Seeing Nagi and her friends walking over, Ren naturally didn't stay seated. He stood up from his chair.
"Ren, these are my friends. Let me introduce them briefly."
Nagi introduced her friends quite formally.
Ren gave a slight nod.
The first person Nagi introduced was Katsura Hinagiku.
"Katsura Hinagiku, Student Council President of Hakuo Academy. She's known as the all-rounder Student Council President there."
"Asakaze Risa is a discipline committee member at Hakuo Academy. Though she holds that position, she's not exactly a model student. She loves gossip."
"Hanabishi Miki is Vice President of the Hakuo Student Council. She may look cold on the outside, but she's actually shy... and she also likes daisies."
"Segawa Izumi, Student Council President of Hakuo. Well, she's an idiot."
Likes gossip.
Likes women.
Is a fool.
Nagi summed up the three with almost mechanical precision. This kind of introduction made it easy for others to understand their personalities—though it wasn't exactly respectful to the people being introduced.
Likes gossip...
Asakaze Risa gave Nagi a sideways glance, a bit speechless.
Likes women...
Hanabishi Miki averted her eyes, clearly shaken that someone knew her secret.
"Who are you calling an idiot?!"
Izumi Segawa glared at Nagi with wide, angry eyes, expressing her displeasure.
Nagi turned around and shot a cold stare at Segawa.
"…?!"
That glare alone made Segawa instinctively retreat behind Katsura Hinagiku, like a frightened kitten.
Then Nagi's expression changed instantly, the cold air vanishing as she reverted to her usual laid-back attitude.
"See? Didn't I say Segawa is an idiot? Just one glare and she shrinks back like a Chihuahua."
"That's why Asakaze and Miki sometimes tease her for fun—because she looks so cute when bullied."
"..."
Izumi Segawa froze for a few seconds. Then a trace of grievance slowly surfaced in her eyes.
"Risa, Miki, say something already!"
At her plea, Asakaze Risa and Hanabishi Miki stepped forward, seemingly indignant.
"Nagi-chan, you're being way too mean to Izumi."
"Yeah. We've never done anything that cruel."
Segawa's eyes shimmered with emotion as she heard her friends defend her.
But what she didn't see were the twisted grins forming on the faces of her two "defenders." No matter how righteous their words sounded, the amusement in their expressions was clear.
Even Ren couldn't help sighing inwardly.
That's some twisted loyalty right there.
As he glanced at the emotional Izumi standing behind him, Ren couldn't help but laugh.
This girl really is a fool.
Of course, he also understood that this wasn't one-sided bullying. It was more like a running joke between close friends. Teasing Segawa Izumi had just become a habit for the other two.
And as for Izumi Segawa, she clearly had her own issues. Not only was she soft-hearted, but she seemed to have... certain masochistic tendencies.
Otherwise, why would she keep getting teased like this without resisting?
"You two are real friends to Segawa," Nagi remarked, her sarcasm barely veiled.
But then her eyes drifted to the touched expression on Izumi's face, and the corners of her mouth twitched. She barely managed to suppress a laugh.
"Next up."
Aizawa Sakuya stepped forward, stifling her laughter, and introduced the next person—Kasumi Aika.
"This is Aika. She's been frail since birth, so she doesn't have much athletic ability. But because her family has a long-standing relationship with mine, we've known each other since childhood. One of the kanji in her name even comes from my family name."
"She's also the Vice President of the Hakuo Academy Student Council. She's held that role longer than even Hinagiku. Aside from her physical ability, she's an all-around talent."
Does Miss Sakuya really need to introduce me like that?
Kasumi Aika, of course, knew that Sakuya's introduction was a bit much.
But then she heard Sakuya quietly whisper in her ear.
"Aika, come with me later. I have something to talk to you about."
Something? Aika wasn't sure what Sakuya meant, but she nodded slightly.
After Sakuya's introduction, Nagi turned to the last person.
"Yukiji Katsura. We usually call her Yukiji. She's a teacher at Hakuo Academy. She loves eating and drinking for free—and also loves drinking alcohol. She often borrows money from students to buy booze. Honestly, she's not a very reliable adult."
"But she's not completely rotten either. She actually has a good relationship with her students. Still, sometimes I really want to punch her."
Her final words carried a hint of gritted teeth.
Yukiji scratched her face awkwardly as she listened.
Ren looked at Yukiji for a moment, then lightly shook his head.
"This teacher isn't as bad as you make her out to be."
"When she was in high school, her parents racked up 80 million yen in debt, then abandoned her and her sister, leaving them to bear the burden."
"Back then, she thought the only way to survive was to borrow from loan sharks. She was prepared to be hounded by debt collectors."
"But she was determined not to let her little sister Hinagiku carry that burden. That's what she resolved back then."
"Still, her younger sister understood what she was doing and stopped her from taking out high-interest loans. It was because of that mutual understanding that the two of them managed to survive—rather than being sold off to debt collectors or worse."
"In her desperation, Yukiji remembered a teacher who once told her he wanted to raise a daughter like her. So she reached out to him for help with the debt."
"That teacher didn't hesitate. He used his personal savings to help repay the entire 80 million yen debt. He became the adoptive parent of both Yukiji and Hinagiku."
"Yukiji swore she'd repay everyone she ever borrowed from—except her sister."
"She knows just how awful adults can be, which is why she refuses to become one herself."
"She even said that she was inspired by that teacher and wanted to become a teacher like him."
"But still, people pick up some bad habits as they grow."
"Right, Yukiji-sensei, the one who loves her sister the most."
(To be continued.)