Monday, after school.
In the meeting room at Soubu High.
Members from both schools' student councils and activity clubs were gathered, eyes wide with surprise as they listened to Yukino explain in detail the tall pile of prizes stacked on the table before them.
Many of them couldn't help but glance at Chisato, who sat to the side wearing a look of resigned helplessness.
Among them, Iroha's gaze was particularly sharp.
According to Yukino, these prizes—meant for the upcoming competition—had been secured by Chisato himself, who spent all of Saturday running around to get sponsors.
Yukino didn't explain her own role in the matter, but anyone with eyes could tell she had been right there with him.
There was no way she could know so much about it otherwise.
Yukinoshita-senpai and Chisato-senpai...
Iroha knew they got along well and were neighbors, but she hadn't expected them to be this close—close enough to go around together like it was nothing.
Silently, Iroha watched the two of them, a thoughtful look in her eyes as she shifted her gaze back and forth between them.
Yui, who noticed this subtle reaction, grew anxious.
With her high emotional intelligence, she could tell what Iroha was thinking.
She wanted to say something to stop Iroha from overthinking it, but worried that her own clumsy words might only make things worse.
For now, she decided it might be better to quietly speak to Yukino later and clarify the hidden implications behind the whole situation.
Of course, aside from the students, there was also a teacher present to assist with supervision.
Although both schools entrusted the planning of this event to the student councils, they agreed that, since these were still students, it was necessary to have a teacher supervising.
As for Soubu High, the role of supervising teacher had fallen to none other than the relatively new and inexperienced—yet highly recommended by both the guidance counselor and other senior staff—Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Classic workplace exploitation, under the flimsy excuse that "young teachers need experience."
Hiratsuka Shizuka was deeply annoyed—but there was nothing she could do. It was her job, after all.
Still, when she arrived at the meeting room and saw the impressive stack of prizes on the table, her eyes lit up in disbelief.
Among them was a brand-new game console from a major company—one that had just launched and was in such short supply that you had to queue overnight or pre-order it months in advance. And here it was, just sitting there.
Kids these days are seriously impressive.
So she thought at the time.
But as more students from Minejo High arrived and the meeting officially began—with Yukino explaining everything in detail—Hiratsuka realized things weren't what she thought.
These prizes weren't gathered through collective student effort, but rather secured casually by one particular individual.
Sitting in a corner of the meeting room, arms crossed, Hiratsuka Shizuka turned her gaze silently toward Chisato.
She was far too familiar with this man—despite having only met him twice in total.
Once was at STARRY Hall, where he was tending the bar, mixing drinks, and handling the bills.
The other was a chance encounter while dining out.
But thanks to a certain friend of hers with the surname Ijichi, his name kept coming up in conversation.
Just like the other day, when the two of them had a casual gathering to drink and chat, letting off steam about their daily lives.
Hiratsuka had been lamenting how today's students were completely unruly and increasingly hard to manage.
Seika, on the other hand, chuckled with a hint of schadenfreude and said that it sounded like a problem with her particular students.
She explained that her own store employed a part-time high school student who was practically a godsend—capable of managing accounts, mixing drinks at the bar, and, most notably, possessing such a handsome face that his mere presence doubled the number of female customers without him needing to do anything.
And as everyone knows, when it comes to nighttime entertainment venues like STARRY Hall, a high female turnout naturally attracts a surge of male customers.
Business booming was simply the natural result.
Seika admitted she was absolutely thrilled.
Hiratsuka, who had hoped for a bit of sympathy, ended up even more annoyed.
She downed her drink and sighed deeply before complaining about how her recent workload had been exhausting both mentally and physically.
Then Seika laughed again and talked about how ever since she entrusted her venue to a friend and joined the company of her former employee—now, in every sense, a proper company president, Suzumiya Chisato—she had felt lighter and more motivated than ever.
After all, music had always been her dream industry, and running a performance hall had merely been a matter of survival.
Blah blah blah blah…
So Hiratsuka was forced to listen to her friend, now increasingly glowing with joy, talk for nearly twenty minutes about her flourishing daily life and career.
During all of that, the name Chisato came up constantly.
When Hiratsuka went back to grumbling about her boss at school—an oily old vice principal who kept dumping all the hard work on her—Seika, tipsy and giggling, talked about her own boss and president, who always called her "Seika-nee" without the slightest airs, and occasionally bought her milk tea or coffee in the afternoon.
They weren't pricey drinks, but in the increasingly cold weather, they warmed her heart more and more.
Hiratsuka remembered how Seika had rested her chin in her hand that day, her smile bright, exuding an expression of happiness and hope for the future that made her seem like a completely different person.
That gloomy air she used to carry, the dead-fish eyes that sometimes peeked through—gone. In their place was a youthful energy that felt almost girlish.
But seriously—weren't they around the same age? In just three to five years, both of them would be hitting thirty!
That youthful glow, once gone, was supposed to stay gone. There was no way it should've been showing up on someone her age.
A lot of things that Hiratsuka hadn't noticed earlier due to the alcohol-fogged haze were now coming together in her mind as she sat in this meeting room.
Looking back now, the expressions Seika had worn the other day, the subtle smile that kept curling up the corners of her lips while she spoke, the eyes that shimmered with sensual charm and warmth—those were exactly the kinds of expressions a woman made when she had found happiness and true love.
Having already attended seven weddings of female friends, Hiratsuka Shizuka was more than familiar with that look.
But still…!
"..."
Hiratsuka silently examined Chisato's face, thinking…
Surely not… right?
_______
50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
_______
If any of you noticed an error, please point it out in comments!