Exam’s finally over. Finally. And I guess I did well this time. My overall ranking was 18th, which is the second highest rank anyone from my class got. The first naturally belongs to Suzu, who got 1st for her overall rank. Nagano, on the other hand, barely passed all her subjects.

   ‘Thank you Suzu, thank you so much.’ Nagano says to Suzu while trying to hold back her tears.

   ‘Seriously, that’s all you got after studying for the whole night?’ I ask Nagano while looking at her scores and remembering the ones she got from her previous one.

   ‘Oh shut it you, as if you’ll ever understand my pain.’

   ‘I’m sure glad I don’t. Or else, I’ll have to sacrifice my working time just to take supplementary lessons and exams.’

   Nitta and Takaki are also looking at the exam results with us. Thanks to them, everyone’s giving us lots of space.

   ‘Yay, I passed all of them!’ Nitta says happily.

   ‘Barely.’ Takaki points out.

   ‘Oh, don’t nitpick will you? A pass is a pass. No matter how you look at it. More importantly, your ranking dropped to 2nd.’

   I was expecting Takaki to get all rivalry with Suzu again. Instead, she just shrugs like it’s no big deal.

   ‘May I have your assistance in clearing a mission in B*rderlands 3, Suzu-san?’ she asks Suzu.

   ‘Sure~. I still have lots of quest that I haven’t finish anyway.’

   ‘Would you like to join us, Bandou-kun?’ Takaki invites me.

   ‘Sure. But only on Sunday night. I’m busy on other days.’

   ‘It’s decided, then.’

   Ever since Suzu introduced Takaki to the world of gaming, the latter has been joining us a lot in co-op plays. There’s even a few instances where Takaki is the one doing the inviting such as this time.

   ‘Wow, Yuka-chan’s actually playing video games? I guess pigs do fly.’ Nitta comments.

   ‘It’s not that surprising, Yuki. I need to relax too every once in a while too, you know?’

   ‘Now I’m really surprised. I can’t believe that I actually hear you say that you ever want to relax.’

   ‘Really, I’m not a cyborg, so naturally I want to find some way to let loose. More importantly, do you want to join us? The game allows up to four players to play together.’

   ‘No thanks. I’m always busy with my idol work, so I don’t have time to play games. Thanks for the invitation, though.’

   ‘Speaking of your idol work, I notice that you have quite a lot of new songs which involves finding new loves.’ I comment.

   Nitta starts to get all nervous. ‘Oh, that. I-It’s just a coincidence, okay? Totally not related to what happened that day!’

   Her vagueness piqued Takaki’s interest.

   ‘What are the two of you talking about?’ she asks curiously.

   ‘Nothing, it’s nothing! Right, Bandou-kun?’

   ‘It depends on what you can offer me as hush payment.’

   Nitta gasps loudly. ‘Are you actually blackmailing me? Me, the top idol in Japan?’

   ‘Yup. So what will it be?’

   ‘Fine! I’ll give you the ticket for the front row seat in my next concert!’

   ‘Deal. Thanks for your business.’

   All the students who heard our conversation are also surprised that Takaki of all people actually plays video games. However, they’re more jealous of my supposedly relationship with the secretary and the manager of General Affairs.

   ‘Just who’s that bug?’

   ‘Yeah, he’s just talking to our two goddesses like he’s their friend or something. How despicable!’

   ‘Even I’ve never talk to them, and I’m their classmates!’

   They didn’t even bother to whisper, so I can hear the words of contempt clearly. Not that it bugs me. I couldn’t care less of what some random people thinks of me.

   ‘How about you, Aiai? You want to join us to a session or two?’ Suzu invites Nagano while the three of us were having the exchange.

   ‘Are you kidding? Unlike you, I need to help out at the shrine. We need to think up of a solution for the emergency too.’

   ‘What emergency?’

   ‘For the love of God, Suzu, you really need to stop by once in a while. Look, just come to the shrine tonight, alright? I usually don’t ask much of you, but just this once I need your brain.’

   ‘Okay. I guess I can’t refuse if you put it that way.’ Suzu promises.

   ‘Good.’

   Nagano looks at me. ‘I need your help too, Bandou-kun. Please.’

   ‘Um, okay. But I have to work tonight, so I can only join you after work hour.’

   ‘Can you do something about it? It’s really urgent.’

   I wanted to refuse, but she sounds so serious I better listen to what she has to say.

   ‘Fine. I’ll talk to my boss and tell him that I have to be absent tonight.’

   ‘Thank you.’

   Finally, she even looks at Nitta and Takaki.

   ‘If it’s not too much trouble, can the two of you come too?’ she pleads.

   Her plead caught them by surprise.

   ‘Us too? Is it that serious?’ Nitta asks.

   ‘It really is. It’s fine if you can’t come, but I would really appreciate it if you could.’

   ‘We’ll have to ask permission from president first, since it would mean that we’ll need to skip the work at the student council.’ Takaki informs her.

   ‘It’ll be fine, right? It’s not like the workload will mean anything to prez.’ Nitta says.

   ‘True. Itoh-senpai is there too, after all. Either way, we can’t just leave our duty aside, so we need to get back at you, Nagano-san.’

   I notice that they didn’t mention Nishiyama at all. I guess he’s pretty useless. Seriously, why is he even part of the student council?

   During lunch hour, Takaki came to the Love Consultation Club’s usual lunch-eating spot to inform us that both her and Nitta are given permission to skip work this evening.

   ‘That’s good to hear. Please come to the Koikana Shrine after school’s over.’

   ‘Understood. I’ll be sure to tell Yuki.’

   ‘By the way, how did you know where to find us?’ I ask her.

   She just smiles mysteriously. Let’s just say that I have my ways.’

   ‘I hope this will work out.’ Nagano mumbles to herself after Takaki has left.

   ‘What’s this about, actually?’ I couldn’t help but ask.

   ‘I’m sorry but I can’t tell you the full details. You’ll never know who might be listening in.’

   ‘Well, if you think it’s important to keep things low until we actually talk about it.’

   ‘I’ll introduce you to the rest of the crew when you get to the shrine.’ she promises me.

   ‘I’ve already met Aki-san.’

   ‘Oh yeah. I think she mentioned it to me a while back.’

   ‘I have yet to meet the last one though.’

   Nagano sighs. She has a dreaded look on her face.

   ‘Honestly, I wanted to delay the meeting between the two of you as long as possible.’

   ‘Really? Why’s that?’

   ‘Trust me. You’ll know when you meet her.’

   ‘You’ll definitely become good friends with Kimikimi, Takkun.’ Suzu tells me.

   I’m not really sure about being friends with her. However, after being told all those things, I guess I’ll be meeting someone with the same wavelength as I do.

   I contacted Uekawa-san, and he told me that it’s fine for me to be absent for work this evening. After school ends, I head over to Koikana Shrine with Nagano and Suzu. Along the way, Nagano’s phone rings.

   ‘Oh boy, it’s Noriko-san.’ Nagano mumbles.

   She then presses the accept call button and puts the phone close to her ear.

   ‘Hello, Noriko-san? You’re where? All right, I’ll come get you. Please stay there and don’t move, okay? I mean it. Do not move even an inch. Stand at your spot until I get there.’

   ‘Where did Aki-san ended up at?’ I ask her after the phone call has ended.

   ‘ Somewhere at Yokohama.’ she answers.

   ‘...Isn’t Tamiya at Okubo?’

   ‘You think this is bad? There was one time when she went all the way to Ueno.’

   ‘Why are you letting her roam around all by herself?’

   ‘I can’t help it. Despite her easy-going personality, she’s actually quite stubborn. She insisted that she’ll try her best to move around all by herself without anyone’s help. Anyway, you two go to Koikana first. I’ll go fetch her.’

   And so, Nagano heads to the station so that she could travel to Yokohama, leaving only Suzu and I. The two of us enter the shrine gate and head straight to the main building. There’s already a pair of school shoes right in front of the entrance, so I guess Takeda Kimi is already here.

   ‘Kimikimi, are you here?’ Suzu asks loudly while we’re taking off our shoes.

   ‘Is that you, Suzu? Yeah, I’m at the dining hall. Come on in.’ a girl’s voice replies.

   Every time I came here, the furthest I’ve been is to the donation box, so this makes it the first time I ever enter the main building. And boy is this place ancient. It’s like no one renovated it ever since they built it hundreds of years ago. Everywhere I go I see cobwebs and dust, and most if not all the wooden furnitures have mold on them.

   ‘Wow, this place is in a dire need of donation money.’ I comment.

   ‘True. We don’t really get a lot of worshippers, hence the three who live here could barely survive, much less have this place renovated.’ Suzu informs me.

   ‘I heard from Aki-san that the person in charge of this place went to Vegas.’

   ‘Oh, you mean Masa-san. Honestly, I don’t fancy his chance of winning big. Casinos were always a scam, after all~.’

   ‘Isn’t Chairwoman Seki doing anything? I thought she’s an acquaintance of that Masa-san person.’

   ‘Kumi-san’s trying her best, but she’s not really good at convincing people to donate to this shrine. And she’s always broke since she loves to drink expensive liquors.’

   ‘...Why is that kind of person in charge of a school?’

   ‘Who knows? I guess we’ll never find out.

   I follow Suzu to the dining hall that could probably hosts at least ten people at the same time. In them middle of the hall, there’s a tanned girl who buried her lower half inside her kotatsu. She’s wearing the uniforms given to Koganei High School students: a white shirt, lavender-colored sleeveless blazer, and black skirt. Yup, I’ve seen her before as well.

   The girl who’s definitely Takeda raises her eyebrow when she saw me.

   ‘Who’s that?’ she asks Suzu.

   ‘This is Bandou Takuya, also known as Takkun~. Takkun, this is Takeda Kimi, or Kimikimi for short.’ Suzu introduces the two of us.

   I nod at her. ‘Hey there.’

   She responds by waving at me lazily.

   ‘Oh, so you’re the infamous Bandou Takuya, huh? Nice to meet you. Come on, join me inside this kotatsu. No need to be shy.’

   I oblige and bury my lower half on her opposite side. Suzu does the same right beside me. She lets out a sigh of content after she got in.

   ‘Nice job with the wish, by the way.’ Takeda tells me.

   ‘You actually find it okay that couples everywhere have broken up because of my whim?’

   ‘Of course I do! Heck, it’s so hilarious to see a pair getting lovey-dovey one day and see them trying to stab each other on the next!’ she chortles.

   ‘I know, right? Seeing them flirting like no one else exists is plain eyesore. I was so sick of it!’

   ‘Wanna know something? Some gals at my school cried themselves to sleep every night after they broke up with their boyfriends! They’re the same people who won’t shut up about them prior! It’s so nice to see them shed tears instead of showing off!’

   ‘Yup, the show off part always got on my nerves too. By the way, what made you become a shrine maiden here?’

   ‘This place is famous for being a place to grant lucks in love, right? So I figured that if I camp here, I get to see all kinds of desperate chumps and laugh at them!’

   Despite the fact that I was one of the desperate chump she’s talking about, I still find her relatable. It’s just pure gold to see some people doing everything they can to get boyfriend/girlfriend. Suzu was right. I do manage to get along with Takeda not long after we meet each other. It’s like we’ve known each other for years or something. Just as we’re laughing and cursing those normies, we hear someone’s voice coming from the entrance.

   ‘Excuse me, is anyone inside?’ I hear Takaki’s voice.

   ‘Who’s that?’ Takeda asks.

   ‘One of our schoolmate that Nagano asked to come to this meeting. She’s probably with another one.’

   ‘Come on in, Takayu~! You’re with Nitta-san right?’ Suzu calls out.

   ‘Yes I am! We’ll be coming in!’

   Once again, Nitta left the school after she disguised herself. She comes inside while looking around like an excited kid, while Takaki is watching her steps like she’s scared that something might come out and attack her. Considering how shabby this place looks, I unfortunately cannot exclude that possibility.

   ‘Kimikimi, they are Takaki Yuka and Nitta Yuki, the same age as us and works as the secretary and the manager of General Affairs at the student council respectively~! The two of you, this is Takeda Kimi, one of the shrine maidens who work here~!’ Suzu once again does the introduction.

   Takeda stares at Nitta like she’s looking at some exquisite exhibition.

   ‘Nitta Yuki? As in the idol? Wow, I’m one of your biggest fan!’

   Nitta smiles at her. ‘Thank you for supporting me. However, is it okay if you keep it a secret that I was here?’

   ‘Of course! My lips are absolutely sealed! By the way, what’s taking Ai so long? Isn’t she with the same school with you guys?’

   ‘Aki-san got lost in Yokohama, so she went to get her.’ I explain.

   ‘Oh, so she went to get Noriko-san again.’

   ‘By the way, do you know what this meeting is about?’

   ‘Ah that. This shrine might get demolished.’

   ‘...I beg your pardon?’

   ‘We’re home!’ I hear Nagano’s voice before Takeda could elaborate.

   Nagano and Aki-san come in while holding a few plastic bags filled with rectangle boxes.

   ‘My my, what a lot of guests we have today.’ Aki-san notes.

   ‘What’s in those bags?’ I ask them.

   ‘Noriko-san got us all meat buns before we left Yokohama.’ Nagano answers for Aki-san.

   ‘So she made the trip on purpose?’

   ‘Oh no. I was lost for real. I thought I might as well get something from there.’ Aki-san says.

   ‘I, see…’

   ‘More importantly, let’s get on with the meeting. I see that everyone’s already here.’ Nagano announces.

   Before she begins, introductions were made, and the meat buns were passed around. Aki-san and Nagano settles down on the spot right opposite me. The kotatsu is big enough for eight people, so Suzu is sitting next to Takeda, Nitta is sitting together with Takaki, and I’m sitting all by myself.

   ‘I heard from Takeda that this shrine is in the danger of getting demolished. What’s the full story?’ I ask Nagano.

   ‘The thing is, Itoh Hitomi-senpai came here with an eviction notice a few days ago.’ she begins to explain. ‘She gave us a week to clear out, or she’ll demolish the land along with us. I tried to reason with her, but she’s having none of it and just left.’

   ‘It’s not only Koikana. I’ve talked to the priests that govern the nearby shrines, and they’ve received similar notices.’ Aki-san continues.

   ‘That’s so random. Did she explain why she wants all those lands?’

   ‘Not at all. That’s why I asked Nitta-san and Takaki-san over so that I could better understand Itoh-senpai’s way of thinking.’

   Nitta and Takaki look at each other like this is a very delicate subject to talk about. Eventually, Takaki opens her mouth.

   ‘Honestly, we still don’t know much about her, even though we’ve worked together at the student council for several months now.’

   ‘At first glance, she’s a nice enough person. But there’s just something about her that unnerves you.’ Nitta says next. ‘Shishido-senpai is strict, but she’s kind to you as long as you follow the school rules. If you break a rule or two, show her that you’ve repent and she’ll forgive you. Itoh-senpai, on the other hand, will place a metaphorical marker on you and waits patiently until you make the next mistake. You definitely don’t want to get on her bad side.’

   ‘Using game terminologies, Itoh-senpai is like the hidden boss of Jindai.’ Takaki ends.

   Takeda shivers. ‘Man, she sounds so scary. I’m so glad that I’m not a student there.’

   ‘Well, Chairwoman Seki is the real big boss of Jindai. Can’t she at least go ask Itoh-senpai what’s her deal?’ I ask Nagano.

   ‘She already did, but Itoh-senpai replied that she’s doing this for the interest Itoh Finance Group, so she doesn’t have any obligation to answer.’

   ‘That reminds me. Her family owns an accounting firm, right? How on earth does she get to walk around and demolish shrines?’

   ‘It would seem that she’s collaborating with the Shinohara Construction.’

   Shinohara Construction, huh? That’s a name I’ve not heard about in a while.

   ‘Maybe you could arrange a meeting with Itoh-senpai to convince her to change her mind.’ Takaki suggests. ‘It’s highly unlikely that she would, but it’s better than just sit here and do nothing.’

   ‘Sounds good. I happen to be a pro when it comes to physical persuasion.’ Takeda says while cracking her knuckles.

   ‘Yup. We can convince anyone with a good beating.’ I agree with her.

   Nagano groans loudly. ‘See? This is why I didn’t want the two of you to meet. You two basically share the same brain cells.’

   ‘All joking aside, we should find some sort of bargaining chip so that we could turn the meeting into a negotiation. You know, we get her something that she wants so that she’ll forget about demolishing the shrines.’

   ‘That’s…actually a good idea. But how? What does a rich girl who’s the heir of a huge accounting firm would want?’

   ‘For that, we need to find out more about her background. Any ideas, Takaki and Nitta?’

   ‘Like Yuka-chan said just now, we barely know a thing about Itoh-senpai. But I’ve heard that she has a younger brother who was in his third year of middle school.’ Nitta informs us.

   ‘Was?’

   ‘I heard a rumor that he’s currently a shut-in.’

   ‘Seriously? I wonder what happened.’

   I look at Suzu. ‘Do you happen to know anything about this, Suzu?’

   ‘Yup. In fact, I know a lot.’

   ‘Care to enlighten us, then?’

   ‘Well, for starters, Itoh-senpai is adopted~.’