here like this for that?"
"…! I want you to win, Meru-chan! I won"t allow anyone else to become an executive!"
"Shh! You"re being loud!"

Because Fuuga had yelled that loudly, Meru pulled him into the nearby shade of a tree.

"Geez, if I were seen with you… Before I could become the champion, my life would end!"
"S-Sorry."

The drooping Fuuga looked completely like a dog. Thinking that this was the academy"s idol was a little comical.

"Even though you were unreachable until just recently~"
"Unreachable?"

When Fuuga repeated her words, Meru nodded. Many things had happened these past two months. Meeting and getting along with the executives, she was now able to smile in front of the people she had once seen from the far end of the hallway.
And if she hadn"t gotten involved with them like this, Meru wouldn"t have received so much encouragement from others.

"You know…this is the first time I"m being cheered on by someone."
"Eh?"
"So I don"t know how to respond at a time like this. But, I"m really, really happy… Is this the right reaction, I wonder?"

Meru looked up at Fuuga"s face. Her eyes were earnest. It looked entirely like she wanted an answer. Fuuga closed his eyes and faced Meru with the same level of earnestness.

"It"s right."

Fuuga said quietly. For a while, there was silence. In an instant, Meru"s eyes widened greatly. Then, she smiled with true happiness. Seeing Meru"s face like that, Fuuga covered his mouth and turned his face away.

"Rengetsu-kun? Wah!"

When Meru was examining Fuuga"s expression, Fuuga pulled her hand and she ended up burying her face in his chest.

"What, let me go!"
"Nope. I"m making a really disgusting face right now."

When Fuuga whispered that, Meru wasn"t able to bear it and burst out into laughter.

"You don"t have to laugh that hard…"
"Sorry, sorry."

Meru laughed for a while and wiped away the tears that involuntarily appeared as a result.

"Which reminds me, what about you, Rengetsu-kun? Can you win?"

Old Maid was the event most influenced by luck. In other words, Fuuga was in the most unfavorable position amongst the executives. However, Fuuga nodded with a smile full of confidence.

"Where do you get your confidence from…? Are you super lucky or something?"

When Meru asked that, Fuuga said, "Oh yeah, I haven"t told you yet, Meru," and laughed.

"It seems like I can use some minor mind reading. So I"ve never lost in something like Old Maid."

Because she had heard about the other executives" abilities, her surprise was cut in half. Even so, the shock Meru received was rather large. Fuuga smiled wryly at Meru"s dumbfoundedness.

"But it"s the same as Shoutarou-kun"s eyes. I can"t read your thoughts, Meru-chan, so you can relax."

Fuuga said so with an earnest expression, so Meru believed him. Or rather, it might be more correct to say that since if he was able to read Meru"s true feelings, it was unlikely that he would cling to her like usual, so she was able to understand his words.

"Well, that being the case… I"ll win. So you win too, Meru-chan."

Fuuga relaxed his arms slightly and examined Meru"s expression. Finally seeing his face, Meru saw that it was a little red, but had the same seriousness as previously, so Meru felt that she wanted to answer that feeling. There was only one thing that she could say to convey her wish do the best she could.

"I"ll definitely win!"

Meru declared, looking up at Fuuga. If it was the usual Meru, she would definitely never say that. Fuuga couldn"t help smiling limply and once more put strength into his arms holding Meru, saying "Good luck."

"Well then, we have to hurry up and go or we won"t make it."

Meru pushed off of Fuuga"s chest and separated from him. Meru was clad in calmness.

"Then, see you later."

Meru waved at Fuuga and turned her back to him. However, after only taking a few steps, an "Ah" leaked out and she turned back around to face Fuuga.

"Rengetsu-kun, here!"
"Eh? Wah!"

Fuuga rushed to catch the thing that came flying in his direction and his eyes widened.

"I liked your smile just now!"

Meru grinned and this time truly disappeared into the first gym.

"Geez…this is bad, isn"t it."

The same pink candy as before was in Fuuga"s hand as he sat down feeling at his wit"s end.

Next chapter is the last one for the card game tournament arc. It"s on the longer side, so there will only be one release. Enjoy!