Chapter 16 - The Student Council and the Late-Night Phone Call
“Hey, Kou-chan. You’re pretty perverted, aren’t you?”
——What the hell is she saying all of a sudden?
It was past midnight, and as I was about to check in with my beloved bed for the night, my phone vibrated.
The caller was Marimo, and I had a bad feeling about it, but I thought, "What if it's an emergency?" and decided to answer the call.
Honestly, today I had worked pretty hard on student council duties and even played catch with Onigawara-kun in the courtyard during my free time, so I was feeling quite exhausted.
The next day was Saturday, a day off, and I was sure I’d sleep in until noon.
Repeatedly, I felt my bed calling to me. Yet, Marimo was calling from the other side of my smartphone.
Damn, I’m such a softie.
“Hello? What’s up?”
Even though I was completely exhausted, I approached the call with kindness.
I thought it was only a matter of time before I would be issued an International Gentleman License.
And then she hit me with that opening line.
“You... what the hell are you saying, calling me at this hour? How dare you make such a terrible accusation?”
“No, no. I wasn’t planning on saying anything about how perverted you are now, Kou-chan.”
“Hey, don’t talk as if it’s a given that I’m perverted.”
“What? Kou-chan, you’re not perverted? Even though you’re a high school boy? That’s a bit unhealthy, I think.”
What a pain in the ass.
“Fine, fine. I’m perverted! I have a show I want to watch, so I’m hanging up now. Bye!!”
Hmph. I made up an excuse and hung up the phone.
I thought it might be something important, but it was really a pointless call.
What was she trying to tell me?
Maybe there was some sophisticated strategy at play, but I couldn’t understand it.
If you have something to say, get to the point.
That said, cutting her off abruptly was a bit harsh.
…I’ll call her back to follow up tomorrow when I wake up.
For now, I’ll drink some milk and go to bed.
I headed to the kitchen.
Hot milk on a tired night is exceptional.
Add a little sugar, and it becomes an enchanting drink.
The drowsiness was approaching, and just as I was about to lie down, my phone rang again.
But this time, it wasn’t Marimo.
The screen showed Karin’s name.
It was unusual for her to call, especially close to 1 a.m.
Could something have happened?
I hurriedly swiped to answer.
“Oh, senpai? I’m sorry for calling so late.”
“Oh, it’s totally fine. What’s up?”
“Well, there’s something I really need to confirm…”
Her voice sounded quite serious.
Had something major happened?
I hoped I could help.
“If there’s anything you need to ask, just let me know. I’m sure I can give you the answer you’re looking for.”
“I’m glad. I was really worried about whether to ask or not. Well then, I’ll ask…”
“Sure.”
“Senpai, are you perverted?”
——What are you saying? Is the signal bad?
“Huh? I couldn’t quite catch that. Could you say it again?”
“Oh, sure. Um, are you perverted, senpai?”
I didn’t mishear!
“Wait a minute! I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“I got a call from Marimo-senpai earlier. She said that even though you’re perverted, you won’t teach her perverted things. But senpai, no matter how perverted you are, I still respect you! That won’t change! That’s all I wanted to say. You don’t have to respond! Goodnight!!”
“Hey! Wait, hold on—”
…She hung up.
Not only did my junior label me as a pervert, but she ended the call after showing extreme concern.
Have I been unconsciously engaging in some perverted behavior?
No, that’s not it.
Marimo is the culprit.
Why did she tell Karin weird stuff?
At this point, I had to call her.
Depending on her answer, she might get a scolding.
My drowsiness had run off somewhere.
Filled with anger, I quickly brought up Marimo’s number on my phone.
Just as I was about to call, the screen showed an incoming call.
I had a bad feeling, but I couldn’t ignore it.
I wanted to be a reliable senior, and to do that, I had to be sincere.
“…H-hello?”
Of course, I was wary.
Given what had just happened, it was only natural to be cautious about what might come next.
“This is Onigawara. Kirishima-senpai, do you have a moment?”
“Oh, sure. What’s up?”
“Thank you. I received a call from Marimo-senpai earlier.”
“Is that so?”
“I wanted to confirm something, so I called you.”
“I see.”
“Senpai, are you an extreme pervert?”
Yep, saw that coming.
Almost expected.
I had a strong feeling this would happen.
However, I didn’t expect that "perverted" would evolve into "extreme pervert." What’s been happening behind my back?
It reminded me of when my classmate Aoyama-kun evolved my Pikachu into Raichu without permission in elementary school.
I was playing with a Pikachu-only rule.
“Don’t worry, I’m good at keeping secrets. I won’t tell anyone. Goodbye.”
“Hey, wait—”
Onigawara-kun’s baritone voice faded away.
Can’t you at least listen to my explanation before hanging up?
I furiously tapped my phone to call Marimo immediately.
Luckily, she answered quickly.
If the call had rung five more times, my phone screen might have cracked.
“Oh, Kou-chan! That was mean, hanging up on me so suddenly!”
Look who’s talking.
“You’re the one who’s mean! What did you tell the juniors?!”
“Well, you wouldn’t tell me, Kou-chan! So, I just wanted to vent a little!”
Calm down, me.
Getting emotional won’t solve anything.
I need to stay calm.
Yes, forgive her, Kirishima Kouhei.
It was already 2 a.m. There’s no point in getting worked up and raising my blood pressure.
It would just disturb my sleep.
With a calm face, I gently asked Marimo,
“So, what did you want to know? I’m not perverted, but I’ll tell you if I can.”
“Yes, yes! That’s what’s strange, Kou-chan! I thought you’d know. As the student council president, I wanted to study the behavior of adolescent boys. So I decided to watch some slightly perverted TV programs!”
“I feel like you’re saying something off-track, but go on. What happened?”
“I’ve been watching ‘Live TV Until Morning,’ but when does the perverted segment start?”
——It’s never gonna start!
On Monday, after arriving at school, I went around the first-year classrooms to clear up the misunderstandings among my juniors.
Incidentally, Marimo ended up watching ‘Live TV Until Morning’ till the end and became unusually knowledgeable about Middle Eastern affairs, but that was the least of my concerns.