Chapter 50East and West
Gathering loyal followers. In order to achieve that goal, using those who stand out as a campaign to expand your following is not a bad move. I can understand why she chose Natsukawa─
"─But, it's a bad move."
"...What did you say?"
I unconsciously said what I was thinking.
I said so in a low voice, it should seem as if I was talking to myself.
Yeah, it should be fine, anyway, I can still pull it back... ...or not, I don't think she will leave it at that.
"For some reason, I heard some unpleasant words... ...May I not ask what the reason is?"
"Natsukawa is too prominent. If you make her your campaigner, others will just think 'Eh? Natsukawa-san isn't the candidate, but that girl?', you know?"
"Wh-What did you say...!?"
"As one of the ordinary boys, I can guarantee that. If you include Natsukawa, you'll only be overshadowed. And just a side character."
She looked at me in disbelief. Her eyes said, "What the heck do you mean?". But even without me explaining it further, she should have understood it herself.
It was true that she had a good mix of foreign and Japanese features, so she looked pretty with that blonde hair. And between cute or not, she's definitely cute, so she should stand out as well. I'm sure Claumaty can do it alone with this look. But, if there was someone cuter beside her, she would lose all her efforts up to this point and go back to square one.
"Natsukawa is much cuter than you."
"─!"
Claumaty's mouth opened and closed, as if she couldn't believe what I just said. Maybe in her mind, she was shouting "Really!?".
The other two girls behind her were both giving me the "Aren't you exaggerating?!" look, but after they looked at Natsukawa carefully, from the bottom to the top, I could see their temples throbbing.
How's my Natsukawa, hmm? Natsukawa is going to overshadow that Claumaty, isn't she?
"M-Marika-san...! She's─ ─Natsukawa-san is from the 'East' Side! You shouldn't interfere too much with her!"
"Th-That's right...! We from the 'West' Side must use 'West' ways, we must gather your followers elegantly!"
"..."
Claumaty's legs were trembling, and she looked angry.
She must have lost her words because of my unexpected response.
You're too shallow-minded, if it's only this much, you won't be able to use Natsukawa to your advantage. Yeah, I'm sure that you just want to use it to escape from troublesome things, right?
"─F-Fufufafa..."
"...!"
Claumaty, who was trembling a lot, showed a forced smile, and the "small" atmosphere that I felt from before was gone, her eyes turned into curious eyes. She immediately directed them, "I got an eye on you right now" looking at Natsukawa, from bottom to top.
"─Eek...!?"
─But, Claumaty realized that Natsukawa suddenly fell silent on the spot. I was already prepared for the worst but, I was curious, so I looked at the end of Natsukawa's point of view, and finally understood why.
The whole class, or at least almost all the students of Class 1-C, had gathered in front of the classroom door, checking what we were doing outside the classroom. There were people looking at Claumaty as if she was a bully.
Yeah, this was bad, she couldn't win them over this time... ...I mean, she really looked like a bad person here. Yeah, her request alone was unreasonable in the first place.
"M-Marika-san... ...we must..."
"W-Withdraw for now..."
"Ugh..."
The three of them panicked. Especially the two behind Claumaty who were trying desperately to convince her to leave. They probably didn't want her to stand out in a bad way.
Seriously, though, I wonder what the story of the two of them is, if it's okay with being her minions...
"...Then, we'll get out of here."
It's inevitable that someone like me interferes in this matter. Besides, you picked the wrong person, Claumaty. You tried to pick a fight with Natsukawa, who won against you in both looks and personality, not even counting her grades that were close to yours.
Yeah, this is the result I was hoping for. You only get what you deserve.
"Sajocchi, Sajocchi."
"Hmm...? Eh...?"
Ashida, who had become a spectator, somewhat showed me a wry smile, pointing in a certain direction. When I turned my head in that direction, there, I found Natsukawa, covering her face with both hands, while trembling. For some reason, it seemed that she was flushed all the way to her ears...
"Eh, what? What happened?"
"Yeah, it's your fault, Sajocchi. Because, you said something crazy like that without blinking an eye."
"Something crazy...?"
"You just called her 'cute'."
"Huh? Natsukawa has heard about that quite a bit, hasn't she?"
"Th-That's may be true, but... ...Being told openly in front of everyone without hesitation... ...I'm sure she doesn't know how to react..."
'Cute', I've said that word many times, and everyone around us should be aware that I feel that way. There's no reason for me to be shy about just saying that to her right now. I mean, Natsukawa must be used to it by now, right?
"...Can't you consider the time, place, and situation? Gosh!"
"But, I've been saying that almost everywhere and all the time, so it should be okay, right?"
"Sajocchi. It's because you're like this... ...Oh, seriously!?"
Eh...? Don't get mad at me all of a sudden. That's scary, you know...
Just as I was getting scared by Ashida's attitude, I felt someone tugging on my sleeve. Turning around, I found Natsukawa with a flushed expression.
"...D-Don't say something embarrassing like that..."
"Cute."
"!!!...D-Don't look at me."
"This is, it's exactly the same as usual."
I don't need that analysis. And also, what difference does it make, though... ...Oh, do I have ulterior motives or not? Would she feel much happier if I said so with a straight face? Leave it to me, if I can make her happy with this, I'll say it again and again, with a cool pose.
WHAT A COOL POSE!!!
─No need to glare at me like that, Ashida...
"─W-Wait a minute, Amano!"
"..."
"I-I told you to wait, are you deaf!?"
Just as I was about to return to class, Claumaty called out to someone.
Amano, you better respond quickly.
...But when I turned around, she actually looked directly at me.
Eh, me? Amano...? It just happened so casually that I didn't know it, but, it seems that I've become Amano? I wonder why you think I am, Amano... ...Amano Wataru... ...That's not so bad...
"Are you sure about this!? Even if you're more elegant than me, it's those who act that win in the end!"
"Yeah? Eh?"
"I'll definitely be the next Student Council President! To do that, even if it's against your "Oh-so-cute" Natsukawa Aika-san over there, I won't lose!"
Claumaty left these words behind, and left with the other two girls. Putting aside the case of her aiming to become Student Council President, trying to win against Natsukawa's cuteness would be futile, instead I felt sorry for her and started to worry about her.
"...Claumaty..."
"Claumaty? Who?"
"Eh...?"
♦
After passing the difficult period called End of Term Exams, what came immediately was a distraction.
I wondered what exactly she meant by the 'West' and 'East' Sides? I thought maybe he was talking about class separation, since classes 1-A through 1-C are in the East Building, and classes 1-D through 1-F are in the West Building... ...but is there a tradition in this high school that I don't know about...? I think they do the class separation randomly.
However, this is definitely some kind of discrimination. I think it's Claumaty's identity to say such things, but it's strange that the two of them with him are so proud of it. Perhaps, something happened when they enrolled this high school, perhaps there was a special requirement for class segregation?
"There are, they're exist."
"So there are, huh... ...Really...?"
Iihoshi-san told me as if it was nothing. I mean, she seemed a bit like someone who knew a lot about this high school, so I asked her, but I guess she really knew something.
I underestimated her. Please do your best as Class Rep, in the future too.
"You know, there are many famous companies around here, right? After passing through the residential area, opposite the train station, there is the business district."
"Oh, that's right."
"Also, it's a high-ranking private high school... ...A high-class family bus, a child's academic background determines the family's social status. And, you know this high school is quite old, right?"
"Yeah, I've heard about that."
Now just think, behind this school building, there's an old roundabout that's not connected to anywhere.... ...Right when I walked in here, I was hoping that this might be connected to the train station.
"Then, you can say this as the nature of people from the Showa Era... ...Before, the three classes were divided into the East Building and the West Building, I mean, you want to separate those from the investor family and those who are not, right?"
"'Right?', you said... ...Oh, that's why they keep talking about the 'East' and 'West' Sides."
Isn't that proper discrimination? The guardians of those students probably think 'Hippie families are snobbish' or something to some extent, right? Yeah, again, it seems like the teachers treat the students without... ...any discrimination. Yeah, it's normal.
"But, Classes 1-D through 1-F are still three classes. Do we have a lot of students from rich families here?"
"Hmm~... ...I think, mostly only Class 1-E. The others are just those who are affiliated, I think..."
"Huh? I don't really understand..."
"Elegant."
"Eh?"
"'E' means 'Elegant', probably the connotation behind this. In fact, it's just a rumor."
"Eh?"
What are you trying to say here, I don't understand... ...That's the reason? I can't feel the "High Caste" of that reason, it's so stupid. It must be some inventor who got carried away and just said that randomly, right? Don't tell me it came from the high school itself, that's impossible, isn't it...
"Yeah, speaking of eras, that kind of thing is definitely fading away, especially these past one or two years."
"Huh? But, we have some rich students here, maybe the country is paying attention to this high school?"
"No, just because the 'East' Side is always stronger these days, that's all. In terms of natural goodness, unity, appearance, and grades."
"Isn't that an overall victory?"
"When I look at the the Disciplinary Committee President and the Student Council Vice President, I'm convinced. Both of them are from the 'East' Side."
"Right, I can definitely tell if the Disciplinary Committee President is there."
"Eh...? Hmm, the Disciplinary Committee President and the Student Council Vice President─"
"Yeah, the Disciplinary Committee President."
So that kind of history is hereditary in this high school, huh. I thought that kind of story only existed in TV Dramas or mangas. The Staff Office and Social Studies Preparation Room, are in the South Building. The Music Room and the Home Economics Room, in the North Building. Since I never did anything in the West Building, I didn't realize it either.
"It's a story that's rarely told, so maybe some students from the 'East' and 'West' Sides are in the same club activities? Then again, those rich boys and girls who've been going to Homeschooling to House (by car) since childhood, like spoiled brats who've lived their lives mostly indoors, I can't imagine they'd join the sports clubs."
"I-I see..."
When I was in elementary school, I went to school by car. Should I have hidden this from him? I mean, I wasn't in any club activities either, somehow it made me realize... ...Yeah, this was me, one of the spoiled kids.
TL Note:
This is the end of our tasks to finish the translation of the first 50 chapters of this web novel, you can read the next chapters, from Chapter 51 until the current chapters, on our English division, Ninja Cross Translation, by clicking the "Next→" down below. Thank you so much for supporting us to finish this novel, see you guys next time on our new projects on Ninja Cross Translation and Lintas Ninja Translation.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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