Macho Man Doesn't want a Slice-of-Life

'How did things end up like this?'

Shirogane stood behind the school building, Kaguya blushing in front of him, and surrounded by students.

He'd thought the classroom was too public, so he asked her to meet him here after school. The result?

They were surrounded.

Students on all three floors were leaning out of windows to watch. Even the grove nearby had people lurking.

Shirogane noticed something was off earlier. While talking to Kaguya, not only was she blushing, even two of his close male friends had been giving him thumbs-up.

Now he was certain.

All of second-year thought he was going to confess.

Both he and Kaguya were big names in Shuchiin, and the idea of them getting together was sensational.

In just one afternoon, school forums and LINE groups had gone wild with talk of "Shirogane's going to confess."

Which led to this situation.

'This is practically a setup where I have to confess!!'

Shirogane panicked.

He had no idea how things spiraled from a simple conversation about election plans into this.

Even if he wanted to confess, how could he do it surrounded by a crowd?

"Hurry up, President," Fujiwara pushed him toward Kaguya.

'Secretary Fujiwara! Read the room!!'

If he told Kaguya he just wanted her to give the support speech now, the crowd would definitely explode:

'He chickened out!'

'Shirogane, you coward!'

'Humiliating a girl and pretending nothing happened!'

"I'm so disappointed in you!"

His campaign would be ruined, and he'd be branded a public enemy of women.

Even if he didn't mean to confess, it wouldn't matter. The crowd believed in their own version of the truth and would attack anyone who didn't live up to it.

Fujiwara, frustrated, stepped in.

"If you picked Kaguya over me for the speech, then don't hesitate now!"

She blurted out the worst thing possible. Shirogane nearly fainted.

The crowd murmured again.

"What did Fujiwara mean by that?"

"Is this a love triangle?"

"Oh, this is getting good."

'Damn it! Fujiwara, why now!? And this crowd, always making things worse. If only Rinji were here, you'd all be—huh? Rinji?'

Shirogane seemed to remember something. He silently pulled out his phone and sent a message.

---

On the rooftop, Rinji and Ryuju Momo sat quietly.

Every day after school, Rinji would spend club time here with the astronomy club president. Nothing really happened, but it was peaceful.

"How's the election going?"

"Most are on the president's side. We can relax a bit, but the tide can turn anytime, so we need to stay alert."

"Rumor has it you warned the student club union?"

"I just went around canvassing. Some people tried to bargain, so I gave them a little warning."

"Do you want that kid Shirogane to be the first student council president at Shuchiin to be free from the supervision of the Club Union?"

"You make it sound so serious. If I wanted to, I could abolish the Club Union altogether. They should be grateful I even give them a reason to still exist. Don't push it."

"But the Club Union exists only to ensure that the student council president performs their duties seriously. It's meant to serve the entire student body."

"If I wanted, Shuchiin itself wouldn't exist. If there are no students left, who are they going to serve?" said Rinji.

"...You're just as dangerous as you were four years ago," said Momo with a smile. "But that's what makes you, you."

"Exactly."

Bzz—

"Hmm?"

Feeling his phone vibrate, Rinji pulled it out and saw a message from Shirogane.

It contained only three letters:

SOS.

"The president's under terrorist attack?"

"You're overthinking it. The only person who counts as a terrorist in this school is you," Momo replied. "It's probably about what happened at noon today."

"Hmm?"

"There's a thread on the school forum saying Shirogane plans to confess. From what I know of him, he's not the type to confess like that. Probably a rumor blown out of proportion."

Momo thought for a moment and continued, "The rumors say it happened behind the second-year building."

"That's where..."

Rinji stood up immediately, rushed to the edge of the rooftop, and looked in that direction.

Sure enough, he saw Shirogane and Kaguya standing face-to-face, while the windows of the third floor were packed with students.

"I see. So now it's just about dealing with those students, right?"

"No... How did you even reach that conclusion?"

Before Momo could finish, Rinji quickly grabbed his bag and pulled out three canned-looking devices.

He walked to the rooftop's edge, calculated the trajectory, and threw them toward the classroom building.

…

The students leaning out the windows waiting for the confession were instead met with three flying canister-like objects.

Crash!

The windows on the third floor shattered as the "cans" rolled into the classrooms.

Just as students turned to look at them, they suddenly flashed a blinding white light followed by an ear-piercing sound.

Bzzzz——

A bright flash burst from the windows, and the previously noisy environment went dead silent.

The sound made Shirogane and Kaguya flinch and feel dizzy, and as they looked back, they saw all the students in the classroom passed out.

The items Rinji had thrown were flashbangs.