"What kind of play is this?!"

"It's not what it looks like!" x2

Fujiwara and Iino stared in object horror as Ishigami walked up to the two of them, pinching his temple as he shook his head.

"Look, if you just give me a second, I can explain everything. It all started this morning."

###

"I guess being Shinomya-senpai's lady-in-waiting for 10 years has its perks, huh?"

Hayasaka's house was by no means as extravagant as the Shinomiya estate, but rather than emanating an aura of luxury, it gave off a more practical and modern feel. The roof had a solar panel, the walls were a simple white with some sections being made entirely out of glass. As Ishigami walked up to the entrance and rung the doorbell, he noticed that the trees in the yard looked somewhat strange. He walked up to one of them before looking inside and realizing…

No way… Are there wind turbines in these? So cool!

A/N: These are a real thing btw . /news/small-and-elegant-wind-turbine-trees-generate-energy-in-urban-environments

Ishigami headed back to the door, almost giddy with excitement.

Who knew that a high schooler could live this high-tech? I might make some suggestions to my parents next time we're doing renovations.

After a few more moments, the door swung open to reveal a sweats-clad Hayasaka.

"Oh, hey, Ishigamicchi. You're a little early, aren't you?"

Ishigami shrugged.

"Only by about 5 minutes. In any case, why'd you call me over? We haven't really talked since the whole thing with Shinomiya-senpai. Also, why'd you tell me to bring along my uniform?"

Hayasaka closed the door behind Ishigami as her voice took on an almost unnervingly silky tone as she said:

"I think that I'll answer all of that and more once we head up to my room."

Ishigami whipped around, a bewildered look being slapped across his face as his voice jumped up about 3 octaves.

"...Hah?"

"You know. A guy and a girl. All alone in her room."

Ishigami quickly averted his gaze as he felt his face heat up.

What the hell?

"Seriously? Are you messing with me or something?"

Hayasaka gave a snort, a grin beginning to appear on her face.

"And what if I am? Besides, why don't you want to? Are you that nervous?"

Ishigami rolled his eyes.

"Come on. If I was, then I wouldn't have come in the first place."

"Then what's the problem? You got someone you're interested in or what?"

Again, Ishigami's cheeks flushed pink as he stayed adamant in his refusal to meet Hayasaka's gaze.

"That's… confidential."

"So you do, don't you?"

Ishigami grumbled to himself as Hayasaka began to laugh, life beginning to shine in her voice.

"So, who's the lucky girl? Is it Terashima-senpai? You always seem to be talking about how amazing she is."

Hayasaka sat down in one of the armchairs in the living room prompting Ishigami to sit across from her, still stubbornly avoiding her line of sight.

"Look, I've already told you that she's more like a celebrity or something to me. Like, I think she's cool and amazing at games, but I'm not into her."

"Is it because you haven't managed to beat her in a single valorant duel?"

"Shut up."

Hayasaka laughed before seeming to ponder the question for a few more moments, scratching her chin before using the same finger to point at Ishigami.

"So, is it Prez-chan?"

Ishigami froze. Without missing a beat, his face went bright red as he looked away, managing to squeak out:

"W-whatever do you mean? Me and Iino? Nah… That would never happen…"

"Looks like I hit the nail on the head."

Hayasaka got out of her seat, standing directly behind Ishigami before placing her hands on his shoulders as her stoic expression took on a more playful feel.

"So, how far've you gotten with her? You kissed yet?"

"There's this word called 'boundaries'. Ever heard of it?"

"I'm doing a checkup on your love life, or at least, I'm hoping that it's not an autopsy?"

Ishigami looked away as his voice took on a defensive tone.

"You've got nothing to worry about. I got over Tsubame-senpai ages ago."

"By the way, I heard that she got a boyfriend."

Ishigami sighed, resting his face on one of his hands.

"Look, I just told you that I'd gotten over her."

Hayasaka did a slow clap, speaking with mock praise.

"Wow, congratulations."

"Shut up. Besides, my love life couldn't be going better. Iino's about an inch away from confessing, so you don't need to worry."

"So, she hasn't confessed yet? Why not?"

Hayasaka has just stepped on a bit of a sore spot for Ishigami here.

"W-well, she's constantly dropping hints, so it's definitely not that she's not interested. It's just probably her pride getting in the way or something like that."

Hayasaka felt a vague sense of déja vu.

"If you're that sure, then why don't you just confess?"

"I can't do that! If I got turned down, then I could basically take all the work that Myu and Shinomiya-senpai put into the student council and throw it in the trash! Besides, she's this close to confessing, so all I've gotta do is give her a little nudge in the right direction!"

Where have I heard this before?

Hayasaka sighed, shaking her head.

"You say all that, but how can you be sure that she won't just give up and move on? After all, she seems like the type of person who could be stolen away pretty easily."

Ishigami rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on. Iino's not that kind of-"

Actually, I could totally see that happening…

Ishigami's voice seemed to falter as he continued his denials.

"I told you already, she just needs to get over her pride. After that, she'll confess to me in no time. I'd give her 2 months at most."

"Are you sure that you're telling me everything?"

"I told you already…"

###

Hayasaka wasn't exactly sure when, but somewhere along the line, Ishigami had gone from steadfast in his denial to, well…

"She's hated me for so long that I have no idea what to do anymore! I keep telling myself that she's gonna confess to cope, but I've just been a complete fraud! If she found out that I spend 90 percent of our meetings wishing that I was playing video games, there's no way she'd still be interested…"

"You can stop now, I didn't mean to dredge up any bad feelings-"

"I try to get better but I fail every single time. Even when i think I'm winning I'm just setting myself up for even more disappointment. By this point, I don't even know whether I'd be worthy of Iino even if she was interested. Her conviction's so strong that I don't think I'll ever be able to fairly compare myself to her and I'm so far away from her type that she'd be more attracted to Miyuki than me, so how on earth am I supposed to confess?"

Ishigami stopped, taking a deep breath in and out as he recomposed himself, his tone evening out as he said:

"But if she confessed to me…"

Hayasaka felt very tired all of a sudden.

"Just stop already. You didn't have to tell me all that, y'know?"

Ishigami leaned back, his voice returning to his usual deadpan tone.

"Sorry. I guess I just needed to talk about it, is all."

Hayasaka looked up at the ceiling, a contemplative expression beginning to appear on her face.

"Still, I would've thought that you'd fall for someone else. Like, what about Koromo?"

Ishigami sighed, rubbing the back of his head as his voice began to grow more exasperated.

"Again, I play games with her and she's objectively good looking, but I honestly don't see her that way. Maybe she reminds me too much of Fujiwara-senpai."

Hayasaka raised an eyebrow at this.

"Eh? What do you have against Secretary-chan?"

"You know that she's not in the student council anymore, right?"

"I just call her that."

"Huh. As for your question…"

Ishigami appeared to be deep in thought as he closed his eyes and scratched his head for a few moments before giving a shrug.

"Well, she's a self-obsessed narcissist who practically demands attention and praise, she can't read a room to save her life, and-"

Ishigami noticed that Hayasaka seemed to furrow her brow, causing him to grow slightly confused.

"Hm? Something wrong?"

"Nope. Nothing."

Ishigami gave Hayasaka a skeptical look but continued.

"I was going to say that despite that, she's surprisingly competent and without her, the student council would probably have a lot fewer memories. Whether for better or for worse."

Ishigami was once again perplexed by the relieved expression on Hayasaka's face.

What kind of reaction is that? Is she another Fujiwara stan? I don't need another one of those in my life…

"Hey, Acchan? Weird question, but do you play piano?"

"Hm? I've dabbled, but I haven't gone to any recitals or anything like that."

So she's not a mindless fangirl…

Ishigami decided to put the matter to rest…

"So, you've got anyone you're interested in, Hayasaka?"

"Hm?"

"You asked me, so now I'm interested."

"Well, I'm not sure if I have anyone-"

Hayasaka paused as an image of a certain someone began to form in her mind.

Hm… Ishigamicchi doesn't seem like the type to spread rumours and I'm pretty sure he's not a homophobe, so I guess that there's no harm in telling him.

"Well, there is this one person-"

Suddenly, a look of realization flashed across Hayasaka's face as she stopped herself midsentence.

Wait, wasn't he just talking about how he didn't really like Secretary-chan? Sure, he said some nice things after, but this is a risk I don't have to take!

"You were saying?"

Hayasaka cleared her throat, continuing.

"Well, there is this one person. I like spending time with them, and I admire them because they have a lot of traits that I don't, but I'm not sure if it's romantic or anything."

Meanwhile, in Ishigami's mind:

Hah? She's actually interested in someone?

Looks like someone's paying close attention now.

"Wait, so you're actually interested in someone?"

"And, why is that embarrassing to you?"

"Dunno. You just always seemed like you were too cool for romance or something."

"I'll have you know that I'm interested just like anyone else. I just never had time what with my job. After that, you, Miyuki, and Mikaido were the only guys around my age I'd even really spoke to. Given that one of them pumped sea cucumber guts into my eardrums, another one had a crush on his cousin, and the last one is either too lazy to shave his bangs or unironically thinks that they're cool."

"Eh? What did you say about my hair?"

"Nothing."

The 2 of them exchanged a chuckle before Ishigami took a 10 yen coin out of his pocket and began to idly flip it in the air and catch it.

"So, what about this person are you interested in?"

"We're still talking about that?"

Hayasaka thought to herself for a moment, closing her eyes as she did.

"Well, they're super bright and bubbly for starters. They're also never afraid to try something knew. They've already dragged me into one thing I never would've done otherwise and I'm pretty sure that this isn't gonna be the last time that happens. On top of that, they're so self-assured that it's like no matter what situation they're in, every part of them stays the same, even down to the accessories."

"Isn't that last thing a bit of a problem?"

"Maybe, but to someone like me who's basically whatever the situation needs me to be, it's admirable to see someone who stays true to themself no matter what."

"I suppose that's true. Still, I don't really get that impression from you."

Hayasaka turned her gaze to Ishigami, rasigin an eyebrow.

"Hm? What impression?"

"That you're the type of person who wears a mask everywhere they go."

Hayasaka pondered this for a moment before giving a sentimental grin and looking off to the side.

"I guess I've gotten better at that."

For a few moments, the 2 of them sat in silence before Hayasaka abruptly stood up and began to stretch.

"Alright! Let's get down to business."

Hayasaka walked up to Ishigami, stretching out her hand as she said:

"Give me your clothes, Ishigami."

Ishgiami blinked twice, unable to process what was going on.

"Hah?"

What is this new form of teasing? Popular girls are scary.

"Your uniform. I need it for the cheer."

Realization washed over Ishigami's face as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh. That's what you meant- wait, did they not change the theme of the cheer?"

Hayasaka raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you know? It's tradition."

"That explains how they decided so quickly last year…"

Ishigami handed the bag with his uniform over to Hayasaka. The 2 of them waited in silence, staring at each other as neither of them said a word. Eventually, Ishigami was the first to speak.

"Aren't you going to change?"

"Right in front of you?"

"I thought you were going to head to your room or something."

"Just turn around."

"Are you this unguarded with everyone?"

"Are you going to keep staring at me or what?"

Ishigami's mind started to race, confusion began to set in as he slowly turned around, unable to think of an alternative.

What kind of a situation is this? Why would she-

"You can look now."

If Ishigami's mind was going at the speed of light before, then by this point, it was breaking the laws of physics with how much information he had to process!

"What the hell are you saying?!"

"What I'm saying is that you can look."

Ishigami felt Hayasaka put her hand on his head and forcibly turn him to face her.

"Wait, I can't do something like-"

And that's when he saw Hayasaka wearing his uniform.

"Hah? You changed that quickly?"

"Why else would I tell you to look?"

"How did you-"

"Trade secret. Anyways, how do I look?"

Ishigami put his fingers to his chin, taking a look at Hayasaka's stature. He hated to admit it, but she was good at this. With a black wig and a pair of glasses, she was almost indistinguishable from a guy.

I still have no idea how she changed that quickly, though.

"Looking good. If I saw you cheering, I'd genuinely think that you're a guy."

"That's good."

Hayasaka sat back down in her seat, gesturing for Ishigami to sit across from her.

"So anyways, why didn't you join the team this year? The people there seemed surprised that you didn't."

Ishigami sat down, speaking in a nonchalant voice.

"I've just been busy with other stuff lately."

Hayasaka nodded along.

"It must've been hard to train prez-chan. She doesn't seem like the athletic type."

"I know, right?! I mean, honestly-"

Ishigami stopped, his expression immediately being replaced with one of horror.

"Hah? How'd you-"

"I happened to be passing by when I peeked in and saw you guys."

"Guh…"

Hayasaka chuckled to herself at the look of absolute defeat on Ishigami's face.

"In any case, it's too bad you couldn't join. You're missing out on the fashion statement you could've made."

Ishigami leaned back in his seat, resting the back of his head on his hands as he looked at the ceiling.

"I guess it would've been nice to give that another try."

"Eh? You want to cross dress?"

It was at that moment that Ishigami knew, he'd said too much.

"That's not- I mean, I-"

Hayasaka had already gone to get the supplies.

###

"Ah, so that's what it was."

Fujiwara gave a sigh of relief, putting her hand on Hayasaka's shoulders as she said this.

"Still, promise me that you aren't getting with this guy under any circumstances, ok, Hayasaka-san?"

Ishigami rolled his eyes, looking over at the Hayasaka.

Great. Now, here's the part where she shits all over me and laughs along.

"...Ok."

Ishigami refocused his vision only to find that rather than what he'd expected, Hayasaka was nodding along and he'd just managed to spot a hint of red in her cheeks. His reaction:

Wait, what?

Ishigami is confused!

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let's go over the facts. The person that she likes is bubbly, pushes her to do a bunch of random things and never changes no matter the situation. Then there's the part about the accessories…

As Ishigami took a look at Fujiwara's forehead, a stroke of enlightenment hit him like never before!

Don't tell me… She's into Fujiwara?! Has the world gone mad? Is that why she was acting so weird today? This is bad! A romance with Fujiwara-senpai is dommed to end in nothing but abuse and suffering! Should I warn her? But I wouldn't want to butt in!

"Hey, Ishigami?"

Ishigami's train of thought was cut off when he turned around to see Iino. She was wearing a sheepish expression, not looking Ishigami in the eye.

"Yeah? What's up, Iino?"

"So, you were just helping out Hayasaka-senpai with her cheerleading duties?"

Ishigami nodded.

"I figured it was the least I could do after she helped me with my phone addiction that one time with the exams. Plus, friends help each other out."

"I see… in any case…"

Iino bowed her head, causing Ishigami to back up in surprise.

"Sorry. I jumped to conclusions when I didn't know the full story. As a member of the disciplinary committee, I should have done my due diligence before doing that."

Even when apologizing, she still remembers to frame her words as coming from a member of the public morals committee rather than from herself. Good catch.

Ishigami straightened himself back up.

"Ah, don't mention it. It was being a little secretive about it too, so it was partially my fault."

The 2 of them and Fujiwara left the house, each of them heading to their own respective homes. As Iino and Ishigami walked together, however, unease began gnawing at the back of Iino's mind.

So, he calls her 'Acchan', huh? Figures. Hayasaka-senpai probably doen't pile work on him or force him to stay in the council room like I do. She also probably doesn't start getting the wrong idea every time she sees him with another woman. And here I was, getting mad that they exchanged a single text. I thought that I was special when he agreed to hang out with me one on one, but it turned out that he could just casually do that with any girl… I could invite him again, but…

"Ah? You want to spend alone time with me that badly? How cute."

Absolutely not! I could invite him to hang out again, but that would be pointless. I already know that he'll accept, but it doesn't mean anything since he could just be too nice to turn me down.

Iino's change in expression from sullen to indignant back to sullen did not go unnoticed by Ishigami. He tried to think of something to talk about before eventually settling on a topic.

"So, you ready for the sports festival tomorrow?"

"Hm? Oh, that? I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

The 2 of them fell silent again, Iino looking up to the stars that were only visible now that the sun had just set.

"Gets dark early, huh Ishigami?"

"Yep. By the way, do you have any time once you get home?"

Iino stopped in her tracks, looking directly at Ishigami's face.

"Hah? Why do you ask?"

Ishigami scratched his cheek, looking away.

"I was going to unwind by playing some shooters and I figured it might be more fun with someone else. Y'know?"

Iino's mouth was open in surprise and she took a step back as she tried to process this.

"You're… inviting me?"

Alarm bells immediately began sounding off in Ishigami's head the moment she said that.

Hah? Is she trying to trap me here?

"You're that desperate to spend time with me one on one? My, oh my, you really are quite cute.

Not happening!

"I-I mean, I can get other people to join if that's what you want-"

"No, it's fine."

Time seemed to stand still, neither of them moving a muscle before Iino continued, breaking the silence.

"Calls get too chaotic if there are too many people."

Ishigami turned his gaze back to Iino. He saw her turn away, looking as she almost appeared to cringe at these words before he gave a nod.

"Yeah. Alright. Sounds like a plan."

Today's result: Iino wins.

By the way, they totally pub stomped.