Reiryuu Gakuen Seitokai

Encounter Arc
05    Umbrella and Oth.e.l.lo

Kamishiro Hayate stood alone by the window in the student council room. The executives who used to gather here during lunch break even though there weren’t any order to a.s.semble, stopped showing up one by one recently.

Letting out a sigh, Hayate looked out the window.

What reflected in Hayate’s red-tinged eyes was, in a corner of the high school 2nd-year section――the figure of a girl carrying print-outs with her lips tapered.

“Meru-chan.”
“Gyahー!”

Several meters behind that girl was the possessor of familiar light brown hair, Fuuga. When Fuuga tried to hug the the girl from the back, she bent her body to the front. The girl somehow managed to maintain her posture and turned to glare at Fuuga. Though the Fuuga in question grinned like he was happy from the bottom of his heart. Thereupon, while pushing up his gla.s.ses, another familiar figure of a tall boy came over.

“Rengetsu. What are you doing. Can’t you see Kusuhara’s troubled?”

Shoutarou grabbed Fuuga by the scruff of his neck, pulling him off the girl. That the misogynistic Shoutarou would be concerned about a girl is a peerless precious scene.

“Thank you, Katsuragi-kun.”

“Wa, Shoutarou-kun! You’re intruding between Meru and I……!”

“Noー! With Meru-chan, Iー!”
“Bye byeー”

Shoutarou who had a bothered look and Fuuga who had teary eyes. As the two’s figures vanished, the girl waved one of her hand lackadaisically while another familiar short-built boy appeared.

“Kusuhara-san, I’ll lend a hand.”
“Sorry for the trouble every timeー”

The girl shared the print-outs with Yuuri in an accustomed manner.

Sound of the door opening entered the ears of Hayate who was watching the two.

“Hayate?”

Probing with a sidelong glance, Raira’s figure entered his eyes.

“Raira, huh.”
“Un. What are you looking at?”

Raira’s long hair swayed as he went to stand beside Hayate.

“Ah, isn’t that Ru-chan and Yuu-chan. That Yuu-chan, helping Ru-chan out, what a side benefit.”

Fufufu, Raira placed his hand above his mouth and laughed. His gestures that were more feminine than females always impressed Hayate.

“Kusuhara Meru, huh.”

Looking out the window, Hayate spoke that name. It wasn’t possible to read his emotions from the tone of that voice.

That day, like mountain weather, from a fine cloudless sky it suddenly changed to a heavy downpour as though a bucket was flipped over. And unfortunately, Meru forgot her umbrella.

“If it’s just umbrella, the student council will lend you one if you let them know.”
“Ehh……”

Meru’s eyebrows grew closer at Maiko’s words. Maiko gave her usual wry smile as she looked at Meru.

“Even though anyone else would want a reason to go to the student council room.”
“Because, I won’t be able to come back if I go to the student council room, probably.”

Meru let out a sigh as she recalled Fuuga who came to hug her through and through today too.

“But you’ll catch a cold if you don’t use an umbrella when it rains this heavily, you know.”

“Go.”
“…… Hai.”

Similar to the exchange on a certain day, having lost to Maiko’s pressure, Meru lifted her heavy hips.

In front of the student council room door, Meru took a deep breath.

“Excuse me for intruding.”

Knock knock, having knocked the door, Meru opened the light brown door.

Opening the door, she found that it was a place more quiet than predicted. As expected, the room was properly arranged and put into order. Meru decided not to delve into the excessive existence of complex machineries there.

As Meru surveyed the area, a dignified voice resounded through the room.

“Is something the matter?”

Meru turned around to find the smiling figure of Hayate there. It seems that he, too, was proceeding to the student council room at the moment.

“I came to borrow an umbrella.”

“Hai.”

Hayate pa.s.sed by Meru and made his way to the locker inside.

That single movement was very atmospheric, and for a moment Meru was captivated by Hayate’s back view. Come to think of it, this is the first time I spoke to him, as she was thinking this, Meru’s shoulder shook with a start. Meru fl.u.s.teredly shifted to a blind spot-like location from the door, and sat down there.

“Kusuhara-san? What are you doing?”

Hayate’s face looked slightly shocked at the sudden action as he asked. At the same time, the room’s door opened with vigour.

“Meru-chan!?”

That voice belonged to Fuuga. Because of the open door, both Meru and Fuuga are unable to see each other.

Hayate made an astounded face at Fuuga who entered with a cheery voice.

“Fuuga…… What are you doing?”
“Ha-Hayate-kun!? S-sorry……”

Fuuga shouted Meru’s name the instant he opened the door because he had a feeling Meru was here. But the person in the room was completely out of his expectations. When Hayate’s presence entered his eyes, Fuuga hurriedly smoothed it over with words. But in response, a terrifying smile floated up on Hayate’s face.

“Ah, you want to work that much? Fuuga sure is an odd one.”
“No, Hayate-kun! Stop, stop! I’ll apologise for not first calling Hayate-kun’s name when I came in!”

Fuuga seriously, not jokingly, apologised like that. If one has to say, then yes, this way of thinking is just like Fuuga, but Hayate held his head and let out a voice as though he’s troubled.

“I was just angry that you opened the door without knocking, but how did you come to that interpretation?”
“Eh! In any case, sorry! …… Wait, now’s not the time for that! Did Meru-chan come here?”

Sighing at Fuuga who didn’t seem to have reflected, Hayate shot a quick glance at Meru. When Meru placed her index finger straight up against her mouth, Hayate’s cheek loosened a little, and he returned his gaze to Fuuga.

“If it’s her, she borrowed an umbrella and left. Just now.”
“Really!? Thanks! Hayate-kun!”

Saying so happily, Fuuga was about to set off on a journey to chase Meru, but Hayate’s voice stopped that briefly.

“Threefolds of work is fine as thanks.”

“Ah, my bad. You wanted fivefolds?”

Having an inkling that the more he oppose the more the multiplication will increase, “Stop stop!”, Fuuga raised his voice.

“Please let me have threefolds! If I don’t hurry, Meru-chan willー!”

Leaving these words, Fuuga left like a storm. Witnessing the door close with a bang, Meru let out a breath.

“Thanks, Kamishiro-kun.”
“I didn’t do much.”

Meru approached Hayate, but when she tried to collect the umbrella from Hayate, what was handed to her wasn’t an umbrella.

“Eh? What?”
“If you go out now, you’ll be caught by Fuuga you know?”

With a smile on his face, Hayate spoke in that manner.

Certainly, Meru recently came to know that Fuuga had a special skill for finding her.

“Ahh, that’s true.”
“That’s why, don’t you play this with me to kill time?”

To Hayate who held oth.e.l.lo in one hand, Meru’s face clearly showed that she felt it  bothersome.

“Nah.”
“I’ll immediately call Fuuga here if you refuse.”

Hayate held a handphone with his other hand that wasn’t carrying oth.e.l.lo. Perceiving that she didn’t have the right to reject, Meru gave an acknowledgment with a sigh mixed in.

“That’s right, an ordinary game isn’t fun so why don’t we have a bet?”

Sitting at the two-seater at the end of the student council room, Hayate made such a proposal.

“How about this, the loser has to listen to what the winner says?”
“Go ahead, it’s up to you.”

Giving up on objecting, Meru set the second black piece. Smiling with satisfaction, Hayate similarly placed two white pieces. And as the game began, snap snap, inanimate sounds echoed out within the room.

“Even though this is the first time I spoke to you, it doesn’t feel like that.”
“That’s right, isn’t it.”

While Hayate is famous, Meru is the girl known as Miss Average. In other words it’s not an exaggeration that this is about the first time Hayate met Meru. She can understand how Hayate felt that way when he suddenly proposed to play a game with no concern that this is their first meeting.

“Those guys seemed to have taken quite a liking to you.”

‘Those guys’ probably refers to the executives. After thinking for a bit, Meru opened her mouth.

“Well, I’ve been in their care. Excluding one portion.”

“Hē.”

Meru replied with her eyes on the the board.

“It’s not just Fuuga. Even Raira and Yuuri, and that severely misogynistic Shoutarou.”
“Ahh, I see.”

Taking into account Soutarou’s usual behaviour, Meru is somehow convinced. Past occasions that convinced her of Shoutarou’s misogyny came to mind. Recalling those, Meru set a black piece on the board.

“But it seems you are able to interact with them normally. No, perhaps beyond normal.”
“Is that so?”

Meru smiled wryly at Hayate’s words. Meru had personally, never felt that way, but Hayate seemed to feel so.

“Therefore……”

Hayate placed a white piece, changing the black pieces into white pieces.

“I’m curious about you. How did you manage to get those guys in the palm of your hand, I wonder.”

Meru raised her face. Thereupon, Hayate’s and Meru’s gazes intertwined.

“Palm of my hand, is it?”

Meru turned her gaze away from Hayate and changed the white pieces on the board to black pieces.

“I wouldn’t have such a hard time if I could do that.”

“Kamishiro-kun.”

Meru pointed at the board. Prompted by that, Hayate also looked towards the board. Then, his eyes widened greatly.

What reflected in his eyes were an equal number of black and white pieces. It was an oth.e.l.lo game that came to end with a perfect tie.

“It’s a tie so the bet is off, right?”
“…… ah.”

When Hayate nodded, Meru stood up.

“Besides, it’s probably about time Rengetsu-kun returns here.”

Saying so, Meru took the umbrella leaning on the president chair, signed the loan register left there and handed it to Hayate.

“Tomorrow, I’ll come and return it.”

Holding the umbrella in one hand Meru headed to the door.

“Meru.”
“……. Eh.”

Her name was called by Hayate. Wondering if it was her imagination she turned around, but it seems like it wasn’t her imagination.

“It was fun.”

“Be my opponent again next time.”
“……”

Not giving a reply to that, “I’ll be taking my leave”, with a bow she left the room this time for sure.

After Meru left, Hayate gazed at the oth.e.l.lo board for a while. The more he looked, the more shocked he felt. That he was so immersed in the conversation he didn’t realise the game ended, and that it ended in a draw.

He had never yielded the throne of number 1 to anyone. That was to him, an unshakable fact with no exception, and the reason why he unprecedentedly became student council president right after enrollment into the high school sector.

Hayate didn’t lose to Meru. But, neither did he win.

“I see.”

Looking at the loan register, Hayate chuckled. The characters《Kusuhara Meru》were exceedingly precious.