Chapter 202: The Class President's Secret
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 202: The Class President's Secret
The class president's house was in Suginami Ward.
It was a neighborhood about a forty-minute train ride from Minato Ward, where our school was located.
At the request of our homeroom teacher, Matsuda, I was visiting Suginami Ward to drop off class printouts for her, since she was absent today. I took the opportunity to look around the neighborhood, a place I rarely had reason to visit.
"It's not that different from Setagaya."
To be fair, outside of the commercial districts, most residential areas are bound to look similar.
Usually, the hot spot in Suginami Ward is considered to be Ogikubo, a bustling area with a large shopping center and a Don Quijote, making it a great place for young students to hang out with friends.
From an otaku's perspective, Suginami is famous for being a hub for well-known animation studios. Perhaps in acknowledgment of this, there's a massive animation museum right near Ogikubo.
Walking through the residential area packed tightly over the gently rolling hills, I exchanged messages with the class president on LINE until I finally stopped in front of a certain house.
'Has it been almost a year since I was last here?'
I sent the class president a message saying I'd arrived, then pressed the doorbell next to the front door.
Ding-dong!
"Coming~!"
The cute voice that came from beyond the door was completely different from the class president's.
Click!
Soon, the door opened, and two young children who looked very much like the class president came out.
"Hyung!"
"Oppa!"
"Hey there."
I crouched down in front of the entrance to meet the two elementary schoolers at eye level.
But because I was so tall, our eyes still didn't quite line up.
"Where's Ayase?"
"Big Sis is lying in bed!"
"Oppa! Hurry and come in!"
The two kids each grabbed one of my arms and started pulling me with all their might.
Giving in to their pleas, I followed them inside, where I saw the class president just coming down from the second floor.
"Cough! Cough! You're here?"
"Are you feeling any better?"
"So-so."
Despite what she said, her face was pale. She looked at her two siblings clinging to my arms and spoke with a softened expression.
"Don't bother Kim-kun too much just because he's here after a long time."
"We're not!"
"Ryu Oppa likes us too!"
"Yes, yes. I like you guys too."
I played along with the children's pouting and asked the class president, "Have you eaten dinner? I stopped by the supermarket on the way, just in case."
As I said this and showed her the bag of ingredients, the class president furrowed her brows and spoke in a tone of disbelief.
"I told you, you could have just dropped off the printouts."
"A friend is sick, so of course I can make a meal. I can cook for your siblings while I'm at it. Right?"
When I looked down at the two kids occupying my hands, they eagerly agreed, probably because they already knew what my cooking tasted like.
"That's right! That's what friends do!"
"Oppa! Make me fried rice!"
"...You two."
The class president shot them a stern look, and the two kids quickly hid behind my back.
Shaking her head as if to say she didn't know what to do with them, the class president, wearing a white face mask, coughed and said, "Come up to my room for now. Since you're a guest, I'll at least get you a drink."
"Then, excuse me."
After saying that, I spoke gently to Ayase's two siblings, who were still clutching my pant legs with no intention of letting go.
"I'll just talk with Ayase for a bit and come right back down to make dinner. Can you two play by yourselves for a little while?"
As if they understood the situation, the two kids immediately let go of my pants.
"Okay! I get it!"
"You have to come down quickly, okay?"
I patted the two well-behaved kids on the head before following the class president up to the second floor.
*
At school, the class president has the image of an honor student.
Large, round glasses, neatly braided pigtails, and even a 2:8 hair part that's practically a natural monument these days.
But I know her true identity.
Thanks to a 'chance incident' during our first year, I found out that the persona she shows at school is fake.
Click!
"Come in."
The firmly shut door opened, and as I followed the class president into her room, I couldn't help but be impressed.
"Wow. This place hasn't changed."
Typically, when you picture an honor student's room, you imagine a simple setup: a bed, a desk, and maybe a bookshelf with their favorite books.
Or, since the class president is a girl in her prime, you might imagine a surprisingly girly, pink-themed room.
But her room was distinctly different from either of those cases.
The windows were shut tight with the blinds pulled all the way down, and the walls were covered with expensive sound-absorbing panels.
Two computers, whose LED lights would normally be flashing fiercely during a broadcast, greeted their guest in darkness today.
Pushing the large, cumbersome broadcasting microphone to one side, the class president swept her messy hair behind her shoulder and asked, "So, what do you want to drink?"
Ayase Satsuki.
A 17-year-old high school student.
While she plays the part of an honor student at school, her true identity is Minazuki Luna, a popular and currently trending VTuber on the internet.
*
VTuber.
To be precise, it's short for Virtual YouTuber.
It's a relatively new field in the otaku industry, and its popularity has only recently exploded. But Minazuki Luna entered the market early and has built a massive fandom, making her one of the top-tier Virtual YouTubers.
510,000 subscribers.
Considering that around 100,000 subscribers is the benchmark where an internet broadcaster starts earning more than the average office worker, that was a very large number.
I found out her identity by pure chance. On the recommendation of the trend-sensitive Satoru, I watched one of her short videos, known as a kirinuki, and realized that the voice she made when she got pissed off during a game sounded remarkably similar to Satsuki's. On a hunch, I asked if she was Minazuki Luna. Misinterpreting my intentions, she secretly approached me, asking what it would take to keep her secret, and that's how we became friends.
Well, if this were one of those thin books, it wouldn't be strange for things to take that kind of turn right away, but this is a wholesome romantic comedy world.
"Thanks, I'll enjoy it."
I took the can of cider Satsuki pulled from the mini-fridge in her room and sat down on the floor.
In contrast to me, Satsuki sat in the large gaming chair she used for broadcasting, still frowning as if her head hurt.
"So, what brings you here today?"
"I told you in the messenger. Matsuda asked me to bring you today's class printouts."
"...Ah, right."
Satsuki nodded as if she'd just remembered, taking the printouts I'd just pulled from my bag and tossing them casually onto her desk.
"But why didn't you call the school?"
"I didn't have the energy. My mom and siblings left early in the morning, and I was so sick I was stuck in bed. To be honest, I'm barely managing to be up right now."
As she spoke, Satsuki touched her flushed face with the palm of her hand.
"If you're having a hard time, why don't you lie down?"
"How can I do that with a guest here? I'll lie down after you leave."
Satsuki flatly refused my suggestion.
"Anyway, my condition is the absolute worst right now. I had to cancel my stream without notice, so I've caused a lot of trouble for the people at my company."
Worrying about her broadcast even while sick—she was a true professional.
Well, since she was doing it to pay for her and her siblings' tuition, I guess she couldn't help but be desperate in many ways.
After listening quietly to her complaints, I stood up.
"I'm going to go downstairs and start on dinner, so you should lie down for a bit. You look really pale right now."
I gestured toward the bed with my eyes. Satsuki hesitated for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
"...Thanks. For being so considerate."
"It's nothing between friends."
"Friends... right."
She repeated my words to herself, then got up from the gaming chair and obediently slipped into bed.
I took a wet towel from the basin by her bedside, placed it on her forehead, and said, "Get some rest. I'll come get you when dinner's ready."
Hearing my words, Satsuki nodded and then fell asleep with a relieved expression.
It seemed the cold and fever were still hitting her hard.
I waited until I could hear her breathing peacefully, then turned off the room light, quietly closed the door, and went downstairs to the first floor.
*
"Hyung! Are you making dinner now?!"
"That's right. Is there anything you want to eat?"
"Then I want a hamburg steak!"
"A hamburg steak? I wonder if we have the ingredients."
The ingredients I'd brought were, at most, some green onions, carrots, and onions.
The classic ingredients for vegetable porridge. To make a hamburg steak with this, I'd have to create something from nothing.
Just in case, I opened the refrigerator, but unfortunately, the empty fridge contained only eggs and a can of mackerel.
It would be a different story if there was at least a pre-packaged retort pouch hamburg steak, but there wasn't even that...
Just as I was about to tell Satsuki's little brother that we didn't have the ingredients, I suddenly recalled a certain cooking manga and closed my mouth.
'Maybe...?'
I took out my phone and quickly did a search.
Then, I compared the recipe I found online with the ingredients currently in the kitchen.
'With this, I think I can do it.'
Filled with a newfound confidence, I looked down at Satsuki's little brother, who was staring up at me with sparkling eyes.
"Just wait a little bit. Hyung will make you something delicious."
As I said that, the item I took out of the refrigerator was a can of mackerel, something easily found in any home.