"Alright, President! I'll do exactly as you say!" Tanuma Tsubasa's eyes sparkled with determination.
He had always admired Natsukawa Kanade, seeing him as nothing short of a legend in the realm of romance. After all, Kanade was a man who had dated numerous cute girls, broken up with them in the end, and yet somehow still held a place in their hearts! Among them was even the infamous Shinomiya Kaguya, known far and wide as the "Ice Princess." To have conquered her heart, even briefly—what kind of god-tier love ability did that require?!
To Tsubasa, Kanade wasn't just a mentor—he was the God of Conquest.
More importantly, after following Kanade's advice once before, he had noticed a drastic improvement in his luck with girls. His confidence had skyrocketed. If Kanade said it, then it had to be true.
"So what's the next step, exactly? Should I apply to the teacher to switch my seat to the back of the classroom? That way, I can observe them more easily... Or, should I prepare binoculars? With those, I could monitor them from a long distance without being noticed! Oh! What if I bribe their friends? That way, I'd have inside sources constantly feeding me information—"
"NO! Absolutely not!" Kanade quickly cut him off before this lunatic spiraled any further. "Don't do anything extreme! If you go overboard like that... like that..." He racked his brain for a solid excuse and finally blurted out, "You'll alert the enemy!"
The others: "..."
Kanade cleared his throat and continued, "Just act normal! Stay calm! Keep your mind clear! The moment you start acting weird, they'll definitely notice, and then all of this will be for nothing!"
He hadn't expected Tsubasa to be so enthusiastic about this operation. The first few suggestions were at least somewhat reasonable, but the later ones? If he wasn't careful, the guy would turn into a full-on stalker! What next? Hiding in the bushes? Planting secret cameras? That was criminal behavior!
Kanade had zero intention of turning his friend into a walking restraining order.
"In short, just keep things natural. Pay subtle attention during everyday interactions—don't force it. Got it?" Kanade reiterated firmly.
Tsubasa, now realizing the gravity of the situation, straightened up and nodded with newfound seriousness. "Understood. I'll follow your lead, President!"
Seeing that his words had finally sunk in, Kanade let out a relieved sigh. Crisis averted.
"Alright, does anyone else have something to add? We still have plenty of time—"
Before he could finish, Kanade noticed that everyone was staring at him. Hard.
A chill ran down his spine. A bad feeling welled up in his heart.
"President," Tsubasa spoke up first, but the other two nodded along eagerly, "We've been meaning to ask you about your own situation. I mean, obviously, you don't need help, but... let's be honest, we're all really curious. Who did you like the most? How long did you date her? And what happened that led to the breakups?"
The room fell silent.
Kanade felt like he had been hit by a truck.
Who did he like the most? How long did they date? Why did they break up?
...
When the hell did any of that happen?!
Wait—could it be?!
Up until now, Kanade had assumed that the most persistent rumor about him was that he had ambiguous relationships with many girls and was suspected of dating multiple people. But this... this was something else entirely.
In their minds, he was a serial dater who had conquered countless hearts, broken up with every single girl, and yet still left them longing for him?!
Kanade felt his soul leave his body.
He had thought that by staying silent about the rumors, people would eventually realize the truth. After all, it wasn't like he was dating all those girls! No sane person could juggle multiple relationships at once, right? His reasoning had always been simple: actions speak louder than words. He had believed that so long as he lived his life normally, the rumors would naturally die out.
But instead, the complete opposite had happened.
By not addressing the rumors head-on, he had unknowingly fueled them.
And now, this misunderstanding had snowballed into something monstrous.
No wonder Tsubasa had always looked at him with subtle reverence! All this time, he had assumed it was just respect for his position as Student Council President, but in reality... it was admiration for his "unparalleled romance skills"?!
What kind of twisted fate was this?!
"No, no, no! This is a huge misunderstanding!" Kanade frantically waved his hands, desperately trying to set the record straight. "I swear, I don't—"
However, it seemed that even the heavens conspired to keep him from clearing his name. Just as Natsukawa Kanade was about to set the record straight, the door to their dormitory suddenly burst open with a loud thud.
"I could hear you lot bickering all the way down the hall! Are you planning to sleep or hold an all-night debate?"
The stern voice belonged to none other than Hiratsuka Shizuka, the ever-intimidating dorm supervisor and their literature teacher. Her sharp glare scanned the room like a hawk seeking prey.
"Oh? So the esteemed student council president is in this room?" She smirked, cracking her knuckles. "That means the punishment is doubled! If I come back later and find even a whisper, all of you will be running twenty laps around the playground! Understood?!"
"Yes, teacher!" The group chorused, though their spirits were visibly deflating. They had just finished dissecting Tanuma's situation, but the juiciest topic—the so-called romantic exploits of Natsukawa Kanade—remained unresolved! The thirst for gossip burned within them, but there was no arguing with the iron-fisted enforcer of dormitory discipline.
"And keep your voices down! Stop disturbing the other students!"
"Yes, teacher..." They all nodded obediently, though the irony wasn't lost on them—wasn't her voice the loudest of all? But no one dared to voice such thoughts, not unless they wanted to taste the wrath of the infamous "Iron Fist Leftover Woman."
Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded in satisfaction, muttering under her breath, "Honestly, why do boys this age have so much energy to burn? Even the girls are getting just as bad..." before she left, her footsteps fading down the hall.
A heavy silence settled over the room, like the aftermath of a typhoon. It seemed as if everyone had collectively held their breath.
But the night had one last trick up its sleeve.
Barely a few minutes had passed when the door creaked open once more. This time, the glow from the hallway cast an ominous silhouette at the entrance—a shadowy figure standing just beyond the threshold. A devilish grin spread across their face, eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Tch. They're actually asleep? What a shame... I was hoping to stir up some fun."
The figure scanned the room, their gaze sweeping over the still forms lying motionless in their beds. After a moment's pause, they clicked their tongue in disappointment, shrugged, and slinked away into the darkness, the door closing with an eerie finality.
...
A long silence followed. No one moved, no one dared to speak.
Then, at some point, the sound of soft, rhythmic breathing broke the tension.
One after another, light snores began to ripple through the room, signaling the inevitable pull of sleep.