Aka Akasaka Translation by Athy , QC by Packaging and Anonymous Ishigami Wants to Gift “Hey, Ishigami,” Iino opened her mouth. It’s the same student council as always. She asked me while looking at her laptop which doesn’t match the old desk for the student council president. “What 's up?” “That......It’s” My position didn’t change. I’m always sitting somewhere on the sofa with a long desk. To be honest, this work environment is not good, so I want to change the layout to increase work efficiency. If we had enough budget. “Actually...... never mind.” “What do you mean by that?” Recently, Iino’s been like this. She seems like she wants to say something, but stops halfway. I’m left with a murky feeling like something is stuck in my teeth. “Haah...... I can’t do it like ex-President Shirogane or Shinomiya-senpai.“ Iino says a humble thing like this, lays her light body against the back of the chair, puts her finger inside the key chain ring, and spins it. I see this situation a lot recently. “That’s the thing that’s always sold in the devoted hearts festival, right?” “ ! ” 1 “Am I wrong? I’m sure that it has a jewel inside as a selling point......” “You’re not wrong......you have quite a good memory.” “I did manage the sale of goods. That thing is kinda expensive. This product couldn’t be called a good one because of its low-profit ratio, so I remembered it in a bad way.” “Bad way...... I see......” Iino suddenly dropped her eyelids and glared at me with her narrow eyes. Yes, she glared at me. I know what the reason is. That key chain is the one I passed to Iino as a lost and found item. The fact that she’s been preciously keeping it since then means that she takes care of her things. Also- she’s cute. I already know. What Iino, who’s at a loss for words, is trying to say. I’m not thickheaded. I’m so confident in my human observation skills that at one time, I boldly claimed that I could understand people to some degree just by looking at their eyes. I already know about what Iino is thinking about right now, that the President and Shinomiya-senpai had mutual feelings for each other from the beginning, and that Tsubame-senpai only looked at me as a Kouhai. A lot of things are better to pretend like you didn’t know. This is my philosophy on life. When I was in elementary school, I stated that my favorite teacher was dating a student’s father and that made her retire from her job. After that incident, I try my best to not talk about these kinds of things. Especially regarding romance, it’s important to not get involved more than necessary. I know that by heart. Well, back to what I was saying about Iino. Unless I misunderstood, right now, Iino and I are in a relationship similar to President Shirogane and Shinomiya-senpai before they started dating. If one of them took action, the relationship would easily change. It’s inevitable. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. If that’s the case, why don’t I confess? The answer is simple: It would be embarrassing if I confessed but got rejected. 2 Relationships easily change. In both good and bad ways. The reason is not that I’m hung up over my broken heart. It’s not that I feel uncomfortable because my crush changed. So the number one reason is that fear. I said I have an eye for people, but if I made a move without thinking and the result was different from what I expected, I wouldn't be able to look at myself. My plans sometimes fail, and that’s a fact. Things don’t go as well as I fantasized every time. It’s embarrassing. It’s frustrating. It's scary. I don’t even want to imagine it. I know that the more I get into Iino, the more shock I’d receive if I get rejected. She has to look at me. I need a timing that is just right. Is there a good way to confess that makes her date me even if she doesn’t like me? I talked to Tanuma-senpai about that, and he told me “kabe-daan” or something. That’s “kabe-don”, and honestly, that he thinks it will be okay with such a method means his intelligence is equal to Fujiwara-senpai’s. Tsundere-senpai is also crazy for liking such a person. Well, the important thing is the opportunity. Needless to say, timing is the most important aspect when it comes to romance. But the devoted hearts festival already happened, Christmas, New year’s, Valentine’s, and my birthday as well, passed by without a hitch. The only thing left in this term is the graduation ceremony. There’s a “perfect timing” for this kind of conversation. “Are there any good events......” “Huh, what happened? Do you want to go on a date with me?” “Why is that.” “Because I want to go on a date with you, senpai.” Iino bitterly glared in our direction. It’s not that I got popular ever since I became a vice president of the student council. The person who intentionally says words that may confuse guys is none other than the craziest bitch in Shuchiin. It’s secretary Tono. “Let’s be real here. There’s like no other girl that is as cute, simple, and easy to break up with as me, right? Really, there’s no one. And even if I don’t look like it, I’m good at keeping secrets. Don’t you think I’m the ideal person to play with?” 3 The girl pulling up her skirt with her ring finger is exactly the sort of bitch who Otakus love. However, she is the type of asshole who points at virgins and laughs, so only an Otaku with a strong mentality would be able to like her. “Hey hey, would you like to stroke below my neck? Don’t you like that, Senpai? You’re the type who likes to pamper girls like a pet, right?” Iino dropped her gaze to her phone. She made a decision to completely shut her out from her sight. That's smart. I would love to do that if I could. But if I did that, the situation would become worse. Mitama Tono. She believes that “a girl’s value is how many times she’s been confessed to” which is clearly wrong and is a felon who went on a rampage in Shuchiin. Because she seduced countless students in an unprincipled manner, made them hers, and disturbed public morals, the current student council president Iino was infuriated. After a major incident involving the Shuchiin’s VIPs happened, the association of clubs forcibly made Tono join the student council under the pretext that “the student council will surveil Tono”. To see more details about the numerous battles that happened then, please look up “Tono confinement case” in the mass media club’s archives. “Be that as it may, senpai. You should really fall in love. I heard that the regret from not having experience in romance when you’re a student continues forever into the future. If you become an adult with this kind of regret, what will happen? You might get addicted to weird sugar daddy behavior, judge people by their age, or become the kind of scum who pushes their elbows into young girls in the Saikyo line. I don’t want senpai to become that kind of person. Don’t you get it?” “Stop with the offensive prejudices. Most high schoolers graduate without experiencing romance.” “First, in Japan, which has a dark future, 40 percent of men in their 20s never went on a date with the opposite gender, and don’t plan to. 23% of people die without having a child and are single their entire lifetime. This is a big faction of people. Therefore, I am not in the wrong.” 4 “Once again, you bring up a bunch of numbers to dispute a girl’s opinion...... Just because you're correct, it doesn't mean you're right, you know. I felt like I wouldn’t want to marry you.” Tono shrugged her shoulders and went back to her documents. Her turn of teasing her senpai is over. Unless Tono makes fun of a guy regularly and lets off steam, her stress will explode, and she will lure guys to make a big mess. That is the reason why Iino hasn’t complained about this conversation at all. I think she understands that Tono continuously needs to “make moves that can make a guy misunderstand” to prevent herself from going wild. However, I feel like I became more patient each time Tono expressed her distorted desires. I could see what would happen if I surrendered to my frustrations. It’s like she’s showing off the scariness of relationships with the opposite sex. In any case, because of Tono, my energy to interact with females is almost gone, that’s one of the reasons why I haven’t progressed much with Iino. She’s not that bad, though. She is just dependent on guys and has a crooked desire for approval, but at heart, she’s considerate of her friends and earnest. She is just one example. The current student council has a lot of people with strong characteristics. The treasurer Taikoku Takano is one of the first-graders who received a scholarship. Our relationship started when Iino and I saw Taikoku’s shoes being hidden at the entrance. Perhaps because he received a scholarship like the President, other students are jealous. Maybe he couldn’t fit in well with his surroundings...... I had those thoughts when I tried to treat him kindly, but that was the end of my luck. This guy eggs on others with all his might if he is superior over anything. He eggs on others with his test scores, so he endeavors in his studies just so that he can one-up someone. He’s trash who can only experience happiness in life when he’s one-upping someone. That’s why he’s hated. He’s suffering from the consequences of his own actions. 5 But, he doesn’t egg on me or Iino. Well, we did take part in calming down the situation, so maybe he feels like he owes us. That’s a good side of his. However, he instead eggs on the people in his year such as Tono and Kogane every time he has the chance, so let’s just hope that he grows in the future. And finally, Kogane Kanegae, She is a difficult person to handle. The child of the Kanegae group, which is another one of the four big Zaibatsus like the Shinomiya and the Shijo. Kanegae's gender identity is a man, but is the Q in LGBTQ+. An idiot who is close to repeating a year and lies all the time. A member of the cursed Tabletop Gaming Club with 760,000 followers in TikTok. That's a lot of quirks. Don't compete by the amount. I only listed the quirks that have been discovered by now, and if you dig deeper, there are sure to be more. I’d rather not dig any deeper, since I don’t want to get myself involved in a terrible situation. Like that, this student council is now a nest of troublemakers. Some people think this is a social rehabilitation facility, and they think that Iino and I are very admirable for taking care of them, so they respect us. I did not want to be respected this way. Despite everything I just said, their individual skills are high. For student council work, they contribute a lot so we can’t say that we are the ones looking after them. Tono has a high ability in getting in guys’ pockets, so she is really good at gathering information. Taikoku has outstanding basic specs, so he supports Iino’s and my work perfectly. Kanegae is beyond human understanding, solves everything miraculously in a way that can’t be replicated and the side effects are crazy. So I avoid relying on Kanegae as much as possible. Dealing with a lot of problem children, my stomach hurts and I feel like I want to give up on everything, but thinking that President Shirogane and Shinomiya-senpai had the same feelings having me and Iino (as well as Fujiwara-senpai), I feel like I should keep on trying. 6 “It’s the graduation party!” The figure who vigorously opened the door with a bam reminded me of Fujiwara-senpai, but the person who appeared was the new troublemaker. Speak of the devil. It’s our auditor, Kogane Kanegae. “There are proms in America but there is nothing like that in Japan. The closest thing is a plain thank-you party where you buy sweets in the supermarket and pour them into your mouth with orange juice. Are you fine with that? No.” “Again with your nonsense. Do you even know what proms are in the first place? Well, I lived in America before unlike you guys so I naturally know.” Taikoku appeared right behind Kanegae while one-upping. “Iino and I also don’t know about prom.” “I’m sorry for not having lived in America......” Iino’s icy glare pierces through Taikoku. With body language that doesn’t show if he is sorry or not, he answers: “Sorry about that... I wasn’t saying that to you two...... it’s just that I was afraid Kanegae would once again increase our workload with incomprehensible statements, so I wanted to put a stop to that.” “What- I wanna do prom~! I like it, it’s kinda sexy!” “I want to do it in a healthier manner. If we leave it to Tama-chan, I feel like it will devolve into mixer games in the end.” “Mixer games are fun, though......” Iino is calming down her heart from what the newcomers are saying by pinching between her eyebrows. She’s surely grown up. In the past, there’s no doubt that she would have scolded them. “So I can take this as just a graduation party, right?” “Yes!” 7 “There’s only one week left until the graduation ceremony. In terms of schedule, we don’t really have enough time, do we?” “Well... Don’t forget we have Ishigami-senpai’s abilities on our side.” “Again with that nonsense......” “......A graduation party, huh.” Yoshino Cherries bloom from late March to early April on average. Unless the blossom front comes later than usual, or the effect of global warming doesn’t take place, the Shuchiin Academy which is in the Minato City of Tokyo will have Cherry Blossoms blooming during the entrance ceremony. Graduation ceremonies have an image of Cherry Blossoms, but in actuality, it will happen under the cold sky. It's pretty lonely scenery. I recalled last year’s graduation ceremony. The scenery when I said farewell to my beloved, Tsubame Koyasu. Under the Cherry Blossom that never withers, Prunus Campanulata, I confessed, and the love splendidly scattered. I don’t know if the expression “scattered” is right or not. That would change depending on the person. I bet my number one wish with Tsubame-senpai wasn’t actually for us to become lovers. As one year passed, I grew up as well, and I came to understand some things. At that time, I was in a hurry because of Tsubame-senpai’s graduation. I thought that I could forcibly continue this relationship by confessing and tying a “contract” as lovers. Right now, I can reflect back and see that that kind of emotion was strong. I was avoiding the creed that before romance, two people should first like each other. I pretended not to see. I was closing my eyes. I liked her. I wanted to become her lover. That is not wrong by all means. However, the method and the goal were reversed. 8 As a method to acquire more time to understand her and connect our feelings, I chose to confess. If I reflect upon my experience, the response Tsubame-senpai gave me granted my wish. She faced me with all sincerity. My relationship with Tsubame-senpai is still ongoing. My wish has been granted. To hope for any more than that would be too cruel. Only an idiot would drag out their broken heart. Well, I can be called an idiot by all means because I dragged out my broken heart for almost a year. I almost looked like the Cherry Blossom that never scatters, Prunus Campanulata. Its flower blooms as if it’s regretful, and someday, it will turn dark and wither. That image was just like me after I got rejected by Tsubame-senpai. If only I could brilliantly scatter like Yoshino Cherry’s flower. That scene would’ve fit the graduation better. If I thought about that, the graduation party didn’t sound so bad. “Isn’t that a good idea? I agree that we should see them off grandly. ” “Eh......” “I was also looked after by Shinomiya-senpai and Fujiwara-senpai. I think that it’s good to say farewells in an event organized by the student council in the end.” “......Well, you’re not wrong.” “Then it’s settled! Let’s do it!!” That’s how the plan for the graduation party proceeded quickly. I had a lot of observations and made them simplify the plan. Tono was lamenting “That’s not prom at all-” and so forth, but with the pressure of being a senior, I succeeded in shutting her down. Prom requires people to join as pairs of a man and a woman, and I was tired of that after the exchange party we had with the French school. I would never get involved in an event that requires such labor and care ever again. I’d like it to be a simpler kind of event. 9 As a result of our discussion, we decided to do a stylish event like a wedding after-party. If we made the event any bigger, we would need to send an application to the academy and the like, so our workload would increase. We will aim for the maximum scale that doesn’t need us to notify the academy and parents. We’ll notify students about the party in advance, and we will only hand out the invitation to those who want to attend. That was because I made a strong request since I thought there would be some people who wouldn’t want to come. For introverts, going to a party that they don’t want to attend but are forced to is just painful, and if we borrow a hotel’s grand hall for a large number of people, the cost would be expensive. If we keep the number of people down and rent a so-so-big venue, the degree of satisfaction would increase as well. Hence I think it’s fine to only borrow a store and do some decorations. Rather, the number one reason is that it’s annoying to think about preparing a big venue and having to clean it up. Of course, we will take an entrance fee. Although they are alumni, the budget for the student council is limited. Impressively, I guess, Tono selected the shop and reserved it, and made an arrangement for decorating without any difficulty, Taikoku prepared the amount of people within a good threshold so that the teachers won’t view it as a problem. It’s great to have intelligent people because they can do the job quickly. Kanegae did the design for the invitation. To people similar to Fujiwara, it’s best to let them do simple tasks. Iino and I gave out orders and slacked off. After all, an excellent organization is one where there is profit without the top having to do any of the work. As an excuse, the top was completing a great amount of pending student council work. Only Iino, though. The work came to an end, and the western sky was getting dark. After sending the newcomers home, Iino and I were finishing off the remainder of the work. Our student council is like this. If we were in the President’s student council, what would the graduation party look like? Surely, it would have been in a different form than ours. I thought. 10 “Hey, Ishigami,” Iino asks a familiar question. "It’s finally going to happen, huh.” “Yeah.” For Iino who put on a discouraged face many times recently, she had a much more distracted face, like the one she had before. “President Shirogane won’t come back, right?” “I’m not sure about that. He’s the kind of type to throw a surprise. I think he would visit on the day casually as if it was normal.” “Hmm, that’s possible-. Then we should prepare with that in mind.” “Yep.” It’s been half a year since the President went to America. My life changed in a big way. I thought the president was the only one I could call my friend, but surprisingly, people from the sports festival and the people I got to know during the devoted hearts festival were put in the same class as me, and thus the number of people I could call my friends increased....... And I thought, this is what it feels like when you lose an important person. Even if you have a big hole, the world moves on normally, and everyday occurrences happen as if nothing happened. When Tsubame-senpai graduated, my brain was Poyo-Poyo-ed because of my broken heart, so I didn’t get to feel anything like that. But when the President was gone, I firmly felt lonely. This is the emotion I would have towards Shinomiya-senpai and Fujiwara-senpai from now on. I don’t like the idea of harboring these feelings toward Fujiwara-senpai, though. Of course. “Fujiwara-senpai’s going away. I might cry.” “Yeah, it feels lonelier when a noisy person is gone.” 11 “I heard that there would be a piano in the venue, I want to play the piano with her since it’s been a long time.” “How can you still hold feelings of respect for that kind of person?” “Well......I saw the reality behind her, though. But I still think she’s a respectable person. Although you might not understand.” Iino bashfully says, “Because Fujiwara-senpai is everyone’s heroine.” "......Hm.” It’s difficult for me to admit. But yeah. I think that’s true. “Shinomiya-senpai took care of me so much, I can’t even raise my head against her.” “Really? You guys were getting along more than I thought.” “She was probably very strict towards me. She blatantly told me scary things, and she showed a face that she normally wouldn’t to others...” “Well, she can be scary.” “She was truly scary. But I think she did that because I was trying to become the student council president. Actually, if I look back on it now, I was lacking a lot, and I was only trying to force what was right, so I was kind of immature. That’s why I think Shinomiya-senpai showed me her devious side directly. To earn the strength to protect this student council and this academy. Even if I used the dirty way.” Just forcing the right thing... That hits too close to home. “It’s good that I have more methods now. In any game, the one who’s out of cards is usually the one who loses the most. It’s better to have more cards, even if it’s a bad one. The world won’t work with just idealistic thoughts.” “Right.” It’s easy to have justice. You only need to think about it. But executing justice is difficult. That’s the story. This also hits a bit too close to home. 12 “Shinomiya-senpai took care of me too. I can’t raise my head against her.” “She looked after your studies, right.” “Yeah......” When my test scores were horrible, I was facing the threat of repeating a year. She was very strict with me. I properly tried my best, and when the results weren’t as good as I expected, she consoled me and motivated me more. When my name was in the top 50 for the first time, Shinomiya-senpai cried for me. Does the President know? That she can cry in such a way. At the very least, I think he should have looked at that kind of scene before going to America. “Did you know? Shinomiya-senpai was the first one to suggest inviting you into the student council.” “That’s the first time I heard about that.” "The President told me before he went to America. That Shinomiya-senpai was the first one to realize what happened when you were in middle school." “......” "Apparently, she was testing the President. What he would do after listening to that story. What kind of a person Miyuki Shirogane is. Well, Shinomiya-senpai has a habit of testing others." "Really? I don't think she did anything to me." "That's because you already passed the test at that point." "I don't think I did anything to pass that test." "You don't understand. Shinomiya-senpai is mean and scary. But as mean as she is, she loves justice." “......” 13 "You saved Ootomo-san even if it was a wrong method. You struggled and struggled, but in the end, you managed to save her. Shinomiya-senpai already thought you were cute." In my mind, that was a dark past, so it was hard for me to think that there was a person who highly valued that incident. But if that was the case......I won't ever confirm with Shinomiya-senpai, but if it was actually true, I’d feel a little happy. "So that's why, she suggested to the President, 'How about inviting Yuu Ishigami to the student council?'" “......” “Really, we can’t raise our heads against her.” “......Yeah.” I just didn’t notice, but I really was saved by others. It’s not only Shinomiya-senpai and the President. I was probably also saved by Fujiwara-senpai and Tsubame-senpai. We're standing here right now because we were supported by people we don’t even know the names of. “Next, it’s our turn.” “......Mhm.” “Come to think of it, did you finish ordering the flowers for the graduation ceremony?” “Ah, they are in my family’s flower shop.” “Flower shop? There is a flower shop at your house?” “Yeah, my mother takes care of the shop...... Ah don’t worry. We’re just preserving the flowers there. I didn’t do such a collusive thing like making an order for the academy to my family’s own shop.” “That’s not it......” 14 “I heard that something like that happened a few years ago. When the President was only an auditor, the ex-president’s ex-president was dismissed, so Ryuju-senpai went on a rampage and it was really really difficult......” “You can save that story for later, ......Do you know a lot about flowers?” “I know a decent amount, I was the one who chose to use Camellia Reticulata for the badge. It’s a crossbreed of Camellia Japonica “Kara-Nishiki”. The petals are pink and heart-shaped...... I also like that in Japanese, it’s called “Silk-Road”. This flower is suitable for Ikebana arrangements.” “Sutera.” “Hm?” “Do you know about a flower called Sutera?” The sun was about to sink into the horizon and the sky behind the buildings bestowed upon Iino’s eyes an orange tone. A few days after that, when the graduation ceremony was around the corner, Shinomiya-senpai gave me a call. “And, the President’s already in Japan.” “As I thought.” Shinomiya-senpai’s voice was excited. As expected, when it comes to the President, Shinomiya-senpai’s voice goes up one-tone. “He’s planning to appear at the graduation ceremony suddenly and surprise us all.” “That’s just as expected of him, to want to throw a surprise.” I laughed because it was just as I predicted. What I told Iino did indeed come to reality. 15 “That’s why I want to set up a surprise for him from our side as well.” “From our side?” “Yes, it will be like a reverse surprise.” “Ah-......” Shinomiya-senpai also likes to surprise people. How many people in our academy know that the Shinomiyas’ only daughter has such a cute side? “That’s where I want to borrow your knowledge. How can we surprise the President out of his pants?” “I’d rather you don’t seriously aim for his pants, but hm...... well-......” That’s when I recalled. The talk I had with Iino about Camellia Reticulata. “Let’s make the Cherry Blossoms bloom.” “Cherry Blossoms?” “We always use fresh flowers for the badge, and this year, the petals are pink and heart-shaped, so they look just like Cherry Blossom flower petals.” “......I see.” Even through a smartphone, I could tell that the corners of Shinomiya-senpai’s mouth went up. “So you’re saying that if we scatter that flower, and make a storm of flowers—--” “It will be a storm of cherry blossoms to celebrate the graduation. Good idea, let’s do that!” I could hear a loud impact through the phone. I wish she didn’t make such a ruckus on top of her bed, but it’s good that she liked it. “I’ve wanted to return the President’s Heart Balloons sometime. Heart-shaped petals. Good, I’m sure the President will be scared out of his pants and fall in love with me! Maybe I’ll get proposed to on the spot!” 16 How many people in our academy know that the Shinomiyas’ only daughter has such a funny personality? Putting aside the fact that this daughter is trying to take the credit of the feat all for herself, the time that the 3rd graders graduate is coming soon. Let’s celebrate everyone’s departure. And, after that is the graduation party. I might as well mix in with the crowd and have a fun time. That’s the real reason why I had so many notes for the 1st graders. I just want to play around with everyone. That’s fine, right? It’s a tradition to make use of the student council. I think I’m the President’s number-one friend, too. Oh, yes. Iino asked me about Sutera, but I casually evaded her question. She had a disappointed face, but oh well, too bad. There’s a “perfect timing” for that kind of conversation. Even if they didn’t think much about you, a confession at the most perfect timing would ensure that they can’t reject it. In an ultra romantic and dramatic moment, that’s when, to Iino - I will talk about the flower I love the most. 17 Changelog V1 First Public Release. Lots of thanks to Athy and anon for all the work they put into making and polishing this translation. This mostly exists because we wanted there to have many TLs available here for comparison. Japanese is very context dependent and translators are bound to have different interpretations so let’s have as many as possible. Hope you enjoyed it. There isn’t an official host for this TL so please feel free to repost the pdf where needed, as long as it’s unmodified. 18