Although Kamio Tatsuya had hopes, he didn't manage to corner Shiina on Christmas Eve.
But Kamio Tatsuya wasn't discouraged, as it was only a matter of time.
The next day, Christmas, Nagumo organized an outing for all the student council members.
Kamio Tatsuya really wanted to stay in his room, but considering that even Katsuragi was going, he figured he might as well go.
He wondered what Kamuro and Shiina were up to. He heard Kamuro stayed out all night again yesterday and slept at Shiina's place.
Their relationship suddenly got much better. He had no idea what those two were thinking.
By the way, it's a Japanese custom to eat fried chicken on Christmas Eve.
That makes sense; most Asians probably can't handle turkey.
While Kamio Tatsuya was lost in these thoughts, someone tapped him on his left shoulder. He turned his head, but there was no one there.
Huh?
Kamio Tatsuya looked in the opposite direction and saw Ichinose smiling at him.
Wow, Ichinose, can you be any more childish?
"Good morning, Ichinose."
"Good morning, Kamio-kun." Ichinose greeted him back. "Did I scare you?"
"No, not at all."
"I saw you seemed to be thinking about something happy, so I wanted to surprise you."
You're getting mischievous, Ichinose.
"Going out to play in this cold weather, I really don't know what Nagumo-senpai is thinking."
Kamio Tatsuya shivered again. The warmth of the kotatsu yesterday felt like the biting cold wind today.
"If you stay in your room all the time without exercising, your body will rust! Let's just take this chance to have some fun!"
Ichinose, do you really think I don't exercise when I'm in my room?
Heh heh, I get plenty of exercise in my room. After all, Kamuro isn't my match anymore.
Damn it, I really want to go back and cuddle with Kamuro!
"What are you thinking about?"
Ichinose's sudden question snapped Kamio Tatsuya back to reality.
"Nothing," Kamio Tatsuya turned his head away from Ichinose's face. "Oh, I see Nagumo-senpai."
"Where?"
Ichinose looked as well, but couldn't see any sign of Nagumo.
"He's not there at all, you liar."
Saying that, she playfully bumped Kamio Tatsuya's back with her head.
"Just kidding."
"Speaking of which, that rumor going around lately is getting pretty intense, the one about Ryuen."
"You mean the rumor about Ryuen being beaten by Ayanokouji?" Kamio Tatsuya replied casually. "That's not a rumor, it's a fact."
"Huh? Really?" Ichinose looked disbelieving. "Ryuen and the others were actually defeated by Ayanokouji?"
"That's right, Ayanokouji completely took down Ryuen's gang when he was outnumbered 1 vs 3," Kamio Tatsuya stated firmly. "So you guys should be careful. Ayanokouji is more dangerous than Ryuen in some ways."
"Ahaha, I don't think so?"
"It's always better to be careful," Kamio Tatsuya reminded her again. "Okay, I seriously see Nagumo-president now."
The agreed-upon meeting spot was near the entrance of Keyaki Mall Shopping Center. Kamio Tatsuya and Ichinose both arrived about five minutes early.
Nagumo wasn't exactly late. Not only Nagumo, but Katsuragi also came along; it seemed they ran into each other on the way.
In addition, the vice president of the student council from the second year, Kiriyama, and the newly appointed student council secretary, Gomiwaki and Tonokawa, were also present.
Besides the student council members, Kamio Tatsuya also spotted Asahina.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Nagumo's cheerful demeanor made it hard to be angry.
"No, we just arrived too," Kamio Tatsuya replied politely. "Asahina-senpai, you came too."
"Kamio, you don't welcome me? Then I'll leave?"
Hey, don't mess around!
"I'm so sorry! I absolutely didn't mean that!"
Kamio Tatsuya quickly backed down.
"Oh right, what were you guys talking about just now? You seemed to be having a good time."
"Oh, just some gossip, about Ryuen getting beaten up by Ayanokouji."
"Oh? I've heard about that too. So, is it true?" Nagumo's face also showed curiosity.
"I'm not too sure. Even though Ryuen and I are classmates, he didn't tell me anything," Kamio Tatsuya said. He had no intention of telling Nagumo about this; who knew what kind of trouble he might stir up.
"I see. I know that troublesome kid Ryuen, with his personality, he definitely wouldn't want anyone to know about such an embarrassing incident."
Heh, actually, Ryuen himself leaked the news.
Since Nagumo had come up with his own explanation, Kamio Tatsuya was happy to go along with it.
As for why Ryuen would leak the news, Kamio Tatsuya had a guess, but he would need to confirm it with him later.
"Alright, shall we..."
Nagumo started to suggest they go eat but stopped.
Following Nagumo's gaze, Kamio Tatsuya saw Ayanokouji.
And he wasn't alone; he was with three others, one boy and two girls, all from Class D. Besides the more familiar Hirata and Karuizawa, there was also a "hot girl" type, Sato Maya, Karuizawa's friend.
So that's it. Karuizawa's planned date was today.
But why were Karuizawa and Hirata here?
As Kamio Tatsuya pondered this, Nagumo's face suddenly broke into a smile.
"I'll go say hello to the first-year students."
This guy was getting interested in Ayanokouji. It seemed intentionally leaking information about Ayanokouji in front of him had worked.
Kamio Tatsuya felt he had done everything he could for Ayanokouji. He had explicitly told him he could collect points to get out from under Chabashira's control, but Ayanokouji remained unmoved.
Since that was the case, Kamio Tatsuya had to consider the possibility of Ayanokouji becoming an enemy, so he found an opportunity to tell Nagumo about it.
As a result, right after he leaked the information about Ayanokouji's confrontation with Manabu Horikita to Nagumo, the latter then said he no longer cared about Chabashira's threats.
Unfortunately, since Nagumo was already interested in Ayanokouji, he wouldn't give up so easily.
"Hi there, the four of you, can I borrow a moment of your time?"
Nagumo's greeting caused all four of them, including Ayanokouji, to look over.
"You're Ayanokouji, right?"
"Yes, we met at the sports festival, Nagumo-senpai."
After Nagumo left, Asahina immediately approached.
"He's a first-year, isn't he? Is he a friend of Masa's?"
"I don't think so. I think Nagumo-senpai is just interested in him," Kamio Tatsuya shrugged. "After all, he's the one who could physically overpower Manabu Horikita."
"What? You're kidding me?"
Asahina looked surprised. Kiriyama, who had also overheard, looked incredulous.
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Yes, Manabu Horikita himself said it."
Kamio Tatsuya nodded, his tone very confident.
Kamio Tatsuya's words caused the other second-year students to exchange glances. Many looked at Ayanokouji with a hint of wariness.
They all knew Nagumo wanted to compete with Manabu Horikita. If this Ayanokouji was even stronger than Manabu Horikita...
Nagumo might shift some of his attention to him.
This was not a situation they wanted. After all, not everyone in this student council was from the second year.
Some were even top students from the lower-ranked second-year classes.
They were all counting on Nagumo to get a lot of points in future exams to help them out.
Manabu Horikita alone had already divided Nagumo's attention, but they didn't dare to say anything about it.
Fortunately, Manabu Horikita was graduating soon, and in their third year, Nagumo could focus on collecting points.
But now, there was Ayanokouji.
What if Nagumo became unproductive in the future because of Ayanokouji... The thought alone made some people contort their faces in pain.
As for Kamio Tatsuya, they weren't worried. From the current situation, Kamio Tatsuya was still on their side.
They didn't need to worry about Nagumo wasting his time on him.
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