The Heroines Want to Confess.

Chapter 82 – The Ill-fated Relationship Between Juniors

On Thursday morning and afternoon, Sakurai Saki focused seriously on listening to the lectures.

He didn't spend too much thought on the future diary.

Today, his job was to be a rental boyfriend, and the client was a female student preparing to attend a matchmaking party. After all, the job of a rental boyfriend only involved a few things: either going on a date with the client or participating in social activities with them. There were also girls who had never been in love and wanted to experience the feeling of being treated gently by a boy.

Sakurai Saki had already calculated — among the customers, there weren't many high school students; most were university students or adult women.

There was even a young office lady who wanted to keep Sakurai Saki as her sugar baby, to become his Mommy!

But he declined by citing the platform's rule that prohibited private contact between clients and rental boyfriends.

This kind of purely money-based transaction was something Sakurai Saki couldn't accept. Even if he worked as a host, he was mostly only "selling art, not selling body," let alone as a rental boyfriend.

Among all the customers, there was only one person who had a long-term relationship with Sakurai Saki — that was Minamoto Mashiro.

But no matter how good the relationship between Minamoto Mashiro and Sakurai Saki was, she never gave him money directly, instead using the platform, or commissioning high-paying private jobs to pay him.

Last time, after the magazine photoshoot, the payment was handled by Ueno Yoko. She even paid the penalty fee for violating the platform's contract.

Personal feelings were personal feelings, and business was business. Even between biological siblings, things had to be clear and fair, otherwise if everything got mixed up, it would be troublesome when disputes arose.

Since it was still quite early before work time, Sakurai Saki put on his bag and prepared to head to the student council.

Recently, there hadn't been much work in the student council, and he was just going there to relax a bit.

He pushed open the door.

Sakurai Saki saw someone he hadn't expected – chestnut brown long hair, two locks of hair hanging over her shoulders, petite figure, cute face – it was none other than Sakurai Saki's recent "crush."

Her name was—

"Miko-chan?"

In front of Shirogane Miyuki, Iino Miko was holding a stack of documents. She turned around and greeted him politely: "Good afternoon, Sakurai-senpai."

(✿ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)⁾⁾

"You came here because of disciplinary committee work?" Sakurai Saki guessed.

These documents were originally supposed to be delivered periodically by the disciplinary committee chair.

Among them, the most important was probably the daily disciplinary report.

Honestly, Sakurai Saki was quite curious about this.

There were surely many records related to Hayasaka Ai, and even more involving himself.

"Yes." Miko nodded.

"Today the chair had something to do and left early, so he asked me to help deliver them."

After speaking, Miko looked at Sakurai Saki with eyes full of anticipation.

Miko: ૮₍ ´˶✪ ᴥ ✪˶` ₎ა

She had worked really hard on today's test! Unless something unexpected happened, she was sure to get a good score!

Sakurai Saki, after being stared at for a few seconds by those small animal-like eyes, finally responded.

He asked, "How was today's test?"

"Not very good," Miko humbly replied.

Usually, only poor students were overly confident after a test, while good students like Miko-chan often felt they hadn't done well.

"It's okay, as long as you believe in yourself, Miko-chan. You don't need to compare yourself to others, just do your best," Sakurai Saki comforted her while sitting down on the bench and said.

"You're really good, your entrance scores were excellent too — compared to a certain kouhai of mine, you're clearly a genius! Don't doubt yourself!"

ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

Sakurai Saki took the opportunity while Ishigami Yuu wasn't around to vent his frustrations from tutoring over the past few days.

Although he hadn't said it outright, teaching Ishigami Yuu wasn't easy at all. That guy was very good at math, but that didn't mean he was good at other subjects. Just yesterday, while Sakurai Saki was teaching the Nakano quintuplets English, he had to also squeeze in time to tutor Ishigami Yuu.

Iino Miko blankly replied: "…Thank you, senpai."

(,,¬﹏¬,,)

She felt a little embarrassed.

Miko, because of her straightforward personality, had been ostracized since middle school. She even developed social anxiety disorder.

Someone like her, though appearing strong on the outside, was actually very fragile on the inside. In private moments, she would listen to healing sounds to relax, and when feeling wronged, she would quietly cry.

Moreover, since her parents were rarely around due to work, Miko deeply cherished emotional connections and recognition from others.

This personality trait shaped Miko's current state—just receiving praise from someone would completely lower her guard.

'Even though he often teases me, senpai is really gentle.'

❀.(*´◡`*)❀

Iino Miko, a girl nearly sixteen years old, still believed that the white horse prince truly existed.

And Sakurai Saki, whether in appearance, personality, or aura, matched perfectly with the image of the white horse prince in Miko's heart!

On the chair meant for the student council president, Shirogane Miyuki listened to the conversation between the two.

He commented, "Sakurai, you say these kinds of things when Ishigami isn't around—if he finds out, our kouhai will be hurt."

Then he handed the stack of documents in his hand to Miko, "Iino-san, I've finished reviewing the report, you can bring it back to the disciplinary committee room for filing."

"Thank you, President Shirogane!" Iino Miko snapped back to reality and received the documents.

"Ah, senpai, I still have community service duty to help pick up trash later, so I'll excuse myself now!"

(✿ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)⁾⁾

Sakurai Saki and Shirogane Miyuki both nodded.

What a good kid, even volunteering to help clean up trash.

After giving a slight bow once more, Iino Miko turned toward the student council room's door.

And then—

Creak~

The door was pushed open before she even touched the handle.

Standing opposite Miko, Ishigami Yuu squinted his eyes—the first glance didn't even register who was behind the door.

A few seconds later, he blurted out, "Iino?"

"Ishigami?" Miko, extremely rude in the moment, stepped back several paces.

Then she used the documents to cover her face, tiptoed toward the sofa, and only after confirming Sakurai Saki was close by did she let out a sigh of relief.

Why is Ishigami here? Was he part of the student council?

This year, the two of them were in the same class, both students of Class 1-B.

Iino Miko's feelings toward Ishigami Yuu were complicated. The two weren't exactly enemies, but there was quite a deep ill-fated connection. When Ishigami had once been suspended from school during middle school over some incident, Miko-chan had followed the justice in her heart and opposed him discipline to the teachers because of it.

"You two know each other?" Shirogane Miyuki asked curiously.

This was his first time meeting Iino Miko, and he had only heard about her a few times from Sakurai Saki during the opening ceremony—that she was a straightforward and serious child.

But every time Sakurai Saki mentioned Miko, he would have a mysteriously wicked smile on his face. That alone made Shirogane Miyuki worry about the girl's mental well-being.

The true personality of his close friend wasn't as nice as his outward appearance. When Shirogane first got to know Sakurai Saki, he had been "gently and politely" pressured many times to back off.

Last year, though that guy spent every day hanging around Fujiwara Chika, Shirogane Miyuki always felt Sakurai Saki treated Fujiwara Chika like a toy rather than a friend. Only when the quantity of interactions built up enough to trigger a qualitative change did Sakurai Saki begin to seriously pursue romantic feelings toward Secretary Fujiwara.

"Yes," Miko replied.

"But I hate the way he's so worn-out and lazy now!"

( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡ )

Ishigami Yuu heard Iino Miko's words, but didn't pay them any mind.

The other person was a disciplinary committee member—hating his lazy attitude was natural. Ishigami Yuu understood Iino Miko better than anyone. She lacked flexibility, was so serious she became rigid, and because of that, she kept getting hurt over and over again.

'Meh, though I don't have any right to mock her either.'

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ishigami Yuu mocked himself inwardly.

Thinking about it carefully, maybe he was even worse than her. At least she always firmly stuck to her own principles, and that was pretty cool, actually.

Ishigami Yuu also wanted to be cool — not the kind of cool from appearance, but the kind of cool through actions!

'Ishigami Yuu, something called "cool" doesn't suit you at all. Your chuunibyou phase should end already.'

"Yeah, classmates."

Ishigami Yuu responded to Shirogane's question, then ignored Iino Miko's gaze and went straight to sit down across from Sakurai Saki.

That action made Miko-chan very annoyed.

He'd been scolded like that and still acted unfazed like nothing happened!

Iino Miko pointed straight at him and shouted—

"Ishigami, now that you're a student council member, you should try a little harder!"

"Living lazily every day like this, are you really satisfied with your life?"

Always like this, back in middle school too, and now in high school, still hasn't changed one bit—despite being invited into the student council, not a shred of improvement!

"Sakurai-senpai, I'm pretty confident about today's test." Ishigami Yuu ignored her and turned to speak to Sakurai Saki.

People don't need to please everyone, just pleasing the ones they care about is enough. That was Ishigami Yuu's way of thinking.

He felt that he could never get along with Iino Miko.

Back in middle school, he had secretly helped Iino Miko many times, even going so far as to slip notes into her desk for a while, filled with words of encouragement. But with her current attitude, hmph, the more Ishigami Yuu thought about it, the angrier he became.

"!!!" At that moment, what Miko was thinking was exactly the same as him.

She was also angry about how she had once quietly helped Ishigami Yuu back in middle school!

This guy's behavior now was just absolutely detestable!

He wouldn't even say a single word in reply!?

She wanted him to cheer up, but ended up looking like a fool! Ishigami Yuu was still just Ishigami Yuu—a rotten guy who didn't know what trying hard meant!

Sakurai Saki could feel the tense atmosphere between his two kouhai, so he gently said:

"You two... seem to have a good relationship."

Ishigami Yuu and Miko were both stunned at the same time.

"A good relationship!?" ×2

(ಠᗣಠ) (ಠᗣಠ)

The two of them shouted in unison.

"Don't copy the way I speak!" ×2

( ◞•̀д•́)◞◟(•̀д•́◟ )

"Our relationship is not good at all!" ×2

Then both of them immediately went silent.

At this point, Shirogane Miyuki chimed in:

"Ishigami, when someone's talking to you, I think it's best to reply."

Ishigami Yuu lifted his head, looked toward Shirogane Miyuki with a radiant smile, then smirked and said:

"Ahaha~ sorry, no can do, Myuu-senpai. I have nothing to say to this woman."

Their relationship really is unbelievably terrible! Shirogane Miyuki sighed inwardly.

He thought maybe there was still a chance to smooth things over, but judging by the situation now, these two probably could never get along.

"What are you deluding yourself about? I'm the one who doesn't want to talk to you." Miko turned her head away and spoke in irritation.

Damn Ishigami! Running into him was pure bad luck!

"Hmph!"

（￣へ￣✿）

Miko-chan let out a hmph, looking extremely cute.

"Hmph!"

(￣^￣ )

Ishigami Yuu also turned his head, and let out a quiet hmph, extremely... uh, cute?

Shirogane Miyuki rubbed his temples in frustration.

Forget it. The relationship between these two is something he better not get involved in.

Clearly there's something going on behind the scenes that he doesn't know about.

"Miko-chan, do you really hate Ishigami that much?" Sakurai Saki asked.

After all, both of them were kouhai he cared about a lot. If possible, Sakurai didn't want them to keep being so stiff with each other. Of course, it wasn't necessary for them to be close, but at the very least, they should be able to talk normally, right? They were classmates, and there would be many chances to work together in the student council—things couldn't go on like this.

"No motivation to improve, average appearance, not gentle at all, dumb at studying, and doesn't understand other people's struggles…" Miko opened her mouth and listed out a whole bunch of flaws.

Compared to Sakurai-senpai, he's way too different!

"Not a single good point?" Sakurai Saki asked curiously.

Ishigami did have some good traits, though not many.

But at the very least, he was trying.

Hearing that, Miko answered without a moment's hesitation: "None!"

(｡•̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ꐦ) !!!

She didn't even need a second to think.

Being talked about like that, Ishigami Yuu also started getting angry:

"Iino, you think you have so few flaws yourself?"

"Stubborn! Inflexible! Doesn't care about what others think! Even if you know something will fail, you still do it! Obsessive with social justice... What are you better than me at?!"

<(ꐦㅍ _ㅍ)>

Ishigami Yuu's tone was very heavy!

Sakurai Saki looked at Iino Miko, then turned to Ishigami Yuu.

These two… have such a good relationship, huh.

Right as Ishigami Yuu and Iino Miko were glaring daggers at each other, like in the next second they'd break into a fistfight—

"Arere~!? Are we having a debate? Let me join in~!"

✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡

That woman, she had arrived!

The atmosphere destroyer, cancer of Earth, the unpredictable mysterious creature, the nuclear chaos, Azathoth's granddaughter, a woman even more terrifying than Shinomiya Kaguya by five cup sizes—

Fujiwara Chika pushed the door open and entered, catching sight of a new face.

"Huh! You are…"

(｡· v ·｡) ?

"Fujiwara-senpai!!"

Iino Miko respectfully called out.

Honestly, you might not believe it, but Fujiwara Chika had a good reputation even in middle school—and the same in high school.

As a freshman just entering high school from junior high, Iino Miko was still pretty unclear about Fujiwara Chika. She had no idea that this woman was like a deep ocean — beneath that calm surface was a monstrous terror hiding below!

"I'm Iino Miko, first-year from Class B!"

(✿ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)⁾⁾

Miko stood up and gave a slight bow.

"Ah, no need to be so formal." Fujiwara Chika turned around and closed the door.

"Can I call you Miko-chan? Saki-kun already told me about you~"

(๑´>᎑<)~*

Fujiwara the secretary's friendly words made Miko surprised and happy.

Miko shyly said, "Fujiwara-senpai, that way of calling…"

( ˶o˶˶o˶) !!

"Saki-kun calls you that too, right? Why can't I?"

( •̯́ ^ •̯̀)

The reason Fujiwara Chika wanted to get close was that simple! She wanted to be like Sakurai Saki.

"O-okay." Miko bowed her head, replying softly.

Ishigami Yuu had witnessed this scene.

He couldn't help but say: "What's so great about Fujiwara-senpai?"

Miko stared at him with eyes full of disbelief.

"Huh? Fujiwara-senpai is completely different from you! She doesn't break rules, she's serious and responsible, very gentle, and super cute! Ishigami, you should reflect on yourself a bit!"

As she mentioned Ishigami, she even glanced at Sakurai Saki:

"Sakurai-senpai too! Every time you comes to school, your uniform is messy! And you always teases me!"

૮₍ ˶>⤙<˶ ₎ა

But every time they ran into each other in the hallway, his uniform was always perfectly neat! This situation felt exactly like Sakurai-senpai intentionally dressed sloppily in the morning just to tease her!

"Ehehe~" Fujiwara Chika rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed after Miko praised her.

"I'm not as great as Miko-chan says!"

(⁄ ⁄>⁄ω⁄<⁄ ⁄)

As soon as those words left her mouth, the three boys in the room all showed expressions like they'd seen a ghost.

It seemed Miko's ability to judge people... wasn't very good.

All three guys came to the same conclusion.