Classroom of the Elite (LN)
The monologue of Sakura Airi Chapter 3.7: The unexpected witness Part 7

The front entrance of the school was overflowing with students on their way home for the day.

I was a little worried about how I would meet up with Ichinose, but my worries were immediately resolved. She managed to stand out, even among so many other students.

Although her cute appearance could have been part of the reason, it also felt like she had a presence that controlled the area.

Honestly, I didn’t know how to describe it. I could only vaguely describe it as a gentle, yet powerful feeling. Something that was amplified by the attention she received from the surrounding first-year students.

It was similar to the attention Kushida received, if not more so. She was popular with everyone, constantly being called out to by the other students one after the other. As a result, I wasted about 5 minutes trying to find the right time to call out to her.

“Ah! Ayanokouji-kun, over here!”

Ichinose eventually noticed and called out to me.

I pretended as if I had just arrived as I raised my hand and joined up with her.

“So, what should I do next?”

“I intend to wrap this up as quickly as possible, so follow me.”

I put on my shoes and followed Ichinose to the other side of the school.

We eventually arrived behind the gymnasium. It seemed like an ideal place to make a confession.

“Well…”

After taking a moment to prepare herself, Ichinose turned around to face me. There’s no way… Ichinose, to me!?

“Confess-”

No, something like that–

“I… I think someone’s going to confess to me here.”

“…Huh?”

Ichinose then showed me a letter. It was a sweet love letter sealed with a cute little heart sticker. Although it would be rude for me to look inside, I took the letter out as I was prompted to. It didn’t seem like the letter was written by a boy at all. Instead, the handwriting on the inside was pretty and clean, no different from the envelope’s appearance.

I then noticed what I had been feeling curious about ever since coming to this school.

The meeting information written in the letter was Friday evening at four o’clock, behind the gymnasium. It was about ten minutes away.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I wasn’t here?”

“I… I don’t know much about love. I don’t know how to respond without hurting their feelings, and I don’t know if I can stay close friends with them after this as well. So I want you to help me.”

“I don’t think I’m the guy you should be asking since I don’t have any experience with confessions either. I’m sure there’s plenty of other people you could depend on in Class B.”

“The person confessing to me… is in Class B.”

I see, so that’s how it is. I was somewhat able to understand why she asked for my company.

“I’d like this to be kept a secret as much as possible. Otherwise, things would become rather awkward in the future. If it’s you, Ayanokouji-kun, I think it’s unlikely that you’ll go around spreading rumors.”

“But Ichinose, aren’t you used to confessions by now?”

“Eh?! No, not at all. Of course not. I’ve never been confessed to before.”

If she hadn’t called me out here to help, I would’ve never believed it.

“So, really, I just don’t understand why this is happening.”

I could only think that it was to be expected, since Ichinose is cute after all. Moreover, considering the way she had interacted with others since this morning, her personality seems to be pretty good as well.

“That’s why… can you please pretend to be my boyfriend?”

Whoa, is this seriously turning into such a cliche situation?!

“I did some research and found out that if the person being confessed to is already in a relationship, it will hurt the other person less…”

“I understand that you want to avoid hurting the other person’s feelings, but it will only hurt them more if they realise you lied about it, you know?”

“I could say that we broke up, or that you dumped me later on.”

I don’t think that’s the problem here…

“Honestly, I think it would be much better to meet and talk together with him one on one.”

“But- Ah!”

Ichinose noticed something and awkwardly raised her hand.

It looks like the confessor came earlier than expected. What kind of glam rock appearance is he sporting?

When I gazed upon his face, the visage of a boyish androgynous male was in my presence. He was even donned in a neat skirt.

No, she was definitely a girl no matter which way I looked at her.

I had some doubts after seeing the letter’s handwriting, but it really was a girl after all.

Unlike a confession between boys, it felt like this confession would look a bit better. Then again, that might only be because I’m a guy myself.

“Um, Ichinose-san… who is that person?”

The girl who had come to confess seemed to be wary of my presence.

“He’s Ayanokouji-kun from Class D. I’m sorry Chihiro-chan, for bringing somebody along that you don’t know.”

“Is he possibly… Ichinose-san’s boyfriend?”

“Ah, uh…”

Ichinose tried to speak, but she paused. She probably intended to say “that’s right” but the words got stuck in her throat due to the guilt she felt for lying.

“Why is this Ayanokouji-kun person here?”

Confused by the unexpected situation, tears began to form in Chihiro’s eyes.

‘Is he her boyfriend? Why would he be here if he wasn’t?’; these were thoughts that were most likely going through her head as she seemed unable to understand the situation.

Noticing her tear up, Ichinose quickly began to panic, not knowing what to do.

I had expected her to be a fairly reliable person, but it seems like she has some unexpected weaknesses.

“Um, could you please go somewhere else? There’s something important I’d like to talk about with Ichinose-san.”

“W-Wait a minute, Chihiro-san. That’s, uh- To be honest, Ayanokouji-kun is…”

It seemed that Ichinose intended to turn her down first.

She probably thought it would have made things harder for her if Chihiro actually confessed her feelings.

“…What is it?”

“Ayanokouji-kun? He’s, you know, my-”

There was almost nothing I could do in this situation. If there was, it would have to be this…

“I’m just a friend.”

I cut in before Ichinose could say the word.

“Ichinose, it may not be convincing for me to say this since I’ve never been confessed to before, but I think calling me out here was a mistake.”

I spoke honestly for their sake.

“Confessing to someone isn’t such an easy thing. Every day, you spend your time in endless worry, simulating the situation over and over again in your head. Yet, you still can’t confess. Even when you gather the courage to do it, the actual words get stuck in your throat and can’t come out. I think that’s just how it works. Don’t you think that these desperate feelings deserve a proper response? If you give a vague answer in a situation like yours, both of you will only come to regret it afterward.”

“Ugh…”

It’s likely that Ichinose has never seriously fallen for someone before.

Therefore, she didn’t know the right thing to do, or if she was making a mistake.

Trying to prevent somebody from having their feelings hurt is a fruitless effort.

When refusing a confession, hurting the other person’s feelings is unavoidable.

If you muster your wisdom and come up with a decent excuse, it’s true that you can somewhat smooth it over.

An excuse like: ‘I want to concentrate on my studies right now’, ‘There’s somebody else that I like’, or, as what occurred here, ‘I’m already dating someone else’. No matter which excuse you give, the other person is still bound to get hurt.

Not to mention that if that excuse is built upon a lie, the other person would only be hurt more if they ever find out the truth. I left the area without waiting for Ichinose to reply. Instead of heading back to the dormitory, I stopped and waited along the tree-lined pathway.

I leaned against the handrailing and sighed as I looked up towards the green leaves.

After about 5 minutes, a girl rushed past me from behind the gymnasium.

There were faint traces of tears in her eyes.

Despite that, I continued to kill some time without moving from the spot.

Around the time the sun began to set, Ichinose wearily walked back from behind the gym.

“Ah…”

Upon seeing me, she hung her head a little awkwardly. However, she looked back up immediately.

“I was wrong. I was trying to avoid hurting her. I didn’t even think about properly responding to her feelings, and instead tried so desperately to run away from them. That was my mistake.”

Ichinose mumbled, “Love sure is difficult…” as she sat down on the handrail next to me.

“I asked if things could go on as they always have tomorrow, but I wonder if that’s possible.”

“That will be up to the two of you.”

“Yeah…” She trailed off.

“Thank you for today. Coming with me on such a strange request.”

“It’s fine. There are days like this from time to time.”

“Our positions reversed huh? I came to you because I intended on lending you a hand, but I ended up relying on you instead.”

“I’m sorry for speaking like a know-it-all back there.”

Ichinose looked at me and blinked a couple of times as if I had said something peculiar.

“There’s no need for you to apologize. None at all.”

Stretching her hands up towards the sky, she then hopped down onto the ground.

“This time, it’s my turn to help you. I’ll try to do all that I can.”

I wonder what Class B’s Ichinose Honami intends to do to confront this difficult situation.

I was looking forward to it a little bit.