Chapter 31: Confession and Interview, Undercurrents Hidden Beneath the Daily Routine

Hayato learned from Game that the group had gathered yesterday afternoon and spent a long time trying to come up with a confession that would satisfy everyone.

The one Game thought of was: "I like you, Little Ribbon, please go out with me!" The others criticized it for being too blunt.

The one Honda thought of was: "Nosaka-san, I've liked you for a long, long time. You are the only one in my eyes. I can't live without you, please be with me!" The others criticized it for sounding like a prospective criminal.

The one Kyoko thought of was: "Dear Miho-chan, if you were a pen, I would be your cap; if you were a precious sword, I would be your scabbard; if you were a lamp, I would be your lampshade." The others criticized it for being long-winded and nonsensical, while Jonouchi added a jab: "Why are they all things that get stabbed?"

As for Jonouchi, he hadn't thought of anything at all; he had spent all of yesterday just making fun of them.

As a result, even now, Honda had not written a single word on that pure white puzzle piece. In a few days, the school festival would arrive. If Nosaka Miho happened to accept Manjoume Shuji's confession, Honda might regret it for the rest of his life.

"Even though I say that, I'm not exactly the type who knows how to write love letters," Hayato said, resting his chin on his hand. "Unless you want to write something cheesy in the puzzle like, 'The gathered prayers shall become a shining star of rebirth, turning into a path of radiant light,' or 'The dominance of the king shall descend here, witness the power that makes heaven and earth roar,' I can whip up dozens of those for you."

"We know all about that." While he wasn't good at writing love letters, Jonouchi was quite skilled at sarcasm. "Normal people don't have as many 'Tamashii' as you do; you're practically breaking into pieces."

"Let's get this straight, this is the best I can do, so don't set your expectations too high." After a moment of thought, Hayato gave a disclaimer and began writing in his notebook.

"At least it's better than this guy Jonouchi, who can't even squeeze out a single period." Hayato was Honda's last hope. While stating that his requirements weren't high, Honda didn't forget to insult Jonouchi. "I really wonder who's going to end up with him in the future."

With a few quick strokes, Hayato finished writing and turned his notebook toward Honda.

"What did you write?"

The group leaned in to see what kind of confession Hayato had come up with.

"The inability to let go is one of the sources of life's suffering, especially in love. I cannot imagine a future without you. Every day I see you is a sunny day; without you, my life loses its luster. Please go out with me, Nosaka Miho!"

Kyoko read the words in the notebook softly, looking at Hayato in surprise. "This is wonderful! Hayato, are you actually some kind of hidden master of romance?"

"Don't flatter me. Just hearing you guys read it aloud makes me die of embarrassment, let alone actually going through with dating." Hayato showed a rare expression of shyness. "I used a quote from a Roman named Seneca in here, because I feel like 'Little Ribbon' is probably a literary girl. Maybe she'll like this kind of artistic tone."

"Actually, that's what Honda was thinking too, but what he ended up writing was basically a criminal manifesto. Hayato, what you wrote is much better than Honda's!" Jonouchi patted Honda on the shoulder, laughing heartily.

"It's decided, we'll use Hayato's! Great Deity Okuninushi, please bless me, I must succeed in my confession!" With his hands pressed together, Honda bowed toward the window with a look of pure devotion, as if praying to the gods. With his utmost effort, he wrote Hayato's confession onto the puzzle piece as beautifully as possible.

"Now, all that's left is to give the puzzle away and leave the rest to fate, right?" After asking Kyoko to wrap the scrambled puzzle and tie it with a bow, Honda began to hesitate about how to deliver it. "Maybe... I should just leave it at her house?"

"Honda, you've actually scouted out her home address already?" Hayato looked astonished.

"Don't make it sound like I'm planning a crime!" Honda snapped back, though prompted by Hayato's remark, he felt that delivering it to her house might be a bit inappropriate.

"How about this, Honda, why don't you give the gift to her in person?"

"If he could actually do that, this guy wouldn't have come up with the 'Affection Puzzle' idea in the first place," Jonouchi dismissed Game's suggestion.

"Then how about this: quietly slip the puzzle into Nosaka-san's desk when no one is around. It has Honda's name on it anyway," Kyoko suggested a good idea. The others agreed, deciding that Honda would carry it out after school today.

———— The Burning Heart of a Youth ————

The day passed quickly. School life was both tedious and fulfilling, and soon it was time to go home.

As the bell rang, students packed up their homework and left the classroom in small groups, until soon only a few remained.

Due to his punishment, Jonouchi had to go find his partner—the cleaning lady. Game and Kyoko left the school, leaving behind Honda, who intended to be the last one to leave the classroom to sneak in his confession, and Hayato, who had been summoned to the principal's office.

Even though his homeroom teacher hadn't notified him, Hayato didn't need to think twice to guess why the principal wanted to see him.

Sure enough, in the principal's office, Hayato saw not only the principal—who rarely appeared before students—and his own homeroom teacher, but also a reporter with a microphone and several video cameras.

Because Hayato's encounter with the escaped convict, Lucky, happened late last night, it hadn't made the morning headlines. However, the police had promptly released a report about a "concerned citizen" assisting them in the "arrest" of an escaped convict. Because the convict had resisted violently, the police had been forced to shoot him.

But because it missed the morning headlines, the media actually had enough time to prepare interviews with the "concerned citizen." Especially after discovering that the person who assisted the police was the child of a diplomat, the media's urge to write was uncontrollable; they were practically itching to look at the police photos and spin a 2,000-word narrative.

After the school learned that the "concerned citizen" was one of their own students, they cooperated very enthusiastically with the media's interview requests. Not only did they find students from other classes with influential backgrounds to act as Hayato's classmates, but they also assigned "heroic teacher" roles to several teachers Hayato had barely even met.

Of course, how could the principal pass up such a great opportunity to promote the school?

The interview itself was nothing special—mostly just thanking the school for its cultivation, all consisting of pre-arranged questions and answers. It was worth noting that the principal seemed to have used resources obtained from a trade with that director Hayato had beaten up last time to facilitate this interview.

Even that director himself had the nerve to show up, even taking a friendly photo with Hayato as if they didn't know each other. To gain popularity and fame, one could even set aside a grudge; Hayato couldn't help but marvel that this director would definitely achieve great things in the future—he was simply shameless.