My Story of Falling for the Class President

Chapter 17: At the Christmas Party 1 [Side: Rena Kashii]

I always thought I would marry a prince someday.

Of course, I know there are no princes in this day and age. That is, a cool, intelligent, tall, rich, prince-like man would approach me romantically and passionately, and I would accept it shyly.

I'm a kid, but I know. I'm not the cutest in Japan or Miss Something-or-other, and I'm not smart enough for Tokyo University, but my specs are pretty good.

My older sister said, "A good woman polishes herself." I think so too.

I'll work hard at everything to be worthy of the prince-like man who might appear someday!

That's why I can't understand my friends who make such a fuss about having a crush in elementary school! Is there really a possibility of meeting my fated person now?

Middle schoolers, high schoolers, university students, adults, hobbies, club activities, Japan! The world! I'm sure I'll meet countless people in the future.

But I can't say that, so I just go along with it, saying, "I'll support you!"

Girls, especially, love these kinds of conversations, and when they gather, they say things like, "She likes him!" *Kyaa*! and get excited. I don't really understand it.

In my current class, there's Atsuki Kanzaki-kun. Atsuki-kun has the most influence among the boys. He's popular because he's cool, cheerful, and funny. Tachibana-kun, who sits next to me, really likes Atsuki-kun.

Atsuki-kun and I sometimes talk. This helps us communicate with the boys, reduces trouble, and makes the class easier to unite during sports festivals and cultural festivals.

However, the girls in my group who saw this said,

"Rena-chan, do you like Atsuki-kun?!"

'No? I don't really understand that kind of thing yet?'

"Really? But someone as cute as Rena-chan, Atsuki-kun will surely come to like Rena-chan..." *glance*

'That's not true. I'm not interested at all?'

This girl was trying to keep me in check, demanding I declare no affection for Atsuki-kun as proof of our friendship.

I accepted that and declared I had no affection.

A similar case came up where a girl wanted to become friends with Kousuke-kun and consulted me, so I came up with an idea to handle two cases at once and put them both in my debt.

'Then, how about we have a Christmas party at my place! I'll invite Kanzaki-kun, so wouldn't it be good if you tried to close the distance?'

He told me to call him Atsuki, so I usually call him by his first name, but I intentionally used his last name as a courtesy!

"Amazing! Thank you, Rena-chan!!"

I consulted my best friend, Obata-chan, about this plan and asked for her cooperation.

Obata-chan accepted, saying, "It's troublesome, but if it's for Rena, then fine."

We made invitations, discussed with the girls, and decided on the flow: starting at 12 o'clock, eating, having cake, playing together, and exchanging presents.

I handed Atsuki-kun the invitation and explained. I told him there was a girl who wanted to become friends with Kousuke-kun and asked him to be a bridge. I also explained that I wasn't planning anything special.

(I have to keep it a secret that Atsuki-kun likes that girl.)

'Since there are four of us, I'd like to ask for up to four boys as well.'

'Okay. Can it be anyone?'

'Anyone is fine, as long as they're not someone who can't read the room. By the way, who do you think might come?'

'Hmm, I'd have to ask about their schedule, but maybe Sho?'

'Tachibana-kun is fine! We sit next to each other, so it's easy to talk to him!'

'He talks about Kashii-san a lot since he sat next to her, lol. He's never talked about girls before!'

I feel a little embarrassed.

And I also talked to Kousuke-kun about the Christmas party, asking for his cooperation because Atsuki-kun and a friend wanted to become friends. Kousuke-kun didn't seem very interested, but he agreed for his friend's sake.

A few days passed since I handed him the invitation, but there was no response from Tachibana-kun.

If it was about Atsuki-kun, he should have been happy about the home party.

Tachibana-kun talked about a line from his favorite Hanano Keiji,

After Keiji laughed about a dirty wound, he said, "But that's good!" He explained it was a famous scene where he got the wound protecting his lord.

So Tachibana-kun said, "You can use 'in a good way' before saying something bad and 'but that's good' after saying something bad in daily life." I thought it might be surprisingly useful, and he must have noticed I wanted to ask about the party because he asked me about it.

When I checked, he said Atsuki-kun had told him about the Christmas party, but he didn't know it was at my house.

Boys are like that sometimes.

Then Koishi-kun, who was listening nearby, started whining, "I want to go! I want to go!"

While thinking, 'This is troublesome,' I told him I had already given the invitation to Atsuki-kun and that it was a secret because it would become a bigger deal. The rest was up to Atsuki-kun.

I briefly explained the plan to Tachibana-kun and asked him to keep it a secret.

'Kashii-san, you're a tactician!'

(Tachibana-kun, that's not a compliment for a girl, you know?)

Being the party coordinator is quite tough. The two main girls, let alone the boys, are pretty selfish and a bit troublesome. I let out a complaint, and another kid heard it.

'It's tough because they're selfish! (Someone heard me!) ...But that's good! Girls are cute when they're a little selfish ♪'

Tachibana-kun's warrior talk was helpful!

(To be continued in Christmas Party 2)

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What Kashii-san thought when Koishi-kun whined about wanting to go to the party.

(It's a good thing I put a strict no on anyone who can't read the room for Atsuki-kun.)

And on the day, Koishi-kun came.