Chapter 164: A Request for an Interview
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164: A Request for an Interview
After school.
Instead of heading home, I waited for Ayabe-senpai in the classroom.
At first, I thought it would be proper for me, the junior, to go find her, but I decided to just stay put, worried we might miss each other.
But ten minutes, then twenty, passed, and she still hadn't shown up.
She didn't run away again, did she?
If she did, I’d have to go find her in the third-year classroom tomorrow.
Screech!
But my worries were unfounded. Thankfully, my senior finally made her appearance, albeit late.
"S-Sorry. Have you been waiting long?"
Anyone could see the nervousness written all over her face.
To show her I wasn't a threat, I immediately stood up and welcomed her.
"No, I haven't been waiting long."
"O-Oh… really?"
"Please, come in and have a seat."
"Okay…"
An awkward atmosphere filled the classroom.
I’d been stalked by her for the past few days, but this was our first time actually speaking, so I suppose it was unavoidable.
Why would someone like her be following me?
Ayabe-senpai, a third-year, gave off the vibe of a quintessential modern high school girl.
Permed black hair and cat-like eyes that tilted up at the corners.
The cardigan draped stylishly over her uniform was the very definition of fashionable.
She seemed like the popular type, in a different way than Rika, and on top of that, her grades were good. She seemed like a perfect superhuman.
As I watched her with an observant eye, she stared right back at me.
In the end, it was Ayabe-senpai who spoke first.
"You're not as bad-looking up close as I thought."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, from the rumors and everything I've heard, I was picturing some kind of three-faced, six-armed demon."
"…"
That statement was dripping with prejudice.
"So, what was your reason for following me these past few days?"
"Ah, right. That."
Now that she had to answer, Ayabe-senpai seemed embarrassed. She twirled a strand of hair with her finger and avoided my gaze.
"The thing is, I'm publishing the last school newspaper for this year's cultural festival."
"And?"
"Since it's the last cultural festival of my three years in high school, I want it to get more attention than ever before."
"You want attention?"
What did that have to do with me?
But she wasn't finished. Ayabe-senpai added more.
"So, what I'm trying to say is, would you do an exclusive interview with me?"
"…An exclusive interview?"
"I don't think it's a bad offer for you, either. I'll give you a chance to publicly clear up all the ridiculous rumors about you circulating around the school."
"Well…"
It wasn't a bad proposition.
Maybe it was because this was a rom-com world, but strange rumors about me seemed to sprout like weeds even when I was just breathing.
Of course, some rumors were based on facts, but those were a tiny fraction. Most were just misunderstandings and slander.
"I'm truly sorry for following you the last few days. Rumors don't just appear out of thin air, so I was worried and decided to observe you from a distance. To see if you were someone I could interview."
I waved my hand at her sincere apology.
"An apology is enough. It's not like you did me any harm."
"Thanks for forgiving me."
"More importantly, what exactly does this interview entail?"
"You can think of it as a one-on-one Q&A session at a café or something. If you agree, I plan on pouring all of the newspaper club's resources into it."
"I see."
From her explanation, I gathered it was something like a magazine or newspaper interview.
I’d never done one, but I’d seen them often enough on TV.
Ayabe-senpai asked with an anxious look on her face.
"So… are you interested in doing the interview?"
I nodded without hesitation.
"I think I'd have more to lose by not doing it."
She gets a story, which is good for her, and I get a chance to clear up the weird rumors at school, which is good for me.
It was truly a case of killing two birds with one stone.
"Yes!"
Hearing my answer, Ayabe-senpai shot up from her seat in delight.
Then, as if she'd just remembered, she held out her right hand and said.
"Let me introduce myself again. I'm Ayabe Nanaya, a third-year. I'm the president of the newspaper club."
"I'm Kim Yoo-Sung, a second-year. I work as the secretary for the student council. It's a pleasure."
I shook her hand.
"Your hands are huge."
After the handshake, Ayabe-senpai said with a friendly smile.
"I get that a lot."
I hadn't noticed when she was cowering in fear, but seeing her smile, she was quite pretty.
"So, can I get your email? I'll figure out the details soon and let you know."
"Just a moment."
I took out my phone and exchanged emails with her.
"There, all done."
After fiddling with my phone for a bit, she nodded and handed it back to me, then asked with a sly grin.
"But your contact list is almost all girls' numbers. I guess the rumor about you being surrounded by women wasn't false, huh?"
"What? What do you mean… Don't tell me you looked at my contacts?"
"Hey, it wasn't on purpose. I just tapped it by accident."
Ayabe-senpai said, playing it off casually.
I realized the person in front of me was not as simple as she seemed.
After finishing our impromptu negotiation, we left the classroom and said our goodbyes at the school gate.
"I hope this turns out to be a good interview for both of us."
"Yes. I hope so, too."
"Alright then. I'll be in touch," Ayabe-senpai said before heading home first.
Left alone at the school gate, I glanced back at the school one last time before heading toward the subway station.
*
The next day.
"What?! Ryu-chan, you're doing an interview with the school newspaper this weekend?!"
While we were all eating lunch together, Rika, having heard what happened yesterday, leaned forward in surprise.
"It just sort of happened."
The way her chest was emphasized by the movement was pretty distracting, so I forced my gaze away.
"That school newspaper, it's not some weird gossip rag, is it?"
"Come on, they'll probably draw the line somewhere. Unless they're not afraid of the backlash."
Sasha and Karen exchanged their opinions.
"So what kind of questions are they going to ask, specifically?"
At Satoru's question, who had joined us for lunch today, I showed him the conversation on my messenger.
She had drafted about thirty potential questions and told me to feel free to cut any that I found troublesome.
After reading the list of questions, Satoru let out a sound of admiration.
"Wow, looks like they're planning to ask about every single rumor there is about you."
I nodded and popped a rice ball into my mouth.
"It's actually for the best. I can properly clear things up this way."
"To be honest, it's a little strange. I mean, even if you have a scary face when you're quiet and you're all muscle, you've never really done anything bad. There weren't any rumors like this in our first year."
"I wasn't this jacked back then."
"That's… true."
All the nasty rumors about me started spreading during the second semester of my first year, when my muscles started growing at a rapid pace.
The reputation I had built as the top student of my year didn't help much once that happened.
You could say I gained muscle and lost people.
But I had no regrets about my choice.
"Anyway, I should prepare well. I don't want to give some weird answer and have it become an embarrassing memory."
"Yeah, good luck."
Satoru, who was about to dig into his katsudon, suddenly remembered something and asked me.
"By the way, the school trip is coming up soon. Who are you going to group up with?"
"Me? I haven't really thought about it."
"You should probably decide in advance. It might be hard to find people on the day of."
"Who are you planning to group with?"
"Me? I'm a popular guy, you know. I've got plenty of offers."
"Mixed-gender groups… won't work because of the lodging. We have to share rooms."
"Obviously."
I scratched my cheek and said.
"I guess it's just you and Ryuji, then."
"…You really don't have any friends, do you?"
"Ugh."
It was a cutting remark, but I couldn't deny it.
I had few (male) friends.
That's because most guys started using formal language with me the moment they met me.
How was I supposed to get close to anyone in that situation?
The macho guys I met at the gym at least shared a common interest in muscles, but I didn't even have that at school.
"Well, fine. I'll talk to Ryuji, so you don't have to worry about a thing. What are friends for?"
"Satoru…!"
"What, why are you looking at me like that? It's creepy, stop it."
"Thanks, man…!"
I said, expressing my sincere gratitude.
Honestly, there was no one else who treated me without prejudice like he did.
Satoru, receiving my thanks, looked away shyly, but then, as if he couldn't take it anymore, he forcibly shoved a rice ball into my mouth.
"Aargh! Just shut up and eat!"
Listening to our conversation from the side, Karen spoke up wistfully.
"I want to be in a group with Rika, too."
"But you're in a different class from us."
"Ugh!"
At Sasha's very realistic point, Karen clutched her chest with a pained expression.
Indeed, while other things might be negotiable, being in a different class was an insurmountable obstacle.
In any case, realizing that many events like the school trip, cultural festival, and sports festival were waiting for me in the second semester, I resolved to first get this weekend's interview over with properly.